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Scott Seseske, Assistant Dean of Admission
Hometown: Pittsfield, MA
Education: B.A. in English from Providence College (Class of 2004), Member of Liberal Arts Honors Program
Geographic Responsibilities (travel territories): MA (Berkshire and Franklin counties; Lowell, Concord, and
Wellesley areas), AZ, CA, HI, NM
Office Responsibilities: Admission Ambassador Coordinator, Athletic Department Liaison (Lacrosse), Recruitment
Publications Task Force (Electronic Communication & Blog Coordinator), School/College Relations Committee
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To our high school seniors:
Beginning July 13, the Providence College Office of Admission will be offering personal interviews to high school seniors who are interested in applying for the Class of 2014. We recently surveyed high school juniors and seniors about meaningful campus visit experiences and found a strong interest in participating in an interview. With this in mind, Providence College has decided to offer non-evaluative, informational interviews which will give students and families an opportunity to meet one-on-one with a member of the admission staff. Interviews offer students the opportunity to ask questions about all aspects of the Providence College experience and learn details about the review for admission.
Personal Interviews will begin on July 13 and will be offered through November 13. Appointments will only be taken over the phone and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Please call the Office of Admission at (401) 865-2535 or (800) 721-6444 to schedule an interview.
Currently, interviews will only be scheduled through September 1. Interview appointments beginning September 14 will be available and can be scheduled in late August as soon as staff travel is finalized. Personal interviews are not required and students will not be at a disadvantage if they do not interview.
Rising seniors, as you really begin to focus your college search this summer, we hope you'll take the opportunity to personally connect with current PC students and admission staff members. How can you do it...?
Visit campus: Always the best way, because in addition to having the opportunity to meet current students and an admission counselor, you can also spend as much time as you'd like on campus. We hope you'll take advantage of the formal visit opportunities offered, including tours and information sessions, but it's equally important to wander around on your own. You can only see so much on a one-hour tour. When the official tour is over, create your own: take a walk through the quad; explore the library; or have lunch in our dining hall and try the food! And talk to students - not just your tour guides, but any other students you encounter on your visit. Current students are the real experts on any college campus you visit!
Instant Messenger: Have a couple of quick questions for an admission counselor? Add LauraAtPC to your AIM Buddy List and IM admission counselor Laura Dodd anytime!
Facebook: Very easy to stay up-to-date on deadlines, visit opportunities, and campus news on the Office of Admission Facebook page (you spend a lot of time on Facebook anyway, right?). Question for an admission counselor? Feel free to post it on our page!
PC Social Network: Coming soon- the Providence College social network for prospective students... Giving you the opportunity to connect with current students and other prospective students. More details July 1!
Contact your admission counselor: Find which counselor will work directly with your application- click onto the Contact Our Office page to see who works with your area, and feel free to drop us an e-mail and introduce yourself!
PC blogs! New student blogs coming late this summer and, of course, always feel free to join the discussion by posting a comment here!
As you continue to prepare for the transition from high school to PC, we invite you to join us this summer at a Welcome Reception in your area! These Welcome Receptions will give you the opportunity to connect with other incoming students and meet current students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni as the PC community welcomes you to the Class of 2013. Here's the reception schedule:
June 16th - Wethersfield, CT
June 23rd - Malvern, PA
June 24th - Washington, DC
June 30th - Dedham, MA
July 7th - Syracuse, NY
July 8th - Ramsey, NJ
July 9th - White Plains, NY
July 14th - Providence, RI
July 16th - Mystic, CT
July 23rd - Danvers, MA
July 28th - Chicago, IL
August 1st - Chatham, MA
August 4th - Garden City, NY
August 6th - New Haven, CT
August 11th - North Dartmouth, MA
August 13th - Newport, RI
Register here for a reception in your area, and we look forward to seeing you this summer!
