What are college and high school students thankful for?

Last day of classes for the Quinnipiac students before a well deserved and needed Thanksgiving break. I know both of my sons are thankful that they have made it to this point in the freshman year. It has been challenging to adapt to college life; balancing work and play. It is also a big change to share your space with three other roommates and a bathroom with many more. I am proud of their success.



For high school seniors, many are thankful that they have completed their applications and sent them out to their group of selected colleges. For those of you who haven't applied anywhere yet, it is not too late. But, you should really get going on completing the necessary applications and securing letters of recommendation.



For parents of both groups, be thankful that your children are working hard to achieve their goals. I would like to share an article that I read about overparenting. It was in the November 19th issue of Time Magazine. The title is "Can these Parents Be Saved?" It is all about the backlash against overparenting. Here is the link, http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1940395,00.html#ixzz0XL2NhmSR

Enjoy your Thanksgiving.

last open house for the season

Well, tomorrow is the last Open House for the fall season. The weather will be rainy, but as we often say, "If you love Quinnipiac in the rain, wait until the sun comes out". The beautiful location is one of the things that make our jobs easier as admissions counselors. I often thank the person who had the foresight to locate our school directly across the street from Sleeping Giant, a state park here in Connecticut.

The winter sports season has also begun. QU's hockey team plays Harvard tonight in an ECAC match up and student spirit is running high as this is a big game for us. The campus rocks once the hockey and basketball teams start their seasons up on York Hill at the beautiful TDBank arena.

Transfer admissions for the spring is already in high gear so I am busy evaluating transcripts and continue to meet prospective students. Although travel is over for a couple of months, we will still be interviewing students.

I hope that tomorrow is busy. I love Open House because it is a great opportunity for prospective students to get a lot of information on one day. So, time for umbrellas and put on our smiles- "Welcome to Quinnipiac".

Busy Busy

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it's been a while since my last post, but we are just reaching our busiest point in the admissions season. We are currently recieving the bulk of our applications and the supporting documents that come with them. We also have our last open house coming up on Satruday November 14th so we're getting revved up for that as well. While it is the busiest point of our season, it is also the most exciting. We are currently moving to a paperless system where everything is being scanned into the computer and the process has proven to be very effective. It is a huge effort that takes coordination from many different people, but we have done a great job of dealing with the change. We will soon start reading applications in about a week, so it will only get busier for the counselors, but keep those applications coming! I look forward to reading them.

Mike

the value of a college education

In tough economic times like these it is not unusual to see many people starting college or returning after a job loss. But last night I was researching my paper for one of my graduate classes when I came upon an article from the Pew Research Institute that caught my eye. According to this study, college enrollment is at an all time high for 18 to 24 year olds in the United States. Enrollment numbers have been rising steadily over time, but this spike primarily consisted of increases in the community colleges. As an admissions professional, it is hard to read why these numbers have risen at the community colleges. I am certain that the cost of a college education have lead to some of these increases. However, more importantly I think that the message is getting through to high school students. In order to obtain a job in this competitive environment getting a degree is more important than ever. Whether you start your college experience at Quinnipiac, or are considering starting at a community college the most important thing is that you do start.. and finish your degree. Here is the link http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1391/college-enrollment-all-time-high-community-college-surge. It really makes for some interesting reading.

Thanks Dad...again

Everyone pictures those stereotypical father-son moments; "gee son, I should teach you how to change a tire, in case you need to do it on your own one day." This would of course be said with that stern, slightly ominous tone.

So there I was, in beautiful Londonderry, NH (it really is nice), looking at my tire on my rental car and the large gash running through one side. How it was still inflated was beyond me. Nevertheless, one hour before my next high school visit, I had a problem. I had to be back in Connecticut in the afternoon and didn't have time to wait for AAA or someone to come along and do this.

So having done this before with dad, it was my time to shine...except this time I was dressed up in a suit. A few minutes later a nice new tire was hitting the road.

What's the point of this story? Of course I could say, listen to dad, but more importantly come see us at high school visits! I love talking to students at high schools, and we are taking our time to see you and to come to you, so take advantage of it! I am a huge fan of talking to students on a 1 on 1 basis, unfortunately most of the students I see are at college fairs where I do not get much of a chance to do that.

So come visit us, when we are visiting you! And learn how to change a tire, you probably will have to one day.