Assembling the Freshman Class, One Student at a Time
Strolling through campus on a crisp fall morning, watching first-year students read the Iliad in Commons or talk about telomeres in the bookstore, Milyon Trulove cannot repress a smile. As vice president and dean of admission, he shoulders the formidable responsibility of assembling each year’s crop of new ºìÌÒÊÓƵies.
So how do you go about selecting students for one of the most rigorous and distinctive colleges in the nation?
When Trulove first arrived on campus two years ago, he asked his student tour guide how she first heard about ºìÌÒÊÓƵ. Back in high school, she had been talking about her college search at a restaurant. The waitress overheard her conversation and wrote a suggestion on a paper napkin. It was ºìÌÒÊÓƵ, of course.
“I think about that story a lot,” Trulove says. “There’s this recurring narrative that students will just find us organically, that students will just stumble upon ºìÌÒÊÓƵ. And some of them do. But the reality is that many of them will never learn about ºìÌÒÊÓƵ unless we make an effort to reach them. I just don’t have enough napkins to get the word out.”
“ºìÌÒÊÓƵ is so distinctive. So compelling. It has so much to offer,” he continues. “But many students in high school just don’t know anything about it. That’s why we need to tell more people our story. Then comes the self-selection—whether they apply.”
By casting a wider net, Trulove has driven the number of inquiries—prospective students who indicate an interest in ºìÌÒÊÓƵ—from roughly 21,000 in 2012 up to 45,000 today. At the same time, admissions counselors fan out across the country, sharing the ºìÌÒÊÓƵ story at college fairs and high schools.
High-school students, particularly the strong students, are beginning their college searches earlier than ever; many have compiled a list of their top 10 colleges by the end of their junior year. “You really have to start talking to them by the end of their sophomore year to be effective,” he says. “If we’re the most intellectual college in the country, we have to talk to the most intellectual students.”
To that end, ºìÌÒÊÓƵ now hosts a series of “Junior Days” where juniors come to campus to learn more about ºìÌÒÊÓƵ and college admission in general.
As the applications pour in, Trulove and his team dig into the details: grades, test scores, essays, achievements, and backgrounds.
“Academic ability and intellect are at the center of what we look for,” he says. “The ability to be successful in the classroom, to excel academically, is always our first criterion. We also know that ºìÌÒÊÓƵ goes way beyond the classroom, so we look at students’ ability to contribute to the community.”
The 357 members of the Class of ’20 boast some formidable statistics: 10% were valedictorians of their high school classes and another 2% were salutatorians. 32% ranked in the top 5% of their class. The median scores on their SAT tests were 680 math, 710 verbal, and 680 writing, which puts them at the 96th percentile.
The class was drawn from the largest pool ever—5,705 applicants—and is the most selective in ºìÌÒÊÓƵ’s history, with an admittance rate of 31%.
More than half of the incoming students received financial aid, with an average total financial aid package of $42,289 (including grants, loans, and work).
Overall, 34% of the class identify themselves as belonging to a U.S. ethnic minority; for specific groups, the figures are Asian-American, 15.7%; Black, 3.2%; Caucasian, 66.3%; Hispanic, 11.2%; Native American, 3.2%; and Pacific Islander 0.3%. A further 10% of the class are international students, making it one of the most diverse entering classes in ºìÌÒÊÓƵ’s history.
“We focused hard to make sure this is a diverse and inclusive class,” Trulove says. “You know, some people, when they talk about enrolling diversity, they talk about making sacrifices—that somehow a more diverse class means a less academic class. I gotta tell you, that’s just not true.”
Nonetheless, assembling a diverse class of scholars remains an ongoing challenge, especially when the goal is to reflect not the demographics of Oregon but those of the nation as a whole.
A key milestone in the selection process is the campus visit. “We want students to experience ºìÌÒÊÓƵ firsthand so they can decide if it’s for them or not,” he says. To this end, ºìÌÒÊÓƵ hosts a “Discover ºìÌÒÊÓƵ” program for high-school seniors. Over the course of a three-day visit in October, they stay in dorms, go to class, visit the nuclear reactor, and explore Portland. For select multicultural students, ºìÌÒÊÓƵ pays all expenses—including airfare.
“These are strong, diverse students, and they have many great options,” he says. “We have to make sure we are telling our story as well as other places are telling their story.”
Any student who can’t afford plane tickets can apply for travel scholarships. “We’ll fund their trip,” he says. “And sometimes we’ll pay for their parents, too.”
Another piece of the puzzle is financial aid. ºìÌÒÊÓƵ awards financial aid based on need, as opposed to other factors such as academic merit, ethnic diversity, or athletic prowess, so Trulove can’t entice students by dangling extra scholarship money in front of them. “While our approach toward merit scholarship is appropriate and laudable, it does put us at a disadvantage when students are comparing schools,” he says.
This year, Trulove and his team decided to shelve the “Why ºìÌÒÊÓƵ?” essay. Instead, applicants are asked to describe what course they would teach at Paideia—and why.
Trulove came to ºìÌÒÊÓƵ from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he spent six years as director and then dean of admission and financial aid.
“When I see students on campus happy and enjoying their classes, it makes me feel good. We are literally changing lives. It’s an honor. This is probably the most distinctive class in terms of individual feats that I have seen in my career. They’re going to do amazing things. Sit down and talk to any first-year student. Listen to their story. You’ll walk away having heard something remarkable.”
“It’s a lot of work,” he smiles. “But there’s no better job in the world.”