For the first time since 2019, students admitted to the College will be invited to campus for Williams Previews programming. The College will host in-person programming on April 11 and virtual programming on April 14 and 15 for admitted students who are not able to visit campus, Dean of Admission and Student Financial Services Liz Creighton ’01 wrote in an email to the Record.

While Creighton said it is difficult to predict the number of prospective students who will attend, she estimated that in pre-pandemic years, about 500 admitted students annually visited campus during Previews. Last year, only around 300 admitted students attended virtual Previews programming.

Creighton voiced her desire to ensure wide access to Previews this year. “However students distribute across the two programming options this year, we hope to meet with as many of them as possible as they make their enrollment decisions,” she wrote. “While there’s nothing quite like seeing campus in person, our virtual programming aims to provide students with all of the same information and opportunities to interact with students, faculty, and staff as the in-person Previews program.”

The website for admitted students encourages prospective students to make travel arrangements for Previews and lists local travel and lodging opportunities, but suggests making sure those reservations are refundable, citing the College’s policy that allows it to alter plans as a result of the developing public health landscape.

According to Creighton, admitted students who plan to visit the College in person will have to follow College COVID-19 guidelines, such as providing proof that they are fully vaccinated before coming to campus and, for those sleeping in dorms, providing proof of a negative antigen COVID test 48 hours before arriving at the College. Though current COVID guidelines do not allow visitors to stay in the dorms overnight, current students at the College will host admitted students in their dorms.

This admission cycle saw the most applications to the College in recent history, with around 15,300 total applications, most of which were regular decision, according to Creighton. “[Decisions] will be released at some point in the next two weeks.” The Class of 2025 had approximately 12,500 applicants, out of which 1,000 students were admitted for an overall acceptance rate of 8 percent.