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Undergraduate
Admissions Turndowns Survey 2006
This survey,
conducted in summer 2006 on behalf of the Offices of Admissions,
Student Financial Services, and University Relations, asked questions
of those applicants to the University who turned down an offer of
admission for the 2006-07 academic year. We inquired about the schools
they plan to attend and their experiences with the Admissions and
Financial Aid offices, and resources students use to collect information
about colleges. Out of a total of 1,799 in the sample, 1218 responded,
for a response rate of 68%. A similar survey was conducted in 2005. Similar
surveys have been conducted in other years as well. For those results,
click here.
The admissions turndown surveys are being used to assess AccessUVa, in addition
to the the admissions office and procedures. More information
about AccessUVa surveys Data
Reports
Questionnaire (MS word doc)
Methodology
Data
(Stored in IAS Data
Catalog)
Summary
tables
Frequencies
Reported
in four sections: Admissions, Financial Aid, University
Relations, School of Engineering and Applied Science
Overall
By
gender
By race
By program
By domicile
By 200% of poverty (high need)
Reasons
for not attending UVa: Top Three ranking (overall
only)
Text
Comments (MS
word doc)
"Other" responses (MS word doc)
Reports (Stored
in IAS Reports)
AccessUVa
Report of Results: Year Two (2006) (.pdf)
African-American Turndowns 2005 & 2006 Comparison Report (.pdf)
Methodology
The
survey population was all applicants who turned down the
University of Virginia’s offer of admission at the undergraduate
level for the 2006-07 academic year, including only first-time,
first-year applicants.
On
June 9, 2006, the sample of 1,799 was sent personalized
letters signed by the Dean of Admission, Jack Blackburn. The
letter informed them of the importance and general purposes of
the survey, assured them of confidentiality, and invited them
to participate. The survey was conducted entirely over the web.
Respondents were tracked via an alphanumeric randomized respondent
key. Four email reminders were sent to nonrespondents on June
23, July 5, 14 and 26. Lotteries were
conducted as incentives for respondents. As an experiment, the
sample was randomly divided into two groups. One group was eligible
to participate in a series of lotteries for 22 prizes:
four $100 gift certificates, six $50 gift
certificates,
and twelve
$25 gift certificates to Amazon.com. The other group was eligible
to win one of two cash prizes of $500. The purpose of the experiment
was to determine the most effecient means of boosting response
rates. Initial findings are that respondents being offered a
chance to win the 2 $500 prizes had a higher response rate (71%)
than students who were entered in the series of smaller prize
lotteries (65%).
When
the field period ended on August 1, 2006, a total of 1,218 students
had responded to this survey for a response rate of 68%. At a
95% confidence level, the overall sampling error for the survey
was ± 1.6%. Sampling error would be higher for subgroup
breakdowns of the data, and if not all respondents answered a
question.
Sampling
error assumes a random (representative) sample. Analysis was
conducted to determine whether respondents differed from nonrespondents
in important known characteristics, domicile, gender, ethnic
background and intended program of study. Overall, respondents
looked similar to the population.
A
few exceptions were that whites
were slightly overrepresented and Hispanic-Americans were slightly
underrepresented.
African-Americans were somewhat more underrepresented but not
greatly. While not very consequential by themselves, these
differences were compounded by
different
response rates among
women and men within racial groups, even though overall men
and
women responded to the survey at similar rates. Accordingly,
the data were weighted by gender within racial groups
to account for differences in respondents and the population--in
particular African-American women and Hispanic men would have
been substantially underrepresented without weighting.
Questions
regarding the administration of the survey, the questionnaire,
or the results can be directed to Jonathan
Schnyer, Assistant Director and Assessment Coordinator, Office
of Institutional Assessment and Studies, P.O. Box 400427, Charlottesville,
VA 22904-4727 (telephone: 434/924-3417 or schnyer@virginia.edu).
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