MU Strategic Plan

[warriorchick]

I agree it's important to be improving the communication of excellence for MU academically. Boosting into a significantly higher ranking would be similar to what the Final Four did for admissions, but based on academics.

Disagree that the USNWR is an objective measure, but some of the underlying metrics are certainly measured by MU and something they are trying to boost:

1) # of applicants
2) Yield
3) Avg GPA/Test Scores

These things all rose with the Final Four, and should continue to rise for non-basketball reasons as well.

Marquette can only accommodate about 2000 new students per year.  They are not interested in significantly increasing that number.  If they are already hitting their enrollment targets (which they are) they cannot increase the number of applicants and the yield at the same time.

[4everwarriors]

Ya can increase da number of applicants snd decrease the yield doe, resultin' in a more select class, witch is what folks here are sayin', hey?

[GGGG]

Ya can increase da number of applicants snd decrease the yield doe, resultin' in a more select class, witch is what folks here are sayin', hey?

And increase your costs in the process.  Smart plan.

[warriorchick]

Ya can increase da number of applicants snd decrease the yield doe, resultin' in a more select class, witch is what folks here are sayin', hey?

Actually, no, unless "boosting the yield" means decreasing it.  The yield is the percentage of accepted students who enroll, not the percentage of applicants.

Schools always want to have as high of a yield as possible.  That's why Early Decision has become so popular among top tier schools.  When a student applies for an Early Decision, he or she is promising to enroll in that school if they are accepted. Theoretically, the yield among your Early Decision applicants will be 100%.  That's why if you really have your heart set on a school, it's best to apply for Early Decision if they offer it.  They are more likely to accept a borderline application if they know it's a "done deal", as it were.

[GGGG]

Actually, no, unless "boosting the yield" means decreasing it.  The yield is the percentage of accepted students who enroll, not the percentage of applicants.

Schools always want to have as high of a yield as possible.  That's why Early Decision has become so popular among top tier schools.  When a student applies for an Early Decision, he or she is promising to enroll in that school if they are accepted. Theoretically, the yield among your Early Decision applicants will be 100%.  That's why if you really have your heart set on a school, it's best to apply for Early Decision if they offer it.  They are more likely to accept a borderline application if they know it's a "done deal", as it were.

Exactly.  You are on a roll!

That is the exact problem with this metric.  It goes against well established business practices used across the industry today.  People have bitched and moaned about Marquette's tuition.  Well here we have a recruitment and admissions process that has become more cost effective, and people are complaining about that too.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Ya can increase da number of applicants snd decrease the yield doe, resultin' in a more select class, witch is what folks here are sayin', hey?

One way to increase applications is to solicit students with no chance to of getting in.  Bombard them with junk mail, waive application fees, give them false hope.

None of this improves the quality of Marquette's incoming class.  It does waste a lot of money and may improve arbitrary rankings.  Not sure it will increase student quality of students that actually attend Marquette.

[warriorchick]

The percentage of applications accepted is a meaningless number.

Imagine going into a college website to apply (let's call it Frozena University, or F.U.), and the first thing that pops up is a screen that said,

"Look, I am sure you are a great kid with many accomplishments, but we don't want to give out any false hope or waste your time, so we will to be honest with you.  If you are below the 90th percentile on your SAT or ACT, you aren't getting in, no matter how amazing your extracurriculars, your essay, or your references are.  Last year, no one who was accepted or got on our waitlist was below the 95th percentile.  If you still want to apply, that's cool, but we just want to be straight with you."

Wouldn't that cause applications to plummet, and as a result, the acceptance rate to skyrocket?  And in it what way did that negatively impact the quality of the education received at F.U.?

[muwarrior69]

The percentage of applications accepted is a meaningless number.

Imagine going into a college website to apply (let's call it Frozena University, or F.U.), and the first thing that pops up is a screen that said,

"Look, I am sure you are a great kid with many accomplishments, but we don't want to give out any false hope or waste your time, so we will to be honest with you.  If you are below the 90th percentile on your SAT or ACT, you aren't getting in, no matter how amazing your extracurriculars, your essay, or your references are.  Last year, no one who was accepted or got on our waitlist was below the 95th percentile.  If you still want to apply, that's cool, but we just want to be straight with you."

