Posted 7:35 p.m. Friday, June 29, 2012
Corey Sjoquist, UW-L’s new director of admissions, shares why UW-L is becoming an increasingly competitive school to get into, the No. 1 quality UW-L looks for in a prospective student and what he hopes to do in his new role.
[caption id="attachment_2062" align="alignright" width="365" caption="Corey Sjoquist, left, talks with UW-L incoming freshman Mariah Johnson, of Hortonville, Wis., at freshman registration and orientation."]
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Corey Sjoquist became UW-L’s new director of admissions on June 1 after Kathy Kiefer retired. Kiefer held a leadership role in UW-L Admissions since 1995. Sjoquist earned his undergraduate degree in Mass Communications from UW-L in 1996 and earned his graduate degree in College Student Development and Administration (now called Student Affairs Administration) from UW-L in 2003. He directs a staff of 15 including, a couple part-time positions.
Q: How many years did you work in UW-L Admissions before becoming director?
A: I started in Admissions 20 years ago as a new freshman at UW-L. I worked in this office for four years as a student worker. My first responsibility was typing paper applications into the computer system. It was a great way for me to learn the Admissions office. I’ve had the opportunity to see every level of work in Admissions and I’ve been able to totally work my way up the ladder. I went from Admissions counselor to coordinator of high school relations to operations manager to assistant director and now director. I also was a campus Vanguard as a student. Those initial years in the office and as a Vangaurd is what got me excited about working in Admissions.
Q: Why have you stuck with it so long?
A: A couple of reasons: First, my love for the university and, two, it’s so exciting to meet with prospective students, share the great things about UW-L and help them find a great fit for their educational plans.
Q: How competitive is it to get into UW-L today?
A: The number of applications we receive is what drives the competitive nature of admissions and we have seen an increase in applications over the years. For example, we had about 5,500 applications for the fall class 10 years ago. This fall (2012) we have more than 7,500 applications. Those applications are to fill 1,950 spaces in the freshman class. However, we know students apply to multiple schools, so we always admit more than the 1,950 students. We typically admit about 60 percent of applicants. I would say UW-L is more competitive to get into than many Midwestern universities.
[caption id="attachment_2071" align="alignright" width="226" caption="Director of Admissions Corey Sjoquist"]
[/caption]Q: Is it becoming increasingly competitive to get into UW-L? If so, why?
A: Yes, because the application numbers are increasing. And UW-L offers great programs, it’s located in a fantastic place and it has a great reputation. That is what continues to attract applicants every single year. And we also work hard to recruit students. We do a lot of outreach to high schools and attend college fairs in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan.
Q: What do you think is the most important quality in a prospective student applying to UW-L?
A: A student who challenges himself or herself by taking the most rigorous courses available in high school. There is a myth that we only make decisions based on factors such as class rank, grade point average and ACT/SAT scores. That’s not true. The first thing we look at is what type of classes the student took because a student who takes the challenging classes is going to be better prepared for college courses. And it shows they are not afraid of challenges because they will be challenged in the college classroom. Not to say those other factors aren’t important. The primary things we look at after high school classes are class rank, grade point average and ACT/SAT scores.
Q: How is recruiting changing over the years to recruit today’s students — Generation Next?
A: The parental involvement is significantly greater. There is an element of not only recruiting the student, but also recruiting the parent and the family. Parents tend to be more involved in making phone calls, sending emails and asking questions than they used to be. When we have freshman registration and open houses, we usually have sessions for parents to be involved so they can ask questions and better support their student. That’s our approach: How can we educate the parent so they can help their student when they get that phone call saying, “What should I do?” Then, the parent can help them connect with the appropriate office on campus.
Q: What is the role of today’s technology in Admissions?
A: Twenty years ago we predominantly used print to advertise and recruit students. Now we have the Internet, email, social media and more. Our initial impression used to be with a nice, glossy brochure. Now that impression can happen in so many different ways. The website has become the initial impression of us. If students want to learn about a university, they will go to the website instead of calling to ask for a brochure in the mail. So it’s more important than ever that our website provides the information they are looking for and encourages the student to make the next step and visit campus.
It’s also interesting that every student uses technology in a different way. We have students who still want a printed publication, some want Facebook and some Twitter. How do we keep up with each method of communication each student prefers? That’s exciting but it’s also a challenge.
Q: Do you anticipate making any major changes to UW-L Admissions as the new director?
A: I think we will continue to do the many great things that have been in place and I look forward to enhancing how we do things by incorporating more technology. I want to look at how to use social media more in our recruitment plan to communicate with prospective students and engage them in conversations.
Q: How have you liked the new role so far?
A: It’s been a great start because I’ve been able to jump in at freshman registration and family orientation. That’s when you get to see the results of all of your work over the last year and a half. You see the faces of all the people you’ve recruited as they walk in the door and are able to help them get through that very first step of moving toward their bachelor’s degree. It has been crazy for sure, but these are the fun times of the year that we look forward to.
