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College Builds New Housing
Four new apartment buildings have replaced the Cardinal units on
the north end of campus and are easing this year's housing crunch.
As the College faces the prospect of increasingly bigger classes
and the demand for better housing, the College has completed the
first phase of a complex of ten garden apartments planned for the
north end of campus. Four units opened just weeks after the College
enrolled its largest entering class in history.
This fall, the College welcomed 374 freshmen and 35 transfer students
to campus, bringing total full-time undergraduate enrollment to
1,130. Many of those incoming freshmen spent the first semester
squeezed into close quarters, knowing they would be the first residents
of apartment buildings named for Western Shore counties of Maryland:
Montgomery, Howard, Carroll and Frederick.
The garden-style apartments were erected near the baseball field,
on the site where several temporary housing units once stood. Each
two-story building houses sixteen students in suites of four.
"These apartments will become our most desirable housing," notes
Maureen McIntire, vice president for student affairs. "They provide
the privacy of a single room and the companionship of sharing space
with friends. They have the feel of an apartment with the convenience
of being on campus. It offers students the best of both worlds."
Two more apartment buildings could be in place as early as September
2001, when the College closes two 1960s-vintage dormitories for
major renovation.
The housing boom coincides with a swell in applications to Washington
College that appears to be continuing. The first Admissions Open
House this semester attracted 375 prospective students, instead
of the usual 50 or 60. The College, though, expects to maintain
slow and steady growth. In this admissions cycle, the College will
apply a more rigorous set of admission criteria in order to select
an entering freshman class of approximately 325 men and women.
Last year's admissions effort exceeded the target of 300 new students
because more admitted students than usual actually enrolled, explains
Kevin Coveney, vice president for admissions and enrollment management.
Typically, 22 percent of admitted applicants enroll. This year,
that figure jumped to 25 percent.
Coveney attributes the increased level of interest in Washington
College to several factors. Even as the number of high school students
increases nationwide, the College has become more visible to prospective
students and the people who influence them. "A successful fundraising
campaign, several prominent visitors, and program additions all
have elevated the College's profile," he says, "and we've done a
better job of communicating the College's attributes to prospects
via our publications, telecounseling, direct mail outreach and web-based
resources."
College leaders agree that students choosing Washington College
haven't necessarily been swayed by the housing options. Today's
students prefer to live in modern, comfortable rooms that feel more
like home--and preferably without a roommate. For that reason, all
planned new residences will be designed as a series of suites--single
rooms with a common living area.
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