Although the numbers are in for this year's freshman class, the office of admissions is already looking to recruit for the class of 2014.
The office of admissions will be holding two Open House events on Sept. 26 and Nov. 8. The first will begin at 10 a.m. with a welcome address from Msgr. Sheeran and will close around 2 p.m., at which time prospective students and their families will be invited to stay and watch the women's volleyball team take on Georgetown.
The first Open House has 426 highschool students pre-registered, and the second already has 230 pre-registrants.
"But in the days leading up to the event, we'll have more students start to sign up," said Courtney Sollie, director of admissions communications and special events. "We usually get around 500-600 students (at each Open House)."
In addition to the welcome address, the Open House also includes an Academic Session where prospective students can interact with faculty and a campus life fair so they can see the community and activities Seton Hall has to offer. In the past, the Academic Session was rather short, and Sollie said she found that it would run over the allotted time and students would be late to other sessions because they wanted to keep talking with faculty.
Therefore, this year the university decided extending the academic session. "The (prospective) students and faculty are always really engaged," Sollie said. "We wanted to offer the (prospective) students more interaction with faculty."
According to Sollie, participants can then choose to attend a presentation from one of the following groups: the Financial Aid Office, Disability Support Services, Housing and Residence Life and the Honors Program, among others.
"The more touch points we have with the (prospective) student, the more likely they are to attend (Seton Hall)," Sollie said. If students attend the Open House, "it gives them a feeling of where they fit (at the university)," Sollie said.
Another option prospective students can take advantage of at the Open House is a guided tour through Seton Hall with one of the members of the student Blue Crew. Senior Rachel Baxter will be one of the Blue Crew staff members hosting tours during the Open House.
"I hope to show (the prospective students) through my personal experience in the classroom, on campus, and in the community that SHU is a great university," Baxter said.
Sophomore Derek Martinez is also a Blue Crew staff member.
"One thing which I plan to discuss with prospective students is the large sense of community and family that this campus has," Martinez said.
Due to favorable past responses, the event will remain very similar to the Open House events held in the past, Sollie said.
Caitlin Carroll can be reached at caitlin.carroll.student@shu.edu.
