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Wooing the Cream of the Crop
Campus Invites Top Prospective Students to Scholars’ Day
Ioana Patringenaru | March 12, 2007
The 200 parents and high school students gathered
in the Price Center Ballroom thought they had come
to learn more about what UCSD has to offer. They didn't
know they were in for a big surprise. So, when Vice
Chancellor of Student Affairs Joseph Watson told the
teenagers Friday morning that they all had been admitted
to UCSD for fall 2007, they smiled. Their parents
cheered.
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| A UCSD student leads a tour during Scholars' Day Friday. |
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Meet the best and brightest in next year’s admitted freshman class. They either received UC Regents scholarships or earned a combination of high test scores and high grades. They were invited to UCSD Friday for Scholars’ Day, an annual event designed to woo top students, who can choose between many top universities.
“I hope that by the end of Scholars’ Day, you and your family will be convinced that UCSD is the right campus for you,” Vice Chancellor Watson told the audience during the day’s kick-off at the Price Center Ballroom.
Before lunch, UCSD made a case for the university’s
academic excellence, said Ann Craig, provost of Eleanor
Roosevelt College and a Scholars’ Day organizer.
Students and their parents visited academic divisions
and heard from administrators, faculty and students.
In the afternoon, students got to know more about
the college system, which will allow them to make
connections and get personal attention, officials
said. Meanwhile, parents attended workshops about
a wide range of topics, from housing and dining to
research and internships opportunities. Of course,
many current students and even some administrators
also touted the weather and the beach.
Prospective students
The weather was precisely one of the reasons Joseph Li and Stacy Hu applied to UCSD. Friday, they drove to San Diego from the San Gabriel Valley with their mothers, Melony Li and Nina Hu. Joseph applied to all UC campuses and to Yale, among others. Stacy’s application list includes Stanford, Johns Hopkins and Georgetown. They’re self-described science nerds. Stacy came to UCSD during the summer and fell in love with the people and the campus, she said. Joseph heard the school has a strong reputation for science. Their mothers said they would support their children’s choices. “I’m only the driver,” said Melony Li. “He will decide.”
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| Prospective students toured UCSD Friday. |
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Cristina and Octavio Gorriño had come from La Mesa. Cristina said she applied to UCSD after campus representatives gave a presentation at her high school. She wants to major in international business and especially liked Eleanor Roosevelt College for its focus on international issues. Her father, Octavio, said he likes UCSD because it’s close to home. He grew up in Ensenada, in Baja California, and had to leave his family when he was 16 to go to school in Mexico City. He said he would like to be closer to his daughter while she’s in college. “We could still guide her, help her take her first steps, before she goes out into the world,” he explained. Cristina also applied to UC Berkeley, Stanford and the University of Southern California, among others.
Friday morning, after hearing from Vice Chancellor Watson, Assistant Vice Chancellor Mae Brown and Eduardo Macagno, a biological sciences professor who acted as a keynote speaker, Cristina, Joseph, Stacy and many others scattered throughout campus to attend presentations by academic divisions and schools.
Getting to know the academic program
About two dozen students headed to the Natural Sciences Building to learn more about the Division of Physical Sciences at UCSD. They also toured several labs.
“This is one of the most exciting times in science,” said Associate Dean Jeffrey Remmel.
Scientists have more materials, more instruments and more gadgets than ever. But they end up with more questions, he said. “We don’t know where most matter in the universe is,” Kemmel pointed out. “There’s a bunch of stuff called ‘dark matter,’ which means we’re in the dark about where it is.” Future students might find the answer.
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| A group of prospective students visited a lab in the Natural Sciences Building. |
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Because UCSD is a big university, it offers a whole host of majors, from bio-informatics, chemistry and earth sciences to astrophysics and biophysics, Kemmel also said. Classes may be larger than at small universities, but professors take undergraduate education seriously, he said. Students can start doing research early on, Kemmel pointed out.
“There’s more here than you can imagine,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cristina and her father learned about the Division of Social Sciences. A panel of students and academics talked about all the opportunities students have on campus. Political scientist Thad Kousser outlined his work on California’s legislature and talked about mentoring undergraduates through internships and research projects. Students can travel to Mexico to gather oral histories from migrant workers, as part of the Mexican Migration Studies Field Research and Training Program, headed by immigration expert Wayne Cornelius, said sophomore Jonathan Hicken. Senior Rowena Paz talked about her year abroad in China, where she interned with a nonprofit organization fighting HIV/AIDS.
Meeting the Chancellor
Scholars and their parents came back to the Price Center around noon, where Chancellor Marye Anne Fox greeted them. “Welcome to UCSD,” she said. “Pretty nice surprise for you today,” she added, referring to the announcement that all scholars had been admitted. Chancellor Fox touted UCSD’s rankings -- and the weather. She too asked students to strongly consider coming to campus this fall. “We want you here,” she said. “We want to provide you with programs that are challenging.” She added later: “the opportunities here really are limitless.”
Then it was time for parents and students to part ways. UCSD wanted to give them a taste of the separation that would come when students go off to college, Assistant Vice Chancellor Brown said jokingly.
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| Muir Provost Susan Smith had lunch with prospective students Friday at Sierra Summit. |
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So while parents had lunch at the Price Center, their children had lunch with current students at the college of their choice. Stacy Hu headed to Muir, where most of the conversations revolved around student life. Over sandwiches, pasta and salads at Sierra Summit, prospective students asked about classes, entertainment and athletics. Will they have a life if they come to UCSD, many asked. “It takes a while to get to a groove; but you figure it out,” said Andrew Shao, a sophomore majoring in applied mathematics and management science. “Our advisors are here for you,” Muir Provost Susan Smith said later.
Shao and freshman Jocelyn Hu talked up the campus’ theater and music programs. Students also can attend shows at the La Jolla Playhouse, one of the premier theaters on the West coast, Shao pointed out. For sports, RIMAC is great and very affordable, Hu said. And Muir is the college closest to the beach, Provost Smith added.
The results
So, did UCSD manage to make its case? At the end of the day, several students said they were convinced.
“I’m really, really excited,” Stacy Hu gushed.
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| Vice Chancellor Joseph Watson, with Roosevelt Provost Ann Craig and Assistant Vice Chancellor Mae Brown. |
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Everything she heard about campus life and research appealed to her, she said. She also liked Muir, where she toured dorms in Tenaya Hall.
Joseph Li said RIMAC really wowed him “Seriously, it’s amazing,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve seen anything that matches that.”
Cristina Gorriño had good things to say too. She had come back wide-eyed from a tour of colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area, her father said. But she now said she’s seriously considering enrolling at UCSD.
“It totally changed my view of UCSD,” she said of Scholars’ Day. “I didn’t realize the list of opportunities here.”
“Me gusto mucho,” she told her father in Spanish. “She liked it very much,” he translated. |