Wouldn't that cause applications to plummet, and as a result, the acceptance rate to skyrocket?  And it what way to did that negatively impact the quality of the education received at F.U.?

What a metaphor for all those elite schools.

[warriorchick]

What a metaphor for all those elite schools.

Oh, really?  I hadn't noticed.   

[Herman Cain]

This is part of the problem. It's been a long time since I was at Marquette, but I do remember a fairly substantial east coast presence among my fellow students. Marquette knows it needs to expand its regional focus outside Wisconsin and Suburban Chicago (let's understand what Marquette's Midwest really means, here) to ensure it has a strong, diverse student body. When we come from different regions and from different cultures and visions, we're all better off.

Basketball is a big part of this geographical diversity because it keeps Marquette in the national spotlight. A crappy basketball team and we become more regional in focus.

I don't disagree that the Jesuit values are very important. I have two children at a state university which was right for them academically but the campus environment is so much different that what I remember Marquette to be. Some of that is the changing times and some is just simply the lack of an overhanging Catholicism. There's something about the openness of what Marquette subscribes to that's extremely important, both years ago and now.

I have spent many hours with parents and students trying to get them to attend  MU. We have so much to offer, but many can just not overcome the  high acceptance rate and correspondingly lower US News ranking. When parents and students are making a commitment of up to a quarter of a million dollars they want something for their money.

We want lots of people out there saying that they could not get into MU. It makes us a more elite institution. Yes I know many years ago we were the private school that was accessible to the common man. Those days are long gone.

One of the related problems, is our admissions department makes no effort at all to come to the top public schools in our area. There are so many kids who would love to hear from Marquette and the market is much bigger than they think. We could increase the viable applicants very easily. Spend a couple days going to schools in each of the major suburban  sectors of the tri state area i.e. CT, Long Island, NJ, Westchester etc.

[GGGG]

I have spent many hours with parents and students trying to get them to attend  MU. We have so much to offer, but many can just not overcome the  high acceptance rate and correspondingly lower US News ranking. When parents and students are making a commitment of up to a quarter of a million dollars they want something for their money.

Please stop trying to sell Marquette to those people.  They are dumb.  Neither acceptance rate nor USNWR rankings has anything to do with the quality product they will receive.

We want lots of people out there saying that they could not get into MU. It makes us a more elite institution. Yes I know many years ago we were the private school that was accessible to the common man. Those days are long gone.

Marquette has higher standards now than when I was in school.  Acceptance rate isn't really a function of that however.  Acceptance rate simply means you have convinced a bunch of people to apply who can't get in.

One of the related problems, is our admissions department makes no effort at all to come to the top public schools in our area.

Good.  It's a waste of resources.

[Herman Cain]

Please stop trying to sell Marquette to those people.  They are dumb.


Marquette has higher standards now than when I was in school.  Acceptance rate isn't really a function of that however.  Acceptance rate simply means you have convinced a bunch of people to apply who can't get in.


Good.  It's a waste of resources.

Your answers are reflective of  the type of  lower tier student we are trying to get away from attracting. We need a much better grade of student to who will ultimately go on to be leaders in their chosen fields. That brings a much higher profile to the school.

[warriorchick]

Your answers are reflective of  the type of  lower tier student we are trying to get away from attracting. We need a much better grade of student to who will ultimately go on to be leaders in their chosen fields. That brings a much higher profile to the school.

Because current alumni aren't leaders in their fields? 

[GGGG]

Your answers are reflective of  the type of  lower tier student we are trying to get away from attracting. We need a much better grade of student to who will ultimately go on to be leaders in their chosen fields. That brings a much higher profile to the school.

And your ideas suggest that you are completely ignorant about how most private schools go about targeting and selecting their students these days.  Your thoughts are outdated and out of place.  There are numerous schools, both public and private, who have increased the quality of their incoming students without worrying about acceptance rate and ratings.

