Check out the UCSB Visitor Center . . . and think about volunteering as a Gaucho tour guide!

by Anil Gnanamuthu

The UCSB Visitor Center, a part of the Office of Admissions, hosts over 40,000 annual visitors to the UCSB campus. Prospective students come from all over California, the US, and even other countries to check out UCSB.

The mission of the UCSB Visitor Center is to support campus admission and enrollment goals, the foremost of which is to increase the academic quality and overall diversity of future students through the promotion of UCSB's scholastic opportunities.

Four admission counselors, five student interns, and approximately forty UCSB Gaucho tour guides work for the Visitor Center. Admission counselors give Freshman Applicant Information Sessions each day at 11:00 a.m., and student ambassadors lead campus tours at 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. each day. Approximately 20,000 visitors took guided tours of the campus last year.

The Visitor Center also hosts visiting school groups from all over California, from elementary school through community-college level. School groups can sign up for an information session, led by an admission counselor, followed by a tour of the campus with a volunteer Gaucho guide or paid junior ambassador. Approximately 10,000 students visited with their schools last year.

In addition to being an important first point of contact for visitors, the Visitor Center also hosts three to five Chancellor's Receptions throughout California for high-achieving students, and an annual open house event called Spring Insight. The purpose of these events is to showcase UCSB - the chancellor and top administrators are all present at these events.

Leading tours for UCSB is a great opportunity to represent your school, develop your public speaking skills, and meet tons of people. Gaucho tour guides start as volunteers and after 30 tours are eligible for a paid junior ambassador or ambassador position. If you are interested, please come by and pick up an application! The Visitor Center is located in the Student Affairs and Administrative Services (SAASB) Building.

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