On Sept. 21 and 22, the Villanova community welcomed prospective applicants interested in #GoingNova. Villanova hosted the Fall Preview Day of 2024, in which more than 4,000 students and their families sought out information about Villanova’s four undergraduate academic colleges. The weekend began at the Finneran Pavilion, as the College of Engineering hosted information sessions and tours regarding the facilities and the four engineering disciplines. On Saturday afternoon, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences tabled both on the Rowen Campus Green and the Mendel Science Center. The weekend continued on Sunday, as the College of Nursing held tours and student-led panels in the morning. The weekend concluded in the Finneran Pavilion with tabling and tours regarding the School of Business.
“Fall Preview Day is a preview weekend that is designed to invite prospective students and their families to visit campus to learn more about the application admission process and more information about each of our four academic colleges,” Jamie Bowers, Senior Assistant Director in the Office of Undergraduate Admission, said. “It’s essentially our version of an open house that most colleges and universities have in the fall time, specifically targeted to high school seniors.”
The Office of Undergraduate Admission has been planning Fall Preview Day for months, ensuring it secured the proper spaces on campus, as well as accumulated ample support from current students, faculty and staff. Villanovans volunteered their time to represent their respective major and college by tabling and answering questions of prospective students, as did Blue Key members by giving tours to families.
“Fall Preview Day allows prospective students to not only get a glimpse of what academic life is within each college, but also hear more from our Blue Key tour guides about student life and activities,” Harrison Jenkins, Blue Key President, said. “Each day begins with academic presentations hosted by each college and ends with an all-encompassing Blue Key tour.”
All Fall Preview days, regardless of which specific college potential Villanova applicants are looking at, present both opportunities into life at Villanova and crucial information as admission deadlines come up soon enough, a sentiment Jenkins shares.
“This event is encouraged for prospective students because it comes at a peak time in the college admissions process,” Jenkins said. “With early action and early decision deadlines at the end of the fall, Fall Preview Day is a great opportunity for students to see more about Villanova prior to deciding between a binding early decision or another form of college application.”
Students in the College of Engineering were particularly excited for this Fall Preview Day, as construction of Drosdick Hall is now completed.
“I also think this [Fall Preview Day] is going to be really special because we have our new building,” senior and mechanical engineering student Ginger Krug said. “I know there’s a lot of new great lab spaces to show students. I think it’s probably the most impressive.”
Saturday afternoon, students from CLAS answered questions and shared their knowledge about their programs and courses.
“It was great sharing my Villanova experience with the Education Department to prospective students and hearing about their interests in education and teaching,” said Jenna Mackiewicz, junior education and mathematics double major and volunteer for Fall Preview Day. “We were able to provide the prospective students with brochures and course outlines to give them a better understanding of what their academic schedule could look like.”
Representing the College of Nursing, the Villanova chapter of SNAP, the Student Nurses Association of Pennsylvania, welcomed prospective nurses on Sunday morning. It provided tours of the SLRC (Simulation and Learning Resource Center) and offered a student-led panel to inform their visitors of the many nursing opportunities.
“[Fall Preview Day is a] great way for those interested in Villanova to be fully immersed in the school,” student panelist and SNAP member Angela DiBitetto said. “[This] gets [prospective nursing students] more integrated into the nursing school and see what we have to offer for them.”
Sunday afternoon’s portion of Fall Preview Day was led by the Villanova School of Business Ambassadors. The Finneran Pavilion was organized with tables representing all VSB majors and minors. Prospective business students were presented with bags containing folders, pamphlets and further details regarding the programs offered.
“Our role is really to just be educators from [a current student’s] perspective, and also a support team,” Julianna DiCostanzo, VSB Ambassador Co-President, said. “We’re just kinda there to guide them through [the anxieties of the college search] as best as possible with any information that we have from our experience and from school as a whole.”
The energy of the Fall Preview Day was filled with anticipation as the campus welcomed thousands of visitors, both prospective new students and a variety of family members, all eager to experience Villanova up close. Such a set up was valuable to prospective students, as they learned more about Villanova’s specific programs throughout all four of the undergraduate academic colleges.
“I think [Fall Preview Day] has been really helpful just to get an insight into multiple areas of study rather than just focusing on one specific major,” Clara Condon, prospective CLAS student, said. “Especially having all the tables set up, you can really explore different things even if you don’t know much about them. And that’s been really helpful.”