[jesmu84]

And your ideas suggest that you are completely ignorant about how most private schools go about targeting and selecting their students these days.  Your thoughts are outdated and out of place.  There are numerous schools, both public and private, who have increased the quality of their incoming students without worrying about acceptance rate and ratings.

Come on Sultan, you're just another "loser alumni". Welcome to the club.

[Herman Cain]

Because current alumni aren't leaders in their fields?

We have a handful of big league people. We need more as the good ones retire and die . Creating new movers and shakers takes decades. Have to start now if want to make progress on the goal. No reason in my mind that we can't have same profile as BC or Georgetown. For now our first goal needs to be achieving parity with Villanova in US News.

[4everwarriors]

Just ta be clear, its Georgetown, BC, ND and da also rans. Those schools are on a ho different level than places like Loyola, Creighton, SLU, Detroit, Fordham, MU, etc. Not even a ballgame, hey?

[Herman Cain]

Just ta be clear, its Georgetown, BC, ND and da also rans. Those schools are on a ho different level than places like Loyola, Creighton, SLU, Detroit, Fordham, MU, etc. Not even a ballgame, hey?

Your correct right now it is not a ballgame. With better senior management vision we can make a run with the leaders. Even if we fall short better to set our standards high. 

[warriorchick]

We have a handful of big league people. We need more as the good ones retire and die . Creating new movers and shakers takes decades. Have to start now if want to make progress on the goal. No reason in my mind that we can't have same profile as BC or Georgetown. For now our first goal needs to be achieving parity with Villanova in US News.

I think we actually more potential bigwigs in the pipeline than we did a generation ago.  We are enrolling smarter people and the education they are receiving is better.  What we don't have, and what we need, is a Notre-Dame type PR network.  Say what you will about Domers in other areas, but they certainly know how to take care of each other, and brag about their alma mater.

We need to instill the mindset in our alumni that if you are looking to hire, the first thing to do is to work your Marquette contacts.  Put a post on the Marquette alumni LinkedIn site, attend Marquette functions, grow your MU network,  lobby your HR department to include Marquette among its college visits for recent-grad jobs.  At work, make a big deal about the fact that you are a Marquette graduate.  Brag about their rankings in Real Estate and Supply Chain management. Tell your outside accounting firm, engineering consultant, etc., that they need to hire more Marquette grads. No outsiders are going to know how great a school Marquette is if their alums don't talk about it.

[LAZER]

I think we actually more potential bigwigs in the pipeline than we did a generation ago.  We are enrolling smarter people and the education they are receiving is better.  What we don't have, and what we need, is a Notre-Dame type PR network.  Say what you will about Domers in other areas, but they certainly know how to take care of each other, and brag about their alma mater.

We need to instill the mindset in our alumni that if you are looking to hire, the first thing to do is to work your Marquette contacts.  Put a post on the Marquette alumni LinkedIn site, attend Marquette functions, grow your MU network,  lobby your HR department to include Marquette among its college visits for recent-grad jobs.  At work, make a big deal about the fact that you are a Marquette graduate.  Brag about their rankings in Real Estate and Supply Chain management. Tell your outside accounting firm, engineering consultant, etc., that they need to hire more Marquette grads. No outsiders are going to know how great a school Marquette is if their alums don't talk about it.

Couldn't agree more.  On top of this (while I graduated a while back) I felt MU's Career Services were lacking too. I would love to see MU develop more corporate sponsors and improve their over all career/alumni services.

[Herman Cain]

I think we actually more potential bigwigs in the pipeline than we did a generation ago.  We are enrolling smarter people and the education they are receiving is better.  What we don't have, and what we need, is a Notre-Dame type PR network.  Say what you will about Domers in other areas, but they certainly know how to take care of each other, and brag about their alma mater.

We need to instill the mindset in our alumni that if you are looking to hire, the first thing to do is to work your Marquette contacts.  Put a post on the Marquette alumni LinkedIn site, attend Marquette functions, grow your MU network,  lobby your HR department to include Marquette among its college visits for recent-grad jobs.  At work, make a big deal about the fact that you are a Marquette graduate.  Brag about their rankings in Real Estate and Supply Chain management. Tell your outside accounting firm, engineering consultant, etc., that they need to hire more Marquette grads. No outsiders are going to know how great a school Marquette is if their alums don't talk about it.

