Marquette seeks to expand geographic student diversity

[mu_hilltopper]

Bumping up this thread.

Is geographic diversity still an initiative?

And does MU note family legacy for applicants.

Child will be applying soon

MU's acceptance rate is north of 80% these days .. it's a safety school.  Your child will get right in, no strings need to be pulled.

[The Sultan]

MU's acceptance rate is north of 80% these days .. it's a safety school.  Your child will get right in, no strings need to be pulled.

Pretty much every school is a "safety school" these days. Demographics are a b*tch.

[mu_hilltopper]

Pretty much every school is a "safety school" these days. Demographics are a b*tch.

I'd love to believe that.  I have a HS senior who is applying to Minnesota, UW, Purdue, and .. Marquette.  I'd peg him as a top 20% type student.

It would not shock me if he was rejected from all but Marquette.

[The Sultan]

I'd love to believe that.  I have a HS senior who is applying to Minnesota, UW, Purdue, and .. Marquette.  I'd peg him as a top 20% type student.

It would not shock me if he was rejected from all but Marquette.

Yes because Purdue, Wisconsin and Minnesota represent all of higher education.

[dgies9156]

Thank you!

I appreciate the response!

When we saw President Kimo at his Jupiter, FL introduction last winter, he spoke of geographic diversity as a strong initiative of Marquette.

He specifically spoke of Texas as an area of focus, which makes sense given its population growth. He also spoke of Florida as a focal point, along with California.

I'm sure there are others but be known that the university is stepping up its recruiting in areas that are not Marquette hotspots.

[tower912]

I hope he is passing out quarter zips.

[wadesworld]

I hope he is passing out quarter zips.

That's for locking down state boarders.

[tower912]

You can't complain about the coach not being provincial enough if the university president is advocating the same.

[mu_hilltopper]

Pretty much every school is a "safety school" these days. Demographics are a b*tch.

I'd love to believe that.  I have a HS senior who is applying to Minnesota, UW, Purdue, and .. Marquette.  I'd peg him as a top 20% type student.

It would not shock me if he was rejected from all but Marquette.

Yes because Purdue, Wisconsin and Minnesota represent all of higher education.

I don't understand your point.  Of course they don't.  I'm responding to "pretty much every school is a safety school." 

[The Sultan]

I'd love to believe that.  I have a HS senior who is applying to Minnesota, UW, Purdue, and .. Marquette.  I'd peg him as a top 20% type student.

It would not shock me if he was rejected from all but Marquette.
I don't understand your point.  Of course they don't.  I'm responding to "pretty much every school is a safety school." 

I should have said "the vast majority." Public flagships and top 30 or so privates are the only exceptions.

[JWags85]

I should have said "the vast majority." Public flagships and top 30 or so privates are the only exceptions.

And even within the public flagships, there are odd peculiarities based on demographics.  My niece grew up just outside Charlotte and just started at UNC.  She obviously got into UNC, with a decent little, non financial need drive, scholarship of sorts to boot.  She was a top student at a good but not exceptional public HS.  However, she got flat out rejected (not wait-listed) at both UF and Wake Forest (UF is close but Wake, while a very good school, is a decent bit lower in most rankings).  She also got wait-listed at another out of state flagship not as prestigious as UNC (I want to say Maryland maybe?).

[Billy Hoyle]

And even within the public flagships, there are odd peculiarities based on demographics.  My niece grew up just outside Charlotte and just started at UNC.  She obviously got into UNC, with a decent little, non financial need drive, scholarship of sorts to boot.  She was a top student at a good but not exceptional public HS.  However, she got flat out rejected (not wait-listed) at both UF and Wake Forest (UF is close but Wake, while a very good school, is a decent bit lower in most rankings).  She also got wait-listed at another out of state flagship not as prestigious as UNC (I want to say Maryland maybe?).

Many state flagship schools have significantly higher admissions standards for out-of-state students than in-state, and that's tied to their funding. UNC has traditionally been the hardest school to get into as an out-of-state student. For example, a former roommate (from Florida) was admitted to Miami and Georgetown (and was selected for a prestigious CIA internship out of HS that led to working in embassies through the Department of State and not having to take or pass the foreign service exam) but rejected by UNC. Michigan and Oregon are schools that took the opposite route in opposition to the state legislature, making up funding cuts by focusing on out of state students and lowering admissions standards for them.

As for MU, focusing on geographic diversity outside of the Midwest is incredibly smart, as well as expanding their geographic footprint. MU has deliberately shifted focus to Iowa at the expense of Indiana and Ohio for recruiting students. On the admission rate issue, MU did say the admission rate for the 2026 entering class had dropped below 80% for the first time in many year. One of the reasons our admissions rate is so high is MU deliberately targets students within the admissions sweet spot, and most applicants are those who have MU at the top of their lists and apply knowing they have a strong change of getting in - it's not their "reach school."

[JWags85]

Many state flagship schools have significantly higher admissions standards for out-of-state students than in-state, and that's tied to their funding. UNC has traditionally been the hardest school to get into as an out-of-state student. For example, a former roommate (from Florida) was admitted to Miami and Georgetown (and got and was selected for a prestegious CIA internship out of HS) but rejected by UNC. Michigan and Oregon are schools that took the opposite route in opposition to the state legislature, making up funding cuts by focusing on out of state students and lowering admissions standards for them.