I’m looking forward to working with the Admissions staff, which has so many different talents. Most of the time when people think of an admissions office, they think of new freshmen, but there are so many other areas we specialize in with transfer and graduate student admissions. And I look forward to working with people across campus to make UW-L a great place for our students.
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Corey Sjoquist became UW-L’s new director of admissions on June 1 after Kathy Kiefer retired. Kiefer held a leadership role in UW-L Admissions since 1995. Sjoquist earned his undergraduate degree in Mass Communications from UW-L in 1996 and earned his graduate degree in College Student Development and Administration (now called Student Affairs Administration) from UW-L in 2003. He directs a staff of 15 including, a couple part-time positions.
Q: How many years did you work in UW-L Admissions before becoming director?
A: I started in Admissions 20 years ago as a new freshman at UW-L. I worked in this office for four years as a student worker. My first responsibility was typing paper applications into the computer system. It was a great way for me to learn the Admissions office. I’ve had the opportunity to see every level of work in Admissions and I’ve been able to totally work my way up the ladder. I went from Admissions counselor to coordinator of high school relations to operations manager to assistant director and now director. I also was a campus Vanguard as a student. Those initial years in the office and as a Vangaurd is what got me excited about working in Admissions.
Q: Why have you stuck with it so long?
A: A couple of reasons: First, my love for the university and, two, it’s so exciting to meet with prospective students, share the great things about UW-L and help them find a great fit for their educational plans.
Q: How competitive is it to get into UW-L today?
A: The number of applications we receive is what drives the competitive nature of admissions and we have seen an increase in applications over the years. For example, we had about 5,500 applications for the fall class 10 years ago. This fall (2012) we have more than 7,500 applications. Those applications are to fill 1,950 spaces in the freshman class. However, we know students apply to multiple schools, so we always admit more than the 1,950 students. We typically admit about 60 percent of applicants. I would say UW-L is more competitive to get into than many Midwestern universities.
[caption id="attachment_2071" align="alignright" width="226" caption="Director of Admissions Corey Sjoquist"][/caption]Q: Is it becoming increasingly competitive to get into UW-L? If so, why?
A: Yes, because the application numbers are increasing. And UW-L offers great programs, it’s located in a fantastic place and it has a great reputation. That is what continues to attract applicants every single year. And we also work hard to recruit students. We do a lot of outreach to high schools and attend college fairs in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan.
Q: What do you think is the most important quality in a prospective student applying to UW-L?
A: A student who challenges himself or herself by taking the most rigorous courses available in high school. There is a myth that we only make decisions based on factors such as class rank, grade point average and ACT/SAT scores. That’s not true. The first thing we look at is what type of classes the student took because a student who takes the challenging classes is going to be better prepared for college courses. And it shows they are not afraid of challenges because they will be challenged in the college classroom. Not to say those other factors aren’t important. The primary things we look at after high school classes are class rank, grade point average and ACT/SAT scores.
Q: How is recruiting changing over the years to recruit today’s students — Generation Next?
A: The parental involvement is significantly greater. There is an element of not only recruiting the student, but also recruiting the parent and the family. Parents tend to be more involved in making phone calls, sending emails and asking questions than they used to be. When we have freshman registration and open houses, we usually have sessions for parents to be involved so they can ask questions and better support their student. That’s our approach: How can we educate the parent so they can help their student when they get that phone call saying, “What should I do?” Then, the parent can help them connect with the appropriate office on campus.
Q: What is the role of today’s technology in Admissions?
A: Twenty years ago we predominantly used print to advertise and recruit students. Now we have the Internet, email, social media and more. Our initial impression used to be with a nice, glossy brochure. Now that impression can happen in so many different ways. The website has become the initial impression of us. If students want to learn about a university, they will go to the website instead of calling to ask for a brochure in the mail. So it’s more important than ever that our website provides the information they are looking for and encourages the student to make the next step and visit campus.
It’s also interesting that every student uses technology in a different way. We have students who still want a printed publication, some want Facebook and some Twitter. How do we keep up with each method of communication each student prefers? That’s exciting but it’s also a challenge.
Q: Do you anticipate making any major changes to UW-L Admissions as the new director?
A: I think we will continue to do the many great things that have been in place and I look forward to enhancing how we do things by incorporating more technology. I want to look at how to use social media more in our recruitment plan to communicate with prospective students and engage them in conversations.
Q: How have you liked the new role so far?
A: It’s been a great start because I’ve been able to jump in at freshman registration and family orientation. That’s when you get to see the results of all of your work over the last year and a half. You see the faces of all the people you’ve recruited as they walk in the door and are able to help them get through that very first step of moving toward their bachelor’s degree. It has been crazy for sure, but these are the fun times of the year that we look forward to.
I’m looking forward to working with the Admissions staff, which has so many different talents. Most of the time when people think of an admissions office, they think of new freshmen, but there are so many other areas we specialize in with transfer and graduate student admissions. And I look forward to working with people across campus to make UW-L a great place for our students.