Five Adjectives of Campus Day

In this Issue: today I share some quick-hit impressions of Campus Day for Accepted Students

Today was the second edition of Campus Day for Accepted Students, which is for admitted students to come to campus (typically with at least one family member) to either take a final look at Wake as they make their choice as to where to enroll, or because they have committed to Wake and want to come back and get a preview of what’s to come this fall.

Some of you write me and tell me how much you like the “Five Senses” posts at the Daily Deac. I didn’t have time to do a full Five Senses, since it was a busy morning, but I tried to come up with some one liners or adjectives to describe what I saw.  Here they are:

Wet

As my late P’92 father liked to say, “you can’t put perfume on a pig.” There is no way for me to pretty-up the fact that our day started with rain, which was not what we hoped for of course. Still, families had done a great job in checking the weather and coming prepared in rainwear and with umbrellas. As I was lamenting to a fellow staff member about the rain, they said to me “the rain just makes everything seem even greener” – and I appreciated that positive spin on things. Thankfully, the sun has made the occasional appearance since the morning.

Excited

I love to people-watch, and Campus Day always makes me happy to see excited faces. Sometimes it’s the student, sometimes it is the parent or family members. But I did see a lot of happy faces, despite the rain. For students who had already committed to Wake, I saw a fair bit of Wake shirts or hats, which is another way to show your enthusiasm.

Friendly

One of the questions my colleagues and I tend to ask during the coffee-and-donuts part of Campus Day [when we mix and mingle with everyone at the Office of Family Engagement table] is “where is home for you?” and families were very happy to tell us they were from New Jersey, or Massachusetts, or Seattle, or Virginia…you get the idea. Families were also friendly with each other – I overheard a lot of conversation between families over coffee and a Krispy Kreme. That kind of friendliness is very Wake Forest.

Supportive

Having just gone through the whole admissions process with my own high school senior, I know that making these visits, and being around hundreds of other families, can be a bit stressful under the best of circumstances, much less when it is raining. So I was delighted to see that everyone seemed really chill, patient, and supportive – despite the rain.

[just a bit] Guarded

One of the other questions my colleagues and I tend to ask when we met students today was “have you decided, or are you still kicking the tires between Wake and other schools?” For our still-kicking-the-tires students, a lot of them seemed a bit guarded, like we might be upset that they hadn’t chosen Wake. Not at all! We all know that students need to choose the best school for them – and while we hope it’s Wake, if School X is where you will be happiest, we understand that. So know that when we ask that question, it is not meant to be pressuring in any way, it just helps us know where you are in the process so we can tailor our conversation appropriately (no point in telling you the ins and outs of move-in unless we know you are coming, etc.).

So what’s next if your student decides to enroll at Wake?

P’27 families, once your student’s deposit has been received and processed and they are formally added to the Class of 2027, we need all parents and families to Verify Your Family Record in our parent and alumni record system, Wake Network. You can find instructions here. This is how we ensure we have your email address so we can add you to all applicable communications.

Our New Students website, which we are busily updating even as I speak, will go live May 1st. For all Class of ’27 students and their P’27 families (who have an email address on file with us), we will send you an email May 1 with a link to the New Students site, which will be your go-to resource throughout the summer.

After that, I will send a weekly email to all P’27 families (most likely each Tuesday) up until move-in, and those weekly messages will highlight upcoming action items or due dates for families. You’ll get used to seeing my name in your inbox 🙂

Wishing all our visiting students and families discernment as they make their college choices. I hope to see many of you here this fall!