It's not surprising that Geneseo has seen a record number of applicants for next year, considering that prospective students must deal with worsening economic conditions and increased competition for seats in prestigious colleges.
According to CollegeBoard.com, Geneseo has a 37 percent acceptance rate, making it as hard or harder to get into as top schools such as New York University and Cornell University. However, Geneseo triumphs over these "name" schools because of its attractive price tag, which is often less than a third of what the other colleges charge.
Intelligent high school seniors no longer have to settle for sub-par colleges if they cannot afford to pay for more challenging private universities, since Geneseo has both affordable tuition and renowned academics.
For New York state residents, Geneseo is the diamond in the not-so-rough farmland of western N.Y. While out-of-state students pay considerably more than those who live in N.Y., Geneseo still boasts competitive tuition for these students as well.
The increase in applicants in the past few years has caused the school to severely tighten their enrollment standards. Whereas a couple of years ago it was acceptable to apply to Geneseo with an SAT score of 1200 out of 1600, the average score of recently admitted students is just shy of 1350.
The competition for spots in Geneseo, however, is not unique. More applications flood the mailboxes of all SUNY schools every year due in part to the high expense of other colleges.
Yet, in the midst of all the celebration and back-patting that goes on in the admissions office, we students are left scratching our heads. If the school's reputation is getting better by the week due to the intelligence and talent of students eager to get an affordable education, why does the state insist on increasing our tuition? The tuition increases can ultimately dissuade those families who rely on the lower prices Geneseo and all SUNY schools to even apply to colleges.
It is entirely apparent based on current statistics that, despite our recent tuition hikes, Geneseo is becoming more popular for increasingly better students. The only place to go is up.