Online college applications soar

By ROBERT TOMSHO

The Wall Street Journal

Posted on Sun, Jan. 29, 2006

Online college applications are surging, stoked by an array of tactics that schools have adopted to nudge applicants away from traditional paper filings.

The development started as an effort by colleges to cut costs and make life simpler for admissions officers. Now it has turned into a way for families to save money: In a bid to encourage more applicants to apply online, fees are often waived for electronic applications. But for many applicants, online filing has added more anxiety, and work, to what is already a stressful time.

“Students will send it electronically, then they will fax it to you and then they will send it snail mail,” said William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions at Harvard University.

Such fears aren’t turning back the tide. With several weeks left to go in the current college application season, about 85 percent of students are using the Web to apply at Michigan State University, up from 70 percent last year.

Admissions officials at Johns Hopkins University expect more than 80 percent of incoming freshmen to apply online, and three out of four applications are coming electronically at Ohio State University, Yale University and Middlebury College in Vermont.

About 57 percent of students who sought admission to colleges and universities in 2004 did so online, up from 35 percent in 2003, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, which hasn’t finished its 2005 tally.

Students who apply for early admission to a university generally must file by mid-November and are given a decision in December. Those seeking regular admission usually face early January deadlines and hear back in April.

Most colleges say they don’t expect to abolish paper applications anytime soon because of concerns over what that would mean for low-income students.

But because of the savings they reap on printing and processing costs, a few schools are making it harder not to apply electronically. The University of Dayton in Ohio is one that accepts only online applications. The University of Texas no longer routinely prints and distributes paper admissions forms; students who want one must request it from a state agency.

Admissions professionals say the technical glitches that some students and parents fear have become rarer with each year. But they do still occur, especially around busy deadlines. An increasing number of schools also now have an auto-reply system that confirms an application was received; some will even send subsequent e-mails updating students on the progress of their application.

High school guidance counselors say a far bigger problem with online applications is what hasn’t changed. Though applications can be transmitted electronically, guidance counselors must still send grade transcripts and letters of recommendation via mailed paper copies. With most online applications, it’s up to the students to tell guidance counselors they have applied to a given college.

So why risk an online application?

For now, money is one reason. Schools like Case Western Reserve University, Colgate University and Wellesley College waive application fees for online filers, which would otherwise run $25 to $75 per school. In terms of the content of the applications, admissions counselors note that some online forms make it electronically difficult to exceed suggested length limits on essays, usually about 500 words. Otherwise, schools say that the essay demands and application are the same for both paper and online applicants.

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Tips

■ Make sure a parent, teacher or guidance counselor reviews the application for errors before sending.

■ Print out a paper copy for your own records.

■ Advise guidance counselors of online applications so they can send accompanying transcripts and recommendations.

■ Follow up with the college admissions office to make sure the application is complete.