More than 1,800 high school students and 3,600 parents are expected to file into Anderson Arena today for the eighth annual Presidents Day Preview Day.
Once on campus, these high school juniors and seniors have the opportunity to sit in on college classes and attend numerous presentations. Separate presentations will be given for juniors and seniors in Olscamp 101.
Presentations will be given from financial aid, residence life and other campus organizations. Students will also be able to go on residence hall tours and attend academic department open houses.
Director of Admissions Gary Swegan likes the variety of the programs offered on Preview Day.
“The importance of this day is that it allows prospective students to pick and choose what they want to see at will,” Swegan said.
The Lenhart Grand Ballroom will be filled with booths providing information from more than 60 campus and community organizations. The Ballroom will be open from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
According to Swegan, last year’s Presidents Day Preview Day brought more than 2,000 prospective students to the campus. This made for about 6,000 visitors to the University on that day.
A preview day of this magnitude happened on accident, according to David Rice, assistant director of admissions and coordinator of Preview Day.
In 1996, a mini preview day was held. The Office of Admissions expected 150-300 people to come. That year 1,205 people came. The program picked up from there.
“Preview Day has definitely grown over a period of time,” Rice said.
The largest Preview Day was in 1999, when 2400 students came to the campus.
The reason why so many high school students are able to attend this particular preview day is that most high schools are out of session on Presidents Day.
There are only three other colleges in Ohio that are known to have a Presidents Day Preview Day. These colleges are Youngstown State, Shawnee State and Bluffton.
Bowling Green keeps classes in session on Presidents Day to help sell the University to prospective students and parents. “Getting students involved is most important,” Rice said. “Students sell the University, and that works for students and parents.”
Most of the high school seniors who will visit campus today have applied and been admitted. These students will go through residence halls and make informed housing selections. However this is also an important day for those students who have not yet decided on a college.
“This will make the decision,” Rice said. “A majority of the seniors usually enroll after visiting the campus on Presidents Day.”
Over 200 volunteers from the campus come together to make this Preview Day work. Some volunteers use the day to get community service hours. The football coaching staff and hockey staff also pull together to help.
