Incoming Freshman Class

[friarwolf]

Setting up to be a big class numbers-wise and the metrics are good.........

[Pony81]

Any details you can share?

[deucetz]

I hope that this includes that SMU had a lower acceptance rate.

I would think SMU would want lower its class size so they can be more competitive for US News. I hope they aren't trying to get a larger class for revenue generating purposes.

[friarwolf]

Not a revenue thing, just a larger than expected number of kids committing to come. We're not having to hit the wait list and the scores of the kids on the wait list are really strong. We'll see if this holds up.....

[gostangs]

We need to get bigger also - which is hard while improving. Hoping we can work up to 8k undergrads within 5 years

[deucetz]

What's the rationale of getting bigger? I feel until SMU can graduate 90% of graduates in 5 years and have an almost equally high employment or graduate school acceptance than the class size shouldn't be touched.

SMU isn't even in the top 50 of US News, going bigger only hurts the rankings.

[Greenwich Pony]

Unless there is a compelling financial reason to do so, we don't need to get any bigger on the undergraduate side.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Wouldn't mind slipping a few spots if we were good at sports.

[gostangs]

Bigger means more people that want SMU to do well at everything. The DFW region has doubled in 15 years and we are the same size. There are only three schools smaller than us in D-1. Dallas looks at us as they should - small insular school. We need to get a bigger share of mind and graduating an additional 300 undergrads a year would help a ton. If we did it slowly it wouldn't hirt our academic numbers.

[deucetz]

I didn't go to college at SMU, just went to grad school here so I have a different perspective than some on this board.

I don't think just adding more students will be helpful unless all those students are going to the engineering school and are from another state that also has a booming economy. Since students will hopefully find jobs back at their respective states.

I think Gerald Turner must go, simply for the fact that he isn't good at managing the academic side of SMU. He is a great fundraiser, but brick and mortar can only take you so far. I mean SMU is beautiful, but most liberal arts school in the east coast are as well. In fact, SMU could never look as beautiful since they simply don't make them like they used to. Some of these schools are 300+ years old (I wish the majority of the school looked liked Dallas Hall inside and out). What distinguishes them from SMU, is the academic side. I don't think more students is the answer without a well executed plan.

Even with a smaller institution size, SMU still struggles with attracting students, having them graduate on time, and then once they graduate having them give back. Many of the early alums are from Dallas or Texas. What struck me once I came to SMU, was the lack of pride students had of the institution. Many of the undergrads talked about how rich the students were or how beautiful the campus was in comparison to most schools in Texas. I can assure you students at Rice are not talking like that. That's why it's been great that the Basketball program could help bring alums back together, hopefully the football program will have the same effect. I think beyond sports, SMU could do a better job having students enjoy their academic experience and build camaraderie with their classmates. That's why the new housing model is great. I think for SMU to get better they need to have students stay on campus until junior year and not allow first or second year student with cars on campus.

I feel SMU should be closer to Rice academically but put more emphasis in sports ( I know SMU won't just jump in rankings but getting higher quality faculty and emphasizing research will help) . In addition, SMU needs to do a better job reaching out to the surrounding communities outside Highland Park, Allen or Plano. I think it's safe that Dallas has grown this much, but the popularity hasn't seen as much of an increase. I obviously don't know the answers but SMU needs to do better. Almost every great city has a great recognizable university, but SMU still isn't that for Dallas. I mean what's the last Rhodes Scholar to come to the university? Most elite schools have an office, that grooms students from their freshman year for awards such as the Rhodes, Truman, Goldwater and Fulbright.

I want SMU to be better for North Texas (I hate that it's become a name for Dallas/ Ft. Worth. Thanks to the Cowboys). I just feel the institution needs to do a better job with a higher quality academic experience, and become more inclusive.

[Greenwich Pony]

I absolutely agree. We don't need to be bigger on the undergraduate side, we need to be better. Dallas should have a recognizable world-class academic institution, and it doesn't. The Residential Commons is a (half-somethinged) step in the right direction for more school pride and integration, but over the years we have not really increased our academic profile by that much. In fact over the last decade the reps of our law and business school have sagged and seem to just be starting to recover.

I am very understanding that it is a very difficult climb, I work with a number of top academic institutions in my job, but we more or less have remained in the same 60's in the USNWR (and understanding that it not a perfect measure, but it is the one the administration discusses and is the most visible) since the 1990's. In fact we have seen lesser rivals rise far faster than we've ever done while we mark time. We've raised a load of money, we've created some new academic assets but we really haven't done enough to become a top university. We generate little to no academic buzz, we lack a university press, we are largely followers and not leaders and we are seen as a footnote. Until that changes, we're going to watch lesser institutions pass us by.

As to athletics, we are in Texas and not the Northeast. Our academic reputation isn't strong enough to be a draw, we need big-time athletics to create appeal for prospective students, for donors and for brand recognition. This administration has done a terrible job managing a key PR and outreach function of the university. You want the Dallas community behind SMU? Consistently win with local talent and the community will follow. I want to be mentioned in the same breath as top universities and if sacrificing athletics was the way to guaranty that I would be first on board, but the truth is that we need them and we need them to be strong. It may be too late and that is laid directly at the feet of the administration.

[PonySnob]

Wouldn't mind slipping a few spots if we were good at sports.

This!


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[TidePony]

Our peers:

Wake Forest: 7591
SMU: 11643
Vandy: 12686
Tulane: 13449
Duke: 14950
Northwestern: 20955
Syracuse: 21267

Source: Wikipedia

[leopold]

Unless there is a compelling financial reason to do so, we don't need to get any bigger on the undergraduate side.

Except for perhaps educating a kid?

[Greenwich Pony]

From an institutional standpoint, there is no compelling reason to expand the undergrad program. We are just within the range where our peer organizations are and what our current resources can handle in terms of undergrads. We do need to expand the graduate program. I note that Tide's numbers include both grad and undergrad students.