Daily Skiff

As a second semester sophomore, I was just accepted into the Neeley School of Business. I was ecstatic to receive my admissions e-mail over Spring Break. However, I found myself wondering about those who were given notice that their application had been denied.

As a freshman, I had the fortune to already know what I wanted to do and that Neeley was the school that could get me there, and so I applied and was accepted to TCU as a pre-business major.

You might ask, "What about the students coming in as pre-majors or anything outside of a business major? Aren't they put at a disadvantage?"

The answer is no because most students don't begin taking business classes until their sophomore year.

Lynn Cole, assistant dean of the Neeley School said, "Initially, the rationale behind the application process was it could serve as an enrollment management strategy. The Neeley School was growing to a point where we lacked resources to accommodate the growth."

Senior Associate Dean Bill Moncrief said that 25 percent of the incoming freshman class is made up of pre-business majors. Including business minors, business students account for one-third of the entire TCU campus.

But what happens to the students who successfully make it to the application and interview stage of admission, but are denied? With TCU's increasing tuition, I can't imagine calling one's parents to tell them the last four semesters were for nothing and having to change path halfway through college.

Moncrief said that before the implementation of the current system, a number of juniors and seniors were still pre-business majors. In an effort to deter this situation, the new policy requires freshman to obtain a 2.5 GPA by August in order to continue with the business program. The students who remain must maintain a 3.0 GPA to apply to the business school.

For those who don't satisfy the GPA requirement, "the advisers in the Neeley Student Resource Center work closely with the students to identify a path and then refer students to other resources as needed," Cole said. The new policy has the potential to prevent students from reaching a point of no return.

Lauren Farrelly is an international finance major from Fort Worth.

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