Prefrosh at CPW!
Campus welcomes prefrosh and parents with variety of activities
This weekend, MIT takes up a lively, festive appearance as the Institute gears up for the Class of 2017’s Campus Preview Weekend (CPW). 1085 prospective freshmen (or prefrosh) arrived on campus, with about 800 parents. They traveled from all over the world, with 28 international students from Australia, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, Russia and Canada. The Tech roamed around campus to chat with prefrosh to see how they’re spending their CPW. Here’s a look at some of the highlights.
Interactive CPW games
Each year, CPW sees slight changes in activities and programs designed to improve the experiences of students. According to Katie A. Kelley, the assistant director of admissions, prefrosh will be able to play a series of interactive games this weekend designed to help them meet new people. “Since so many prefrosh … end up enrolling, we really want to give them an opportunity to meet each other during CPW and make connections with each other. We’ve created a few different games to do this.”
In one such game, prefrosh receive a button at check-in. Throughout CPW, they keep an eye out for another prefrosh with the same button to take a photo with. Photos are submitted to Admissions, and prizes are awarded for the best photos.
Each prefrosh also received one piece from a gigantic puzzle. Kelley said, “Each prefrosh is a unique person, but together they make up the amazing Class of 2017. Through the puzzle and CPW, we want them to explore and discover how they fit into the puzzle of MIT and the Class of 2017.”
Exploring MIT
In the excitement of CPW, many prefrosh had difficulty deciding which events to attend. With over 700 events, many happening at the same time, how does one choose where to go?
Many prefrosh spent their first few hours of CPW deciding which events to attend. Xuan Bui, from Maryland, even attended an event called “I’m here… now what?” and Allan Sadun, from Texas, set out to learn about the culture of MIT through dorm events.
Others focused on checking out academic events. Michelle Chal planned to explore an Course 10 (Chemical Engineering) open house, while Austin De Mallie, from southern California, attended a Course 20 (Biological Engineering) lecture. He also planned on attending a football info session, stating that he plans to join a football team in college.
While students were engaged in various activities around campus, parents were busy exploring MIT as well. Sushila Bhandari, mother of Nischal Bhandari from Texas, went to an event to meet parents of current students to learn about MIT from the perspective of parents. Thanh Bui, father of Xuan Bui, went to an info session about campus safety and security. Despite his concerns about the traffic on Massachusetts Avenue, the excitement of CPW reminded him of his college days. “I wish I could go back to college,” he laughed.