Prospective JC freshmen came to JC on Feb. 20  for A Closer Look, an event hosted by the Admissions Department to give accepted students another chance to view the school and to possibly gain more registrants.

According to Director of Enrollment Ed Maynard, “[In the past,] the event has always been before [admissions] tests and this year we decided to do it after acceptance letters were sent out to garner more registration.”

Comparing it to past years, Maynard said, “It went very well. There were a lot of families. I am not sure of the exact number, but more than I have seen [at the event] before.”

Different incentives were added to encourage families to come this year. According to Maynard, this included the registration fee of $100 being waived if the families registered at the event, which 50 families did. Also, families were entered into a raffle to win $500 off a student’s laptop purchase.

President Richard O’Hara said that the event was “one of the most high energy, positive” admission days, and that the huge turnout gave him a “good feeling.”

Teachers set up in the Brown Room where they informed prospective students about their respective departments. Coaches for athletic teams were in the gym informing prospective students about the sports offered.

Track coach Robert Torres said, “We had a nice crowd. From my end, I talked to prospective runners. We had more girls than boys come. It is another time to see them and there were a few [prospective students] I did not know and a few on the fence.”

In future years Maynard said, “I may have to think about a different area of the school due to the amount of people. I would also like to boost registration.”

Cole Alban is the Online Chief for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.