This year, 361 prospective students attended Ride the Tide, the college’s annual event for admitted students. Despite the fact that the college received 1000 less fewer applicants this year, this is the second highest total of attendees in the history of the event.
RTT took place from Thursday April 24, to Friday April 25. RTT is designed to give prospective students a sense of life on campus. Prospective students stay with current students and attend events related to academics and activities on campus. Activities for this year included student and faculty panels, academics and activities fairs, soccer with Dean of Admissions Jim Bock, and an a capella concert in the bell tower.
This year marked the third time the event had over 350 attendees and had 25 students more than last year. Eighty-six attendees were early decision applicants.
“Our program was a bit later in the month given the Passover and Easter holidays, and that might account for the increase in attendance,” wrote Bock in an email to the Phoenix. “It varies year to year, and I do not believe we overlapped with other school’s programs. I know students were headed to other programs after ours.”
Additionally, at the end of the event the admissions office received a record number of deposits, which guarantee a student’s matriculation into the class of 2018.
“Typically, we get a handful of deposits, but we received 17 this year,” wrote Bock in an email to the Phoenix. “We are ahead of where we were last year on this date, but we will not have final numbers on the class until after May 1, as that is the national candidate’s reply date. The number changes daily as we receive more decisions, and to date, the quality of the class remains exceptional.”
Current students who hosted prospective students during the event also found it to be a positive experience.
“I decided to sign up because I thought it would be a good experience, and I needed something to look forward to during the stressful time before finals,” said Sassicaia Schick ’17, a host for RTT. “To be honest, it’s not a real drain on your time unless you go out of your way to control their time here, but they had plenty of things to do without us becoming involved. We weren’t babysitting, just having fun. And I would definitely do it again.”
Prospective students who commented on the event in the final evaluation, in which students are able to offer feedback and suggestions on how to improve the event, noted that they wished the event was longer and that they enjoyed meeting students and faculty.
One stated, “Everyone was really friendly and welcoming. It gave me a better sense of the school’s atmosphere and culture.”
Another prospective student said, “[It was] very well organized, lots of opportunities to get information about all of the academic and extracurricular options. Everyone was very welcoming. The experience was very immersive.”
Decisions about matriculation to the class of 2018 are due on May 1.
