Fall Open House

We do our best to provide reasonably accessible accommodations for our students and guests during UNH Admissions-related events. Should you require accessibility accommodations, please contact our office at least two weeks before the event. Learn more here. A limited quantity of wheelchairs are available for guests to borrow until 4 p.m. on the day of the program. Please speak to an admissions staff member for more information. 

An access van providing on-campus transportation is available for those with temporary or permanent mobility impairments by calling (603) 862-2328, choose option 2, between 8am-4pm.

Download the UNH Mobile App from the Apple App Store or Google Play to access all the session details and information for the day. Can’t download the app? Speak to a staff member who can share the session locations with you.

 When you registered for Open House, you chose either a guided campus tour or to opt out. Your choice determines what follows after the academic sessions resulting in a tailored agenda to make the most use of your time. Refer to your printed overall schedule or the final open house confirmation email received the week of the open house for your overall schedule. 

All details about academic sessions including times, locations and sessions are available only in the Mobile App. More information about the Mobile App is available at the top section of this page and will be updated closer to the event date. 

It will be a busy day on campus, so we recommend building an additional 20 minutes into your estimated GPS travel time to allow for navigating campus and parking once you arrive at UNH. Arriving 30 minutes prior to the start time will give you plenty of time to make your way across campus, pick up materials and plan your day.

Since each session is scheduled for a specific time, we recommend previewing the agenda and planning your day, so you don’t miss out on what you most want to see. Visitors arriving to campus after 10:45am should check-in with an admissions staff member at one of the information tables, either outside Smith Hall or the Memorial Union Building. 

The Open House program will take place at a variety of locations across campus as we share the best of UNH with you. The location of each session is listed in the Mobile App. The day will involve moving around various parts of campus, so we recommend wearing comfortable shoes or using any mobility supports you need. Please check the weather and dress appropriately.  

We recommend bringing a water bottle to use at any of our hydration stations across campus and your favorite note-taking materials. There will be a lot of great photo opportunities throughout your day at UNH, so you might also want to bring your smart phone or camera to document every memorable moment.

We suggest planning your day around your priority academic sessions. Open House is the only event in the fall that gives you access to representatives from all undergraduate majors. Interested in more than one academic program? This is your Open House, so feel free to attend as many academic sessions as you can fit into your schedule.

Do not worry about arriving late for a session or leaving early. Our faculty, staff, and students understand you are trying to make the most of the day. We recommend maximizing your day by having your guests attend a session on your behalf to allow you to attend any other sessions that may be offered at the same time.

To learn more about student life, we recommend attending the welcome panel, registering for a general guided campus tour, or asking questions at the resource fair. You may not have time to do everything, so choose what is most important to you. We are happy to welcome you back to UNH for a campus tour or admissions information session, which are offered throughout the year.

Within each Open House Start Time (8:15 A.M. or 10 A.M. ) we anticipate approximately 1200 people attending, meaning roughly 2400 visitors by mid-morning. To reduce crowd density throughout campus, we encourage visitors to follow the timing of the sessions offered for their cohort. After the “University Welcome Panel” kick-off, the flexibility of this year’s Open House means there will be a variety of small-group (20 attendees or less) and large-group (60 attendees or more) sessions around specific academic and student life interests. Some of our Open House events, like the Resource Fair and Residence Hall Open Doors, are designed so that you can stop by as fits your schedule. 

Open house is a great opportunity to learn about our 100+ academic programs, since it’s the only fall event where there are representatives for every undergraduate major. In the mobile app, read the description of the academic session(s) of interest to see if it is drop-in (come and go as you please) or if it is more structured (includes an information session and/or facility tour). There are sessions that are more formatted but please feel comfortable to go to a session even if it has already started. Multiple sessions you want to attend occurring at the same time? We recommend having your guest(s) attend a session for you and take notes while you attend a different one. Prioritize attending the session(s) that are most important to you.  

A residence hall room will be shown as part of the General Guided Campus Tour. In addition, there will be a sample of residence halls open as part of the overall open house agenda. The halls available as part of the “open residence hall” section of the day will be a different hall than what is shown as part of the General Guided Campus Tour. The open residence halls are examples of a small and large hall. 

Residential Life and Housing staff will be available at the resource fair as well as in the Residence Halls open as part of Open House. Learn more about residence halls here.

Lunch in the dining hall is available at no cost for registered students and their guests. Lunch tickets will be distributed during check-in at the Hamel Recreation Center from 7:45-10:45am. Students arriving after 10:45am can check in with an admissions staff member at the information table outside of Smith Hall or Memorial Union Building.

There are additional fast casual dining options across campus and numerous restaurants and coffee shops in downtown Durham, just a five-minute walk from campus.

We encourage you to walk through the resource fair to meet with representatives from some of our student organizations. Since we have more than 200 clubs at UNH, not all of them will be able to attend Open House. Interested in a student organization that’s not at Open House? Be sure to stop by the resource fair table for the Memorial Union Building – UNH’s student union, also called the ‘MUB’ – where student life representatives will be able to answer any questions you may have about getting involved. Athletic coaches will not be at Open House, but we invite you to learn more about UNH’s D1 athletic teams and proud Wildcat traditions on our website.

UNH staff will be wearing orange lanyards at Open House so they’re easy to spot. They are here for you, so please do not hesitate to ask any questions you have throughout the event. You will also see blue information tents across campus, where you can find UNH admissions counselors and event resources.​​​​​​ The Smith Hall and Memorial Union Building tents will be open 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. The other information tent in the academic core area will be open from 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Please go to the Smith Hall information tent to claim any lost items. Smith Hall is located at the corner of Main Street and Garrison Avenue.