2025 Academic Discovery Day success

GRACE MAIN
STAFF WRITER

2/3/2025

Jan. 18 marked this year’s Academic Discovery Day where 118 prospective students arrived on campus for a chance to learn about Alma’s academic departments, student organizations, athletics and performing arts.

These prospective students arrived on campus for a packed itinerary which included a resource fair, informational session, optional campus tour and meetings with different academic departments.

“The last section before lunch included two breakout sessions where students could learn more from faculty and staff in their academic area of interest, including business, education, nursing, pre-health, STEM, social sciences, humanities and arts,” said Eric Blackhurst (‘83), Alma College’s Interim President.

One of the student organizations present during the day was the Integrative Physiology and Health Science (IPHS)Club.

“I just explained what we did as a club and what the IPHS department was about. I explained how IPHS welcomes anyone who is interested in a science-related field, even education and art majors are welcome,” said Emily Dimock (‘26), IPHS Club representative.

The college had four prospective students put down their deposits on the day of Academic Discovery Day, and one the day after. 

Already, over 100 deposits have been put in for incoming students, and the number is on the progression to the goal of 380 within the next couple of months. This goal of 380 students ideally consists of 300 first-year college students, 50 international students and 30 transfer students.

 Small schools have been struggling with enrollment recently, so the number of students already planning on coming to Alma shows that the school is on the right track. 

The college has seen a 12.5% growth in applications received and a 12.3% growth in admissions this year. This, along with reaching the 100 deposit mark in the least amount of time in five years, is a good sign.

Furthermore, the prospective student turnout was greater for Academic Discovery Day than in previous years.

“Academic Discovery Day drew the largest attendance for an admitted student event at Alma since the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Blackhurst.

These admitted students came from all across Michigan and the Midwest, and even from New York, Louisiana and Nebraska. 

“Attendance by out-of-state students means that our recruitment efforts outside of Michigan are effective. For example, this year we hired a full-time admissions counselor who lives and works in the Chicago area,” said Blackhurst.

These college visits like Academic Discovery Day are extremely beneficial to the decision-making of prospective students. 

“628 admitted students have visited campus versus 501 admitted students last year, and 128 admitted students have visited more than once, important because it increases the likelihood of a student enrolling,” said Shelly Buschle, Senior Director of Recruitment.

The college is continuing to promote applications and has already made some improvements to this year’s admissions process. For the first time, Alma admissions counselors not only attended college fairs but also presented at high school clubs and organizations. Also, the college is working on bringing in more graduate students to its programs, with the addition of a new role: Graduate Admissions Counselor.