College Admissions 101 Seminar Offered to University Staff

Full-time Duke University employees with high school seniors are invited to a free seminar on Sept. 24 to demystify the college admissions process.

"College Admissions 101," hosted by Duke's Office of Undergraduate Admissions, will provide an overview of the college admissions process, including how to create a college admissions timeline for the senior year, how to come up with a good list of colleges to apply to, and options for making college affordable.

The seminar is from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the McClendon Commons Admissions Visitor Center, immediately behind the main Undergraduate Admissions building at 2138 Campus Drive.

"We have a large and diverse community here at Duke, including people who may never have gone through the college admissions process or who may not have an obvious place to turn to for guidance," said Christoph Guttentag, dean of undergraduate admissions. "Our staff have decades of experience of admissions not only at Duke but also at other institutions, and we wanted to share this knowledge as a service to the community."

The College Admissions 101 seminar will not focus on admission to Duke or any other specific college. Instead, it will cover basic information all families should know to make the college admissions process less daunting, such as understanding the common application process and financial aid options and how to apply for Duke's children's tuition grant benefit.

The seminar will include speakers from Duke's Undergraduate Admissions, Financial Aid, and Human Resources departments.

"If employees and their senior daughters or sons come away from the seminar with a better sense of how to manage the college admissions process and think broadly about the kinds of colleges they can apply for, we will have met our goal," Guttentag said.