Current students might grumble at the hordes of prospectivestudents swarming the Evanston Campus for Preview NU week, but forNorthwestern admissions officers, this week is decisive in luringthe members of next year’s freshman class.

More than 1,000 prospies will have seen NU by the end of PreviewNU week on Tuesday. They are among the most likely to attend theschool in the fall, said Carol Lunkenheimer, dean of undergraduateadmissions.

“Often this is not the first time (prospective students) havebeen here,” Lunkenheimer said. “A lot of them may have come on atour last fall. Now that they’ve been admitted, they want to spenda little more time and get to know the school better.”

The historical yield for prospies who visit the school duringPreview NU week is much higher than students who skip out on thespring program, Lunkenheimer said. About 70 percent of Preview NUprospies will accept their offer of admission in the fall, shesaid. The average yield for admitted students is 40-42 percent.

“The yield rate in the admitted student programs has always beenmuch higher,” she said.

Since this week’s prospies are more likely to come to NU, theuniversity gives a more complete experience to the admittedstudents who tour the campus in the spring and are narrowing downtheir options compared to the unadmitted high school students whoroam the campus in the fall, Lunkenheimer said.

They are more serious, she said, asking the hard-hittingquestions that the more casual applicants do not. NU throws thePreview NU students into the university environment headfirst bysetting up meetings with the NU colleges that accepted them andinviting them to spend the night in student dorms.

“It’s just a whole lot more focused than in the fall,” shesaid.