Dean of Admissions to appear on Today Show

Watch the recap of Dean Furda’s appearance on The TODAY show.

Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m., Dean of Admissions Eric Furda will be speaking about the college admissions process with Al Roker on the Today Show.

The Today Show usually has periodic segments on college admissions around this time, when seniors have just finished applying and younger high school students are just beginning the process. Rather than specifically focusing on Penn admissions standards, Furda said tomorrow’s segment will center more on “college admissions in general.”

Furda also mentioned that the interview will focus on the front end of the college search process.

“Sophomores and juniors are [starting to] work with their guidance counselors and visit college campuses,” Furda said. “I’ll try to focus on the possibilities for those students and go through a thoughtful college selection process.”

Rather than centering in on how students should present themselves in an application, Furda will discuss “the pre-application phase,” which includes counseling students on making a list and how they should go about investigating schools.

Furda also expects to touch briefly upon what would make a good application, specifically in light of recently announced changes to the Common Application essay questions.

According to Furda, the idea for the interview came up out of a conversation with a colleague at The New York Times, who made the introduction to individuals at the Today Show. Furda wrote briefly for The New York Times’ college admissions blog “The Choice” in 2009.

“I haven’t done a TV interview like this in quite a few years,” Furda said. “I always get nervous when I get up and talk in front of people, but it’s part of the excitement of it all.”

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.