Admissions Events for Prospective Students

As you prepare for this upcoming academic year, I want to share some key event dates targeting prospective undergraduates who will be applying for fall 2017. For many years, the Office of Admissions has offered a campus event called “Preview Day,” a fall open house that involved the entire campus community. Over the past couple of years, our analysis of this event has led us to the decision to forgo our traditional plan and transition to smaller scale, tour-focused events that we will offer on two Saturdays, one in late October and one in early November. These events will not require the same campus-wide participation as in the past, which I’m sure comes as welcome news to those of you who have been involved in Preview Day in the past.

These Saturday tours will include an Admissions overview presentation, student panel, and student-led campus tour. We believe this new format will better meet our guests' expectations, especially with so many competing weekend events at California colleges/universities.

In addition, we will re-focus our energies on increasing outreach throughout California and beyond, and on continuing to provide online engagement opportunities to students throughout the academic year. We will also continue to offer our annual Spring Spotlight program (a yield event targeting admitted students and their families) in April 2017. I would ask you to hold April 8, 2017 and April 15, 2017 to participate in this important yield effort.

Spring Spotlight will continue to include a campus resource fair, residential room viewing tours, and other campus-based events. We look forward to working with campus partners to provide diverse, interactive academic and campus visit opportunities.

As a campus, UCSC welcomes over 35,000 visitors during an academic year, including many who travel from another state or another country. Our campus is definitely on a lot of students’ short list these days, and we should all be proud of that fact, but I also recognize that this increasing interest can add to the daily burdens of our faculty, students, and staff. I thank you for the important role you play in responding to these visitors.

If you have questions regarding these upcoming events, please contact Assistant Director Beatrice Atkinson-Myers in the Office of Admissions (beatrice@ucsc.edu or 459-2352). In the meantime, here is a summary of our planned events for 2016-17:

Fall Saturday Tours (replacing our annual Preview Day event)
 
October 29, 2016 and November 12, 2016
This student-led campus tour event will provide prospective students with a general introduction to academic and campus opportunities. An Admissions presentation covering freshman and transfer admissions will be followed by a brief student panel and an all-walking campus tour. 
 
Spring Spotlight
Friday, April 7 - Saturday, April 15, excluding Sunday, April 9, 2017
This annual event provides an opportunity for admitted students and their families to visit the campus and learn more about how UC Santa Cruz might be a good fit. On Saturday, April 8 and Saturday, April 15, a campus resource fair will be held featuring academic divisions and student life information.
 
Spotlight Mondays – Select days in fall 2016 and spring 2017 (online events)
This year the Office of Admissions will be hosting targeted virtual events for frosh and transfers on select dates throughout the academic year. These one-hour video chat events will focus on different topics, and are designed to meet the needs of students from California and beyond.
 
Campus tours – Mondays-Fridays, year-round
Students can schedule a student-led tour using the online reservation tool.
 
Virtual campus tour
Anyone can experience a campus tour using the virtual tour, available on the Admissions web site, admissions.ucsc.edu.

Again, I thank you for your commitment and continued partnership in welcoming and yielding the best students for the UCSC community!