Excited chatter filled a large, white tent on the Main Green as hundreds of admitted applicants to the class of 2019 awaited the official start to this year’s A Day on College Hill at its opening reception Tuesday night. Spanning three days and two nights, ADOCH attracted about 700 prospective students from around the world to experience Brown’s academics and student life.
“Class of 2019, good evening, congratulations on your admission and welcome to Brown,” said Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73 at the reception. “I can’t begin to tell you how much time we, the admission office, have spent with you. … It’s reassuring to see all of you and all of your dimensions.”
Of the roughly 30,397 applicants to the class of 2019, about 8.5 percent were admitted. The Office of Admission “fully expects the class of 2019 to be the single best class next year at Brown,” Miller said.
A variety of student groups participated in this year’s ADOCH events, which included salsa workshops, a comedy show and a capella performances under Wayland Arch and Morris-Champlin Arch known as “arch sings.” A bulk of the events occurred at night, with some ending at 2 a.m. Prospective students also had the option to attend “ADOCH Shopping Period,” in which they could visit classes in various departments and attend lectures given by guest speakers.
This marks the second year that gender-neutral housing was offered to ADOCH participants. The change came after the student group GenderAction advocated its implementation in 2013, said Sana Teramoto ’16. When gender-neutral housing became an option for enrolled first-years in 2013, the logical next move was to offer the option to prospective students during ADOCH as well, Teramoto added. The provision is intended to ensure students feel “comfortable” and have the best possible experiences during their stays on campus.
Many admitted students agreed that ADOCH provided them with a good impression of Brown.
Yasmin Toney of Tampa, Florida said Brown “really exceeded (her) expectations,” adding that she especially enjoyed seeing many of her potential peers during the opening reception.
Lamar Greene of Richmond, Virginia said Brown students seem “open-minded and passionate” while also interested in meeting different people.
While students often attend ADOCH to help inform their decision between Brown and other schools, some students who had already chosen Brown also joined in the festivities.
Kevin Chen, who was accepted to the Program in Liberal Medical Education and hails from San Merino, California, said he plans on committing to Brown but came to ADOCH because “it’s fun” and he wanted to visit campus before he started school in the fall.
Katie Wu of New York City said she had already committed to Brown because of the nice weather, good liberal arts education and abundance of “happy people” on campus.
ADOCH Student Coordinators Aaron Rosenthal ’16 and Alissa Rhee ’16 started planning for the event last May. Along with the different student planning committees, Rosenthal and Rhee spent countless hours and “about 4,000 emails” making sure the three days would run smoothly, Rhee said.
Ling Song ’18, a unit representative for ADOCH, said she signed up to recruit current students to host prospective students in their dorms because she wanted to give prospective students a “reason for coming” and “represent the school in a good light.”
This year’s approximately 700 attendees is slightly lower than last year’s 767 attendees due to recent holidays and Spring Weekend, which caused ADOCH to be held later in the semester than usual, Rhee said. The dates of ADOCH coincide with other schools’ accepted student events, such as Yale’s Bulldog Days, which could also account for the lower numbers, Rosenthal said, adding that coordinators were still pleased with the turnout.
Slight changes to ADOCH’s schedule included an additional night of “Faunce Events,” in which student groups such as First-Gens and emPOWER held “mixers” to introduce themselves to interested prospective students, as well as a new panel on mental health and well-being, Rhee said. Additionally, instead of featuring ice cream as in past years, the first social event featured cookies and hot cocoa, allowing prospective students to socialize more as they “weren’t waiting in line to get ice cream,” she said.
Campus “comes alive” during ADOCH, Rosenthal said.
“ADOCH is one of the only times when everyone on campus can get on the same page and can get invested with what’s going on,” Rhee said.
ADOCH’s final event entitled “Farewell, Friends!” is set to take place on the Main Green at Thursday at 11 a.m.
