News

UMaine Open House attracts potential students to Orono

By Melissa Walls

Posted on Feb. 24, 2005, at 12:00 a.m.

melissa armes

TAKE A TOUR - Admissions tour guide and UMaine student Jonathan Bond shows high school student Aaron Fodd and his parents a typical residence hall room in York Hall Monday.

The University of Maine hosted an open house for prospective students and their families on Monday. Despite coinciding with the first day of winter break for Maine high schools and single-digit temperatures, hundreds of prospective students and their families attended the open house.

At 8 a.m. sharp, prospective students and their families filed into the Maine Center for the Arts to register for the day’s programs and events. Upon entering the MCA, everyone was given a program and a dinning pass for lunch, valid for Hilltop, Stewart, Stodder and York dinning commons.

As Jeff and Wanda Morris looked over the day’s agenda discussing their options, their son Jimmy, a junior at Mt. Ararat High School, stood by silently. Jeff Morris said the open house was a larger occasion for him than his son.

“He’s indifferent, but we’re excited. [The University of Maine] is our first choice, ” he said.

The day involved information sessions on the university, the admission process, financial aid and student life. A student panel session was available for questions and answers. Campus tours and the opportunity to meet with a department representative if scheduled in advance were also available.

Liz Downing, coordinator of new student programs, Sharon Oliver, director of admission, and interim President Robert Kennedy started the day with a welcome speech, followed by a general information session by the directors of the Career Center, financial aid, residential life and housing. After the student panel, prospective students and families were invited to visit the various college and program tables, before attending additional specific information sessions on health professions and pre-law. Guided campus tours of the library, Union, classrooms and memorial gym were given before lunch. The day even included the opportunity to attend a showing at the Jordan Planetarium in Wingate Hall.

Kassandra Pierce, a graduate of Bangor High School, was among the excited prospective students at the MCA at 8 a.m. Pierce has already applied and been accepted to the psychology department, but has deferred until fall. She was originally planning to go to the University of Southern Maine, but opted for UMaine instead.

“It’s closer to home,” she said.

Current students on campus, such as sophomore Allie Thibodeau, sang a different tune throughout the day.

“I hate admission day. There’s no parking,” Thibodeau said.

UMaine will be hosting its next open house on Monday, April 18.

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