Spring is a crucial time of year for university-bound high school seniors and community college transfer students as they must decide where to enroll by May 1 or June 1. Our campus will see over 8,000 visitors during this period. This increasing number of visitors is good news for the campus and continues to show our campus' rising reputation and desirability. An outline of campus spring yield events can be found at http://admissions.ucsc.edu/springyield10.
Following a continued trend of increased selectivity, the campus admission rate at the frosh level (number of frosh admit offers compared to total number of applications) decreased from 73% to 64% last year. In fall 2010, with our record application number of nearly 35,000, we expect to be even more selective than last fall.
In order to support our admitted students in their university decision-making process, we will again hold "UC Santa Cruz - Spring Spotlight" from April 2 to April 10, when only admitted students and their families will be invited to participate. Transfer-specific Spring Spotlight sessions will be held on April 9 at 2 and 3 p.m. After admissions decisions are released March 15, if students contact you about campus tours, please refer them to the Admissions web site at http://admissions.ucsc.edu, where they will find instructions for reserving a place in either Spring Spotlight (for admitted students) or a regular tour (for students who have not yet applied).
Student organizations have initiated their own outreach events to help welcome admitted students to the campus. The events will be held the weekend of April 8-10, and they include Destination Higher Education, sponsored by the African/Black Student Alliance; A Step Forward, sponsored by the Filipino Student Association; and Oportunidades Rumbo A La Educación (ORALE), sponsored by Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan (MEChA).
Our April visitors will be curious about university life and academic opportunities, and may ask you many questions. Please be friendly and patient. Your helpfulness will be a key indicator of the qualities and character of our university community for these students and their families. Also, if you see individuals or groups that seem lost, please help them find their way. If you see items or issues around campus that need attention, please contact Assistant Director of Admissions Beatrice Atkinson-Myers (hfrogg@ucsc.edu or ext. 9-2352), who will work with the appropriate unit(s) to help make our visitors' experience the best possible.
All campus web sites, including college, department, school, division, and student affairs sites, will see a lot of traffic as well. Please take a moment to consider the web presence of your own unit(s), and seek ways to ensure an enticing, accurate, and up-to-date presentation of our campus and programs.
Thank you in advance for your continued partnership in yielding the best undergraduates for fall 2010, our future alumni.
