Thinking about studying at UW? Don’t miss the March Open House this Saturday, March 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Future students will have the chance to attend in-person workshops, such as academic information sessions and sample lectures, hosted by their faculty of interest. Additionally, future students will be able to communicate with both professors and other students. There will also be tours of the residence halls and campus. 

The Waterloo campus will be participating, as well as the School of Architecture in Cambridge, the Global Business and Digital Arts program in Stratford, and the School of Pharmacy in Kitchener. 

Kari Stewart, UW’s director of marketing and communications, said the March Open House is one of the most important ways to help students explore their options when applying to university. “This is a big decision time for some of our students. About 60 per cent of our attendees are applicants who have already applied. They may already have an offer in hand and they’re deciding which university to accept, and this is our chance to really help them feel like a Waterloo student and experience campus and hopefully choose Waterloo,” she said.

When asked about the planning behind the open house, Stewart said they start planning the summer before by connecting with all their campus partners such as the faculties, the colleges, athletics, AccessAbility services, and plant operations. “We work really hard with plant operations to book the right spaces so the campus is safe and clean. If it’s in the winter, like a March Open House, that means we need to be prepared for the weather and so there is parking and sustainable transportation,” Stewart said.

The setup for the March Open House begins the night before when all the supplies are brought into the space. Stewart mentioned that the real active setup starts very early in the morning on Saturday. “That’s when our partners, all of those people I mentioned faculties, academic support units, they would come to the space and start setting up their booths. We also have a lot of students who help run this event and they might be getting tents set up outside,” said Stewart. Stewart expressed how the most important thing when setting up the event is the amount of training volunteers receive. “All of the volunteers want to be able to make an impact on the students and to really be warm and welcoming and just make sure they have the information they need to be successful,” Stewart said. 

Nick Garcia, a student ambassador for the March Open House, stated, “The Open House has always been something positive for myself and other student ambassadors. We always look forward to these events so that we can also congregate as a student ambassador team because we’re all basically friends.” 

Garcia expressed that his favourite part of the event is talking to prospective students, especially the ones who already have an offer. “Come at 10 a.m. all the way until 4 p.m. and you will be able to experience everything that we have to offer such as the events that each faculty holds and being able to tour every residence and the campus itself,” he said.