Admission standards rise

This year, Viterbo has changed the way it is admitting students.

 

The number of applicants rejected to Viterbo from the 2009-2010 year to the 2010-2011 year has gone up from 5 to 54. Why is this? Have the admission standards of Viterbo gone up?

 

Robert Forget, this year the new Dean of Admissions, said, "It is not that the official standards at Viterbo have changed. Viterbo still has the same requirements this year as it did last year. When students are admitted, we still look at the applicants who have a GPA of 2.5 or higher, or an ACT of 18 or higher."

 

"What has changed is that we are trying to be more careful about who we admit to Viterbo," said Forget. "We in admissions want to make sure that those applicants who we admit to Viterbo are academically prepared. The question that we ask ourselves is does this student have the ability to succeed at  Viterbo?"

 

In the past, this has not always been a factor in the end result of who was eventually admitted to Viterbo, said Jane Eddy, director of the Learning Center, and a member of the review committee. She said that the committee was not always sure who was going to be admitted to Viterbo after the applicant's file left the review committee.

 

"This year, if the applicant has one of three things, a GPA below 2.5, an ACT below 20, or they are not in the top half of their class, that applicant is sent to the review committee where we deliberate over whether the applicant will be successful," said Eddy.

 

"Once the review committee looks over an applicant's record, if we don't think the student has the ability to succeed, we don't admit them." Forget said.

 

"There is no one thing that gets a student accepted to Viterbo. Someone with an ACT sore of 18may have a GPA of 3.5, and a 56 percentile class rank," said Eddy. The review committee takes this into consideration, Eddy continued.

 

Over the past year, Viterbo has admitted 952 freshman students out of 1,330 applicants.

 

"Though 54 rejected applicants is a big increase from last year, it is not that big of a number. We turned these applicants away because we did not think they could succeed at Viterbo," said Forget.

 

"As Dean of Admissions, I am looking to get students who are going to come back to Viterbo the next year," Forget said.

 

"By admitting students who are not prepared for college, we are losing students," continued Forget. "So for Viterbo to increase enrollment, we can first start be admitting students who we think will succeed and come back next year," said Forget.

 

"Each year about 30 percent of the incoming freshmen dropout. Not all of them dropout because of poor college performance, but some of them do. By noticing this, we can start by admitting students who are more prepared for college," said Forget.

 

Wayne Wojciechowski assistant to the academic vice president said, "In the past, there have been some students that were admitted to Viterbo that were not prepared for college. Until a couple of years ago, when I and Barbara Gayle started the Student Success Program, for those students on the borderline of being success, there was a 60 percent (dropout rate)."

 

The borderline students or At Risk students are those with an ACT sore of 18 or below, or a GPA below 2.5, said Wojciechowski.

 

Barbara Gayle, academic vice president said, "A couple of years ago, to help students on the borderline of being academically prepared, the school set up the Student Success Program."

 

"What we found out by doing this is that there is a threshold where students are not successful no matter how much we try to help them," said Gayle. "For some Viterbo students who we think have the potential to succeed at Viterbo."

 

Though Viterbo has certain requirements, there have been 65 people who were admitted on a conditional basis this year, mentioned Wojciechowski.

 

Wojciechowski said, "Once an At Risk student is admitted to Viterbo, it is our job to help them graduate."

 

"It is possible to turn a failing student into a successful one. Success is contagious," Wojciechowski said. He also said that he has seen students with poor academic records walk through his door and come out of Viterbo successful.

 

"We make these At Risk students sign a contract. Then we take them on the condition that they take classes in the Learning Center. We believe that though they fall below in one area, such as a low ACT sore, that they still have the potential to succeed at Viterbo," said Wojciechowski.

 

Gayle said, "The Student Success Program has worked well in the last two years. This year the changes in the admissions office are a new way of doing things, so we do not know the long term outcome, or if the changes will help to retain students."

 

Yet, when asked about this year's admissions process Eddy said, "I feel very positive about the decision making process going on in admissions this year."