Today’s visitors

It’s very cold outside.  Coldest day in seven years, in fact.  But that hasn’t stopped 15 newly-admitted students from making the trip to Fletcher for our Early Notification Admitted Student Visit Day.  It’s a mellow event — a little chatting over coffee, a couple of informational panels, the opportunity to sit in on classes.  Those who attend have a chance to see what the School normally looks like — an atmosphere we unfortunately can’t create during the spring Open House, when well over 100 visitors increase the student community by 25 percent.

For the Admissions staff, it’s a nice opportunity to start matching names, faces, and back-stories.  When we read applications, we tend not to focus on the applicants’ names.  So when we meet prospective students, we need a few hints before we can figure out what we know about them.  Beyond that, the day is also a welcome reminder that the interesting applications we read are only representations of the very interesting people behind them.  It’s not that we ever forget that applications are sent by real people, but meeting admitted students gives us a sneak preview of the September class we’re working to create.