Every year around March, the freshman population seems to double. Not officially, but with admitted students visiting campus, it definitely feels like it. For many students, their first experience at Menlo came not as a student but as a visitor, and what they remember most is the person who showed them around. Shadow days, now known as campus visits, take place each spring after admission decisions are released. Admitted student visitors are paired with current student hosts and spend the day with them — sitting in on classes, meeting new people at lunch and getting a feel for daily life at Menlo.
Arriving during tutorial, visitors attend two classes and eat lunch with their host. These visits often mark the beginning of lasting connections, a familiar face for students to look out for when they arrive in the fall.
Beyond classes and lunch, visit days allow admitted students to ask current students questions about athletics, clubs, academics and more. Importantly, visiting students are shown a perspective that might not be available through admissions. “The student-to-student perspective is really important,” Upper School Associate Director of Admissions Melanie Rossi said.
Rossi oversees the logistics of the visitor program, matching accepted students with hosts based on class schedules, shared interests and the occasional gut instinct. “Once I get their schedules and their interests, I try to just kind of align up who I think will match,” Rossi said. “Everyone can opt in. I never make anyone do it that doesn’t want to, […] but it’s something that I want all kids to get involved with.”
While it may seem like a small decision, those pairings can leave lasting impressions — and, in some cases, create lasting friendships. Junior Brendan Wong was paired with then-prospective student Connor Hou during Hou’s visit, and the two have been friends since.
When they first met each other, neither knew what to expect. “I thought he was taller and I thought he was a little scary,” Hou said. Both Wong and Hou agree that their perceptions of each other have changed significantly since they first met. “I just look at Connor differently now, starting from him being a stranger to now where he is someone who I know I can talk to,” Wong said.
On his visit day, Hou attended Wong’s Chinese and English classes. Hou found that his visit gave him perspective on what the community and classes at Menlo are like. “I remember I really liked the environment and the vibe [at Menlo],” Hou said. “I think [visiting] really helped me make the choice to actually come here.”
Junior Josie Lee fondly recalls shadowing senior Natalie DeCherney. “I remember her being really nice and sweet, and I felt like we had a little bit of a connection because we did similar sports, since at the time she did soccer and lacrosse,” Lee said.
Similarly, junior Julia Im shadowed senior Lauren Dempsey and she visited Dempsey’s freshman physics class. “I distinctly remember going to physics class with her because I was sitting between her and a couple of her other friends,” Im said. “They were all trying to include me in what they were doing even though I had no idea what was going on.”
Neither Lee nor Im said shadowing made or broke their decision to come to Menlo since they both had older siblings already enrolled, but they appreciated the comfort it offered. “It was nice knowing the schedule I was going into and stuff,” Lee said. Im had a similar experience: “I think it was really nice to get to know how […] the classes worked and the social aspect of Menlo,” she said.
Both Im and Lee found that their shadows were incredibly caring, friendly and welcoming. “Since I was kinda quiet, I thought it was really nice that during lunch she kinda included me with all her friends, and they were all trying to get to know me and talk to me,” Im said.
“I remember Natalie took an effort to sit with her friends who also had shadows, so I got to get to know other potentially incoming students,” Lee said. “[It] was kind of nice to know that I wasn’t alone.”
For many admitted students, the feeling of being welcomed and the experiences they have during their visit make the decision to come to Menlo an easy one.
Campus visits are designed to help prospective students decide if Menlo feels like home and imagine themselves as part of the community. “There are so many different kinds of kids here,” Rossi said. “Whether or not they end up at Menlo, my role is to help them see if they can picture themselves here.”
