Recession Might Affect Applications From West

Although a continued recession could "seriously affect the geographic diversification" in next year's applications, new admissions applications from western states will probably equal the number submitted for this year's freshman class, Dana M. Cotton, Assistant to the Chairman of the Admissions and Scholarship Committee, said yesterday.

Cotton, who recently concluded trips to Rocky Mountain, Pacific coast and southwestern states, said boys in the West have not been as seriously affected by the admissions scare as their eastern counterparts. He indicated that the recession struck too late to be felt in current applications.

"Boys in the West know that the University is interested in diversity, including geographic diversity," and this has helped to counteract the scare created by recent magazine articles. Cotton said that because of the University's scholarship policies, the tuition increase has not cut the number of applications for next year's class.

Fewer Inadmissables

One reason that the anticipated increase in applications failed to materialize is that very few unqualified students have applied. Cotton said he spoke to many lower students on this year's trip, but that those whom he did see were more often of "admissable" quality.

"The gambler did not show up as frequently this year," said Cotton, speaking of the boy who applies on a long shot. "If the average student has not already become discouraged by himself, his counselor will do it for him."

Commenting on the annual problem of sorting applications, Cotton said that he "very strongly" disapproved of the idea of a central admissions agency that would serve many colleges. "A centralized office lacks the type of individual attention we like to give to our applicants. It would also tend to place too much importance on test scores."

He said that his talks with counselors and teachers as well as with the applicants are usually extremely helpful in determining if "it makes good sense to bring a boy into this environment." A central office would destroy this contact.