'People in the know' to offer College-specific admit info sessions

Undergraduates in the College interested in recruiting prospective students can now apply to join the College Cognoscenti.

A creation of the Dean’s Advisory Board, Cognoscenti will provide prospective students with specific information about academic life in the College.

The word “cognoscenti” is an Italian word meaning “people in the know” — this represents an attitude that the group wants to portray, Dean of the College Dennis DeTurck said.

He said he came up with the name not only because its exoticness will make people curious, but because it also speaks to a globalist perspective.

“We think deeply about things and take on perspectives from around the world,” DeTurck said.

The program was created because of the lack of College-specific information panels on campus, College junior and Advisory Board Co-Chair Amelia Williams said.

Although there are tours run by Kite and Key, the idea is that there will be an information sessions after tours where two to three members of the Cognoscenti will answer parent and student questions, she explained.

Since Wharton and the School of Engineering and Applied Science already have specific information sessions, there was the general feeling that the College needed to be represented as well.

Prospective students are not only looking to choose Penn, but are also choosing between the schools within Penn, according to David Frankenfield, College junior and co-chair of the Cognoscenti committee.

The job of the Cognoscenti will be to promote the College, he added.

The Advisory Board is looking to choose people who are good at public speaking and who have or want to gain leadership experience, Frankenfield said.

“It’s a really cool way for College students to give back to their undergraduate school. The College is a general school, but it has its own special qualities,” Frankenfield added.

Undergraduates are currently applying to be part of this group for this coming fall, and a number of students have already applied. Interested students fill out an application on the Advisory Board website, according to Williams. A number of students will be interviewed, but only about 50 will be chosen, he explained.

Since all students need at least one year of commitment to the program, only freshman, sophomores and juniors can apply, Louise Wang, College junior and co-chair of the Dean’s Advisory Board said.

Cognoscenti information sessions will be held Monday through Saturday after the major tours sometime between 3:30 and 4:30 in a College Hall room or Claudia Cohen Hall room, she added.

“One of the great things about this group is that it’s so flexible,” Wang said. “It gives opportunities to those students who want to get involved in recruiting, but it’s not as big of a time commitment.”

The College Office will give an orientation for the students chosen by the Advisory Board to be part of the Cognoscenti, DeTurck said.

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