There’s a message prospective Middle Tennessee State University students and their parents will be hearing during upcoming preview days, the nine-city True Blue Tour and other recruiting-related activities.

MTSU admissions and academic staff will be informing them that scholarships are guaranteed for freshmen who meet all requirements and apply by the Dec. 1 deadline.

Prospective MTSU students take information from the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership table in the Student Union in a 2014 file photo. The first of two Fall Preview Days will be held Saturday, Sept. 26, starting in the Student Union. (MTSU file photo by Andy Heidt)

For prospective students with minimum ACT scores and a 3.5 or greater high school GPA,  the Chancellor, Presidential, True Blue, Provost, National Merit and Achievement and National Hispanic Recognition Program Semifinalist scholarships at MTSU are guaranteed.

The Buchanan Fellowship, MTSU Foundation, DREAM — Diverse Representation and Educational Access at MTSU — and departmental scholarships are competitive awards. To learn more about the guaranteed and competitive scholarships, visit www.mtsu.edu/financial-aid/scholarships.

Hundreds of prospective students and their families will be visiting campus starting at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, in the Student Union for the first of two Fall Preview Days and major recruiting events scheduled well into 2016.

To find parking and building locations, a printable campus map is available at http://www.mtsu.edu/parking/2015%2016%20Parking%20UPDATEDJuly2015.pdf.

Students and their families can register for either the Sept. 26, Nov. 7 or March 19, 2016, preview days by visiting www.mtsu.edu/rsvp.

“The fall is a fantastic time to visit the MTSU campus,” said Wendi Pelfrey, interim director of undergraduate recruitment.

“Not only is it a lively campus environment with our new and returning students, but it also gives prospective students plenty of time to research the institution and learn about deadlines such as Dec. 1.”

Winfrey added that fall preview days “give students plenty of time to get to know the MTSU campus and plan for the financial cost of college.”

The Department of Admissions website includes options for the annual True Blue Tour recruiting caravan, which will be visiting six Tennessee and three out of state cities between Sept. 29 and Nov. 11.

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee, college deans, counselors, advisers and personnel from virtually every campus department will visit in:

• Chattanooga on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
• Atlanta and north Georgia on Wednesday, Sept. 30.
• Johnson City, the Tri-Cities and Knoxville Oct. 19-20.
• Nashville on Thursday, Oct. 22.
• Huntsville and north Alabama on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
• Memphis on Monday, Nov. 9.
• Jackson, Tennessee, on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
• Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Thursday, Nov. 11.

The agenda for preview day has been updated this year “to provide a more in-depth experience within each academic college within the university,” Pelfrey said.

Prospective students will have the opportunity to visit campus facilities, tour labs and classroom spaces, take a campus tour and check out simulators, including those in aerospace and the Jennings A. Jones College of Business Trading Room.

Special Saturday campus tours are available Nov. 21, Feb. 27 and April 16, 2016.

Daily campus tours also are available. Visit www.mtsu.edu/rsvp to find available dates and to register or call 615-898-5670 for more information.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)