Over the past two weeks, waves of enthu-siastic high school seniors came to Colgate University’s campus. For these accepted se-niors who are strongly considering Colgate University, April Visit Days, which were held on Wednesday, April 11 and Monday, April 16, are an opportunity to help them with their decisions.

April Visit Days is a collaborative event involving students, faculty and, most impor-tantly, prospective students. The students ar-rived at 9 a.m. at the Hall of Presidents for a welcome breakfast and an opportunity to talk with current students.

“The students told me about the campus feeling and social life that I don’t think I could have found on the campus website,” prospective student from Boston, Massachusetts Michela Moscufo said.

This was followed by a tour of campus, where prospective students had the opportu-nity to observe classes and view dorm rooms.

Moscufo sat in on an upper-level Shakespeare class.

“It was what I imagined a liberal arts col-lege English class to feel like – with class dis-cussions and a lot of student participation,” Moscufo said.

Students then entered the Memorial Cha-pel and listened to presentations. Finally, the day closed with Colgate’s beloved tradition of an ice cream social.

The weather was much nicer during the April Visit Day this week than the one last week. Current undergrads expressed their concern about how the lasting impres-sions of Colgate varied from last week to this week and how much of an influence the weather may have had on prospective students’ decisions.

“I think there’s a lot to be said for enjoy-ing a pleasant and warm tour around Colgate versus trudging through a campus tour when you’re cold,” senior Hilary Edmunds said.

April Visit Days host and the Office of Admission Greeter first-year Lauren Bender says that she received fewer questions and complaints about weather this week than last week.

“Mostly parents were concerned with the bleak weather last week,” Bender said. “Most students I met were still enthusias-tic for their visit, yet many did ask if the weather was always that bad.”

April Visit Days co-coordinator, first-year Bennett Wade, also maintains a positive attitude despite the weather.

“I’ve heard people say that you pick which college you attend based on the weather the day you tour, but I don’t think there is a lot of truth to that. I think the weather is one of dozens of little things that affects how visitors view Colgate,” Wade said. “I think that if kids have good hosts and tour guides then they will like Colgate no matter what the weather is like. The students who have been accept-ed here are all very intelligent, thoughtful people, and I trust them not to allow a single day’s weather to weigh too heavily on their decision.”

But does April Visit Days really influence a student’s decision?

“I can say from personal experience that I chose to come to Colgate after my experience with April Visit Days,” Wade said. “I have had several prospective students over the last two weeks that have told me they decided to come here after visiting.”

Bender also spoke about students’ likeli-hood of committing.

“A lot of the prospective students that I met expressed that they planned on commit-ting after the visit. I also met a lot of students who applied early decision or that had al-ready committed and just wanted to get a feel for a typical Colgate day before arriving for their freshman year,” Bender said. Although there may not be an exact number or statistic, April Visit Days seems to generally enhance a prospective student’s impression of Colgate.

Contact Kelly Cattano at [email protected].