Marketing is a huge part of a schools reputation. A great example is the Northwestern Kellogg  School of Management. Back in my day it was considered barely at the bottom end of the top business schools. They took the people that Ivys U of C  Stanford etc rejected.  Part of the reason they had a problem was not enough grads were in high profile jobs. So they put a big marketing campaign on, moved themselves up in the rankings and convinced the major wall street and prestigious consulting firms to take more than a cursory look at their grads. Many of these grads have done very well and are plowing money back into the school. Now they have a huge new $220 million building going up on campus and have tremendous standing.
http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/about/transforming/priorities/global-hub.aspx#ad-image-0

We have a lot of strengths  as a school we just need to be better salesman and promoters . We all need to be opening doors for these kids. Great example  is Accounting , lets get as many kids into major accounting/IT consulting firms as we can. Those places give a young person a great exposure and experience, it can be a stepping stones for big things. Same with entry level Consumer Packaged Goods and Advertising , great places to build skills. One of the reasons UW was tied for the top in Fortune 500 CEOS was it had tons of grads starting out in the professions I outlined above.

That is one of the reasons I would like to see us have a bigger presence in the high end public high schools in our area. Parents who are big wigs pay attention to where various kids are going to school. Would really help if we had one kid a year from some of these places matriculate. Over time it builds our reputation in the job market.

[Disco Hippie]

I think we actually more potential bigwigs in the pipeline than we did a generation ago.  We are enrolling smarter people and the education they are receiving is better.  What we don't have, and what we need, is a Notre-Dame type PR network.  Say what you will about Domers in other areas, but they certainly know how to take care of each other, and brag about their alma mater.

We need to instill the mindset in our alumni that if you are looking to hire, the first thing to do is to work your Marquette contacts.  Put a post on the Marquette alumni LinkedIn site, attend Marquette functions, grow your MU network,  lobby your HR department to include Marquette among its college visits for recent-grad jobs.  At work, make a big deal about the fact that you are a Marquette graduate.  Brag about their rankings in Real Estate and Supply Chain management. Tell your outside accounting firm, engineering consultant, etc., that they need to hire more Marquette grads. No outsiders are going to know how great a school Marquette is if their alums don't talk about it.

I agree with most of the chick's sentiments here,  but they do express a very midwestern regional mindset.  I'm an NYC area guy through and through having spent my entire life in this area with the exception of the four years I spent in MKE.   One of the reasons Marquette doesn't have anywhere near the PR network that ND has is because 85% of their undergraduate student body grew up within 100 miles of MKE.   I'd be willing to bet that at least 50% of ND's undergraduate student body grew up more than 500 miles from South Bend, Indiana.   I grew up in southern Connecticut but my brother went to ND.  The overwhelming number of his college buddies that he still keeps in touch with weren't originally from the Midwest but the Northeast or California or Texas.   Obviously a lot of that is due to prestige, and while it's unrealistic for Marquette to replicate the geographic footprint of its undergraduate student body to ND's  or for that matter any private institution in the US news top 25,  they could still do a better job  on the national recruiting front. 

It's great that Marquette has a highly ranked program in supply chain management.  Unfortunately that means absolute Jack in this part of the country.   Marquette's finance program is also ranked in the top 20 by USNR which is awesome, but unfortunately that doesn't mean jack either because of the elitist douches who control that industry.   If you want to get an entry level finance job in NYC you have a much better chance if you go to an Ivy League or nationally ranked liberal arts college and majored in classics or philosophy.  Sad but true.   Marquette has made tremendous progress in this area though and high profile NYC Wall Street placements are on the rise among on recent MU grads, but they still face an incredibly uphill battle, not because they're any less intelligent or capable than recent grads from ivy league or other more prestigious schools,  but because MU simply doesn't have the alumni network in NYC. 

