TCU to be more selective
By Carmen Castro
Staff Reporter

Every year, thousands of high school seniors across the country are finding it harder to get into colleges and universities.

Universities like TCU are becoming more selective with their admissions process. In fact, TCU is now one of the more selective universities in the state of Texas with a 64.9 percent applicant acceptance rate, said Jim Atwood, assistant to the dean of admissions.

Dean of Admissions Ray Brown said TCU is becoming more selective but will never be as selective as schools like Rice University, where only about 25 percent of applicants are accepted.

TCU is in the second group of selective universities along with the University of Texas at Austin, Southwestern University in Georgetown and Trinity University in San Antonio. For these universities, the rate for accepted applications is between 64 percent and 67 percent, he said.

Brown said selectivity is only a function of how many applications are received and how many the university can accept.

“Greater selectivity is due to an abundance of interest for TCU,” Brown said. “But there is a difference between having a selective admissions process and profiling a student.”

Brown said TCU does not solely consider applicants on grades, class ranking or SAT and ACT scores. He said profiling is not something TCU does, and essays, as well as the optional creative page found in the application’s package, will continue to show a student’s individuality.

There was a 25.3 percent increase in applicants for this fall’s freshmen class, Brown said. A normal increase is usually between 3 percent and 5 percent, he said.

Brown said about 600 qualified applicants had to be put on a waiting list this past year.

“TCU is a hot school,” Atwood said. “The same number of slots are available but just more interests (are) wanting them.”

Marcus Lewis, a freshman engineering major, said selectivity is cause for intimidation to perspective students who may think of TCU as the Yale or Harvard of Texas.

“It’s kind of good because it means we are getting the best out of the country to come here,” Lewis said. “And it keeps the school from getting too crowded.”

Mark Chavira, a junior business major, said TCU needs to be as selective as possible.

“It adds value to your degree if TCU has a reputation for only recruiting the best,” Chavira said.

This fall TCU has already received 222 applications compared to 191 the same time last year, Brown said.