Of the 2,729 new-from-high-school students enrolled in fall 1998 there were 1,484 (54%) who completed an Entering Student Survey at a new freshman orientation session in July or August. Those completing the survey were 58% women and 42% men. This was very close to the actual fall enrollment for new freshmen of 56% women and 44% men. Those completing the survey were 77% white compared to 72% of the actual enrollment, meaning that the proportion of minorities in the orientation group was slightly less than in the actual fall class.

Many items were the same in both the fall 1997 orientation survey and in the fall 1998 instrument, but there were also several differences. Results for similar items were compared. Only two items in the fall 1998 survey differed by as many as five percentage points from equivalent items in the fall 1997 survey. Both items were in the check list of factors that might have influenced the student’s decision to attend UNT. They were "accreditations from national organizations for UNT programs" (checked by 8% of the fall 1998 group and by 13% of the fall 1997 group) and "publications received" (checked by 20% of the fall 1998 group and by 15% of the fall 1997 group).

What is it about UNT that influenced your decision to attend? The two top factors were being close to home (64%) and reasonable cost (57%). The next five items were the academic reputation of UNT (43%), advice of current or former UNT students (43%), advice from a relative (36%), material from the major department (31%), and advice from a counselor or teacher (29%). UNT’s social reputation (24%), a tour of UNT (24%), and publications received (20%) complete the top ten of the list. The other 13 items were checked by from 18% to 6% of the respondents.

Education of parents. Three-fourths of the parents have some college work: 76% of the fathers and 73% of the mothers. There were 51% of the fathers and 40% of the mothers with a four-year college degree. However, of the parents who have attended college, only 11% attended UNT. This reflects the fact that a large part of the metroplex population has come from other states and other parts of Texas.

Did you take a college course while in high school? There were 22% who answered "yes," 18% at a community college and 4% at a senior college or university.

School of first choice. For two-thirds (66%) UNT was the school of first choice. Other schools named as first choice by three or more students were: UT at Austin (81), Texas A&M University (40), Texas Tech University (35), TCU (26), Baylor University (24), Southwest Texas State University (19), SMU (14), University of Houston (11), Stephen F. Austin State University (10), Abilene Christian University (9), Berklee College of Music (5), UT at Dallas (5), Arizona State University (4), UCLA (4), University of Miami (4), New York University (4), Southwestern University (4), UT at Arlington (4), Savannah College of Art and Design (4), Clark University (3), Pratt Institute, NY (3), Ohio State University (3), Angelo State University(3), Texas A&M University at Commerce (3), Rice University (3), Sam Houston State University (3), Tarrant County Community College (3), and Tarlton State University (3).

• Why didn’t you enroll at your first choice? The most often mentioned reasons for not attending the institution of first choice were financial (UNT was more affordable), the school of first choice was too far from home, the school of first choice was too close to home, academic programs at UNT better met the student’s needs, various personal reasons, and several said they missed the deadline or were not accepted there. (Some students wrote "I did" indicating that UNT was their first choice.) See Appendix A for a complete list of reasons for not enrolling the in school of first choice.

Transfer plans. Most (84%) said they had no plans to transfer. Some of the 16% who said they did plan to transfer indicated it was to a graduate school (medical school, law school, etc.) and counted that as "planning to transfer." Schools name by three or more students as places where they plan to transfer were: UT at Austin (34), Texas A&M University (25), Texas Tech University (9), SMU (7), Texas Womans University (7), Baylor University (5), University of Houston (5), Angelo State University (4), Southwest Texas State University (4), TCU (4), UCLA (3), University of Colorado (3), Berklee College of Music (3), and Manhattan School of Music (3).

• Reasons for planning to transfer. The reason given most often for plans to transfer relates to an academic program. Either UNT does not offer the major ("UNT doesn’t have architecture"), or the student perceives that the offering at another institution is superior in some way to that at UNT ("UT – the degree looks better on paper"). Several said they simply want to move to another region, particularly to move to another state. Attending a particular institution is a goal of long standing for some ("I always wanted to go there"). Some plan to attend UNT now and later transfer to their school of first choice. Many students stated their satisfaction with UNT rather than listing reasons for transferring: "I love UNT." "This is my home!" "Happy where I am." "UNT provides all."

