recruiting students

[LA_Mustang]

I know this probably belongs on the ATH board but more people look here. I've always wondered how/who we recruit for academic scholarships to SMU and I'm always intrigued to see where local students choose to go when the DMN lists the HS's valedictorians and salutatorians. I quickly counted what Texas colleges the smartest kids in Dallas County chose. Kind of interesting:

Dallas Co. Public and private schools V&S attending
UT - 39
A&M - 19
UTD - 17
Rice - 10
UNT - 8
SMU - 7
TCU - 5
Baylor - 4
TWU - 4
UTA - 4

DISD:
UT - 16
A&M - 4
SMU - 3
UTD - 3
TWU - 3
UTA - 3
TCU - 2
Baylor - 2

Do we recruit the brightest local students heavily? It seems like we get a fairly small percentage of them when compared to other Texas schools. I was particularly surprised by UTD.

[LA_Mustang]

For comparison, in Tarrant Co:

TCU - 11
SMU - 1

[Digetydog]

1) If you are a National Merit Scholar, SMU throws money at you; however, most of our competitors do as well.

2) Unfortunately, there is a huge disparity in the quality of Dallas County HS. Because of how their admissions work and their inherent cost advantage, UT/TAMU are going to get many of the kids with poor test scores. While we probably will admit all of the DC Valedictorians, I doubt our financial aid packages are competitive for all of them.

3) Cultural Norms: in my culture (when I was growing up), aspirational rankings were pretty simple: Harvard/Yale, Texas/TAMU, and Everyone Else. My decision to pass on the Big State Schools was viewed as "strange" by many people in my family.

[LA_Mustang]

Digetydog,
Just curious, did you grow up in DFW?

[Digetydog]

Digetydog,
Just curious, did you grow up in DFW?

Yes, but most of my relatives are in South Texas. If I had grown up there, I would almost certainly have been an Aggie.

But for the fact that Dad took me to 1-2 SMU games per year growing up, I would not have considered SMU.

[ender3]

1) If you are a National Merit Scholar, SMU throws money at you; however, most of our competitors do as well.

This was my first thought when reading the OP. Granted, my information is 20 years out of date.

SMU throws money at NWS, but nearly to the extent that the public state schools do.

I went to SMU. I paid for it myself. I think I made the right decision.

But I could have attended multiple state schools for absolutely free. Tuition, room, books and board.

I'm sure this is a HUGE factor in the numbers the OP cites.

[deucetz]

I would also argue that beyond valedictorians, SMU doesn't market itself to public schools in North Texas.

I know when I was applying to undergraduate universities, I only applied because I had a fee waiver. I feel that SMU should own the North Texas market. Hold informational at all the schools, and if you attend you get either a free or reduced application waiver. I also applied to Baylor because due to my SAT and Class Rank, they gave me a free waiver and filled out my application. I only had to send my official SAT scores. I ended up going to a liberal arts school in New England.

US News Report meant everything. I wanted to go to a top school according to the ranking outside the state, then it was UT/A&M. It's hard for SMU to challenge UT/A&M based on affordability and cool factor. For my high school, it was either going to a top 25 school or UT/A&M.

[smudubs]

I would also argue that beyond valedictorians, SMU doesn't market itself to public schools in North Texas.

I know when I was applying to undergraduate universities, I only applied because I had a fee waiver. I feel that SMU should own the North Texas market. Hold informational at all the schools, and if you attend you get either a free or reduced application waiver. I also applied to Baylor because due to my SAT and Class Rank, they gave me a free waiver and filled out my application. I only had to send my official SAT scores. I ended up going to a liberal arts school in New England.

US News Report meant everything. I wanted to go to a top school according to the ranking outside the state, then it was UT/A&M. It's hard for SMU to challenge UT/A&M based on affordability and cool factor. For my high school, it was either going to a top 25 school or UT/A&M.

I somewhat disagree with this statement. I've posted this before, but SMU did a good job of recruiting my son as a student. They offered him fee waivers multiple times. They filled out the majority of his application. They even extended the deadline for him to apply early and regular admission when he didn't apply. Where they failed was at the college fairs and campus tours. They were easily the least friendly people we talked to, even with my wife and I wearing SMU gear. My daughter is now a senior and we're seeing the same thing with her. We visited Wellesley today and I've never been to a more welcoming admission office. I would expect that treatment at SMU and not there.

[LA_Mustang]

Thanks for sharing your experience, smudubs. I hope you sent a letter to the recruitment/admissions office. That's unacceptable to have representatives at a career fair being unfriendly