NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

5/11/2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES ­ Northwestern State University's Office of University Recruiting will hold its first RU Ready Day Friday, May 20 at 9 a.m.

The event is designed to inform high school students in NSU's service area about new admissions requirements at the university and how they can prepare for them. Participants will be sophomores in high school next year that will enter college in 2008. Forty students from area high schools have been chosen to attend by their guidance counselor or principal based on their leadership skills and learning ability.

"The purpose of the day is teach the criteria and the admission process to them in a way that is easy to take back to their school and share with their classmates to help them be better prepared for entering the college or university of their choice," said Assistant Director of Recruiting for High School Relations April Jordan.

RU Ready Day is part of a campaign initiated by the University of Louisiana System to prepare high school students for their future. Northwestern has been working to inform prospective students and their parents about admissions requirements, which take effect this fall.

Under the new standards, for full admission, first-time freshmen must have completed the Louisiana Board of Regents' high school core curriculum. They must also need no more than one developmental course. In addition, the student must also meet one of the following criteria: a cumulative high school grade point average of 2.0, or have a minimum ACT composite score of 20 or 940 on the SAT, or rank in the top 50% of their high school graduating class. To be considered a first-time freshman, a student must have no more than 12 credit hours. This criteria also applies to first-time freshmen who are between the ages of 21 and 24 and home-schooled students.

During R U Ready Day, students will also learn what NSU has to offer in academic programs, athletics, and student activities. Northwestern was the first public university in Louisiana to gain 100 percent accreditation of eligible academic programs. NSU competes on the Division I level in all sports and is on the verge of becoming the first institution in the history of the Southland Conference to win league championships in football, men's basketball and baseball in the same season. The university has more than 100 social and academically related student organizations. A $6.9 million student-funded Wellness, Recreation and Activity Center is scheduled to open this summer.

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