College welcomes admitted students for Accepted Day
By DANIELLE GREER
News Writer
The Saint Mary's community welcomed all accepted 2001 applicants to campus for Accepted Day Sunday.
Accepted Day provides prospective students with an opportunity to get a view of campus in order to help them make a decision regarding which college or university to attend.
Accepted applicants interacted with staff, faculty and current students at Saint Mary's College. Prospective students also had the opportunity to socialize with future classmates.
Activities gave the prospective students a sense of the Saint Mary's community.
A Mass, reception and tours of the campus allowed the women and their parents to speak to and interact with the faculty, said Jennifer Freeze, assistant director and campus visit coordinator.
"Accepted Day went well overall. I enjoyed meeting and interacting with the faculty. I'm also interested in sports, so I got a chance to talk to coaches about what I'm interested in, which is cross-country. I think this was beneficial because it gave me a chance to familiarize myself with the campus and will make it easier to affirm my decision," said Kristen Zaininger, prospective student for class of 2005.
Accepted Day continues to promote Saint Mary's pride. "Here they [prospective students] get a chance to bond and form friendships. Saint Mary's community becomes like a family," said Mary Pat Nolan.
The admissions office hopes that more diversity will be represented on Accepted Day — a number indicative of the College's ability to recruit a more diverse class.
"Here at Saint Mary's our goal is to enrich the experience for all. Usually we have 10 percent or less [diverse students] apply, but this year we had 13 percent apply. That's really good," said Mary Pat Nolan, director of the admissions office.
This increase is an accomplishment for the admissions office because Saint Mary's is becoming more known throughout the United States and abroad.
There were applicants from 30 different states and countries.
Mona Bowe, associate director of the admissions office, is also hoping for an increase within the diversity on the Saint Mary's campus.
"What people have to understand is that ethnically diverse students look for the same things white students look for in a college. The College has to feel right to them," said Bowe.
In addition to helping convince students to attend the College with Accepted Day, the admissions office is also offering live online chats every other Tuesday until the end of the year.
Prospective students can go to a college online website and enter chat rooms for specific topics about the Saint Mary's community. The online chats may help the students finalize their decision to attend Saint Mary's. This will be an easy, convenient way for the applicants to interact with each other as well as faculty, staff, and current Saint Mary's students.
The admissions office will also offer travel grants to help bring students from distant locations who would like to visit. Saint Mary's feels it is important to extend their reputation throughout the U.S. and across the world.
"We have a list of about 12 states that apply for the travel grants. We offer this travel stipend because there is no substitute for a campus visit," said Bowe.
All News Stories for Monday, March 26, 2001
