Retention and graduation rates as well as surveys by publications like The Princeton Review and U.S. News continually prove that Amherst students, by and large, are a happy bunch. Why, then, does the Office of Admission have to search high and low every semester for students willing to play host to the scores of high school juniors and seniors who just want to be where we are now? True, everyone hears the occasional pre-frosh horror story, but the average pre-frosh is a pretty nice person who is truly interested in coming here-the kind of person you might even want to become friends with (on thefacebook, at the very least). With this idea in mind, we urge students, and especially upperclassmen, to volunteer to host pre-frosh all year long and most importantly during Admitted Students and similar weekends.

Hosting pre-frosh is a way to show pride in Amherst and to ensure that the College continues to be the kind of place in which we take so much pride. While first-years who are not far-removed from the admissions experience themselves are often eager to host prospective students, upperclassmen grow blase about hosting and often choose not to complete the necessary forms.

This carelessness or apathy is a mistake. Upperclassmen have more perspective than first-years (sorry '08s!); they know more about the good and the bad that comprise an Amherst education. Upperclassmen have not transferred from the College; they've taken more classes; they've chosen majors; they have experience with housing beyond the Freshman Quad and with the social scene beyond sweat-soaked keg parties in the social dorms and the Triangle.

Showing off Amherst honestly to someone eager to learn about the College truly is not a difficult task (barring a paper or exam the next day). If prospective students are matched with current students who share not only common interests but a common lifestyle, hosting a pre-frosh should be even easier than having a friend come to visit.

We encourage the Office of Admission to pair pre-frosh with students in much the same way they pair roommates. A pre-frosh interested in substance-free living should be paired with a person who either chose to live in a sub-free dorm or simply chooses that lifestyle. Similarly, a pre-frosh with an interest in a particular extracurricular activity should be paired with a student with like interests.

A good host is an honest one who takes an interest in his or her pre-frosh. Introducing the prospective student to a wide range of people, asking him or her questions beyond, "Where else are you applying?" and being relatively accommodating are all that we're asking-and we think that most of the student body is up to the task.