Hudson Valley welcomes community at open house

Hundreds of potential future classmates visited Hudson Valley for the college’s annual open house on Nov. 15. The prospective students were provided with a wide range of information about what the school has to offer.

According to Mary Claire Bauer, director of admissions at Hudson Valley, about 1,200 people attended the event, including the families of students who are in the process of deciding whether or not to come to school here. She believes over half of the students who attended open house will ultimately enroll at Hudson Valley.

“The goal really is to showcase the college and the academic offerings. The best way to do that is having the students talk to faculty,” said Bauer.

Many of the promotional materials during the open house touted Hudson Valley as a way to save a lot of money while still getting a good college education. The brochure for the event pitches Hudson Valley by saying, “You can save more than $35,000 compared to two years of private college and 96 percent of our students earn jobs or transfer after graduation.”

The open house program included a half-hour welcoming, where students were divided by which of the college’s four schools they wanted to enroll in. Informational sessions were then provided for each of the college’s 21 academic departments, held in classrooms across campus. More than 50 classrooms were used to accommodate the large turnout and number of academic sessions.

“It really is an opportunity to let students know the details about what’s in the programs,” said Bauer.

Gabriella Shafer came to the open house from Berkshire County, in western Massachusetts, with her mother, Laura Shafer, to learn about the dental hygienist program.

“I think I’m more likely to come here,” said Gabriella Shafer.

“It was very informative and it was great to see all the equipment,” said Laura Shafer.

Kyle Dougherty also came from outside the local area. His family travelled from a few hours away in western New York to see Hudson Valley. “It’s a larger campus than our local community college, and they have a wider variety of athletic programs,” said Dougherty, who hopes to play for the football team.

While some students came from far away, many from the local area were drawn to Hudson Valley so they could stay near their families. “It’s close to home and a good college. People are very nice and it was a good presentation,” said Joshua Mackey, from Ballston Spa.