2008 Woodie Awards
Non-essay applications on the rise
Increase seen in Dean's Priority applications over past five years
De Andra Kenoly, Staff WriterWith the Nov. 30 early action admissions deadline not far away, high school seniors filling out the Dean's Priority application are not required to submit an admissions essay.
Over the past five years there has been a steady increase in the number of prospective students submitting Dean's Priority applications, director of enrollment Fred Pfursich said.
The Dean's Priority application allows students to apply for admission at Whitworth without submitting an application essay.
The application encourages students to apply, especially students for whom Whitworth would be a good fit, Pfursich said.
The Dean's Priority application is sent to official prospective students, Pfursich said. Students get on the official prospective student list through various ways, such as by taking tour of the school, Pfursich said.
"These students have expressed a significant interest in Whitworth," Pfursich said.
According to data compiled by the admissions office, 36 percent of freshman applicants for fall 2007 applied using the Dean's Priority application.
49 percent of freshman Dean's Priority applicants were accepted, Pfursich said.
The idea that students only apply to Whitworth because there is not an essay required for the Dean's Priority application does not hold true, Pfursich said, because most of the students are writing essays for other admissions applications.
Other schools, such as University of Portland, have a similar application, Pfursich said.
"Ninety-nine percent of our applicants apply to other colleges [or] universities," Pfursich said. "They are writing at least one essay for other applications and they could submit this same essay to Whitworth."
Freshman Naomi Shaw said she has heard that some students apply to Whitworth partly because they do not have to write an essay.
"I have heard so many people say that was definitely one of the top reasons they applied," Shaw said.
Junior Brielle Fuller said she also heard that from students.
"I had heard of other students not writing essays for Whitworth," Fuller said.
Fuller, who was required to write an admissions essay, said she did not have a problem with writing one.
"I believe people who truly want to attend Whitworth, just as [with] other colleges, would have no problem writing a few standardized essays," Fuller said.
Although an essay is not required for Dean's Priority applicants, Pfursich said the admissions office will accept an essay if a student chooses to submit one.
Students have the option of submitting the admissions essays they write for other schools, Pfursich said
Pfursich said he tells prospective students, "Submitting an essay can only help you."
The essay is used to gain a greater understanding of the student, Pfursich said.
"The essay gives us insight into an applicant as a person," Pfursich said. "The more we know about an applicant, the better."
The admissions office has other ways of assessing a student's writing ability, Pfursich said.
The admissions office has access to the writing component of each applicant's SAT scores, Pfursich said. The SAT essay can be used as an assessment of a student's writing ability.
Pfursich said although the admissions office enjoys reviewing the essays, they found that essays are not the best indicator of how well a student will perform in college.
"The most significant indicator for success in college is a student's high school transcript," Pfursich said.
Pfursich said part of the challenge in requiring an admissions essay is that the admissions office cannot always be sure of who is writing the essays. It is difficult to assume that students did not receive any help in writing the essay, Pfursich said.
"It is hard to say 'This essay truly represents the student's writing ability,'" Pfursich said.
The admissions office uses other criteria in the admissions process, such as an applicant's extracurricular activities and academic recommendation form, Pfursich said.
Some students, such as Shaw, think it is a good thing that the essays are not heavily relied upon to determine who is accepted.
"I don't think [the essay] should weigh heavily on [the admissions process]," Shaw said. "I know people who struggle in the writing area, and they are so intelligent. They are very motivated to do well, but writing doesn't come naturally to them. I don't think it should be a huge determiner of who gets in."
Contact De Andra Kenoly at de.andra.kenoly@whitworthian.com.
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