'After Spring Visit, I knew I definitely wanted to come here'

Oklahoma Christian University’s tour guides and admission counselors have spent all school year preparing for the 225 students coming to the largest campus visit, Spring Visit, on March 4-5.

“Spring Visit is the last big OC thing before students make their decision,” Admissions Counselor Lauren Bridgeforth said. “It’s really fun for the admissions staff to see these students we’ve built relationships with, and watch them get excited about college and their future.”

During Spring Visit, students tour the campus, audition for scholarships, visit their prospective departments, learn about campus opportunities, have a chance to stay in the freshmen dorms and watch a Spring Sing performance.

Freshman Brinkley Accord traveled from Springdale, Arkansas to experience Spring Visit in 2015. Accord stayed with sophomore Kristyn Hale in the freshman dorm, Gunn-Henderson.

“I had never stayed overnight at a college before,” Accord said. “Having the chance to get to know some of the students and be with them all night and the next day was really cool.”

Accord said Spring Visit was the deciding factor on her choice to come to Oklahoma Christian.

“I really wanted to come to OC, but I didn’t feel completely 100 percent sure about it,” Accord said. “There was still a part of me that wasn’t convinced, and after Spring Visit I knew I definitely wanted to go here.”

Accord said she encourages all potential students to come to Spring Visit if they are unsure where they want to go to school.

“You get to see the atmosphere when you come to Spring Visit, especially if you stay with a student, you get to see the dorm life,” Accord said. “There are a lot of events that let you see what it’s like to actually be on campus and be a part of the student body.”

Five tour guides will give 50-minute tours to 225 students and their parents on this year’s Spring Visit, starting at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

Junior Casey Maynard, a tour guide at Oklahoma Christian, said Spring Visit is her favorite chance to give tours all year.

“It’s exciting seeing them because its closer to decision time, because there are a lot of them that know they are coming here,” Maynard said. “Those tours are the best because they are more plugged in and engaged. They are meeting each other, some are finding roommates and friends or reconnecting with old friends. Watching that is really exciting.”

Maynard said Spring Visit also keeps the tour guides on their toes because of the amount of alumni returning to campus.

“We have a lot of children of alumni that come to visit, who already know a lot about OC,” Maynard said. “The hardest part is having to make sure we are saying things they haven’t already heard because they’ve probably been on a tour before.”

Bridgeforth said parents should come to Spring Visit with their children. Parents will have a chance to ask questions and learn about financial aid.

“Parents have a lot to do with the decision-making with students in their college decisions,” Bridgeforth. “They want to make sure their money is going to something they find valuable too.”

The last day to register for Spring Visit is this Thursday, March 3. Students can register and see a tentative schedule online.