http://www.app.com/story/sports/col...plications-record-big-ten-cic-entry/70652936/
Rutgers applications reaching record heights after Big Ten, CIC entry
Ryan Dunleavy, @rydunleavy 7:03 a.m. EDT March 30, 2015
NEW BRUNSWICK – Future applicants to Rutgers University can start by solving this equation: B1G + CIC = X.
Here is a helpful hint: In the ninth months since the school became a member of Big Ten Conference (B1G) athletics and the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) for academic research, Rutgers admissions has become more selective.
The school experienced a 12 percent increase in applicants and a 15 percent increase in out-of-state applicants – especially concentrated in the Midwest – compared to 2013-14 data, according to the admissions office.
"This increase is the largest that I've ever seen in one year," said Courtney McAnuff, Rutgers vice president for enrollment management. "Typically, if you go up one or two percent that's a good year."
McAnuff attributes the spike in interest from prospective students to a "perfect combination" of factors that also includes Rutgers' position as No. 33 in the World University Rankings and the introduction of the new Honors College to open in August. The average SAT score of admitted students is up more than 20 points.
"We did expect a bump, but this is greater than we thought, and it's earlier than I thought," McAnuff said. "Sometimes it takes a couple years for you to really see the benefits, but this is fairly immediate. We have a double-digit (increase) in every Big Ten state with the exception of Ohio, which is level."
The school's regular athletics presence on the Big Ten Network, intertwined with commercials targeting a young audience or trumpeting academic achievements, is a selling point that was not available in the past. One popular ad inspired by the television show "Game of Thrones" highlights Rutgers' geographical position between New York and Philadelphia.
"You can't buy the exposure you get from athletics and you can't buy the exposure you get from the Big Ten," McAnuff said. "It's hard to quantify it, but what athletics does is build brand awareness. The name of the university is repeated much more often than it would be and people become familiar with the name. It's that brand that gives it value and that brand that people will apply to and people will pay for."
McAnuff said Rutgers experienced a similar jump in interest during the 2006-07 academic year, when the football team started 9-0 to garner national headlines and cracked the top 10 in all the major polls. The women's basketball team played in the NCAA Tournament national championship game in April 2007.
But even that data does not equal what Rutgers President Robert Barchi recently called "unprecedented improvement" in a letter to Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union). Rutgers football went 8-5 and beat traditional power Michigan in its first Big Ten season.
"I always think success matters because you like to win, but its exposure first," McAnuff said. "People normally make assumptions that because it's a great athletic program it's a great academic program. We had the Michigan game where several thousand Michigan fans came and were amazed by the size of Rutgers. It's that word of mouth that will help us a few years down the road."
More than 48,000 applications are expected this academic year, with more than 30,000 alone for the New Brunswick campus, both of which are school records, according to McAnuff.
"The competition level to be admitted is much higher," McAnuff said. "We are probably going to take fewer students in New Brunswick, more students in Camden and Newark. I think the competition for entry into New Brunswick is being ratcheted up several notches."
Rutgers has a floating deadline but most students accepted to the New Brunswick campus have been notified and most New Brunswick schools are closed for first-year students in the fall semester. Rutgers-Camden and Rutgers-Newark remain open and transfer applications still are being reviewed.
The impact is being felt across the board as applications to Mason Gross School of Arts (20 percent), Rutgers Business School (12 percent) and the School of Engineering (10 percent) are rising quickly. Rutgers-Camden and Rutgers-Newark applications are up more than 10 percent in-state and out of state, McAnuff said.
"This is a real application increase," McAnuff said. "Sometimes schools change their application or they are on a common application and it's easier for students around the country to apply by checking off a box. We didn't do any of that. We still have the same application. It's unique. Students take the time to fill out the Rutgers application and send it in."
Rutgers previously had most of its athletic programs in the American Athletic Conference for one year after the break-up of the old Big East, its home from 1995-2013. Admittance into the Big Ten has created an athletic-academic synergy, as the University of Chicago is the only non-Big Ten school in the CIC.
"We're right up top, very close, with all the Big Ten schools in terms of number of applications," McAnuff said.
"It wasn't necessarily a conference comparison (in the past). We would compare ourselves to academic research engines like Penn State, NYU and Maryland in our area. Those are kind of programs we benchmark against. Universities like Ohio State are very similar for us because it's a multi-campus structure. We look at things like that as we go through and plan the class and see how we're doing against our competitors."
