Macalester students hosted 115 prospective first-years (PFs) overnight on April 15 and 16 as part of the annual Spring Sampler. Another 165 PFs are on campus today.

The Admissions Office holds the Spring Sampler every year to give admitted students a taste of life at Macalester. During the samplers, PFs can attend classes, special presentations about opportunities at Macalester and student organization meetings. There is also a sampler every fall that is not specifically geared toward admitted students.

During last week’s sampler, singer-songwriter Ari Hest performed in the Campus Center, MacCinema gave a special presentation of the film Nowhere in Africa and renowned sociologist Orlando Patterson spoke at the 23rd Annual Theodore Mitau Endowed Lecture. Sampler participants and their hosts also received free ice cream from the Grand Ole Creamery.

According to Admissions Officer Peter Wiley, between 40 and 50 percent of students who attend the Spring Sampler send an enrollment deposit to Macalester. The vast majority of those attend in the fall.

PF Gillian Lizars of East Hampton, N.Y. said she thought she took full advantage of the activities offered at Macalester. She attended classes, took a tour, attended the Mitau lecture and the Ari Hest performance and went to Grand Ole Creamery with her host.

Lizars, who is interested in studying international relations, art history or religious studies, said that she enjoyed her stay at Macalester. “It feels like a very alive campus,” she said. “Everyone is engaged and interested in what they do and that’s what I’m looking for in a college.”

Other PFs said they enjoyed similar experiences during the Sampler.

“I’m technically undecided, but Macalester is my top choice right now,” Mandy Kolbe of Needham, Mass. said. “Everyone here is so friendly and made me feel welcome right away. I haven’t had that same experience at other colleges.” Kolbe is a prospective political science major.

Kolbe attended the Sampler with her father Larry Kolbe, who said he was especially impressed with the campus tour he took. “The visit has been terrific,” he said. “I had an unbelievable campus tour. My guide was knowledgeable, humorous and answered all of the questions people had.”

PF Justin King, a swimmer from Milwaukee, Wis., said that he liked the facilities at Macalester, but was not impressed with the college as a whole. “Everyone and everything is new, or at least looks nice,” he said. “I don’t like that it’s so small though and if you are an athlete they try really hard to recruit you.”

Most of the students who host PFs are first-years because, according to the Admissions Office, these students are closer to the age of the PFs and therefore may better remember what the process of picking a college is like.

Maggie Kinkead ’07 hosted three PFs for the April 15 sampler. “I thought Admissions gave a lot of options as far as activities for the PFs to do,” she said. “I don’t think a lot of them took advantage of those opportunities though. I saw a lot of them just sitting around watching TV or doing homework with their host.”