Colleges welcome students on special weekend programs

At a table with the current engineering students at University of Michigan, senior Rachel Won found herself engaged in a passionate discussion about nuclear physics, conservation of mass and solar energy.

From Jan. 27-29, Won, who is planning to major in biomedical engineering, was invited to Leadership Weekend, an invitation-only program for select early acceptances hosted by University of Michigan’s College of Engineering (CoE).

The weekend event aimed to gather women engineers and create a community of like-minded students. In addition to touring the campus and socializing with one another, attendees were able to go to workshops presented by students  in the program.

Workshops revolved around how to become more active in the UMich community through student organizations, entrepreneurship opportunities and research opportunities, according to Won.

Won said that the best part about Leadership Weekend was the opportunity it provided for students to network with like-minded students and talk about random STEM topics.

“The current UMich students were really informative and super real about the school,” Won said. “They didn’t try to sugarcoat anything.”

Although she has not decided what college to go to yet, Won said that Leadership Weekend helped her get a better idea of the undergraduate life at UMich and encouraged her to consider the school as a possible candidate.

“The program definitely helped me get a feel for the college atmosphere and moved UMich up higher on my list,” Won said.

UMich, however, isn’t the only university to hold weekend programs to help high-achieving students socialize and get to know the school.

For example, Baylor University hosts a similar event every year called “Invitation to Excellence” (I2E). I2E provides an opportunity for 400 students to tour the campus, visit dorms and research facilities and also talk with the undergraduate students and professors. The special event, held this year on Jan. 20-21, also guarantees attendees a one-time $2,000 scholarship.

According to senior Nathan Ching, who recently attended I2E, students had to have already been admitted early. Upon his acceptance to Baylor, Ching had to fill out an additional application separate from the standard college application. He was also encouraged to apply for full-tuition scholarship.

Ching said that the event, which he was entirely unaware of until the school contacted him, increased the likelihood that he would attend Baylor in the future.

“The most enjoyable thing at I2E was being able to see how much they genuinely cared about what they taught and what they stood for,” Ching said. “Baylor is known for its strong moral and educational standards, and they really showed it when I talked to faculty and attended their seminars.”

Both he and Won said attending these weekend programs made the schools a lot more appealing to them.

“I found them to be extremely useful and I learned a lot of intimate facts about the school that I probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise,” Won said.