Last year, the Office of Admission sent its recruiters to countries in Asia and Africa it had never before visited, and the international recruiting push paid off - applications from abroad jumped 15.1 percent this year over the number received for the class of 2010. Total applications for the class of 2011 were up only 3.5 percent.
Admission officers visited a number of new locations last year. In a lengthy trip to Africa, they toured Tanzania, Swaziland, South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe. Officers traveled to new destinations in Asia and the Pacific, including Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam. And, for the first time in at least 17 years, the Office of Admission sent recruiters to Malaysia, Israel, Syria and Jordan.
Officers went to China for the first time in the spring of 2005, and last year they visited Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai and several other cities. They will travel to India for the first time this April, and though they did not visit Central or South America this past year, they plan to do so in the future. All these trips were in addition to the usual recruiting trips to Canada and Europe.
"Travel does impact admission. However it doesn't always impact it in the year that you travel. Sometimes it impacts applications two or three years down the line," said Panetha Ott, director of international admission. She noted that students in all grades of high school, not just seniors, attend the information sessions held during the international recruiting trips.
Apart from travel, Ott said several other factors contributed to the recent growth in international applications. Brown's emphasis on internationalization and a waning perception of post-Sept. 11, 2001 American xenophobia made the University more attractive to foreign applicants. Currency exchange rates may also have played a role - the euro strengthened relative to the dollar, effectively reducing the tuition for European applicants.
The admission office's ventures into new territories are slated to continue in the future. "I expect that we will visit, if not all the same places next year, a lot of them," Ott said. "It makes sense to travel to places two years in a row. Generally, we try to go to places twice."
Roughly 44 percent of the international applicant pool came from Asia, where admission officers spent nearly a month this fall. China, India, Singapore and Korea each contributed over 100 applicants. Applications from China rose 69 percent over last year, and applications from Hong Kong, Malaysia and India all rose 43 percent or more.
A quarter of all international applications came from Europe, with the United Kingdom sending the most applicants - 150. Ninety-one applications came from Africa, 4.3 percent of the international pool, while countries in the Middle East sent 74 applicants, or 3.5 percent. Applications from North and South American countries made up the remaining 18.1 percent of international applicants.
Ott said credit for the surge in international applications lies not just with Brown admission officers. Local alumni often accompany admission officers on their visits to schools, and sometimes give entire presentations on their own. "There's an element of trust when you see someone who speaks your own language and grew up the same way you did," Ott said. She added that parents appreciate being able to understand and communicate with these representatives.
But admission officers and alums often are less effective than one special group of recruiters - students already studying at Brown.
"Current students are the best ambassadors, and they often impact applications," Ott said. "Very often I see applicants saying that a graduate of their high school showed up and talked about Brown."
Daniela Rodriguez DaSilva '10, who attended secondary school in Venezuela followed by two years at the United World College in Wales, is one such student. "I have been in touch with at least two people who are applying to Brown from United World College," Rodriguez DaSilva said. She learned about Brown from her friend, a current Brown student and United World College alum.
Ott anticipates increased recruiting efforts in Africa and the West Indies in the future, a recommendation made by the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice. "My guess is that's going to happen for all sorts of reasons. It increases diversity on campus, and it helps Brown's mission of promoting international peace and understanding," Ott said. "We've already increased the travel to Africa from zero to about three weeks, and we hope to continue that."
