Cal Poly Records Highest Number of Applicants for 14th Straight Year

SAN LUIS OBISPO – For the fourteenth year in a row, Cal Poly has received a record number of undergraduate applications. For the 2008 fall quarter the university received a total of 37,760 applications, up 10.5 percent from 34,167 in 2007.

Of the nearly 34,000 first-time freshmen who submitted applications, 3,452 were submitted as early decision applications, or applications for students who made Cal Poly their first choice. The early decision pool increased by over 33% from last year, a healthy sign that more and more students are considering Cal Poly as their first choice.

“The willingness of the academic departments to work collaboratively with my unit to build relationships with our prospective students and parents long before the application process ever begins has really paid off, “said James Maraviglia, Assistant Vice President of Admissions Recruitment. We are extremely pleased with our early results.

The university's recruitment process extensively integrates technology with stylized web and e-mail content and furthers the relationship between prospective students and the campus. Using targeted e-mail campaigns and creating customized web pages for prospective students, the technology allows recruiters to tailor content to match an individual student's interests.

Since the entire campus community is involved, both students and faculty take part in marketing campaigns through video feeds, web pages with dynamic content and virtual campus tours.

At the forefront of the recruitment process are the customizable web pages for applicants, accessed through a VIP micro-site, and Cal Poly's online digital view book. Both are linked from the Cal Poly Admissions Web site. For more information, visit http://www.ess.calpoly.edu/_admiss .

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