Simpsonian

Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Jessie Springer/Staff Photographer Junior Ashley Donaghy and freshman Katie Harris serve as student ambassadors on campus.

Prospective high school students have plenty of opportunities to experience Simpson in February. Throughout this month, the Office of Admissions is hosting Friday visit days that are flexible to student schedules. Events including George Washington Carver Visit Day, an open house in Nebraska, the Theater Scholarship Weekend, Music Weekend and Art Portfolio Day are among events planned for prospective students.

"We try to give students as many opportunities to visit campus as possible, so it seems we have an ever expanding line-up of events they can come to," Beth Peck, assistant director of admissions, said.

Peck said February is a good time for campus visit days because not many students have officially decided where they are going to go to college.

"By having [visit days] in February, you would be surprised how many students are still undecided about where they are going to go to college," Peck said. "A lot of students don't decide until March or certainly after so February is still a good time to get seniors back on campus one more time."

Peck said one of the biggest challenges in admissions is merely getting the students on campus.

"One of the big things in this job is we always just say 'if we can just get them on campus, there's a good chance that they will come here'," Peck said. "The big hurdle right there is getting them on campus so the more avenues we can provide for them to do that, the more likely we are for them to come here."

The George Washington Carver Visit Day was held on Feb. 7. Peck said this visit day is one not run exclusively by admissions but rather is a collaborative effort with faculty members.

"It's directed mainly at minority students in central Iowa and the Des Moines area," Peck said. "The overlying goal of that event is to get them on a college campus and let them know that there are really great options out there for them."

Peck also said Simpson is conducting a lot of open houses in many different cities.

"We are doing [an open house] in Omaha, Nebraska coming up in February," Peck said. "Basically that means that we try to take a little snapshot of Simpson to them and we usually do this in six to eight cities throughout the country each year."

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