I’ve been admitted to UA and already received the presidential scholarship and engineering leadership scholarship. I just received an invite to a local event being held by UA. Has anyone ever been to one of these? Is this to advise about honors colleges or other full-ride scholarships or just to learn more about UA?
What did the invitation say?
My D was also invited to one in Long Island but we can’t attend. It’s a shame too, because the recruiter and everyone has been so nice and helpful about everything throughout the whole process. I don’t know what it’s for exactly, but from the invitation it seemed more like a networking/recruiting type thing.
It just said you and your parents are invited to a “Special Reception”. No other details.
Yes. I’m guessing they just would like to continue to try to convince you to enroll.
Maybe folks are so excited about being invited to a “special” reception that they don’t care what it is for. It’s my opinion that a proper invitation would tell you what the purpose was.
Typically, schools offer regional receptions for admitted students so the student can start getting excited about going there. Alumni and even current students are often in attendance to help answer questions about the university.
Thanks for your responses and that makes sense.
I highly recommend going to these regional “special receptions” - UA sends a high-level speaker as well as a current student. The food and fellowship is always amazing. Parents can meet alumni and other parents. It’s a win-win, and I’ve never heard anyone come away from it regretting going. If nothing else, it will cement your decision to attend UA. 
My daughter and I went to one after she was accepted, had visited, had her scholarship letter, etc. We didn’t learn anything we didn’t already know, but it was a nice event. There was an opportunity to talk to other students who were either planning to attend or considering attending, as well as parents of students who were already there. The speakers at the event (ours was in the Chicago area) were quite good. It took us nearly 2 hours to get there in Chicago rush hour and construction traffic, and I still had no regrets about going. I would recommend attending if you can.
We went to the “Special Reception” last week in MA. It was just a general information session, though very well done. D received the application right after she applied. I think the invitation just went to everyone on their contact list. The main speaker at ours was an engineering school dean who was a very dynamic speaker. He was fun to listen to and I know he spoke to many students after. It was mainly a marketing event but fun. All the prospective students got a shirt, too.
The most surprising thing for us is that they had food, and I mean good food. We hadn’t expected anything so had already eaten.
The Special Receptions are definitely great to attend if you can! great food, great speakers, and always a giveaway or two (for each student). Also very nice to connect with other local families.
We went after my son had already been accepted and offered his scholarships too. Most of the attendees were prospective students, but it was still a great opportunity for my kid since we hadn’t visited the school yet. It was enough to convince him to take the offer seriously. The speakers were impressive and the dessert spread is pretty good too! 
Thanks for all the information, it’s very helpful. I wonder if I could find out who the speaker will be. It would be beneficial if it’s the dean of my major.
@jr2016, when we attended two years ago, the speakers included Kevin Whitaker (Associate Provost of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics), a local student who’d transferred from a local university to UA, and a local alumnus. Dr. Whitaker was outstanding, and I believe he was Associate Dean of Engineering at the time. It does seem they’re pushing Engineering in these presentations, but they give a great overview of the entire university.
What is your intended major?
Engineering
@jr2016, when you RSVP ask if they know who the speakers will be.
When we attended (albeit a few years ago), the speaker was Dr. Karr, head of the engineering department. I don’t recall there being any particular focus on engineering (my D is a business major with no interest in engineering, so we probably would have noticed if there was a big engineering emphasis), but I’m sure he spoke with a bunch of prospective engineering students over the course of the evening.
Can someone tell me what the date is for the Long Island reception please. Thank you. RTR
Chicago-land’s is November 9. Contact recruiter Bethany Floyd by Oct 30 for details.
Dr. Karr was our speaker also. He was very entertaining.