Decisions, Decisions...

We just sent our second round of acceptance letters out in the mail for our EAII applicants, which got me to thinking - each and every one of these accepted students (as well as the EAI applicants the Regular applicants who will receive their offers of admission in late March) has a very big decision ahead of them. They will be deciding where to spend the next four years of their life - from the ages of 18 -22!

So, here are the 5 things that I think every student making the decision about where they want to go to school should learn about each of their prospective colleges - they might not be the biggest, most common or seemingly important things, but they are definitely worth knowing.

1) Am I being accepted into a certain major or academic program?

At Saint Michael's we do not have different admission standards for different majors - in fact, most of our students are "Exploratory" majors for at least their freshman year. However, at some schools you are accepted into a certain program and might not have the same kind of flexibility with changing your major. It's better to know this going in than be surprised when you get to school!

2) What are the weekends like?

Here at St. Mike's, we are just as active on the weekends as we are during the week - maybe even more so! You should definitely ask your tour guide or admission counselor if students leave on the weekends or if they choose to stick around. SMC is the epitome of a residential campus, which was one of my favorite parts!

3) What is the process for choosing a roommate?

Living with a roommate can be one of the biggest adjustments that a student makes when transitioning to college - sharing space with someone who you've never met can be pretty anxiety provoking. However, at St. Mike's our residential life staff sends out a survey and tries to match you with someone who you have similar living habits with. However, not all roommate pairings are perfect, so changes can also be made if absolutely necessary. Learning what you are in for in this regard can help you put your mind at ease.

4) What type of person would love this school?

This is a really great question to ask anyone who you can as you make your decision on where to attend school - you can get some really great answers, plus you can see if you can see yourself meshing with the descriptions that these people give you. I think that the type of person who would love SMC is someone who is willing to new things, go out of their comfort zone, get involved with lots of activities, ask questions, be present and go through four years of life changing moments and experiences. Does that sound like you?

5) What percentage of students return after their first year?

This is a statistic called "student retention." Students leave schools for any number of different reasons - whether it's because they changed their mind on what they wanted to study, realized that they wanted to be in a different location or they realized that they couldn't make it work financially. It's an interesting statistic to learn - we have a 91% retention rate at SMC, which I think is great - it shows that our students make really well informed decisions and love it at SMC!

What things are you wondering about as you make your decision about where to attend college?

College Admissions - a PSA for parents

First, I want to start with a disclaimer that I do not have children. Nor do I plan to have children in the foreseeable future. However, I have contact with parents of prospective students/applicants on a daily basis, so this blog post is written from the perspective of a college admission professional who interacts with A LOT of parents.

So, I give you the following small piece of advice specifically for parents of prospective students and college applicants!

Let your child do the talking.

I mean this in every possible situation - on a tour, on the phone, in an interview, at a college fair, everywhere. Your child won't learn how to interact with an admission counselor, tour guide, professor, secretary or any other person if you never give them the chance to try. I feel that there are very few reasons that a parent of a student should be calling our office - it should almost always be the student! The same goes for e-mail communication - if the student has a question, wants to set up an interview or needs to check on the status of their application, they need to be the one making the call or sending the e-mail.

I've heard every excuse in the book for this one - the most common one being "my student is busy and doesn't have time to call!" Unfortunately, this excuse doesn't hold water with me - I've had students call from their school guidance office during their free period, call before practice, even e-mail me to set up a phone call in the evening after they are finished with their commitments so that they can take care of whatever they need to. I'm willing to go the extra mile for any of our applicants if they are willing to go the extra mile for me.

I imagine that it must be difficult as a parent to watch your student struggle, feel uncomfortable, be stressed, or set themselves up for what you perceive to be a bad decision. But I believe that the only way your student will learn is to do all of those things - and since most students applying to college are legally allowed to gamble, purchase cigarettes and serve our country, I think that they must take this process into their own hands. They are the ones who will be on campus for 4 years, not you. They are the ones who will have to live with the consequences of choosing a school that isn't a good fit, or will have to settle on their safety school because they didn't get their documents in on time. I believe that it is all part of the process, and maybe it's a time for everyone, parents and students, to take a step forward in letting go and growing up.

