Accepted Students Day: Torture for all
It’s that time of year: high school students are submitting their college applications and preparing for their academic futures, and for those who aspire to be a Knight, they often find themselves at Admitted Students Day. Described as a chance to see what life is like at Geneseo, this dreadful day rears its ugly head far too many times a year. Incoming students who are inconsiderate enough to attend the event are often spotted around campus in large tour groups, and always in the way of current students.
Identifying a member of the tour is easy—they tend to be around 18 years old, dressed oddly nice for walking around a campus, seemingly miserable, and embarrassed of their parents. The whole event is for the potential future attendee, but the person having the most fun is their little brother whose sole purpose is to hold the drawstring bag that is filled with lanyards, pennants, and other miscellaneous garbage.
Students live in fear that they will come face-to-face with the worst member of the tour group—the obnoxious father. Not only will they ask the tour guide the most asinine questions at an unbearable volume, but they often turn to the innocent passerby. Questions like “Do you like it here?” and “Studying hard or hardly studying?” are bellowed at undergrads who would do near anything to avoid such social interactions.
Incoming students are persuaded to attend Admitted Students Day under the false pretense that they will receive a complimentary meal of extraordinary quality. Around noon, their day will be ruined with questionable cuisine from Mary Jemison Dining Hall and hundreds of disapproving looks. The tour groups clog up the lines and wander around aimlessly as many hungry scholars scavenge for the remaining tortillas from Asada. The current student body is forced to starve or completely throw off the rest of their days to make up for the nuisance that are these prospective academics.
When they are not negatively impacting the lunch of many students, tour groups are found blockading the sidewalks. This boorish behavior forces those who currently pay thousands of dollars to walk on the snow-covered grass, leading to potentially dangerous treks to class. Just as all hard feelings are set aside, devoted students enter their respective buildings just to find yet another tour group containing 20+ people disrupting the quiet academic atmosphere. The distraction they cause undoubtedly leads to important information being missed in classrooms and broken attention from major assignments.
Deciding which college to attend is one of the most important decisions someone could make; they should be well-informed and comfortable in what they select, but it is gone about in the wrong way. It is unfair to negatively affect the everyday lives of current students and put on the charade that the admitted students are welcomed by all. March 11 marks the beginning of spring break, a time when nearly no students are to be found on campus; tour groups could run rampant and take as long as they please staring at the vending machines in awe during this time. Admitted Students Days are certainly beneficial to those weighing their options, but they need to be during breaks, or at the very least find a way to be less disruptive to the campus community.