Reeling in Aggies with a little bit of sweetness
Each year, many high school students are anxious to start their college careers, and representatives from USU Admissions make sure out-of-state students know what they have to look forward to by holding open houses in places like Oregon, Washignton, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada and even cities like Chicago.
“Not everybody can afford to come visit campus,” said Corey Mikkelsen, the associate director of recruitment, “so if we can take as much of campus there as we can, it’s huge for us. It’s a great opportunity for us to meet with people one on one.”
High school students can attend these open houses in hotels and conference centers around the country to get a little taste of Aggie life. At the events are booths where high schoolers can consult with Admissions Office representatives and other college staff about what to expect at college.
“We just try to make a fun Aggie atmosphere,” Mikkelsen said. “We have door prizes that we give out like USU sweatshirts and T-shirts. We ship out Aggie Ice Cream — that’s a good selling point.”
He said out of 130 students that came to a recent open house in Denver, 42 students applied, and 38 of those applicants received scholarships.
Students who have applied, or apply during the open house can be awarded a scholarship on the spot, Mikkelsen said.
“The scholarship amounts ended up to be $38,000,” Mikkelsen said about the money awarded at the Denver open house.
Student ambassadors also travel out of state to spread the word about USU. Student Ambassador Tanner Crook said he went to Star Valley, Wyoming, this year and will attend other open houses in coming weeks.
Crook said the main purpose of the ambassadors is to raise student interest among high school students in different areas. He said the ambassadors hope after they talk, the students will be more likely to tour USU, see a basketball game or attend one of the admission events held on campus.
“Our whole goal is to get them up here and let them know what we have to offer,” Crook said.
Crook said it’s nice for students interested in going to USU to be able to talk with current USU students. That way, he said, they can imagine what it would be like for them to be USU students themselves.
“We can give a lot more personal information than a professional who’s out of college,” he said. “They know a lot, but coming from a student just means that much more to high school students.”
Crook said he can tell some students are nervous at first, but as the ambassadors share their experiences, the students become increasingly excited about attending USU.
“The excitement starts to transfer from the ambassadors to the high school students, and you can see them start to smile, and you can tell they want to come to Utah State,” he said.
There are 90 ambassadors who represent USU. High school seniors or transfer students can apply to become ambassadors the same time they apply to USU.
Admissions is looking for new students to become ambassadors, Crook said, because their experiences are newer, and they can better relate to students who haven’t been USU students before.
Liz Barry, Housing ambassador coordinator, said the Housing Office plays an important part, as students are often curious as to where they can live in Cache Valley. It’s the Housing Office’s job to convince students to stay on campus, she said.
Housing representatives staff a booth at open houses to attract attention, Barry said. At the booth, they hold a drawing for small housing scholarships.
The scholarships are worth $400-$500 each and are applicable to any housing on campus. At some open houses, hundreds of people visit the booths, Barry said.
“A lot of times, it’s the first time we have students thinking about housing at all,” Barry said.
She said students often come to the booth wondering which which fills up the fastest, so they can gauge what’s best and how soon to apply. She said that Snow Hall fills up the fastest, despite having the lowest retention rate. The Living Learning Community also gets a lot of freshman applicants.
There are four housing ambassadors. Barry said unlike admission ambassadors, being a housing ambassador is an hourly job that any student can apply for. Housing Ambassadors attend anywhere from 15-20 open house events each year.
“My favorite part is when someone is not sure where they want to live or want to live on off-campus housing,” Barry said, “and I can totally turn them around and convince them to live on campus. It’s fun to see all the high school seniors. There’s a high energy, and everyone is just there to have fun.”
Another way USU students can get involved with recruiting high school students is by joining the Out-of-State Recruitment team, Mikkelsen said. It’s a group of students from all over, whose main goal is to promote USU in their local areas. He said if students are interested, they should contact Jo Olsen in the Admissions Office.
“I loved my experience here,” Mikkelsen said. “I wish when I was out of state I could physically transport them on the spot. If we could show high school students what it’s like to be a student here, it’s a done deal, and they’re going to come.”
– marissa.shields@aggiemail.usu.edu