Prospective Wildcats can now apply online
Now that admissions documents for prospective UA students are just a point and click away, about 700 new applicants have taken advantage of the university's online application system since last summer.
Started in July, the online application process was partially operational during the 1997-98 school year. Problems with the server and other difficulties prevented it from serving students all year, said Lori Goldman, the University of Arizona's admissions director.
This year's freshman class is the first to encounter the fully functional electronic application.
Goldman said although applying online is a quicker alternative to the traditional paper application, some students still send in paperwork as a backup.
"Students are still kind of wary about it," she said.
Many colleges, including Harvard University, now offer applications that can be downloaded from their websites, printed and mailed. Potential UA students, however, can submit applications while on the Internet.
Craig Wells, a computer science and interdisciplinary studies transfer student from Arizona State University, used the online application to gain admission into UA.
"I didn't have to go to the trouble of sending it off, wondering if it got there or not," Wells said.
Transfer students such as Wells are the typical online applicant, Goldman said, because they are current students at another college or university and are more likely to have access to the world wide web.
Wells, who will begin classes at UA next fall, said he found the online option preferable.
"I didn't have a paper application handy, and if you make a mistake you can go back and fix it," he said. "The online application was faster, it was there, and it was immediate."
While the regular paper application is still how the majority of students apply, Goldman predicts that the online application process will become the all-around trend at UA.
As the application becomes the norm, the once-bothersome glitches are giving way to a modern, easier method of applying to the university.
"The online application was easy to follow," Wells said. "In fact, it was easier to understand than the paper application, it had instructions that were written better than the standard paper one."
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