UAFS admissions staff is ready to help prospective students navigate all that is needed to help them become future Lions.
Share on Social Media
Current News Stories
UAFS Admissions Eases Senior-Year Anxiety with Personal, Hands-On Support
Written By: Tina Alvey Dale
Transitioning from high school into the adult world is not an easy one. The myriad of decisions to be made and the anxiety of what comes next can sometimes seem overwhelming. But the admissions staff at the University of Ď㽶ĘÓƵAPP – Fort Smith is ready to help in any way they can.
“We want students to know we are real people, and we’re there to help them,” said Maddie Hardwick, assistant director of admissions-recruitment. “When they get a text from us, it’s a real person. It’s not automated. They can text back. They can talk to us.”
Students in their senior year considering attending UAFS seem to be grappling with more anxiety than in the past, Hardwick said, noting how normal that reaction is to all the decisions and changes those students are having to face.
“Some of them seem to be really in the weeds, needing to know exactly what each financial aid dollar is paying for what tuition dollar or fee. Others seem somewhat insecure,” Hardwick said. “They are asking really good questions, but they aren’t acting once they have information.”
Some students think they will hold off on finishing their application until they have test scores that will get them admitted. The reality is that they may already have the test scores to do just that.
“Your test scores might just be lower than what you want. Like those scores could still work for you. Also, we may not need your scores to admit you,” Hardwick said. “Your grades might be high enough to admit you.”
The thing to keep in mind, Hardwick said, is to treat the college application process like a coffee date.
“It could mean something, and it could blossom into something beautiful,” she said. “Or it could fizzle out, and that’s fine. So, with our application, in particular being a free application, it's extra super fine. If it fizzles out, you're not committing to anything. You're not putting dollars behind this.”
The coffee date approach can help alleviate some of the anxiety of finding the right school, Hardwick said.
“A lot are just afraid that they're not going to belong. They worry if they throw their name in the hat, they're not going to get it. Like they're already just kind of assuming the worst. But we’re here to help them see that’s not the case,” she said.
Completing the application process is actually pretty simple, Hardwick said, noting students are simply taking 10 minutes of their day and giving the admission office some information. Then Hardwick and her team can take it from there.
“We’re pulling almost everything for them from the state, so their process goes really quickly with us, especially for those Ď㽶ĘÓƵAPP students. For our students who aren't Ď㽶ĘÓƵAPP students, the process is a little bit longer,” she said.
But no matter what, if students hit submit, the admissions office can pull the information and let them know if there is something they need them to redo or add.
“We can help. We can say, there is a document we need that your school doesn’t have. We can talk to them about retesting or what to do if they don’t have an immunization record,” Hardwick said. “We can even talk to them about how to set up an appointment with their doctor so they can get a shot. Just all the normal things because we want to build their confidence in UAFS being a resource for them.”
Once the application process is started, steps involving scholarships and financial aid can be conquered.
The most important thing is to give the students confidence in themselves and to let them know they aren’t alone when it comes to taking that big step into adulthood.
“We’re here to answer questions. We’re here to guide. We’re here to help anyway we can,” Hardwick said.