Future Catamounts finding out information about various WCU programs. Photo by Alisha Lambert
Over 300 prospective students and their families joined WCU on Saturday, Sept. 14, to participate in the first Open House in the news school year.
This program gives students who are considering Western the opportunity to come to campus, visit an information fair, have a tour, meet with the departments they are interested in, and go to the first home football game.
The additional 1,000 people brought in by Open House made campus hectic and busy, and even harder for parking.
The Open House guests began arriving at 8:30 a.m. and were able to visit the information fair, where there were booths representing Campus Food Services, Career Services, Cat Card Services, the Cat Tran, and many other on-campus organizations and departments. Then the students split into departments. Nursing, Education, and Criminal Justice seemed to be the largest groups.
Jacob Cotler, a rising senior from Raleigh, NC, said that his main interest in coming to Western is for the small town feel and location. When asked about his thoughts on Western becoming a mid-sized school, he was excited.
“I think it’s great the school is growing. Being too small was one thing that I was worried about coming here, so it’s good to hear that WCU is headed in the right direction,” said Cotler.
Kierra Lawson, from Winston-Salem, had similar feelings on the issue.
“I want to come to Western for the nursing program. I do really like that idea of small class sizes, but I like the idea of a larger school, too. It makes it seem prestigious.”
Although students seemed to like the idea, the parents are the ones who showed a little bit more concern. Dave Reynolds, from Colombia, SC, said he hopes WCU can maintain the high expectations in the classroom.
“My daughter wants to come to Western for the Forensic Science program. One thing we really like that is unique to WCU is the small class sizes and the relationships students are able to develop with professors. I just hope that this can be maintained with the growing amount of students,” said Reynolds.
Time will tell as we see how our university will adjust to becoming a middle-sized school, but it seems to be a positive thing for students that are thinking about continuing their education here. It will be a balancing act for WCU to continue to grow as we hold on to the things that people like most.
