Counselors spend day at U.

They came. They ate. They learned a lot about the University. A group of 44 national and international high school counselors visited campus this week as part of a four-day trip to the Philadelphia area. The visit was sponsored by the Four School Program – a group consisting of Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore colleges and the University. Hailing from as far away as Germany to as nearby as Washington D.C., the counselors stopped in Philadelphia on their way to the National Association of College Admissions Counselors conference in Pittsburgh. Admissions Dean Lee Stetson said the group arrived on Sunday and had made visits to the three other schools in the program before coming to campus. "Our thrust is to broaden their understanding of the intellectual community in and around Philadelphia," he said. After arriving on campus, the group ate lunch at the Palladium, and listened to a keynote speech by College Dean Matthew Santirocco about the intellectual environment at the University. That was followed by a campus tour, discussion groups with current undergraduates and a forum with admissions officers. Santirocco told the counselors, as they ate their strawberry pastry dessert, that the most unique aspect of the University is the enterprising spirit of the students. "We are at the sort of school where anything is possible," he said. "This is the legacy of Ben Franklin. He is a role model for students' intellectual curiosity and entrepreneurship." Debbie Dostert, a guidance counselor from St. Stephen's School in Rome, said he agreed with Santirocco. "From my personal experience, I think Penn is one of the most international universities," she said. "There are so many possibilities to create a program which touches on many areas." Stetson said the main purpose of the Four School Program is to encourage students at the four Philadelphia area schools to study at each other's institutions. He said, though, that this is the third such joint program that brings high schools counselors to visit the University. "Many of [the counselors] are already aware of Penn, but some have had no exposure to us at all," Stetson said. "I hope they look for more students in their high schools who would be a proper match for Penn and that they encourage them to reach for us." The counselors' food, lodging and bus transportation to Pittsburgh has been paid by the four schools. Regional Director of Admissions Amy Abrams, who planned this event, said she hopes new relationships with counselors will lead to increased interest in the University. "This really allowed counselors to make the campus come alive in their minds," she said. Tony Maher, a counselor from the Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, Wash., said the presentation was very "comprehensive." "I've never been here before, but I think Penn is a great place," Maher said. "There is a huge variety of offerings and I like the richness of cross-registration possibilities [with the Four School Program]."