Years to complete degree. There were 66% who expected to complete their degree in 4 years or less, 28% in 5 years, and 6% in 6 years or more.

Summer school. There were 44% who said they intended to take summer courses at UNT. Those who intended to take summer courses at institutions other than UNT named mostly community colleges: Tarrant County Junior College (74), Dallas County Community Colleges (51), Collin County Community College (14), Grayson County Community College (7), Austin Community College (7), Amarillo College (5), Houston Community College (5), Trinity Valley Community College (4), UT at El Paso (4), Kilgore College (3), McLennan Community College (3), Weatherford College (3), San Antonio College (3), North Central Texas College (3), and Kingwood Community College (3).

Residence, employment, and financial aid. While attending UNT 76% will live in a UNT residence hall, 8% will live in Denton but not in a residence hall (4% with parents or relatives), and 16% will live outside of Denton (14% with parents or relatives). Slightly less than one-third (30%) did not expect to be employed, while almost one-half (48%) expected to work 20 hours or less per week, 18% expected to work 21 to 30 hours per week, and 4% expected to work 31 or more hours per week. There were 57% who had contacted the UNT Student Employment Office about a job or were considering doing so. One-half (50%) had already applied for financial aid. Another 17% said they may apply at a later time. A credit card was used to pay the college bill by 20% of the students.

• Suggestions for improving the financial aid process. Among the most frequent comments were expressions of satisfaction with the financial aid process as indicated by statements such as the following: "No suggestions." "None, it was pretty good." "The process is great." "Its fine—I didn’t qualify though." The most frequently comment was the one word. "None." However, many expressed difficulty in reaching Financial Aid by phone: "Every time I called the Financial Aid Office the phone was busy." Another difficulty was the time required to find out if they were to receive an award and the amount of the award: "Make it faster. I am at orientation and have not received my award letter yet," "speed up the verification process," and "a quicker response of my status." One student made the following suggestion to fellow students for improving the financial aid application process: "Apply earlier."

Areas where help is perceived as needed. The 10 areas are listed by the percentage who checked each area: math (51%), study skills (31%), time management (29%), adjustment to college (25%), writing (24%), use of the library (23%), foreign language (22%), science (20%), economics (14%), and apprehension about communicating (10%).

Impression of UNT student services.

• The majority (95%) "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that UNT responded to requests for information in a timely manner.
• The majority (96%) "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that the application procedures were easy to follow.
• The majority (92%) "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that freshman orientation was helpful in introducing them to college life.

Parent orientation. Almost one-half of the students (45%) had one or both parents attending parent orientation.

• Reasons why parents did not attend parent orientation. The most commonly stated reasons for why the parents did not attend parent orientation were work, too busy with other obligations, the parents had attended earlier when a brother or sister enrolled at UNT, the parents did not feel they needed to attend, and the child did not want the parents to attend. "They had to work." "Other obligations." "Too busy." "My brother is a sophomore so they went for his orientation last year." "They did not feel it was necessary." "Mom felt I needed to do this on my own." "I didn’t want them here and they didn’t want to come." "I told them I could do everything myself and they listened." Some parents came for only a portion of the orientation: "They came for some of it."

What suggestions do you have for improving freshman orientation? Many students expressed strong approval of the orientation process. One said, "It was very informative and helpful. It must be difficult to organize this many young adults." Another commented, "Kind of overwhelming -- but I don't know how to improve it." Other evaluations included: "No suggestions. Everything went smoothly and orientation was fun and helpful." "It seemed to run smoothly and I enjoyed it thus far. I don't see anything wrong with it." "I had a blast! Mingle everyone (males & females)!" "I don't have any suggestions. It went fairly smoothly for me." "It was great and helpful." "Orientation moved smoothly for me." "It's been OK so far." "No suggestions. I had a really great time." "I was really nervous at first but my peer counselor helped." Perhaps the comment written most often was, "None" (i.e., no suggested changes). Specific suggested changes included the following:

• More academic advising: "More time with students/staff involved in majors." "More time for peer group advising." "Helping students one on one with registration and choosing majors." "More advice on scheduling times for classes."

