Jacobs University prides itself on being a ‘highly selective, private institution’ but just how selective are we? In an interview with Marie Vivas, Pulse of the World was able to confront some stereotypes about admissions.

Jacobs University attracts between 600 and 800 applicants a year. Of these 57-62% are accepted. 48% to 53% of those admitted attend Jacobs University.

How are the applications spread geographically?

Really they are pretty spread out. We have applications from Australia where we have never had applications before during my time here. We have several from China and this is the first year we’re allowed to accept them directly from High School. We’re the only institution in Germany that can accept Chinese students directly from high school.

What are your key goals for admissions at Jacobs?

Over the next three years we will accept a slightly bigger class each year. Key to us is to keep bringing in top students. We would like also to increase diversity not just nationality wise but also in terms of the type of students we bring in. We want a variety of people from different backgrounds. This is what really makes diversity.

There is a perception having such a large group of Eastern European students works against our ethos of internationality and diversity. Could you comment on this?

Any time you’re trying to work on diversity and community and any time you have too big a grouping of one group they do tend to stay together. On the other hand they are top students for some of our majors and so we have to balance that out. The goal would be to have about an equal distribution of our bigger groups.

There is also a growing perception that Eastern European students are on average are less active in the community. Could you comment on this in terms of admission?

When we get an application file we ask about extracurricular activities and students from that region actually have very impressive activity resumes. If we go by what they present to us, we have people from Eastern Europe who have done an enormous amount of activities so the question is more what’s happening when they get here that they aren’t continuing these activities

There is the perception that Jacobs University is sold as an ‘American University’. Could you comment?

To begin with I would never say an American university. I would say an American style university. And what I mean by that is we do American style admissions, we have a liberal arts philosophy, and we are residential. We also highlight the fact that we are in Europe and specifically in Germany because in the end that’s as big a selling point as the other three. I would hope we offer the best of both options.

There is some criticism that scholarships are used to bribe students from exotic places to come to Jacobs.

Well first of all how do you define merit: if you’re talking about the strict numerical merit. Well those students are frequently offered scholarships no matter where they are from. The next thing to consider is what these students bring to the community. Thirdly, yes we do use scholarships for diversity. We are definitely trying to attract a wide variety of students. However, when I look at the distribution of scholarships over the two years I’ve been here, every region in the world has received scholarship money. We have a lot of criteria and we take diversity and all these things into account but if a student is not a strong student they are not going to get scholarship money. There is often the perception that German students don’t’ get scholarships. This was not entirely accurate. The real issue was that German students tended to apply in round 3 or 4 where we have a policy not to give out as much scholarship. However, this year many Germans applied to round 1. I think that’s the work of this office getting the word out that if you apply earlier you have a better shot at everything.

What are the biggest challenges your team faces?

The economy right now is killing every institution that’s trying to seek international students. I think we face the fact that we are extremely competitive academically and so we are always competing with other top institutions. A lot of our peer ‘American style’ universities in Europe are a lot easier schools so they get students because they are easier. That said I don’t want to give up on being a tough academic place. The goal is to continue to attract top students. There is also a challenge of being in North West Germany, which is something that people can’t always imagine. It’s hard for someone in Zimbabwe to imagine this.

In terms of packaging Jacobs University what aspect is the hardest to sell to students when you go on these trips and is it region specific?

Yeah it is region specific. If we’re traveling in Europe people want to know why they should pay to come to Jacobs. We offer something really different. In some places we face the issue of distance but these challenges always region specific.

To what extent are you aware of how students perform after you admit them to Jacobs. Is this a method for you to assess admission quality?

We do some studies about grades and success in the university. This is ongoing. We do get feedback on the statistical analysis going on right now and we keep an eye out for the kinds of students that are doing well.

On the admissions for some people noticed that profession of parents is included. We know that Jacobs University is need blind. What is the benefit of having this on the admissions form?

