U.S. News & World Report released its list of the top 100 colleges in the United States based on acceptance rates last week.
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Almost shockingly, CSU East Bay was ranked at a competitive rate of 22 percent along with aggressive UC Berkeley and higher than UC Los Angeles and University of Southern California.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported this announcement last Wednesday, stunned as well that “humble” CSUEB would be placed in the same category with the likes of UC Berkeley and Tufts University in MA.

The article quotes Greg Smith, CSUEB associate vice president for enrollment, as amused and almost in disbelief over the statistic.

“How interesting!” Smith reported to The Chronicle, who was attributed as “laughing.”

Smith told The Pioneer his reaction to this statement was in no way condescending but “struck me as a kind of a question from left field.”

“The way the story was presented was CSUEB has now become more selective than UC Berkeley, and I guess I laughed in response to that because that’s not who we are, that’s not our mission to be more selective than UC Berkeley,” said Smith.

Smith in last Wednesday’s article stated CSUEB was ranked on a technicality, as the admittance rate for the Fall 2011 year was actually at 33 percent, ten percent higher than what was reported in the U.S. News & World Report.

Smith said this mistake is due to CSUEB’s “proactive” approach with applicants, as CSUEB along with the entire CSU system accelerated the application deadline to February, six months earlier than years previous.

Thus, Smith said, CSUEB was very active in making sure applicants met deadlines, but still allowed many who might have missed the date to do afterwards, and attributes the mistake to a number first reported for acceptance but later modified as they made room for additional applicants.

CSUEB would have admitted 2,180 of 9,925 applicants if it had a 22 percent acceptance rate as reported by The Chronicle.
In reality, they reported actual admissions were closer to 3,200 of 9,700 applicants, or 33 percent.

Yet even at 33 percent, CSUEB still makes the list and ranks as more selective than California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania.

Due to the harsh California budget, especially that which is allocated for public education, the deadline acceleration is a message to students they need to take deadlines seriously.

“I think in past years when there was less worry about the budget, students could probably coast a little more in terms of deadline and they can’t anymore,” said Smith. “They are definitely not being cut out, they just need to be on top of things.”

Smith said this report, even based on an accidental statistical error, is a positive message “we are true to the CSU mission,” and further more exemplifies CSUEB’s effort to accept as many students as they can.

“What this says about our school is that we’re still true to the mission of the CSU, that a student who is CSU eligible has a place at CSUEB,” said Smith.

The Chronicle report shocked a lot of CSUEB students, many of whom thought the article placed their school as unworthy of the list with Smith adding to that sentiment.

“The article almost makes it seem like its irrational we’re on that list, and the fact that he laughs about it makes it seem like he thinks we’re not good enough either,” said chemistry major Nathan Chien.

Smith said he wasn’t “really laughing” and added “I don’t know how they thought I was,” and truly believe CSUEB is good enough to be on that list because “we have so much to be proud of.”

“What I was trying to express was of course we’re not as selective as UC Berkeley, that’s not our mission,” said Smith. “I don’t want anyone out there thinking, ‘Oh I can’t go to CSUEB anymore because it’s as competitive as UC Berkeley.’ If that message were to get out there it would be a disaster.”

In the end, this report has awoken many CSUEB students to see their school ranked among some of the best schools in the nation.

Smith said this article should be looked upon with happiness as CSUEB has yet made another list exemplifying its potential.

“I’m so proud of the fact we serve so many talented students who otherwise might not be eligible or desire to go to be Berkeley. I don’t want anyone to think that, that’s not who we are that’s not what were all about,” he said. “We’re about students, regardless of numbers that’s what we’re all about.”