• Information of a practical nature: "Tell us more about actual college life-homework, exams, etc."

• Some free time was requested: "Find better activities for students and allow them more free time to be alone." "A little more free time." "More free time to browse and check out stuff on our own."

• Time for sleep and rest was an important point for many: "Do not keep students up past midnight and then have them test early in the morning." "Spend more time on scheduling and less on activities. Sleep is important!" "A little more time to sleep." "Let you either go to bed earlier or get up later." "Less activity so we aren't up late the night before placement exams. Sleep is important!" "We need time to rest."

• Relating to the matter of sleep time, some resented the curfew while others wanted it better enforced or even an earlier curfew: "No curfew." "Later curfew." "Make the curfew work. We all may have been here, but no one was going to bed." "Earlier curfew."

• Some suggested a shorter orientation session: "Don't make it so long. Don't keep us up all night then expect us to take placement test early." "Make it shorter." "Orientation could be improved if it was shortened, and the groups were smaller." "Taking less time to do the icebreakers will create less rush during the first evening registration."

• Others suggested a longer orientation session: "Don't cram everything in. Make it longer." "Maybe making it last a day longer so there is more time to get things done." "I think you should make it a day longer, and have more activities to do." "Longer, for more relaxed days."

• There were several comments about icebreakers, skits, and cheers. There were those who suggested fewer icebreakers and those who suggested more: "Less icebreaker activities and less paperwork." "More icebreakers." Several suggested doing away with the skits: "No skits!" Many suggested doing away with the cheers: "Don't have us make up cheers." "No more cheers." "Get rid of cheers." Of course, when interpreting the comments about icebreakers, skits, and cheers it is important to remember the students are responding to a question about suggested changes and not with an evaluation of what may have been liked." The icebreakers and cheers are probably favored by students such as the one who commented, "No suggestions. Everything went smoothly and orientation was fun and helpful."

What can UNT do to help you succeed in college? Comments reflect the fact that students recognized their own responsibility for success: "Just basically work with me on my major and getting a job after graduation." "Be there to answer questions for me." "Nothing. Succeeding in school is up to me. UNT provides the perfect atmosphere for this to happen." "Provide what I need as long as I hold my end of the deal." "Nothing more than offering the same opportunities as they do now." "Give me a good education." "Give me a strong education."

• Many said that what UNT is already doing will help them succeed: "Be as helpful as UNT has already been." "Already doing a great job." "Nothing that you guys are not already doing." "Keep up the good work." "Continue helping students." "Stay the same." "Just continue doing what you have been doing by being interested in me and my career." "Be what you have advertised to be."

• Students want good courses and a schedule that meets their needs: "Give me mentally challenging classes with no busy work." "Challenge me in classes." "Offer exciting courses and good outside help." "Offer many courses and flexible times and days." "Keep classes open!" "Have classes available for my interest. Everything was full. Provide tutors when needed." "More classes that are smaller. I really like UNT. I hope the professors are personal."

• Faculty are important: "Have professors who care and want us to succeed." "Provide me with helpful teachers and materials." "Have good teachers." "Good teachers that care." "Have professors who want to help us learn."

• Students want good counseling, advising, tutoring when needed, and other study help: "Offer help in tough classes." "Listen and advise." "Provide adequate counseling and advising." "Make advice/advising as readily available as possible." "Make advisors easily accessible." "Offer tutors." "Have tutors readily available." "Tutoring, and lots of it!" "Study groups." "Quiet study areas."

• Help from peers is highly valued: "Have good student advisors and counselors." "They can help give good advice about studying and time management skills. These two are crucial." "Have peer counselors in designated areas to help with incoming freshmen and transfers." "Fellow student advisement." "Continue to provide aid/assistance through student peers."

• Help is needed in many areas, but math is mentioned often: "Give me tutorials and help in any area." "Study help in writing." "Get me a math tutor!" "Lots of study groups for math."

• Finances are always a concern: "Help with my financial problems." "Keep costs low: tuition, housing, everything." "Continue to provide the proper resources and make them available. A little more financial assistance." "Help me find scholarships." "Contact me about scholarships that are available to me."

A list of the survey items, with response frequencies and percentages, is provided on the following pages.