Nearly 1,400 red-folder-toting, name-tag-wearing high school seniors flooded campus for this year’s version of Admit Weekend. The prospective freshman — or ProFros — were treated to a series of activities designed to persuade them to attend Stanford, and despite scattered showers, both organizers and participants deemed the weekend a success.

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Masaru Oka

Profros play Twister at Saturday night's Admit Weekend Celebration.

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John Laxson

Profros check in for Admit Weekend in the Arrillaga Alumni center

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John Shen

Admit Weekend A Capella concert in Frost Amphitheater Friday night

“We’re trying to take the image they have of Stanford and really deliver that on a personal level,” said Dean of Freshman and Transfer Students Julie Lythcott-Haims ‘89. “They seem to be lovely people and look really engaged and excited about Stanford.”

Dean of Admissions Richard Shaw told The Daily that almost 1,400 students and 800 parents visited the University over the weekend — a number that eclipsed last year’s total.

The new class of “Oh-leven,” as termed by Lythcott-Haims, filled Memorial Auditorium for Provost John Etchemendy’s welcome address Thursday afternoon.

Lythcott-Haims made bold predictions about this year’s yield rate — which Dean Shaw estimated would be around 67 percent — saying that about 80 percent of admits she had spoken with said they were committed to attending Stanford.

Admit Weekend also featured an increased level of programming, some of which was geared at parents, according to Associate Director of Admission and Financial Aid Christina Wire.

“This year we also worked very collaboratively with the city of Palo Alto to put together an evening program for parents to introduce them to the city of Palo Alto and Stanford Shopping Center,” Wire said.

Despite scattered rain showers, which threatened to disrupt some Admit Weekend traditions like midnight fountain hopping, student organizers said the weekend was a success.

“Admit Weekend was amazing!” said Lia Bonamassa ‘10, a House Host (HoHo) in Otero. “It was a little tough because of the rain, but the actual programming went well. I’ve done absolutely no work since Thursday, but it was definitely worth it.”

Some students interviewed by The Daily also said the University’s campus-wide “dry weekend” policy was not an issue.

“We personally didn’t have any problems, and I think that held true in most places,” Bonamassa said. “Our biggest in-dorm concern was making sure that alcohol was never present, but my dormmates respected that rule.”

ProFros also said the weekend was enjoyable and informative.

“It’s really good to get a view of the college life,” said Daniel Swartz, a ProFro from Sacramento. “It’s going to be hard to go back to high school now for three more months. We’re ready to stay here.”

Julian Gropp, and admit from Bavaria, Germany, said he enjoyed the weekend. Gropp, who said he was deciding between Columbia, Duke and Stanford, said that “this event had a big role in my decision” and that he had decided to attend Stanford.

The University received a record 23,954 applications for the class of 2011, admitting 2,465 students for an acceptance rate of 10.29 percent, also a record. The admit pool comprises students from all 50 states and 59 countries. Students will have until May 1 to decide whether or not to accept Stanford’s offer.