In an effort to attract more applicants and to have them get a better sense of U-High, the admissions office has begun expanding its initiatives, such as restarting the student shadow program that went on hiatus during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kerry Tulson, assistant director of admissions and financial aid, credits the reintroduction of the program to wanting applicants to be able to get a sense of what U-High really is like, which she believes you can’t fully gather from just a tour. She hopes that, having participated in a shadow day, applicants will be more willing to apply.
“If they come in and shadow, they can see what’s happening in the classroom, they can get to know kids and hopefully they will feel like we are a welcoming and inclusive community,” Ms. Tulson said.
The shadow program was stopped around the beginning of COVID-19 because it became time-consuming to plan, but in the past couple of years, the admissions office has invited applicants who were admitted or on the waitlist to shadow. But now, anyone who has applied can shadow.
Other than the reintroduction of the shadow program, the admissions office also hosted its annual U-High open house on Oct. 18. The open house allows prospective students and their parents to hear from administrators and teachers about U-High and individual academic departments. The event has helped gain many potential applicants in the past, according to Ms. Tulson.
The admissions office also has been visiting school fairs at middle schools to encourage students to apply, as well as hosting weekly public Zoom information sessions on a variety of topics ranging from financial aid to early childhood education.
“We’re just trying to find more ways to share information about Lab, and to make it as easy as possible for interested people to learn about it,” Ms. Tulson said.
Ms. Tulson does not believe that competition with other schools for applicants has intensified or caused this increase in admissions efforts. Rather, the goal of these increased initiatives is to generate as much interest in U-High as possible and encourage more students to apply.
