Admissions debuts new online application today

Just in time for the holidays, the Office of Admissions will unwrap a new present for prospective students. Starting today prospective students will be able to submit applications to the College of Arts and Sciences via the world wide web.

The addition of the on-line application, which will be directly accessible from Oberlin Online, speaks to the current trend towards computer-based admissions. "It's a pretty exciting moment. We are headed full fledge into cyberspace recruitment," said Director of Admissions Debra Chermonte.

Prospective students will be able to submit all of their background information, as well as their written essays, with the on-line application. "They don't need any paper copies of anything," said Admissions Senior Assistant Director Aaron Milenski. Except for a page with their signature and teacher recommendations, the application can be submitted entirely electronically.

"We track down how students contact us. The percentage of students sending paper forms to apply has decreased," said Chermonte. "So much of our business is done by e-mail and fax these days."

Admissions has sent out postcards to prospective students and high school guidance counselors to notify them of the new on-line application.

Besides just drawing together a talented pool of students, Admissions tries to keep abridge of the latest trends in college admissions. Chermonte said, "It's challenging to keep up with what's going on out there." Milenski researched on-line applications before Admissions implemented them, and noted that less than half of the colleges he polled offer on-line applications. However, on-line applications have been "extremely successful" at Albion College and the University of Washington at St. Louis, according to Milenski.

Oberlin hopes to continue along this same vein of success with their on-line application, as well as with their series of new chat rooms. Next Thursday evening will be the maiden voyage of Admission's chat rooms. The theme of the session will be the sciences at Oberlin. A science professor and an admission's representative will be on hand to mediate the discussion, but anyone is welcome to join the conversation. "The more the merrier," said Milenski.

With the on-line application and the new chat rooms, College Relations is expecting a little more users than usual. "I am anticipating pretty heavy traffic," said Project Director John Appley.

College Relations has been fine tuning the on-line application with a "secret site" off of Oberlin Online. One ambitious prospective student managed to find the web page, and submit an application. Appley said, "I have no idea how that happened. They must have done a site-wide search or just stumbled on it."

College Relations, including electronics intern Michelle Landau and Appley, handled the web work involved in the project, while Associate Computer Systems Manager, Everett Doner, handled some of the finer technical details.

Down the road, Admissions plans to develop a virtual campus tour. This is still in the working stages, and will not be ready until next year at the earliest.

The big question remains how the on-line application will affect admissions. "I think it's valuable, even if it doesn't increase application numbers," said Milenski.

Electronic enrollment: Part of Admission's new cyberspace venture is the online application. (graphic courtesy Oberlin Online)