Jennifer Riehl, Senior Coordinator, Center for Recruitment & Transfer Access

I’ve always loved hosting family and friends for special events. From setting out handmade place cards at the Thanksgiving dinner table when I was a kid, to creating elaborate birthday party themes as a teenager, and to most recently planning my own wedding — I get a special joy from seeing my visions come to life in a way that benefits all those in attendance. It’s lucky then, that as the Senior Recruitment Coordinator in the Center for Recruitment and Transfer Access, one of my main duties is planning USG’s tri-annual Undergraduate Open House events!

Open Houses allow prospective students the chance to check out our campus, learn more about their programs of interest, and mingle with staff and Student Ambassadors — and hopefully leave with a greater understanding of and appreciation for USG as a whole. When I first took this job nearly five years ago and was expected to run my first Open House a month later, I simply tried to mimic what I was told about the most recent event. But after seeing a few in action, I began having visions about how to make the day better, bigger, and even more useful to prospective students, and to that end, along the way we’ve added student panels, application labs, sessions specifically for high school students, a formal welcome, and more. As I approach planning my 15th (!) Undergraduate Open House, I finally feel all the tweaks have paid off, and I’m really looking forward to welcoming prospective students and their families to campus on Saturday, October 28th!

Jen with several of her wonderful Student Ambassadors after an Undergraduate Open House

Some of the highlights of our upcoming Undergraduate Open House that you won’t want to miss:

• The chance to meet with program representatives from all undergraduate majors offered by our university partners at the Shady Grove campus. Bring your unofficial transcript, as most will review it with you on-site!
• Tours of the whole campus and of special locations such as the Priddy Library, Marriott Teaching Kitchen, Exercise Science labs, and Campus Rec Center.
• A presentation and student panel for high school families about the MCPS-MC-USG Pathway.
• Sessions on how to write the perfect scholarship and application essays, conducted by my colleagues in the Center for Academic Success, as well as ones on how to map your career path led by our Career & Internship Services Center.
• Information on financial aid and USG-specific scholarships provided by the Office of Student Services.
• The opportunity for eligible students to apply to join a Transfer Access Program.
• USG Student Ambassadors from various majors eager to share their stories with you.
• And NEW to this event, a fun photo booth for you and your friends to pose in! (Be sure to tag your social media photos with #USGOpenHouse!)
  

  Jen and fellow USG staff members, including USG Executive Director Stewart Edelstein, pose in a photo booth last summer

If you are a prospective undergraduate student reading this, I do hope you will register to attend! Or if you are a current student, staff, or community member but know friends or family members who may benefit from learning about USG, please encourage them to come check us out (you may not know it, but you’re a recruiter, too!). If there’s anything I do well, it’s throwing a good party, and the USG Undergraduate Open House is the type of party where you can not only have fun but also leave one step closer to your next degree. I’d say that’s a winning combo!

**Check out the complete schedule of events, learn more, and register here!

See you on October 28th!