Prospective students and their families arrive for Admit Weekend
Groups of prospective freshmen ('ProFros,' in Stanford parlance) assembled with their admission counselors for lunch on the Oval during Friday's Admit Weekend activities.
David Larson and Tian Tian Yao met with admission counselor David Lazo.
A group of ProFros talk in the Main Quadrangle.
Ezekiel Richardson and Caitlin Mehl, who first got to know one another during a tour of Princeton University, walk together in the Oval at lunchtime.
Stanford is rolling out the red carpet this week for students it hopes will join the Class of 2013, offering campus tours, picnics, concerts, open houses and an Academic Expo of three dozen thought-provoking talks, panel discussions and hands-on demonstrations by faculty.
Students and their families arrived Thursday morning for Admit Weekend 2009, a three-day program designed to give students—and their parents—an enticing taste of life on The Farm.
This year, the program attracted 2,400 people, including 1,200 high school students.
The prospective freshmen, or ProFros, as they're affectionately known at Stanford, will stay in the dorms—they were asked to bring sleeping bags and pillows—and will be able to tour the various houses on campus, from the all-frosh Cedro House in Wilbur Hall to the all-class Twain in Stern Hall. Theme dorms are holding open houses, with a "Meet and Greet at Ujamaa," an "Okada Chill Night," and a "Muwekma-Tah Ruk Community Social."
The program includes a question-and-answer session with President John Hennessy, a symposium on undergraduate research and public service, and a talk on overseas studies opportunities. Some events were designed with parents in mind, such as "Living in the Residences: A Primer for Parents," a panel discussion and Q&A with residential staff.
The Academic Expo talks range from the practical, "The Role of Sleep in Achieving Success at Stanford," to the profound, "The U.S. and a World in Turmoil: Foreign Policy Challenges Confronting the Obama Administration."
Stanford has offered admission to 2,300 candidates, including 689 high school students who were admitted last December through its Restrictive Early Action Program. Students have until May 1 to accept Stanford's admission offers.