NC State opened its doors to the public Saturday, Oct. 19, with a little under 12,000 people attending its annual open house, held every fall before college applications are due.
NC State hosts one university-wide open house every fall in addition to college-specific open houses held in the spring. The open house is an opportunity for high school and transfer students exploring colleges to get firsthand experience of what life on NC State’s campus feels like.
Erin Boggan, associate director of Undergraduate Admissions, said it’s helpful for prospective students to learn more about the university and campus life by attending open house.
“Attending open house is a great way for the student to see everything NC State has to offer,” Boggan said. “All of our departments, our majors, our academic programs — students really get to experience everything State has to offer by coming to open house.”
Laura Bottomley, director of Women in Engineering, said potential students should be able to feel at home on campus.
“We do want them to come and see Talley and be overwhelmed and impressed with the gorgeousness of it, but we also really want them to connect with our students and our faculty and make sure that they really feel like NC State could be a home for them,” Bottomley said. “We want to give them an opportunity to look around and see if they can see themselves spending the next four years here.”
While students as young as freshmen in high school attended open house, Boggan also said the event was a good opportunity for Wolfpack alumni to visit the school and learn about what has changed on campus.
“One thing that’s very unique about NC State is that we actually had a lot of alumni even come back to visit us today for open house,” Boggan said. “It’s a really great opportunity for potential students to meet alumni and get an even better feel of how life after State can be like.”
Potential students and their families visited multiple buildings on both main campus and Centennial Campus, including but not limited to Talley Student Union, Witherspoon Student Center, the libraries and various academic buildings, like the engineering buildings on Centennial.
“There is no formal campus tour that goes on during open house,” Boggan said. “It is an open schedule where we have multiple sessions going on throughout the day. We have an information fair located in Talley; we have family and fun activities out on our Stafford Commons; Housing will take students to tour some of their housing options.”
There were multiple information tables organized by all the colleges and various organizations and clubs, including the Career Development Center, fraternities and sororities, ROTC, the Women’s Center, the Actuarial Club, the LGBT club and the Turtle Rescue Team. The admissions and financial aid tables were the busiest, with multiple students and families learning more about admission strategies to increase chances of getting the coveted acceptance letter from State.
Ronnie Chalmers, director of strategic initiatives, said the easiest strategy applicants should follow is to start preparing for tests well in advance and to apply early. Early applicants become eligible for a wide variety of scholarships and will also be in consideration for various academic programs like the honors program. The early application deadline for fall 2020 is Nov. 1, 2019.
Although attendees had to RSVP for the open house, they did not have to pay any registration fees. Boggan declined to comment on the expenses NC State incurred to hold this event. Chalmers said, “The price isn’t very expensive for the impact it has.”
Students who couldn’t attend the open house can register for a campus visit here or take a virtual campus tour on the Undergraduate Admissions website. Furthermore, interested students should keep an eye out for the college-specific open houses that will be held in the spring semester. Students can also directly email the Office of Undergraduate Admissions (undergrad-admissions@ncsu.edu) or call them at 919-515-2434 for more information.
