They are impossible to miss. The tell-tale nametags and Cardinal red folders are dead giveaways: Next year’s prospective freshmen affectionately known as “ProFros” are here for Admit Weekend, a three-day affair designed to impress and inform admitted students.

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Kyle Segel (right), a prospective Class of 2011 student, and his friend check out the Activities Fair in White Plaza around 1 p.m. Wednesday. Segel is one of 2,465 students admitted to Stanford this year. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/7331
Shams Shaikh

Kyle Segel (right), a prospective Class of 2011 student, and his friend check out the Activities Fair in White Plaza around 1 p.m. Wednesday. Segel is one of 2,465 students admitted to Stanford this year.

This year, students from 49 states — and such faraway places as Israel, Thailand, Brazil and Turkey — are here for Admit Weekend.

“Before applying to Stanford, it’s hard to experience the campus as a student,” said associate dean of admission and financial aid Christina Wire in an email to The Daily. “Admit Weekend launches our admitted students on their own Stanford journey.”

Planners of this year’s event have catered to parents more so than in previous years.

The Office of Public Affairs, in collaboration with the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, has created an event called Destination Palo Alto, which is planned to familiarize parents with the area and each other.

“During previous years, parents haven’t had much programming, so we like [Destination Palo Alto],” said Kalei Kim, assistant director of marketing and outreach of undergraduate admission. “Admit Weekend focuses on the students. All the parents are in the same position, and this gives them time to bond with each other.”

As in previous years, the University has mandated a “dry” campus in order to promote student safety.

“Our admitted guests have all signed a “Guidelines for Admit Weekend Participants” statement in which they are instructed that the use of alcohol or illegal drugs by participants is forbidden,” Kim said. “[Such activity] can result in serious sanctions, including the revocation of an offer of admission. The Office of Undergraduate Admission takes this policy very seriously.”

Admit Weekend coordinators have planned a wide range of alcohol-free activities, including student panels focusing on life at Stanford, departmental information sessions and social activities that promote ProFro bonding.

“Stanford is all about balance,” said Branner Head House Host (HoHo) Kyla Barr ‘10. “Our jobs as HoHos are to help in that process by giving them advice on academic questions as well as showing them that balance that many Stanford students have.

“[We have been] scheduling a cappella groups to perform or having a midnight fountain hopping trip or just having conversations about what it’s like to be a student here on campus,” she added.

Wire said that Admit Weekend is meant to show ProFros all that the University has to offer, both socially and academically.

“In Dean [of Admission and Financial Aid] Richard Shaw’s words, our goal is ‘to provide exceptional exposure to this extraordinary place,’” she said. “Admitted students can [then] make the most informed decision about where to spend the next four years of their lives.”