Stanford’s Admit Weekend — which takes place Thursday to Saturday — has long occurred in the last weekend in April. Oftentimes, this means that Stanford is the last school admitted students visit before the deadline to decide where they will enroll arrives a few days later on May 1.
University spokesperson E.J. Miranda suggests Stanford is aware of how the timing of Admit Weekend affects students’ decisions.
“Because students and families see Stanford later in the selection process, we expect that the university leaves a stronger and more vivid impression,” Miranda wrote in an email to The Daily.
Miranda also wrote that Admit Weekend has taken place during the last weekend in April for at least the last 30 years.
However, student responses suggest that Admit Weekend’s timing is only one of the factors that influenced their decision to come here, if it was one at all.
Most students accepted to Stanford end up committing — the University’s yield rate in 2009 was 71 percent, and the rate has grown by roughly 12 percentage points over the last 10 years.
“I think Admit Weekend for me was not much of the activities we did but more of just talking to the people,” Marilyn Zhang ’21 said. “But I can imagine myself doing that independently of admit weekend as well.”
However, Zhang also acknowledged the impact of having Admit Weekend at the end of April.
“It’s the last thing you remember before you submit your decision,” she said.
Another student felt that delaying Admit Weekend pushed the decision-making process up.
“I felt like I had to make a decision before I could go to Admit Weekend,” Lindsay Rosston ’20 said.
One student also raised the issue of students who may have to make their decisions while still away from home because Admit Weekend is so close to the commitment deadline.
“I think if [students] were thinking about other colleges … it would be nicer to have [Admit Weekend] earlier so students have some time to go home, because it is very much so that you come here and then like you have to make your decision all by yourself, perhaps hundreds of thousands of miles away from your family, and I think that can be kind of nerve wracking,” Justin Daniels ’20 said.
Regardless of the exact date, students said, Admit Weekend’s timing in April is a benefit to the University.
“I think the fact it’s in spring quarter is very significant, it’s like the best time to be on campus,” Jett Hayward ’19 said. “I thought I was going to another school and I came here and was amazed by the spirit of the campus … Basically it made the decision for me.”
Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.