The American University Ambassadors will scale back their overnight program this spring, focusing instead on creating day programs called "A Day in the Life" to give prospective students a glimpse of AU life, said Sarah Goode, the senior assistant director of on-campus events.
This spring, AU will host three overnight programs -- two for honors students and one for multi-cultural students - -as opposed to the usual five overnights offered in past springs, according to Goode.
"Diversity and honors students are the two things that AU [is] the most interested in recruiting," Ben Gorban, co-tour guide leader of the Ambassadors' program and a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, said.
A visit from a college tour consultant in February prompted the slight change to the overnight program.
"He suggested we rethink the program," Goode said. "With the overnight program, there are 12 hours where we don't know what the prospective students are doing."
Looking at other universities, it also became clear that AU is one of the few schools still doing overnight programs, said Alison Goh, co-tour guide leader of the Ambassadors program and a sophomore in the School of International Studies and SPA.
Goode said the new, intensive day programs will offer many of the same components as the overnight, especially diverse student perspectives of campus life.
"We want as much involvement with AU students as possible," she said.
To achieve this, the day program will feature a two-part campus tour with different student guides and lunch with ambassadors at the Terrace Dining Room. The traditional campus tour has also been revamped to include the amphitheater and Katzen Arts Center, according to Goh.
"There will still be a lot of exposure to current students," Goh said. "The day programs keep all of the same things as the overnight programs but just change where they sleep."
Gorban said the overnight program helps prospective students get a feel for life at AU.
"I actually came here because of my overnight," Gorban said.
For the overnight program, prospective students are matched up with an AU student who acts as their host for the night. The host often takes the prospective student out into the city, perhaps to see the monuments at night or to Cosi, for example.
Peggy Littleton, co-director of the overnights program for the Ambassadors and a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the overnight program is convincing students to attend AU.
"It's a great way to see a different side of campus," she said.
The program also has a high-retention rate of prospective students who eventually become ambassadors, Littleton said.
The two honors overnight programs are for high school seniors admitted into the honors program, she said. The first was on March 29. Between the recent overnight and the one planned for later in April, they expect to host a total of 120 students.
Julie Munro, a freshman in CAS, decided to come to AU after attending last spring's honors overnight. Her hosts took her into Georgetown for the night.
She said students put a lot more effort and enthusiasm into the overnight at AU than at other schools she toured.
"Other schools I was just sleeping over," she said. "But here, they wanted more to show 'prospies' the city and AU."
The AU Ambassador program is a mainly student-run program that organizes campus tours and the overnight program. Two staff members from the admissions staff work with and train ambassadors, but much of the responsibility is left up to the students.
"We advise the program," Goode, senior director of the Ambassadors, said. "But we give ownership to the students who run it."
Goh said the program strives to provide a student perspective on admissions.
