BOCA RATON, Fla. — The Florida Atlantic University Owls are riding high, getting ready for their first-ever Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA tournament.
The campus is exploding with school pride, and it comes as high school seniors are making their final decisions on where to go to college next year.
Friday marked one of the university's "Choose FAU" days. It's a time when hundreds of prospective students who have been accepted to the university are welcomed to campus to take tours, learn more about the school and ultimately make their final decisions on where to go to college.
The timing couldn't be better, as the Choose FAU day came on the day after the school won its historic Sweet 16 game against the University of Tennessee.
The bookstore on campus has remained busy and the spirit was overflowing Friday.
FAU leaders said the experience right now could help tip the scales for students who don't think of FAU as an athletic school.
"FAU has long been considered one of the best-kept secrets," Larry Faerman, vice president of student affairs at FAU said. "I think certainly being able to be on a national stage for an athletic opportunity brings attention to the other wonderful things we're doing relative to teaching and learning and the student experience."
Faerman said Thursday night's win has brought a burst of energy to campus.
"Seeing that win, on that stage at Madison Square Garden, has really electrified our staff and faculty and students," Faerman said. "Certainly it's the loudest thing and certainly one of the most exciting that we felt here for a while."
Mia Scali, a future FAU Owl from New York, said the school checks all the boxes for where she wants to go to college, including a school with a strong athletic department.
"Everything that happened here with my timing was perfect and now it's gone from my top three [schools] to like I'm 99.9% sure I'm gonna go here," Scali said.
She said she applied but was not accepted to the University of Tennessee, the school that lost to FAU Thursday night, so she said it was a "sign" that she was making the right decision.
FAU leaders said they are seeing more interest in the university with the team's historic run in March Madness. The school averaged about a maximum of 10,000 unique page views to their website last March. The numbers are now hitting near 30,000.
The basketball team has also had 11,700 media mentions over the last seven days, compared to 1,000 to 2,000 a month usually this time of year.
Admissions officers said they won't know the true impact of March Madness on college applications and admissions until a little later. They also noted the current application deadline is April 1, only about a week away.
However, applications for 2023 have been ahead of last year by about 10-15% before the start of March Madness.