This is done anywhere there is selective admissions. It is to figure out what the educational background of the student is and what value has been placed on university education. There are three reasons for this. 1. Diversity: if we get a student whose parents are field workers but they’ve done well in school we know that’s a student whose had a tremendous amount of personal drive, 2. It gives us a picture of the students life. What they are like and what their life has been like, 3. It allows us to address whether this is a student we could support if they needed it and I don’t mean in the financial sense.

Some majors have been discontinued. What’s your perception of things like this happening?

Because we are a growing institution it’s going to happen. I think that the schools are trying to adjust to what the students need but also what’s going to get them into graduate programs and the job world. I think that some of the adjusting of majors is about that and some of the adjusting of majors is simply that people are not interested in studying this particular subject at Jacobs where over the last three or four years we’ve only and 2/3 applicants. In terms of admissions we often are out there and we hear what people would like to study. We bring this feedback to the respective schools to see whether they can accommodate such suggestions.

I imagine a lot of students from West European countries tend to stay in own countries for tertiary education. It’s easier for them, it’s cheaper, it makes more sense often for them logistically. Do you have any strategies through which you try to entice these students to come to Jacobs?

I think when we work for students who are saying “why should I pay” we have to highlight the size of our classes the personal attention that people get and the quality of our labs for example. When you’re working in a big state institution you’re not going to get the kind of access to technology, to professors, to labs to anything that you do in a place like this and I think that combined with our internationality is what we present.

All of these aspects are what you try to sell students but how do you think these things are implemented at Jacobs. Do you think there is a discrepancy between what you try and sell and the practice? Are there any areas specifically you’d like to see improved?

Given that we’re a growing institution yes I do think that there are things we need to keep growing in. The admissions team portrays the ideal of what Jacobs wants to be. Do I think things could change? Yes. I wish that students had more time for activities. I wish that somehow we could make the schedule so that students could participate more without feeling stressed out because they have to choose. I wish that we had more ways of pushing our students outside of the bubble in their daily lives because that’s something that they would like when they come. I would like us to be better on the pastoral end of things. We have a great counseling team and the college masters but if I had my ideal all of us who work here would be more engaged with the students, more pastoral, more of role models. I really want us to become more a place that’s teaching leadership, more a place that teaches service. Why doesn’t’ Jacobs have a community service program? The other thing is that we could be more environmentally sound. That’s something that shocked me when I came here and if I have anything to say about it it’s going to change. So yes there are things we need to change, no doubt about that. But if we put in perspective, in terms of other leading institutions that have been around for hundreds of years, we’re doing quite well. We’ve embraced the lessons that some of these universities have to offer and I know that there is growth that still needs to happen. I think we need to stay on that path and not become too professionally oriented or career orientated and loose the essence of that international small place.

Are there any other aspects you would like to clarify about admissions? Any other stereotypes you’d like to confront?

Well 3 or 4 things that I think students should know: 1. We work very hard to bring in a variety of students for a variety of majors that would bring something to the community and add to our diversity that’s really what’ we’re all about. We don’t’ have any agendas about this major or that major. Last year someone wrote me that we took a major off the application in the middle of the process. I mean we would never do something like that. 2. We have admitted great applicants from every country in the world. If in the end they don’t come I don’t think it’s because Jacobs isn’t’ a good option. I think it’s sometimes economics and well sometimes it’s “oh I got into Harvard and my parents will kill me if I don’t’ go” so in the end the diversity issue is perhaps harder for people to see from the outside but it is a constant awareness for us 3. We don’t’ deal with finances in the sense that we’re need blind but the reason we give scholarships is to try to attract the best students. They’re not something we use just because we want to bribe someone to come here. I do think we are aware and don’t want any one group to grow so big that they fall out of the mix and so we take that into account all the time.

We have to balance three things, you have excellent students, diversity, and you have the fact that we have to run a university in terms of finances. You have to balance those things to try and get the best class in that context. We also rely heavily on our partnership with faculty and I think that’s a misperception among the faculty that it’s just the admissions people but in truth all decisions get made with the faculty.