Day at the Beach: Sun, Surf, College Admissions Officers

A New York college is putting a new twist on early admissions, creating an instant, on-the-spot evaluation that allows students to learn whether they have been admitted 24 hours after showing their high school transcripts.

The process, called Immediate Decision Week, will kick off next week at Mercy College's five locations, from the main campus in Westchester to satellites in Manhattan's Herald Square, the Bronx, and White Plains.

Admissions officers will also be canvassing local beaches and malls in the five boroughs and Westchester in search of instant applicants.

The college is running radio advertisements to publicize its campaign, and admissions officers have been planning for months to be prepared for their on-campus and "roving van" brigades.

Contrary to what may be suspected, Immediate Decision Week does not appear to be an act of desperation.

The population of students going to college is at an all-time high, and growth is especially strong among Mercy's target population of nontraditional adults and transfer students, according to the policy director of the National Association of College Admissions Counseling, David Hawkins.

Mercy College's vice president of enrollment, Deirdre Whitman, said the school's enrollment, now at 5,000 for the fall, is increasing rapidly.

Ms. Whitman said the campaign is an attempt to improve customer service — and to make sure that everyone who is qualified for the college knows that it is available.

"We know that the students' lives are filled with a lot," she said. "Many of our students have jobs, they have families, they have careers. We just want to provide a real customer approach."

Ms. Whitman said she expects conversations between admissions staff and students to last a maximum of 30 minutes. Students will have to bring a school transcript and photo identification.

After the talk, the admission officers will give the student a good sense of whether acceptance is forthcoming, Ms. Whitman said. Twenty-four hours later, they will give a final decision; for strong candidates, the delay is merely a time for a committee of admissions officers to look over the application and validate the transcript.

Admission is not guaranteed; so far this year, 49% of students who applied to begin in the fall have been admitted, according to Ms. Whitman.

A not-for-profit college that also offers graduate programs, Mercy is attended by the ordinary mix of 18-year-olds plus a growing group of nontraditional students. Most of the students do not live on campus but commute, and 85% receive financial aid.

Ms. Whitman said this is the first time Mercy has held an Immediate Decision Week, but the practice appears to be part of a trend.

The State University of New York's Binghamton University held an Instant Admission Day this March for students at a nearby community college. Another SUNY community college, Erie, holds an open house at which high school seniors who bring their high school transcripts or scores on the alternative GED exam can win instant admission.

The associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, Barmak Nassirian, said instant admission days can be a good way to break down the mazelike challenges of the ordinary admissions process.

"For the sophisticated middle class, the dignified and genteel ways of higher education do not constitute a barrier," Mr. Nassirian said. "Now imagine the unsophisticated, low-income student who doesn't have a cooperative adult in their life, for whom the very knowledge that you have to get admitted to go to college is news. What's wrong with their running into a desk at a mall, where somebody grabs their best instincts and makes them act on it? That's a fabulously good thing."