[NU Sports] More Good News For Northwestern

[BSchooler at aol.com]

Northwestern's Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Keith Todd, was in 
Austin on October 26 for the annual Hotel Information Session here. Keith said that 
Northwestern had already received over 12,000 applications as of that date; a 
figure that would put NU on track to break the previous record for number of 
applications. This confirms anecdotal evidence I had seen (running out of 
brochures at college fairs) that there was an unusual increase in interest in 
Northwestern. Apparently, Northwestern is one of the "hot" schools again. A large 
increase in applications leads to greater selectivity which, in turn, leads to 
higher rankings. And all of this took place before most of our football 
team's success. 

Northwestern has gained a lot of respect in Texas the past few years; both 
academically and athletically. Before 1995, a surprising number of folks in 
Austin knew very little about Northwestern. But over the past couple years, 
interest in and awareness of Northwestern has skyrocketed. We are mobbed at high 
school college fairs. Everyone knows about our performing arts programs, Medill, 
Kellogg, and now, our football team. Perhaps this is because we are on 
national TV so much. Even when we lost to Michigan, we benefited from a large 
headline at the top of one of the Sunday sports section pages that read "Michigan 
Schools Northwestern". On the HornFans and Orangebloods websites, Northwestern is 
mentioned often and usually with respect. Some fans down here refer to Randy 
Walker as a "genius". I'll pass on the genius label and credit Walker with 
coaching a hard nosed, physically tough team that never quits while maintaining 
the top graduation rate in all of Division 1A football. And I'll credit 
Northwestern President Henry Bienen with taking Northwestern to the next level; 
something that is very difficult to do in our rarified air. 

Bob Schooler