Newly Admitted Students Explore CSUN

  • Expo at Explore CSUN.

    The CSUN community welcomes newly admitted students and their families to Explore CSUN by offering workshops, tours and networking opportunities with the different on-campus organizations. Photo by David J. Hawkins.

  • Students at a financial-aid workshop.

    Newly admitted students attend one of many financial-aid workshops at this year's Explore CSUN. Photo by David J. Hawkins.

  • Students get a tour of CSUN.

    Newly admitted students and their families receive a tour of the CSUN campus. Photo by David J. Hawkins.

  • Matty the Matador at Explore CSUN.

    Matty the Matador welcomes newly admitted students and their families to this year's Explore CSUN. Photo by David J. Hawkins.

California State University, Northridge welcomed more than 8,300 newly admitted students and their families to campus on April 8 to show them what it’s like to be a Matador.

The annual event, Explore CSUN, was put together by the Division of Student Affairs and Student Outreach and Recruitment. It gave attendees the opportunity to tour the campus, talk with current students and get information about campus resources.

Teodora Reyes, a senior at Discovery Preparatory Charter School in Sylmar, said that Explore CSUN opened her eyes to the university’s commitment to sustainability.

“What I like about CSUN is that they’re all about environmental justice,” Reyes said. “That’s really important to me. Everywhere you look, you see that they care about the environment.”

This year’s event was the first year that featured financial-aid workshops in Spanish. Mirna Elvin, a parent of a newly admitted student, attended one of the Spanish-language workshops and said she received a lot of specific information.

“This is an excellent workshop,” Elvin said in Spanish. “The information was detailed and complete. They gave all of the necessary resources for parents and their children to look for financial aid.”

In keeping with Explore CSUN tradition, this year’s event offered “I’ve Been Admitted — What’s Next?” workshops for newly admitted freshmen, as well as one for transfer students.

Julio Cardona, a transfer student starting at CSUN in the fall, said she found the workshop very helpful.

“One key thing I learned was that they don’t have a general [academic] counseling office here,” Cardona said. “At my community college, there was only one office for counseling, but here it’s specific to your college and to your major. That really stood out to me.”

High school seniors Ernesto Alcaraz and Alexander Barrientos noted the sense of pride and community at CSUN.

“Everyone is so spirited, and they all say CSUN is a really good school,” Alcaraz said. “They’re all really excited, and that makes me excited.”

Barrientos added: “Everyone is so nice and so welcoming. CSUN [already] feels like home.”

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