l•JIIPOINTI Lancer Summer Decision Days allowed rising high-school seniors to get an on-the-spot admission decision when they visited campus. Newly admitted Lancers signed their names on an enormous beach ball. On the Up and Up Boom in early applications comes on the heels of increased name recognition, successful summer admissions program IJ W hen 363 rising high-school seniors came to campus this summer and received the news that they were accepted into the Longwood Class of 2022, emotions were running high. Students cried. Moms cried. Dads cried. Sometimes even the person delivering the news and welcoming them to the Lancer family cried. "It's hard not to get emotional and excited," Carrie Pruitt, associate director for recruit ment, said of the newly revamped program known as Lancer Summer Decision Days. "That's really what our job is about-helping them find their home here." The program, which allows rising high school seniors to get an on-the-spot admission decision when they visit campus, is a key fac tor in the recent boom Longwood has experi enced in early applications. As of Oct. 10, applications were up 215 percent compared with that same date five years ago. "We changed the program so that it's more of a special experience and not just a typical college visit," said Dean of Admissions Jason Faulk. "It was highly successful. The applica tions for fall 2018 are trending very positively and above every level where we have been in the past." This year, for the first time ever, Longwood had received more than 1,000 applications for • l!) • " t-f) -sj" 0 N 0 N _J _J _J _J _J _J _J _J l9 z l9 w O:'. O:'. O:'. O:'. 0 N