Applications up 35 percent
Asad Kiyani

The Ontario Universities Application Centre (OUAC) has received a large increase in the number of high-school applications to Laurier. In particular, the Kinesiology/Physical Education program has experienced a 77 percent increase in the number of students listing it as their first-choice.

According to early figures released by the OUAC, 8377 high-schoole students have listed Laurier as one of the schools they would like to attend in the fall, an increase of 34.9 percent from the previous year.

This increase ranks Laurier third among provincial universities. Carleton University ranked first with a 36.9 percent increase, followed by the University of Wind-sor, which experienced a 35.1 percent rise in applications (see table at right of page).

Laurier President Dr. Robert Rosehart notes that several factors are plausible explanations for the increase.

For one, the number of applications are up 5.5 percent while the population of high school students has only increased by 1.5 percent.

"This seems to indicate that people are entering university vis-a-vis other avenues," said Rosehart.

"Students read the glossy brochures for a while, but generally it is the personal experience they have with [the University] that is more important...they are doing a lot more consumer research," said Rosehart.

In terms of specific programs, the most significant increase at Laurier was in Arts, while the Music program has suffered a "small decline" similar to that which has been felt throughout the province.

However, in provincial terms, applications for Music programs are down only 0.7 percent while Laurier's program has witnessed a 16.7 percent drop.

There was no one available in the Music Department for comment on the large difference.

As for students listing Laurier programs as their top choice, the program that has seen the greatest rise is Kinesiology/Physical Education.

Rosehart speculated that the increase could be attributed to the renaming of the program.

While it had previously been known solely as a Physical Education program, the name was changed last year to include the kinesiology component.

In discussing reasons for the rise in applications, Rosehart said that, "it may or may not be that the name change [that is responsible]."

"While [the name change] occured last year, it takes a while for that material to have an effect."

In addition, there were "small but fairly significant changes in the facilities to make them more user-friendly."

According to the Kinesiology/Physical Education Department Chair Dr. Lori Livingston, the rise can be attributed to two factors.

"The first factor is that we have started offering a B.Sc (Bachelor of Science) program," said Livingston. "We have applications for that program that we never received before."

"The second factor is that members of the department have taken an active role in interacting with high school students," said Livingston. "For the March Break Open House, virtually every faculty member is available that day."

"One thing that makes us different is that during the telephone campaign, most schools have students calling [high-schoolers], while we have faculty members do that," added Livingston. "I know that this [telephone campaign] is after the actual application period, but the word is spreading among students that Laurier treats the student well."

An additional factor is that "the number of students applying for transfers are up considerably".

Says Livingston, "We, as a department, are quite happy."

Ontario Application Statistics
University (College)	% Change
Brock	+25.9
Carleton	+36.9
Guelph	+23.7
Lakehead	+29.6
Laurentian	+16.7
(Hearst College)	-60.0
Laurier	+34.9
McMaster	+22.0
Nipissing	+34.1
Queen's	+24.0
Ryerson	+29.0
Toronto	+23.7
Trent	+7.3
Waterloo	+29.1
Western	+31.0
(Brescia College)	+68.8
Windsor	+35.1
York	+21.8

NOTE: This is the first year high school students have been allowed to apply to six universities, accounting for part of the increase in applications across the board. Statistics from the Ontario Universities Application Centre website (www.ouac.on.ca/statistics).