Rutgers applications reaching record heights after Big Ten, CIC entry
Ryan Dunleavy, @rydunleavy 7:03 a.m. EDT March 30, 2015
NEW BRUNSWICK – Future applicants to Rutgers University can start by solving this equation: B1G + CIC = X.
Here is a helpful hint: In the ninth months since the school became a member of Big Ten Conference (B1G) athletics and the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) for academic research, Rutgers admissions has become more selective.
The school experienced a 12 percent increase in applicants and a 15 percent increase in out-of-state applicants – especially concentrated in the Midwest – compared to 2013-14 data, according to the admissions office.
"This increase is the largest that I've ever seen in one year," said Courtney McAnuff, Rutgers vice president for enrollment management. "Typically, if you go up one or two percent that's a good year."
McAnuff attributes the spike in interest from prospective students to a "perfect combination" of factors that also includes Rutgers' position as No. 33 in the World University Rankings and the introduction of the new Honors College to open in August. The average SAT score of admitted students is up more than 20 points.
"We did expect a bump, but this is greater than we thought, and it's earlier than I thought," McAnuff said. "Sometimes it takes a couple years for you to really see the benefits, but this is fairly immediate. We have a double-digit (increase) in every Big Ten state with the exception of Ohio, which is level."
The school's regular athletics presence on the Big Ten Network, intertwined with commercials targeting a young audience or trumpeting academic achievements, is a selling point that was not available in the past. One popular ad inspired by the television show "Game of Thrones" highlights Rutgers' geographical position between New York and Philadelphia.
"You can't buy the exposure you get from athletics and you can't buy the exposure you get from the Big Ten," McAnuff said. "It's hard to quantify it, but what athletics does is build brand awareness. The name of the university is repeated much more often than it would be and people become familiar with the name. It's that brand that gives it value and that brand that people will apply to and people will pay for."
McAnuff said Rutgers experienced a similar jump in interest during the 2006-07 academic year, when the football team started 9-0 to garner national headlines and cracked the top 10 in all the major polls. The women's basketball team played in the NCAA Tournament national championship game in April 2007.
But even that data does not equal what Rutgers President Robert Barchi recently called "unprecedented improvement" in a letter to Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union). Rutgers football went 8-5 and beat traditional power Michigan in its first Big Ten season.
"I always think success matters because you like to win, but its exposure first," McAnuff said. "People normally make assumptions that because it's a great athletic program it's a great academic program. We had the Michigan game where several thousand Michigan fans came and were amazed by the size of Rutgers. It's that word of mouth that will help us a few years down the road."
More than 48,000 applications are expected this academic year, with more than 30,000 alone for the New Brunswick campus, both of which are school records, according to McAnuff.
"The competition level to be admitted is much higher," McAnuff said. "We are probably going to take fewer students in New Brunswick, more students in Camden and Newark. I think the competition for entry into New Brunswick is being ratcheted up several notches."
Rutgers has a floating deadline but most students accepted to the New Brunswick campus have been notified and most New Brunswick schools are closed for first-year students in the fall semester. Rutgers-Camden and Rutgers-Newark remain open and transfer applications still are being reviewed.
The impact is being felt across the board as applications to Mason Gross School of Arts (20 percent), Rutgers Business School (12 percent) and the School of Engineering (10 percent) are rising quickly. Rutgers-Camden and Rutgers-Newark applications are up more than 10 percent in-state and out of state, McAnuff said.
"This is a real application increase," McAnuff said. "Sometimes schools change their application or they are on a common application and it's easier for students around the country to apply by checking off a box. We didn't do any of that. We still have the same application. It's unique. Students take the time to fill out the Rutgers application and send it in."
Rutgers previously had most of its athletic programs in the American Athletic Conference for one year after the break-up of the old Big East, its home from 1995-2013. Admittance into the Big Ten has created an athletic-academic synergy, as the University of Chicago is the only non-Big Ten school in the CIC.
"We're right up top, very close, with all the Big Ten schools in terms of number of applications," McAnuff said.
"It wasn't necessarily a conference comparison (in the past). We would compare ourselves to academic research engines like Penn State, NYU and Maryland in our area. Those are kind of programs we benchmark against. Universities like Ohio State are very similar for us because it's a multi-campus structure. We look at things like that as we go through and plan the class and see how we're doing against our competitors."
