This year featured three different schedules, including an official academic and a student club and organization program for prospective students, as well as a separate schedule that highlighted events for the 300 families who accompanied their children.
New events included the official welcome for students and parents, during which four current students shared their Dartmouth experiences. Over 700 people were in attendance in Spaulding Auditorium on Thursday, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Maria Laskaris said.
Thursday's Student Activities Fair in Leede Arena featured over 100 student organizations.
A wide array of groups were present at the fair, including several performing groups. Lexi Zavras '13, a member of Sugarplum Dance Ensemble, said the event represented diverse activities.
"There are so many different groups and opportunities, which may be surprising to some prospective students given Dartmouth's size," Zavras said.
Decibelles member Christie Harrison '16 said she enjoyed meeting prospective students because they are the future talent of the different groups.
Not all students were as enthusiastic about the turnout. Jacob Hickson '13, who represented Christian group Cru at the activities fair, said this year's event had the lowest turnout that he can remember in recent years.
On Thursday night, the Hopkins Center hosted Creativity in Motion, a performing arts showcase, in Spaulding Auditorium. Individual welcome events in residence hall clusters followed.
New additions to Friday's programming included four academic department showcases and a research panel. The events aimed to highlight collaboration between students and faculty.
"The showcases were put in place to help manage the high demand to attend classes, which can create unfortunate challenges for faculty and current students," Laskaris said. "We encouraged all prospective students to attend, but discouraged family members from attending classes."
Some students said they found the abundance of events overwhelming. Danielle D'Souza, a prospective student from San Diego, said she enjoyed sitting in on two classes but did not attend any of the academic programming.
"I already knew that Dartmouth would have strong enough academic departments," D'Souza said. "I was more concerned about how I would feel on campus, and wanted to get a feel of the social life here."
Morgan Sandhu, a prospective student from Ridgefield, Conn., attended two classes on Friday and said she appreciated the opportunity to experience different styles of college classes. She also attended the student research panel.
"I thought it was intimidating to see all that those students had done, but it was also really helpful to see what opportunities are available," Sandhu said.
Additional programming sought to provide honest answers to questions from prospective students and families regarding social life on campus, Laskaris said.
The event "Dartmouth Myths, Legends and Realities," sponsored by the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, offered a venue conducive to conversations about campus issues.
"It was meant to be an opportunity for prospective students and their families to ask the tough questions, and our goal was to provide honest and open feedback," Laskaris said.
Admissions interns helped organize "Real Talk," hosted in Collis Common Ground, for current students to answer questions and share their personal experiences.
"It was very helpful that students did not try to sugarcoat things and gave honest answers, including both the positives and negatives," Sandhu said.
Many academic departments held open houses for students and parents throughout Friday, and campus tours were offered all day.
Friday night was capped off by the traditional Dimensions show in Class of 1953 Commons, during which current students posing as prospective students reveal themselves and perform original songs and skits. It was followed by a party in Sarner Underground, hosted by show performers.
This year's show was marked by a group of protesters who forcibly entered and interrupted the show, chanting a series of grievances about Dartmouth culture and the administration's response.
Naomi Lavar, a prospective student from Chicago, said she was confused as to whether the demonstrators were actually protesting or were attempting to trick them as the students impersonating prospective students had. Once she realized what they were doing, she said she was still confused and did not believe that they chose an effective place or method to voice their concerns.
"The issues in general are really important, but I think there are problems at every university and while that doesn't make it okay that it happens here, changing those things are a universal problem," Lavar said.
Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity hosted a dance party for prospective students Friday night. Contrary to previous years, the party was not listed on the schedule of events distributed to prospective students. Laskaris said the event was not included because she was unaware that a second event was being planned in addition to the party at Sarner.
Prospective students said they appreciated that the fraternity hosted a party geared at prospective students because it offered them a preview of Dartmouth nightlife and the Greek system. Sandhu said she thought Greek life had a smaller presence than she expected.
"It was very open and welcoming, and I got the sense that people have different levels of involvement," she said.
Overall, Laskaris said the weekend ran smoothly and was enjoyable.
"I think the weekend was very successful in terms of the range of programs that were offered and the number of students and families who came," Laskaris said. "In my mind the real success was how much the community really stepped up."
