Grades alone not enough to get into SFU business school

By Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver Sun June 10, 2010

To combat sky-high admission requirements, Simon Fraser University’s school of business is changing its application process to take into account extracurricular activities.

A 92-per-cent high school average is needed to get into the popular program, but that’s about to change.

As of next year, all students will be selected based on “broad-based” admission requirements.

“When our admission average exceeded [those needed for] engineering, I said, ‘There’s something wrong,’ ” Colleen Collins, SFU’s associate dean, faculty of business, said. “We do have some kids who, it blows my mind that they can pull of the grades and do all of that. But once we’ve admitted Superman and Superwoman, let’s see who else is doing great things out there.”

The school decided to shake up its admission process, which sees 1,400 applications for 450 spots, by starting a pilot project to look at the extracurricular lives of students.

Musicians, artists, athletes, social activists and community leaders are now sought after for the school of business.

“These kids who’ve completed Royal Conservatory of Music, it shows dedication and commitment. It shows creativity and sensitivity,” Collins said.

“Athletes who’ve competed at a provincial or national level show that they can handle pressure and they can handle teamwork and those all contribute to making a future business leader.

“Students who’ve been a senior leader in Guides, or Cadets — those are great kids. They’re good leaders, good with people, can manage their time.”

Grades will still count, and Collins said that while the pilot project allowed some students to get in with an average of 80 per cent, most were still above 85 per cent.

At the University of B.C., the Sauder School of Business has also required applicants to complete an application containing personal information for the last four years.

All applicants must meet a minimum 84-per-cent average, plus the supplemental form. Both are given equal weight when deciding on admissions, Brian Sullivan, UBC’s vice-president, students, said in an interview.

UBC also allows applicants to some other programs, including sciences, who are near the required average cutoff, to provide supplemental information. The acceptance cut-off for sciences was 90.5 per cent this year, but students with 87 or 88 per cent still had a chance to get in if SFU liked their personal profile, Sullivan said.

UBC is considering allowing broad-based admissions to all programs, including arts, Sullivan said.

“It’s under active discussion,” he said. “There is, we agree, something that needs attention when we’ve got averages that get up this high to get in.”

Based on the success of the pilot project, SFU’s school of business will now accept all students based on more broad-based requirements, and other programs may follow suit.

“The university is watching us to see how it works,” Collins said.

Meanwhile, there are other post-secondary options for students who don’t have an A average.

Although applications are up this year at SFU, the required admission average is just 80 per cent for most faculties (other than business) and 82 per cent for arts and social sciences. At the University of Victoria, where applications are also on the rise, the required admission average is 75 per cent for arts and sciences, 77 per cent for engineering and 80 per cent for business, said Wendy Joyce, director of undergraduate admissions said. At UBC Okanagan, students are admitted with a 75-per-cent average, although some programs such as nursing and human kinetics require averages of above 90 per cent, Sullivan said.

Nancy Johnston, executive director of student affairs at SFU, said although demographers are not predicting more applications to universities from Grade 12, they are up across the sector.

She thinks the rise is the result of many factors, including the fact that most jobs now require at least some post-secondary education.

“It almost seems like the bachelor’s degree level of the new millennium is like the high school diploma of the ’70s,” Johnston said.

In other university news, UBC’s Okanagan campus will soon double its land area, as the UBC board of governors Wednesday approved the $8.78-million purchase of 103.6 hectares (256 acres) of farmland from the City of Kelowna.

tsherlock@vancouversun.com

Original article from the Vancouver Sun posted here.