Boston College sees applications decline for fall

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The competitive, private, Jesuit-ru n college received a total of 29,300 undergraduates applications for the fall 2009 a 5 percent decline fromthe 30,845 application s it received last year, according to a recenrt bond filing completed by Boston College. The drop-offv is the first in at leastffive years. A more restrictive admissionxs policy, coupled with concerns about the troubleeeconomic environment, likely played a prominent role in the application decline, experts and administrators said. The decline was largelyg attributed to a tighter policyg around the early admissions program Boston Collegew adopted with the beginning of most recentadmissionx season.
Under the new students who apply to other binding earl y admissionsprograms — in which a studen agrees that if admitted he or she will enrolp in that school cannot apply to Boston College’s “Earlyh Action” program. In the past, students who applied for earlhy admission at Boston College could also apply to schoolsa withbinding policies, such as and , said John director of undergraduate admissionws as Boston College. The new policty continues to allow students to applh to other early admissions program s as long as those programsare non-binding.
The college saw an 18 perceng decline in its early application pool as a resulr ofthe policy, according to the bond filing. Mahonehy said students who apply to other binding early applicatiobn programs andBoston College’s early admissions prograk are considered “soft applications.” By choosing to apply to an early and binding program, the student has delineated that othe school as his or her first Mahoney said. “We reallh don’t want to see them in our earlyaction pool,” he said. Bostomn College has not yet determined the numbee of students who will be The enrollment number will benear 2,290 students, accordingt to the school.
Though the stricter polichy led a declinein applications, the trade-off is that such a polichy adds predictability in difficult times, expertxs said. Boston College “wants to know not only that it’zs the first choice but the finalo choice,” said James Samels, president of higher education consultingy firmin Framingham. But Samels addecd the decline in applications at Boston College could be a sign of acomingv “summer melt” as families feel more cash-strappedf as the economic slowdown persists. A year at BC cost a bit more than before anyfinancial aid.
Mahoney said that most of the applicationas decline was due to the early admissions but that application costs may be playing a greater role in student decisionsthese days. “All of a sudden that $70 application fee became another obstacle,” he