Although growing up in a college town is a cherished experience, living close to Ohio University could also prevent some Athens County high school students from being able to see themselves remaining in Athens for four more years.
About 87 percent of 2010 applicants from the 33 Appalachian Ohio Counties —including Athens — were accepted, according to data from Ohio University Institutional Research, slightly higher than the 85 percent acceptance rate of general applicants.
In 2010, 71 percent of Athens County’s accepted applicants became OU students, often despite plans to leave Southeast Ohio for college. That number is drastically higher than the average matriculation rate of 34 percent. Of those accepted from Appalachian Ohio in 2010, about 46 percent enrolled for last Fall Quarter.
Though the Department of Institutional Research did not provide complete enrollment statistics for Athens County for Fall 2011, a preliminary profile shows 578 Appalachian students enrolled in the university — a decline of almost 100 from the year before.
“I feel like (OU) is the easiest choice for some people coming out of Athens,” said Athens High School senior Erika Williams. “I originally wanted to leave Athens, but over the past year I realized that the colleges that I was looking at out of state were very similar to OU.”
Many local students, such as Williams, may assume that they already know about OU and don’t need to learn more before making a college decision, said Candace Boeninger, assistant vice provost and director of Undergraduate Admissions.
“A lot of (local) families sometimes think that they know all that they need to know,” Boeninger said. “If somebody just came (to campus), watched a game at the Convo and never went through the normal ways they would inquire about an institution, then we may never get that student on our mailing list.”
But Boeninger said prospective students from Athens should allow OU to present all it can offer to students.
“What I would ask of our local applicants is to treat this university how they treat any other universities that they are considering,” Boeninger said. “They should hold us accountable to show them how OU is a great place to get an education.”
Although not all prospective students from Athens get all the information, OU remains a viable option for local students, said Sharon Berry, Athens High School guidance counselor.
“I encourage every student to look at all of their options, and not to rule out OU just because it’s close,” Berry said. “I know a lot of the students want to get out of the area because they’ve grown up on campus, but I wouldn’t think of that as something negative.”
After growing up so close to the university, Athens High School students typically apply to OU, but may do so as a back-up school.
“In a way, OU was just a back up plan for me, because I would like to get out of Athens,” said Cody Mack, Athens High School senior and Athens native. “But after looking into it more, I’ve been able to see that OU is much more than just the party school down the road.”
Boeninger said she doesn’t look at the school being a “back-up” as a total loss.
“If they apply only to have Ohio University as a back up, I’m fine with that,” she said. “That means they have at least considered us and that gives us a chance to really talk to them about their the benefits of attending what I think is a really cool place to call home — even it is already home.”
jj360410@ohiou.edu