Plus, here at St. Mike's, we put every communication that we've had with a student or their parents in their file and it all gets reviewed during the admission process. So it's up to you and your student - would you rather we see a mature, conscientious applicant who serves as their own advocate or 10 e-mails from mom? I know which is more impressive to me as I evaluate students for admission to a college where they will spend the next 4 years of their life being a mature, conscientious adult who serves as their own advocate.

What's your opinion?

Farewell 2011!

2011 was a year for the record books - I finished my first year as an Admission Counselor at Saint Michael's College and was promoted to Assistant Director of Admission, took over the tour guide program at SMC, had a successful application season and welcome my first class (Class of 2015!) to SMC.

I also continued my favorite part of this job - traveling! I visited 5 new states - Maryland (twice!), Washington DC (also twice!), Virginia, Colorado and Utah, took one trip to Montreal and spent a lot of time in the familiar states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachussetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

I reunited with my former roommate Rachel in Washington DC, my friend from college Rita in Aspen, CO, camp friends Kalyn, Jamie and Lauren in Boulder, CO and my closest friend from camp, Amy, in Salt Lake City, UT. I also had to say sad goodbyes to my two wonderful friends and roommates, Mallory and Dustin, as they moved on to different jobs and homes. They still often make our futon their home away from home, so it wasn't too sad :-).

I saw my third show on Broadway (Sister Act!) and my third and fourth Broadway tours (Wizard of Oz and The Lion King) as well as live shows of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, The Avett Brothers, Sara Bareilles and Sugarland. I continued to work my second job at Jazzercise and found peace through my yoga practice. I also started practicing Bikram Yoga with some regularity and even joined a choir (which was short lived because of my crazy travel schedule - but I still love to belt out the hits!).

2011 was a wonderful year where many lessons were learned and much growing was done. However, I'm ready to see what 2012 has in store! I'll be starting off the year by taking a wheel throwing pottery class in January and am looking forward to traveling back to Colorado in June for a conference with Dustin and hopefully traveling over to Arizona to visit Amy and see the Grand Canyon! I'm looking forward to making new friends, creating new traditions and living this life - I feel so blessed!

A few last shots from 2011...



The service trip group that I led to Baltimore, MD spending the day in Washington, DC before starting our service - here we are in front of the Vermont monument in the WWII Memorial!

(back row: Melissa, Caitlin, Olivia, Kate and Brian, front row: me, Alex, Jenna and Abbey)

 Amy and I on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake in Layton, UT with buffalo over my shoulder!

My family at our close family friend Patrick's wedding over Labor Day weekend in Narragansset, RI.

My best friend from high school, Kristin, and I on the top of Mt. Philo in Charlotte, VT



My sister Emily, our cousins and I on Thanksgiving!

Best wishes to you and your family for a peaceful start to 2012.

Christmas Greetings from Saint Michael's!

Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy holiday season and a peaceful New Year. To our newly accepted students into the Class of 2016, congratulations! I hope that each and every one of you knows how lucky we would be to welcome you to our community in the fall.

Merry Christmas!

Love, SMC

Campus Visits!

Visiting our campus is one of the single greatest ways to get a feel for what life is like at Saint Michael's College. Hands down.

That being said, here are a few tips for navigating your campus visit at St. Mike's.

1) Make an appointment - sometimes people just show up because they are "passing through" and want to talk to a counselor or take a tour. This is OK, but we really encourage you to call and make an appointment to create an itinerary for your day on campus - that way you will know that the right person will be available to answer your questions, a tour guide will be on hand to show you campus and everything will fall into place for a successful visit. There is nothing more frustrating than making the journey from your home only to find out that the counselor who has the answers to your specific questions is out of the office.