Absolutely on the flagships, I mean, look no farther than UW.  I had a dorm mate in college who was on a full scholarship, which is why he attended instead of the partials he got when admitted at Wash U and Case Western.  But he was rejected from Wisconsin. 

Meanwhile, my sister's freshman roommate at Madison was from a smaller school in the northern part of the state.  Her parents went to IU and Ohio State...she didn't get into either.  Conversely, her sophomore roommate was from a suburb of Columbus, fell in love with UW on her visit (I swear she's otherwise a great person minus this mental deficiency) so she stuck it out after getting wait-listed.  Meanwhile, she stayed through on that waitlist despite already getting into Notre Dame, U of I, Georgetown, and Boston College.

[swoopem]

I'd love to believe that.  I have a HS senior who is applying to Minnesota, UW, Purdue, and .. Marquette.  I'd peg him as a top 20% type student.

It would not shock me if he was rejected from all but Marquette.

Seems like a win

[Billy Hoyle]

Absolutely on the flagships, I mean, look no farther than UW.  I had a dorm mate in college who was on a full scholarship, which is why he attended instead of the partials he got when admitted at Wash U and Case Western.  But he was rejected from Wisconsin. 

I don't know if this is still the policy at Buckyville but in the 90s and 2000s anyone outside of the top 20 percent of their class (public schools) was rejected, which led to a lot of upset parents at higher-level high schools when their kid with a 3.7 at Tosa East was rejected but a colleague's kid with a 3.4 at Baraboo High was admitted. I know my brother was penalized for his class rank at his HS, a top 10 public high school in MI, as friends of his at his old school got into UM with lower ACT scores because they were higher up in their class.

UT-Austin guarantees admission for in-state kids in the top five percent of their HS class. UT-Austin is also legislatively required to have at least 75% of the entering class be Texas residents.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I don't know if this is still the policy at Buckyville but in the 90s and 2000s anyone outside of the top 20 percent of their class (public schools) was rejected, which led to a lot of upset parents at higher-level high schools when their kid with a 3.7 at Tosa East was rejected but a colleague's kid with a 3.4 at Baraboo High was admitted. I know my brother was penalized for his class rank at his HS, a top 10 public high school in MI, as friends of his at his old school got into UM with lower ACT scores because they were higher up in their class.

UT-Austin guarantees admission for in-state kids in the top five percent of their HS class. UT-Austin is also legislatively required to have at least 75% of the entering class be Texas residents.

It's not just UT-Austin. All public Texas colleges are required by law to have an automatic admission policy for Texas students of a certain rank. Originally it was top 10% for all schools but it's been amended so that some schools have different thresholds.

[The Sultan]

UW-Madison must average at least 5,200 new in-state students over any given three year period. (This includes transfers and students from Minnesota enrolled under the reciprocity agreement.) This does not include graduate or professional school enrollment, which has no cap.

This is set by Regent policy and not state law. No other UW school is subject to that cap.

[JWags85]

I don't know if this is still the policy at Buckyville but in the 90s and 2000s anyone outside of the top 20 percent of their class (public schools) was rejected, which led to a lot of upset parents at higher-level high schools when their kid with a 3.7 at Tosa East was rejected but a colleague's kid with a 3.4 at Baraboo High was admitted. I know my brother was penalized for his class rank at his HS, a top 10 public high school in MI, as friends of his at his old school got into UM with lower ACT scores because they were higher up in their class.

Yea, I didn't realize there was a percentage cutoff, but I knew there were "quotas".  There was a pretty consistent number of graduates, down to the student or two, that went to UW every year.  My former neighbor had an obsessive need to go to UW.  I think she filed 3 different appeals, finally got admitted fairly late in the spring, coincidentally the same week another classmate of ours, who was National Merit Semi-finalist who UW had thrown money at, decided to head to Ann Arbor.

I mentioned my sister above, but that was my youngest sister.  The oldest of my 3 sisters had around a 3.8 at a top suburban MKE HS, good ACT, tons of extra curriculars and got denied.  She got into all of the other comparable B10s she applied to (Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana), ended up at Iowa for a year and then transferred to Madison for sophomore year onward.

UT-Austin guarantees admission for in-state kids in the top five percent of their HS class. UT-Austin is also legislatively required to have at least 75% of the entering class be Texas residents.

My first cube mate in my ad agency days in my mid 20s was a UT grad from Dallas.  He had a bunch of amusing anecdotes about friends and classmates from his time in Austin.  He said out of state kids were always either super bright or very wealthy.  But in state kids could be anything from very driven and accomplished star students from great high schools in any of the big metros to pedestrian students from far flung places all over the state. 

Coincidentally, one of his best college friends/fraternity brothers fell into the latter.  I met him after he moved to Chicago as well and the most generous descriptor of him would likely be "thick as crap".  The kid of person you'd be surprised to find out he graduated from college period, much less an elite school like UT.

