The Office of Undergraduate Admissions launched a new program this week that allows high school juniors and seniors to shadow Northwestern students for a day.

The program, Purple Preview, begins at the Segal Visitors Center

in the morning where prospective students meet their hosts, who take the students to class and the dining halls to show them a day in the life of an NU student. The students will also have the opportunity to meet with admissions staff.

“The hope is that the prospective student will get a really good feeling on whether or not they’ll be able to really attend Northwestern and fit in and be a part of the community,” said Davion Fleming, director of Purple Preview and assistant director of admissions.

Fleming said this program will help prospective students get a better feel of campus.

Prospective students will also receive meal passes and a temporary student ID card to access campus facilities such as libraries or gyms, said Weinberg senior Mary Felder, a coordinator for the Student Admission Council.

SAC is a group of undergraduate students who work part-time to coordinate Purple Preview and overnight visits, she said.

Many prospective students don’t have the opportunity to stay overnight at the university, but SAC gives them a way to see campus through the eyes of an NU student, Felder said.

“Picking a university is one of the most important decisions that you’ll make in the first half of your life,” Felder said. “The more information you can have when you’re making your decision, the more likely you are to find a place that’s really right for you.”

Weinberg sophomore Edison Urena said he hosted a high school student overnight during Spring Quarter of his freshman year.

“It’s really cool to show incoming or prospective students the different parts of Northwestern that one might not see if they’re already a student here,” he said.

Weinberg sophomore Karin Zhu, who showed a prospective student around campus during Wildcat Days last year, said hosting allows NU students to answer prospective students’ questions — about dining hall food, organizations and residence halls, for instance —  that administrators are not going to answer as candidly or as in detail, Zhu said.

“It’s nice to be able to pass along some knowledge that you wish you had before you came here,” Zhu said.

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