David Betts is not your typical soccer hooligan. “I’m a fan of the Arsenal Football Club,” he says. “A college friend got me into the World Cup. I watched them on ESPN, but have never gone to see them play.”
The Ypsilanti native even tried his hand at playing soccer in the Ann Arbor Recreational League. However, Betts says, “I don’t really have time for (playing soccer) anymore. Maybe I’ll get back out there one of these days.”
Photo by Austin Thomason, U-M Photo Services.
After graduating with an English degree in 2006, Betts liked the collegiate atmosphere so much that he decided to stick around. Now, as college visit coordinator for the College of Engineering (CoE), Betts spends his time preparing prospective and incoming students for college life.
“I do the information sessions before the (student-led) tours start,” he says. The sessions educate students about the college’s curriculum, program options and student support services. The busiest time of year is during the summer, but giving daily speeches doesn’t bother Betts. “I like running my mouth, so the information sessions give me the opportunity to talk.”
His job has given him new insight into the admissions process. “Students are looking for all types of crazy stuff,” he says. Betts and the CoE’s Office for Recruitment and Admissions staff do their best to appeal to all types of students. “We try to make sure there is a human face to the school.”
“Kids are always looking for that ambiguous, hard-to-describe ‘fit,’” Betts says of the recruitment and admissions process. “They want resources. They want to design their own majors. We do our best to show them what we’ve got.”
As a U-M alumnus, Betts is able to give visiting students an honest insight into the college experience. However, recruiting students also can be challenging at times. “I try to apologize to them — I am an English major trying to sell engineering. I even make a lot of jokes that don’t always come off as funny.”
His interest in helping to guide students through college has recently taken another form — through writing. As an undergraduate, he took two English courses that inspired his passion for creative nonfiction writing. “It was always a behind-the-scenes thing that I did,” he says.
By combining his written talent and his college admissions know-how, Betts is developing a college guidebook. “Everyone is told what to do,” he says. “I want to include what not to do, but make is funny instead of depressing. I want it to be a ‘how-to,’ but livelier.”
Although still in the beginning stages, Betts hopes to include personal stories about his experience as an undergraduate student and his perils from not knowing the tricks-of-the-trade of college life. But don’t expect the book to hit shelves for a while. “It’s in first-draft mode,” Betts says. “Who knows when it will be done? It depends on how life goes.”
Whether Betts is conducting an information session or writing a guidebook, his ultimate goal is to make the college admissions process accessible. “I want to let students know that we — staff, faculty and college administrators — are real people,” he says. “So talk to us.”
The weekly Spotlight features staff members at the university. To nominate a candidate, please contact the Record staff at [email protected].