His blue collar dad did well in oil field sales in the 80s and "retired" to buy a ranch like 2 hours west of Austin.  Think his graduating HS class was like 80 kids and had tons of kids who just did the minimum they had to graduate before heading right back to ranches or pre-determined apprenticeships (not that there is anything wrong with that path, just that educational excellence and high class rank wasn't a priority).  Thus handling your HS academics to any meaningful extent got you pretty high in your class. Closer to a big city and he would have been near the bottom in any good public or private HS, but he finished something like 5th or 6th in his class which their guidance counselor automatically guided to UT and his test scores were sufficient enough to not prevent admission.

Plenty of people from that sort of background end up at a good university and take off being in a competitive environment...he did not     I think he had 6 jobs in 2 years in Chicago before he moved back.

[mu_hilltopper]

I'd like to know the efforts and efficacy of "college recruiting."

Above, it's been written that MU is "expanding its geographic diversity," or "has deliberately shifted focus to Iowa at the expense of Indiana and Ohio for recruiting students."

The past two years, I think my family could be considered ground zero for "college recruiting."  Got an 18 and 20 year old.

Both kids are/were very attractive candidates for pretty much most universities, not to mention having "full pay" type parents.  (The eldest, waitlisted at MIT.)

For us, "recruitment" has been primarily getting sent postcards and emails from random colleges, 99% of which our kids had zero interest in.  The HS itself hosts plenty of colleges, although my sons report low attendance "unless you wanted to skip class."   The HS counsellors were very hands-off unless you asked for help.  I'm sure some do.

I think my point is:  There has been no "recruitment" beyond some trashcan-bound postcards and spam emails.  College selection has been entirely self-directed, using online resources and internet searches.  College selection has been us parents suggesting "hey, add XYZ to the list."

In short, I find it entirely confusing that Marquette has "recruiting efforts" in a state that moves any needle.  If the answer is "well, they send mailers and spam" or "They visit high schools" .. good luck with that.

What am I missing?

Is there some recruitment avenue that we (and nearly every kid at our HS) have so far escaped?

[The Sultan]

For us, "recruitment" has been primarily getting sent postcards and emails from random colleges, 99% of which our kids had zero interest in.  The HS itself hosts plenty of colleges, although my sons report low attendance "unless you wanted to skip class."   The HS counsellors were very hands-off unless you asked for help.  I'm sure some do.

You've pretty much nailed it. It's really inexpensive to send out emails and postcards.

[Uncle Rico]

You've pretty much nailed it. It's really inexpensive to send out emails and postcards.

At least they're limiting themselves to geographic diversity. 

[tower912]

My son went a different direction, but MU was the second largest out of state destination for his HS class other than ND.  MU had reps at every college fair we attended, to the point that the rep recognized my son and knew I was an alum.

Catholic HS 3 states and 4+ hours away.  5 kids out of a class of 115.

[The Sultan]

Yeah, I also think the idea that the only people who went to the high school visits isn't very accurate. Especially if the recruiter has a good relationship with the counselor.

[Hards Alumni]

I'd like to know the efforts and efficacy of "college recruiting."

Above, it's been written that MU is "expanding its geographic diversity," or "has deliberately shifted focus to Iowa at the expense of Indiana and Ohio for recruiting students."

The past two years, I think my family could be considered ground zero for "college recruiting."  Got an 18 and 20 year old.

Both kids are/were very attractive candidates for pretty much most universities, not to mention having "full pay" type parents.  (The eldest, waitlisted at MIT.)

For us, "recruitment" has been primarily getting sent postcards and emails from random colleges, 99% of which our kids had zero interest in.  The HS itself hosts plenty of colleges, although my sons report low attendance "unless you wanted to skip class."   The HS counsellors were very hands-off unless you asked for help.  I'm sure some do.

I think my point is:  There has been no "recruitment" beyond some trashcan-bound postcards and spam emails.  College selection has been entirely self-directed, using online resources and internet searches.  College selection has been us parents suggesting "hey, add XYZ to the list."

In short, I find it entirely confusing that Marquette has "recruiting efforts" in a state that moves any needle.  If the answer is "well, they send mailers and spam" or "They visit high schools" .. good luck with that.

What am I missing?

Is there some recruitment avenue that we (and nearly every kid at our HS) have so far escaped?

This was basically my experience over 25 years ago as well.  Unless you went to a state school.

And for some reason Tulane was hot for me, but I'd never heard of it and didn't even know where it was... or how good of a school it was.  If I had, I may have gone.

[swoopem]

This was basically my experience over 25 years ago as well.  Unless you went to a state school.

And for some reason Tulane was hot for me, but I'd never heard of it and didn't even know where it was... or how good of a school it was.  If I had, I may have gone.

Tulane was recruiting me pretty hard also but that was in the fall of 05 after Katrina. I assumed they were reaching out to a bunch of northern kids. A friend of mine went there and loved it. I couldn't do New Orleans for 4 years...or longer than a weekend in the summer

The MU recruiter who visited my high school was great. I told him I was going to MU if I got in and we stayed in contact and he actually emailed me that I got accepted before I received the acceptance package in the mail.