Grace Ostrosky, Arts & Life Editor
On Feb. 16, 106 high school students visited campus as a part of the Office of Admission’s Winter Preview Day, formerly known as Junior Visit Day.
This all-day event included information sessions, tours around campus and panels in the arts and athletics.
Visitors were invited to participate in breakout sessions led by Dr. Doug Spieles, chair of sustainability and environmental studies, and Dr. Rebecca Kennedy, chair of ancient Greek and Roman studies. They could also spend lunch at one of the dining halls and visit drop-in sessions with the Office of Financial Aid.
Unique experiences like these, provided by the Office of Admission, give prospective students an in-depth look into campus life.
According to the senior associate director of admission, Carianne Meng, Junior Visit Days are an industry standard across colleges and universities nationwide.
However, Denison has worked to evolve this event to invite more high school students this year, and the Office of Admission saw positive results. While most attendees on Winter Preview Day were juniors, some were sophomores and applicants (seniors), along with “a few motivated freshmen.”
“These dates are planned years in advance; that’s how big of an event Winter Preview Day is,” Meng explained.
“My job, in addition to overseeing the docents, is being the admissions event planner,” Meng said. “But Pieter Hansen is our faculty liaison, Molly Schul works with the arts panelists, Caitlin Latta works with the athletics panelists…I’m the behind-the-scenes person, but it really is a team effort. It takes everyone on campus to get the event running and make it successful.”
“The biggest change we’ve made to the event this year is inviting other high school students and encouraging them to attend.”
Malachi Phasey ‘28, a double major in politics and public affairs and Spanish from Whitstable, England, said, “From a docent perspective, the day ran super smoothly.”
“I think changing it from Junior Visit Day to Winter Preview Day made it more welcoming to high school students of all class years. And it’s a good time of year for the event, since high school students have off for President’s Day,” he added.
“I think the energy was really good the day of the event,” said Cassidy Lownes ‘28, an educational studies and psychology double major from Shaker Heights. “It’s so awesome to see prospective students so excited about Denison.”
In April, the Office of Admission will host Admitted Student Open Houses, with typically 175 to 250 admitted students expected to attend each open house. Many admitted students will visit campus outside of those programs for an Admitted Student Day Visit.
The Office of Admission finds that these events can be “decision moments” for students: about 50% of students who attend enroll at Denison.
“A lot of other institutions do Admitted Students Day– they’re also industry standard– but, when Denison does them, the Office of Admission really wants them to be big and lively,” said Meng. “When admitted students visit, they are much more likely to enroll, so we really make sure they are exposed to seeing the lives of current students. We get really great feedback from these events because we don’t gatekeep campus- we try to give students the most authentic experience possible.”
“I love working special events because it’s a chance for me to meet future Denisonians,” said Ellen Hansen ‘28, a journalism and psychology double major from Columbus, Ohio.
“Special events like Winter Preview Day are always fun because, for a lot of the juniors that come and visit, it’s one of their first college tours so they’re super engaged…it’s also fun when there are big groups of high school students and their families on campus and they can see our students going to class and hanging out,” said Abigail Schneider ‘27, a global commerce major from Fairfax, Virginia.
“I came to a special event day when I was in high school, and I think it helped me when deciding to choose Denison,” Schneider said.