I'm generally in agreement with and sympathetic to most of MU Fan in NY's posts  but I think I probably have more acceptance of Marquette's place in the higher education ladscape.  Look Marquette is never going to be a Georgetown, ND, or BC and that's ok, but they do need to start acting more like a national university,  instead of original one.  When I was a student there more than a quarter century ago, career services was completely useless unless you were looking a job in Wisconsin or greater Chicago.   I currently serve as a mentor for both the business school and communication school and from what my student protégés tell me, both of whom are from the northeastern United States by the way..... It hasn't changed much from when I was there.   I think the administration is finally starting to recognize that which is why they're developing a long distance alumni mentor program,  but it's still not enough. 

At the end of the day recruiting undergraduates from a much more diverse area then they have historically will do far more to increase MU's national reputation in any superficial ranking  like US news and world report. 

[4everwarriors]

Nothin' much is gonna change 'til da endowment increases big league, ai na?

[warriorchick]

I agree with most of the chick's sentiments here,  but they do express a very midwestern regional mindset.  I'm an NYC area guy through and through having spent my entire life in this area with the exception of the four years I spent in MKE.   One of the reasons Marquette doesn't have anywhere near the PR network that ND has is because 85% of their undergraduate student body grew up within 100 miles of MKE.   I'd be willing to bet that at least 50% of ND's undergraduate student body grew up more than 500 miles from South Bend, Indiana.   I grew up in southern Connecticut but my brother went to ND.  The overwhelming number of his college buddies that he still keeps in touch with weren't originally from the Midwest but the Northeast or California or Texas.   Obviously a lot of that is due to prestige, and while it's unrealistic for Marquette to replicate the geographic footprint of its undergraduate student body to ND's  or for that matter any private institution in the US news top 25,  they could still do a better job  on the national recruiting front. 

It's great that Marquette has a highly ranked program in supply chain management.  Unfortunately that means absolute Jack in this part of the country.   Marquette's finance program is also ranked in the top 20 by USNR which is awesome, but unfortunately that doesn't mean jack either because of the elitist douches who control that industry.   If you want to get an entry level finance job in NYC you have a much better chance if you go to an Ivy League or nationally ranked liberal arts college and majored in classics or philosophy.  Sad but true.   Marquette has made tremendous progress in this area though and high profile NYC Wall Street placements are on the rise among on recent MU grads, but they still face an incredibly uphill battle, not because they're any less intelligent or capable than recent grads from ivy league or other more prestigious schools,  but because MU simply doesn't have the alumni network in NYC. 

I'm generally in agreement with and sympathetic to most of MU Fan in NY's posts  but I think I probably have more acceptance of Marquette's place in the higher education ladscape.  Look Marquette is never going to be a Georgetown, ND, or BC and that's ok, but they do need to start acting more like a national university,  instead of original one.  When I was a student there more than a quarter century ago, career services was completely useless unless you were looking a job in Wisconsin or greater Chicago.   I currently serve as a mentor for both the business school and communication school and from what my student protégés tell me, both of whom are from the northeastern United States by the way..... It hasn't changed much from when I was there.   I think the administration is finally starting to recognize that which is why they're developing a long distance alumni mentor program,  but it's still not enough. 

At the end of the day recruiting undergraduates from a much more diverse area then they have historically will do far more to increase MU's national reputation in any superficial ranking  like US news and world report.

It's got to start somewhere, Disco.  I might have a Midwest mindset, but just throwing up your hands and saying, "Well, Marquette grads will never get anywhere because the PTB are douchebag elitists" is a defeatist mindset. 

[GGGG]

It is inaccurate that 85% of the undergraduates are from 100 miles from campus.  70% of the students are from Wisconsin and Illinois according to its undergraduate profile.

And the response I have is...so what?  I don't understand why Marquette has to have a more national profile than it does now.  You can call it "provincial," but its not as though the midwest is some sort of backwater. 

Why chase students down out east when Marquette can largely fill its class with quality students from the midwest?  Why does Marquette have to be more than that?  This is the problem I have with ratings and rankings in general.  There is nothing wrong with developing a niche and excelling within the niche.