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29 November 2002
uwRyan.com This website is meant to provide value to UW student by delivering information. It will also supplement the column that I write for Imprint by providing extra information on some of the topics about which I will write in addition to the text of each column. Please provide feedback on what I write as well as give me suggestions of topics to cover. You can send e-mail to me to ryan[at]uwryan[dot]com.
uwstudent.org
Federation of Students 
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UW’s public facePresenting our school to high schoolers
Do you ever look at how UW is presented to high school students and think of how it differs from how you view the school? It is difficult to convey to a prospective student what his experience will be like at a particular school. Any school trying to attract students (every school) will put the brightest spin on any information. In trying to convince students to consider UW, the university gives influence to students who don't even go here. The campus gets cleaned up before visitors come and the pamphlets are better lit than the real world. In the viewbook, which is the pamphlet high school students get giving an overview of UW, things seem a little different than in the real world. In the 56-page pamphlet, the gender ratio in the photographs is 43 per cent male to 57 per cent female. This shows a discrepancy compared to the enrolment among full time undergraduates last year, which was 54.4 per cent male. Waterloo moved to number one in the Maclean's numerical ranking due in part to more small classes. It may have been inadvertent, but for whatever the reason an improved ranking is an obvious benefit. Also consider how preferences of prospective students affect policy, the university constructed residences, converted UW apartments to residence suites and moved upper years to accommodate a residence guarantee for frosh. Once students are already attending, there is some commitment to the school, where there are obstacles to moving to an alternative school; future students, on the other hand, can just accept another offer. One way for students to influence the university is to tell future university students to ask the tough questions. Are you concerned about uncertain tuition levels? Tell your little sister to ask what her tuition will be over her four or five years here. Do you think that concrete chipping off the northwest corner of Hagey Hall is dangerous? Get your younger friend from high school to ask a university official about it. Do you think it is wrong to prevent residents 19 and older from drinking alcohol? Get your older friend from high school to ask about it. |