NH colleges flooded with admissions applications

PORTSMOUTH – More high school seniors than ever want in to New Hampshire's colleges and universities this spring -- and more students than ever are getting turned away, according to officials across the state.

The University of New Hampshire was flooded with record numbers of applications; 16,219 seniors applied to UNH this year, up 7.47 percent from last year, according to media relations director Erika Mantz.

While 63 percent of this year's applicants were accepted, UNH turned away about 37 percent, also up from last year, Mantz said.

Among the state's more exclusive private colleges, Dartmouth College this year had 16,536 seniors apply for about 1,000 spots, up from 14,176 last year, and 13.2 percent were admitted compared to 15 percent last year, according to Genevieve Haas, a public affairs officer at the college.

Translated, this means Dartmouth turned away roughly 14,000 applicants this year, up from 12,000 last year, Haas said.

The figures in New Hampshire are consistent with national numbers showing record totals of applicants to, and rejections from, elite colleges and universities.

What's happening, said Tom Duffy, senior planner for the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning, is that members of the "echo generation" -- the children of the baby boom -- are now applying to college en masse.

"Apparently, they're making themselves felt in admissions offices now, and admissions are in a similar position to what they were in when their ranks were swelling with boomers," Duffy said. "They're in fat city."

Statewide, the number of New Hampshire high school seniors rose 18 percent, from about 14,800 in the fall of 2000 to 17,500 in the fall of 2006, Duffy said, adding, "That's why (admissions staffers) are happy folks right now."

Plymouth State University officials report a smaller-scale, though similar trend.

"At this point, our applications are up this year for the third straight year," said public relations director Christopher Williams. "Over the last several years, the number of applications has increased, the average SAT scores has increased, the number who make us their first choice has increased, and the percentage of students we accept and who come has increased," said Williams.

For 2008, 4,850 students have applied to PSU, compared to 4,700 at this time last year. Of those applicants, 2,922 have been accepted, up from 2,805 last year.

"The quality of our applicants is increasing," Williams said. "On the whole, the student who is being accepted to Plymouth State University is a better-performing student."

More college applicants generally mean the state's institutions of higher learning can be choosier.

At UNH, the quality of applicants has risen steadily, said Mantz.

"It's an increase, but not every kid's a straight-A student. A lot of things go into deciding how a student is accepted," she said.

Dartmouth is turning away more high school seniors because more are applying, and usually, they are stellar students, Haas said.

"Of the students admitted to Dartmouth, 93.4 percent were in the top 10 percent of their high school classes," Haas said. "The average SAT scores for those admitted were 726 for the verbal, 731 for math, and 726 for writing -- all in the 99th percentile."

All this is filtering down to the high school level.

For this year's seniors, Portsmouth High School guidance counselor Laurie Relinski said, "It's definitely more competitive.

"Historically, we've had very good rates of students getting into schools, and I don't really anticipate that changing," said Relinski. "What might change is the school they're going to. Some students who might in the past have gotten into Ivy League schools may get into the next tier."

Relinski also sees a slight increase in kids going on to two-year schools.

"I'm speculating that has to do with the astronomical cost of college," she said. "Students are choosing to go to community.college, then transferring (to a four-year school) later. That's going to be a growing trend because of the cost."