Some high school sophomores and juniors got one of their first glimpses of life at DePauw Saturday.
DePauw's Spring Preview day draws students from all over the country who are just beginning their college search.
"We've passed the May 1 deadline, so we are finished with next year's class. Now we have turned to recruiting the class of 2018, giving them a feel of DePauw and encouraging them to come back," explained Emily Fry, admissions counselor and event coordinator of this Saturday's preview day.
According to Fry, the day's activities will include a tour, information session and choice of financial aid discussion or student panel.
"I think so many websites look so similar. When you come to campus, you get a sense of what the student body and campus are actually like," Fry said.
Making a good impression on students early on helps to improve the university's chances of securing a class. DePauw is working to increase class size, diversity, average GPA and to reduce costs. According to Dan Meyer, vice president of admission and financial aid, these four qualities of an incoming class are four qualities that the admissions team always aspires to.
"For the class of 2017, we've actually hit all four of these markers," Meyer said.
According to Meyer, there will be about 680 students in the incoming class of 2017, which is a 12 percent increase compared to last year's 601 students. In addition, the average GPA of the incoming class is 3.74, which is slightly higher than last year's average GPA of 3.60. The class of 2017 has greater diversity: 10 percent of the class is composed of international students, and 22 percent are domestic students of color.
"China is most represented, as usual, but there are also some students from places like Ghana and Sweden," Meyer said. "We have a lot more students [in the class of 2017] from the Chicago area."
Sophomore Colleen McArdle has been a student tour guide since November.
"From the [prospective students] that I've talked to throughout the semester, we will have a wide variety of students," McArdle said. "Usually there are lots of students from the Midwest, but I've seen lots of students from California and some from New York."
Another difference that McArdle noticed was academic.
"When I got a chance to talk to them, they weren't all just bio and political science majors. There were a wide variety of interests," McArdle said.
According to Meyer, raising the academic profile at DePauw is a long-term goal. While recruiting the class of 2017, the admissions team decided to dramatically limit the number of admits with a GPA lower than 3.1. There were over 100 fewer admits with GPA's lower than 3.1 this year, compared to last year.
"I would like to see change inside and outside DePauw, with students more focused on academic endeavors," Meyer said.
Fry characterized "the DePauw student" that the admissions team searches for.
"They're leaders with academic focus who are involved outside the classroom as well," Fry said. "They are students who can continue our legacy and who show that they would be suited to the DePauw lifestyle."