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Portland State University holds annual Preview Day event in person

This is the first time PSU has held the event for prospective students in person since the pandemic began.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Right now many high school seniors are checking out colleges they’re interested in attending.

During the pandemic it has been harder since many schools have not offered in-person events for potential students. But on Saturday, Portland State University (PSU) changed that.

Since the pandemic started, PSU has not held its big annual Preview Day in person. Before the pandemic, the event attracted about 500-600 people to the downtown Portland campus. It's meant to give high school juniors and seniors more information about college and a feel for the campus.

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One of the teens who got to participate in this year's event was high school senior Taya Mendoza. She drove all the way from Grants Pass in Southern Oregon.

“Bit of a four-hour drive, so I woke up really early to be here,” said Mendoza.

She's one of the more than 100 teens who got a chance to see if PSU will be a good fit for their college experience. The number of students and family members attending is much smaller than in years past due to safety precautions.

“Today we have our annual Preview Day event, our first event back in person,” said Kanani Porotesano, assistant director for campus visits at PSU.

“It's actually really exciting to have them back on campus […] there's something to say about actually stepping foot on a campus and learning about our programs and seeing the farmers market taking place and just to really figure out if they're going to fit into this campus community,” said Porotesano.

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One of the PSU student ambassadors leading tours was Marinda Carlyle. Carlyle is going into her third and final year at PSU and said Preview Day played an important role for her.

“It [preview day] was actually my deciding factor to come to Portland State,” said Carlyle.

That's what PSU officials like Jose Coll are banking on.

“The fact that we can actually bring them on campus, show them what we have available to them as an urban institution is remarkable and I think is impactful,” said Coll, dean of the School of Social Work as well as the interim dean of the College of Education at PSU.

Mendoza said she was excited to see PSU in person but is also keeping her options open.

“I really do like the city itself. It's really great here,” said Mendoza.

A PSU spokesperson said the campus began offering in-person tours in the summer of 2021. However, this year’s Preview Day on Saturday was the first large event for prospective students that it held in person since the start of the pandemic. 

Preview Day is different than campus tours in that there are more in-depth sessions on academics, how to pay for college, other opportunities available and a chance to speak to PSU staff.

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