2) Ask questions - I know it can be intimidating to ask a question in front of your tour group filled with strangers, but that's the only way you will get the answers to the questions that you and probably everyone else are wondering about. Also, if you are planning to do an interview while you are on campus, your interviewer will expect that you come prepared with a lot of questions. Writing them down is the best!

3) Don't stress - visiting campus shouldn't be stressful. Instead, it should be a time for you to try us on for size and see how being on campus feels - and there's no way that you will be able to get a true feeling if you are nervous. I see so many prospective students come on campus absolutely beside themselves with nerves because they are away from home, they're afraid that their parents are going to embarrass them or that they'll make a fool of themselves in from of their future classmates. It is highly unlikely that any of those things will happen, and if they do, it's certain that no one will remember them the next day. We're all nice people, so relax and take it all in.

Hopefully you are planning some college visits for this spring, and that we will see you on our campus soon!

World Traveling SMC Girl!

I've been on the road for almost 5 full weeks now, so I thought it was about time for an update!

I spent the first 3 1/2 weeks in RI and MA, which is very exciting and fun, but not nearly as incredible as my last week and a half has been...I've been trekking through Colorado and Utah recruiting students, seeing friends, seeing scenery and loving life!

At the beginning of my time in Colorado I went to a college fair in Aspen to reach out to the students on the Western Slope of the Rockies. I met a friend and fellow SMC '09 alum, Rita (who is originally from Snowmass Village, CO), at the fair and she stayed with me at the college fair helping to answer questions and reach out to prospective students from Colorado. After the fair was over she and I drove through Independence Pass and saw some beautiful scenery!

Rita and I on the top of Independence Pass (elev. ~12,000 ft) at the Continental Divide!

I spend a great week meeting students and telling them about the opportunities at Saint Michael's and also mixed in a bit of sightseeing. I saw Red Rocks Amphitheater, Boulder, Fort Collins (Where CSU is) and some elk! On Friday I met a group of friends from camp in Boulder - we had fun catching up and reminiscing while eating cupcakes and a great shop called Tee & Cakes!

(l-r) Lauren (senior line counselor at camp and current senior at CU Boulder), me, Kaelyn (fellow Management Team member and currently studying library science at Denver U), Jamie (one of my counselors, currently a senior at CU Boulder)

After a wonderful time in Colorado, I boarded a plane to head to Utah to do some more recruiting and also to see my very best friend from camp, Amy. Amy is originally from Salt Lake City, but currently lives in Arizona - but she flew in for the weekend to see me! We had a sleepover in my hotel on Saturday, saw the Mormon Tabernacle Choir live, went to the Great Salt Lake and saw lots of buffalo, had delicious homecooked meals from Amy's mom and played Clue with her siblings. It was a wonderful end to my trip, and very much needed!

Amy and I on Antelope Island...see those little black dots over my shoulder? Those are buffalo!

I'm currently waiting for my flight back east and I couldn't be more excited to get back to sea level, see what's left of the fall foliage and sleep in my own bed!!

First Day of School!

Saint Michael's is officially BACK! The first years arrived last Thursday to O-Leaders blowing whistles and cheering with excitement - who wouldn't want to be welcomed by a good looking group like this?

Six years ago, I began the very same process - and let me tell you, it was an adventure! Meeting new people, trying new things, eating new food...it's definitely an adjustment! However, from what I can tell, the Class of 2015 is settling in beautifully!

Today is the first day of classes - campus is buzzing with excitement as old friends reconnect and catch up and new students find their groove. I so clearly remember my first day of classes - Intro to Spanish (bright and early at 8:15 AM!), Introduction to Philosophical Problems, my First Year Seminar and Introduction to Literary Studies. My Monday, Wednesday Friday schedule was packed full, but I remember still finding time to have my first "real" lunch in Alliot and diligently starting my homework. Honestly, it feels like yesterday!

Welcome SMC '15, we're so happy to have you here!