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| Vol. 18, No. 36 | July 8, 1999 |
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| Vol. 18, No. 36 | July 8, 1999 |
Life shouldn't be ordinary-not now, not ever-and certainly, not in July," says the card thousands of families open when they receive an invitation to "Delaware Discovery Days," July 10, 17 and 24.
The annual program is one of UD's most intense recruiting efforts, and University admissions staff see to it that visiting high school juniors and their parents learn all there is to know about UD while having a good time.
"It's like one-stop shopping," Harriet B. Porter, admissions, said. Everything parents and students would want to know about the University is available to them, she added. Participants come from across the nation, but mostly from the eastern seaboard, Porter said. Last year, 7,000 people participated in Delaware Discovery Days.
The day begins at 8:30 a. m. at the Bob Carpenter Center with registration, a continental breakfast and an information fair, held from 9 a.m. to noon in the Acierno Arena. There are dozens of booths at which visitors chat, informally, with faculty, staff and students representing various colleges, student life and student activities.
Faculty panels talk about academic subjects from each of the colleges, and student panelists give student visitors a chance to hear about UD from their peers. Questions and answers follow all panel sessions. Along with academic information, there are numerous opportunities for families to attend information sessions with admissions and financial aid officers.
Starting at 10:45 a.m., buses leave from the center every 20 minutes to take parents and students to the central campus for walking tours and afternoon activities.
According to Amy Foley, admissions, the campus tours are the most popular visitor activity during Delaware Discovery Days and throughout the year as well.
Students called Blue Hen Ambassadors conduct the campus tours and greet visitors as they depart the buses shuttling them to and from the Bob Carpenter Center.
Campus walking tours and admissions/financial aid sessions continue all afternoon, but parents and students also can learn about classroom technology, housing, the Honors Program and a variety of academic disciplines and pre-professional interests.
"Summer is the best time for us to devote all of our attention to prospective students and their parents. We want people to discover our University and decide if we're right for them," Foley said.
This is the first year that applications for admission will be made available to parents and students at the end of Discovery Days.
Delaware Discovery Days "gives the University a chance to show people how friendly we are and to let our visitors know how important and valuable they are to us," Porter said.
-Barbara Garrison
