[Nat sound: Northwestern Alma Mater, crowds talking in the background]
There were some new faces on Northwestern’s campus today and last Monday as the university welcomed this year’s admitted students. NU’s Admitted Students Days, also known as Wildcat Days, are a long-time annual April tradition. This year, though, Northwestern rolled out a new change. Early-decision students were invited to participate.
LIZ KINSLEY: It’s an exciting change for this year. We have not been able to invite early decision admits to Wildcat Days for some number of years just given capacity issues on campus—One of the great things at Northwestern is that our classes are small and our spaces are intimate even though it’s a big community, and that is wonderful as a current undergraduate, but when you’re trying to bring over a thousand people to campus that can be tricky to know where to put them all. This year, for the first time, our second Wildcat Day, so this coming Monday, we’ll host registration and a big welcome ceremony in the Walter Athletic Center and that is giving us the amount of space that we need to be able to include early decision admits if they’d like to attend across both Wildcat days.
That’s Associate Dean and Director of Undergraduate Admission Liz Kinsley. She plays a major role in welcoming students and making sure everything runs smoothly.
KINSLEY: It’s a big deal and, and it’s kind of a all hands on deck process for us in planning. We work with a lot of campus partners. We’re grateful to have lots of students on campus–current students who are involved in Wildcat Days.
Usually, the purpose of Wildcat Days is to allow prospective students who haven’t yet committed to a college to explore campus, hear from faculty and staff, and get to know their potential future classmates. According to Kinsley, they also contribute to student yield.
KINSLEY: The statistical likelihood of a student coming to Northwestern having been on campus is higher, so it does take a lot of planning, it takes a lot of energy on the day of, but it’s an important part of the decision-making process for a lot of admitted students.
Shea Edwards from Atlanta, Georgia arrived in Evanston for last week’s Wildcat Day uncommitted.
SHEA EDWARDS: When I got in, I decided that I needed to go to see the campus while it’s in full motion, when school’s in session, and I can see what it’s actually like to go there.
Although Edwards was still deciding, she enjoyed having early decision students there with her.
EDWARDS: A main reason why I booked that flight was because I wanted to see who my potential classmates were gonna be. So that was a huge deal. Like, I definitely wanted them there.
According to Kinsley, Northwestern saw record attendance at this year’s Wildcat Days. The ED admits not only contributed to these numbers but also to the overall atmosphere.
KINSLEY: Having early decision admits who have decided months and months ago that Northwestern is exactly where they wanna be, who have been admitted, who have known for a few months that they’re coming, who have connected with other students in the class of 2028 who are definitely coming, and then having that energy on campus on a day when hundreds of students there don’t know exactly whether they’re choosing Northwestern. They’re excited.
Dalton Hanna from Los Angeles was admitted in December early decision. Even though she officially committed in 2023, she said she chose Northwestern in third grade. So, even though there wasn’t a question where she would spending her college years, she attended last Monday’s Wildcat Day.
DALTON HANNA: It’s hard when you get in December and they’re like, “Ok, peace see you in September.” When the regular decisions came out and then the next day they sent this whole thing like you can be at Northwestern in a week, it was kind of like a bit frenzied, and I was obviously so excited for this opportunity to connect because it had felt like for the past two or three months, I’d kind of gotten into college and then gone radio silent on the whole thing, which was kind of a weird feeling.
Although Hanna appreciated the chance to attend, she said she felt out of place.
HANNA: It might not be worth it to go as an early decision student because it felt like the purpose of you being there was more for to convince people to go to Northwestern. It did feel like it almost needs to be two different events. It did feel weird that some people were obviously going to see the school, compare it to other schools, see if it was the right fit for them, whereas other people like me were coming for way more of a social reason.
For Edwards, who officially committed during her visit last week, this rang especially true. Among the group of students in attendance who had committed earlier in the year, she found her future roommate.
EDWARDS: We just got to talking and then I just asked just if you want to be my roommate and she said. “Yes, I was hoping you would ask me that,” because it’s really hard to find a roommate honestly online because DMing people is the only way you can do it and like seeing the Instagram page and it’s just really hard to tell who a person is based on that.
During a Wildcat Day, students have the chance to sample classes, take tours, and even score some free merch. But, for committed students and admissions staff alike, the opportunity to connect with future and current Wildcats is one of the biggest draws to campus in the spring.
SOT: Let’s hear it for the class of 2028!
[Nat sound: cheering]
From Evanston, Illinois, I’m Juliet Allan, WNUR News
