Penn’s Office of Admissions is hosting a free College Search Seminar on Wednesday, Aug. 20, for members of the University community with children entering 11th and 12th grade. The program, which runs from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Penn School of Nursing, is geared toward students who are actively preparing college applications.

At the biannual seminar, Dean of Admissions Eric Furda and his staff will share their expertise with University faculty and staff who are going through the college selection process with their children. Jodi Robinson, Penn Admission’s regional director for Pennsylvania and the seminar’s coordinator, says many universities offer college search programming to their alumni, but few provide it for their employees.

Robinson says the Aug. 20 session will enable families to “act as the admissions selection committee for the evening.” Parents and students will break into small groups to read through applications to the fictitious “Franklin University,” and then reconvene to decide which of the five fictitious applicants to accept, waitlist, and deny.

Doris Cochran-Fikes, a Penn Admissions officer, says the workshop gives families an opportunity to learn about the committee selection process and the attributes that Penn Admissions looks for in successful candidates.

“And also, it hopefully gives them a realistic appraisal of opportunities for their children to be admitted to various schools,” she says.

Karen Hamilton, associate director of stewardship and communications for undergraduate financial aid, says that even with her experience as an alumni interviewer for Penn Admissions, “going through the case study workshop together with Doris [her daughter and a member of Penn’s Class of 2018] provided me with so much more insight into the admissions process and gave me a deeper appreciation for the very personal attention that the committee devotes to each applicant.”

Doris Hamilton says she gained the same insight from the seminar, leading her to realize “that the most important thing, in addition to doing my best academically, was just to be myself during the admissions process, not only for Penn, but for any school.”

The College Search Seminar will be held in the Ann L. Roy Auditorium, Claire M. Fagin Hall, 418 Curie Blvd.

For questions or more information, email admrsvp@admissions.upenn.edu. Penn Admissions asks that those planning to attend RSVP and familiarize themselves with the common application.