SAN DIEGO — San Diego State is making a lot of history these days. From the incredible run in the Men's NCAA Tournament to the skyrocketing number of students applying to the school.
With all this hype, prospective students hope they have a chance to get accepted.
The electric student sections cheering on the Aztecs not only helped the men's basketball team win, but also the school.
“I've never really followed basketball that much. But just the fact that we were in San Diego and I got to experience how everyone was reacting and watching the game and everyone coming together. It was such a good experience. And it really made me want to come here,” said Corbin Fuchs, a high school junior.
Another prospective student from Southern California says March Madness pushed him to say 'yes' to SDSU Saturday morning before the buzzer-beater shot.
“So, I'm really excited to go to [SDSU] campus next year,” said Aiden Preuss.
This is happening as many prospective students are touring the campus for the 2024-2025 school year.
“So for the March Madness, plus the team doing so well and then just being a cool campus in San Diego, I feel like it's a great place to be. So yeah, I think it has kind of pushed me towards it,” said Mason Lyions, another high school junior.
This is something the university has never experienced.
Stefan Hyman is SDSU’s Associated Vice President of Enrollment Management. He says they’ll have a better idea if March Madness influenced decisions next month. That’s the deadline to accept SDSU’s offer of acceptance. However, Hyman says he’s studied the impact at other schools.
“What we see is that universities that have tended to have sporting teams go on magical Cinderella runs, they do tend to see a bit of a bump in applications that come in the following year,” said Hyman.
The deadline to apply for the next school year has passed, but Hyman says for the second year in a row the school broke another record, they received 83,000 applications which could make it tough to get accepted.
“There's increased competition. No doubt about that. We have continued though, making sure that we're meeting our commitment to our local students. And we've sustained our higher admission rate for local students within our service area,” said Hyman.
Fuchs proudly wore his new SDSU sweatshirt and says he's holding out hope he gets accepted.
“I'm still holding on to that belief. I'm crossing my fingers that I can get in,” said Fuchs.
SDSU will accept applications for the 2024-2025 school year between October 1 and November 30.