Enrolled students: we have a variety of updates to share with you as you prepare to make the transition from high school to Providence College. First of all, please make sure to fully read the Orientation packets that were mailed to you two weeks ago. There is a great deal of important information in those packets regarding class registration, placement tests, special programs, and of course, orientation itself. Please also make sure you have reviewed the information on the New Student Orientation pages of the website.
Some important dates to keep in mind:
June 8: The deadline for completing Placement Exams and course selection survey online using ANGEL. (Your ANGEL access information was included in the orientation packet).
July 17: The registration form for the Building Bridges program needs to be returned to the S.A.I.L. Office by this date. July 17 is also the application deadline for the Urban Action Program.
August 30: Urban Action Program begins!
September 2: First-year students move-in to their residence halls and orientation begins!
September 8: Undergraduate classes begin for the 2009 fall semester
You will receive additional information via mail and e-mail throughout the summer. Updates will also be posted on the Providence College Class of 2013 Official Network (if you haven't joined the network, please e-mail your full name, hometown, and high school to admission@providence.edu for your login information). Housing assignments will be mailed from the Office of Residence Life in August.
Should you have any questions as you make the transition to PC, please don't hesitate to call the Office of Admission at (401) 865-2535. For questions specific to orientation, please call the S.A.I.L. Office at (401) 865-2211.
Congratulations on completing your high school careers!
Juniors, as you finish up your third year of high school, it's time to turn your attention to your senior year - specifically, the classes you will take during your senior year of high school. As you make your course selections for next year, here are some things to keep in mind that will better prepare you for the college application process; and your college academic experience beginning the following fall.
First of all, we need to dispel the myth that junior year is the most important year in high school and you can just kick back and relax as a senior. Yes, junior year is important, and all admission counselors at all of the schools you'll be applying to will want to see you do well junior year. However, having a strong junior year and then kicking back and "taking senior year off" is not a good decision, as many students' admission decisions are made or broken based on their senior year schedule and performance. Each year, we come across applicants to PC who have had strong junior year but haven't continued with academic challenge senior year, and it is quite difficult to recommend this type student for an acceptance. We consider each applicant in the context of our applicant pool, and in that pool the competitive candidates for admission have continued to take on strong academic challenge senior year.
What do we mean by academic challenge? First of all, we are talking about continuing with a fourth year of all five core subject areas during the senior year. Ideally, this means that students will complete a fourth year of English, Math, Science, History/Social Science, and Foreign Language during their senior year. Academic challenge also means that students are taking advantage of advanced-level (Honors, AP, etc.) courses that are available to them at their high school. Does this mean taking five AP courses senior year? No, it doesn't (although we've seen students do it!). It means taking on an appropriate level of Honors/AP work, and challenging yourself in areas you will do well in. For example, if you are not a strong math student, it's okay not to have AP Calculus as part of your senior schedule. On the other hand, if you want to be a Biology major, we definitely want to see that top level of challenge in your senior math and science classes (hopefully Calc for math and the completion of the Biology/Chemistry/Physics sequence at an advanced level... and if AP Biology or AP Chemistry is an option at your high school, that's a great choice for a Bio major!).
One question that will come up often about the senior schedule goes something like this: "I really don't like Science... I am not going to be a science major in college, so is it okay if I don't take a science class my senior year?" The short answer: maybe. It's not the easiest question to answer generally without seeing the rest of the student's senior year and previous course schedules. Things to keep in mind if you are considering dropping science (or any other subject senior year): What are your previous science classes? Have you completed the sequence of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics? ... What are you taking in place of the science class senior year? Is it a legitimate academic course, a true "double-up" in another subject area, such as completing two history courses or taking Spanish 4 and Latin 4 instead of the science course? ... What does your overall senior schedule look like? Are there "holes" in multiple core academic subject areas (i.e. Are you not completing a fourth year of foreign language in addition to not having a senior science? That is not a good decision!) ... Generally speaking, the most competitive candidates for admission have completed four years of the five core subject areas.
More to come on senior curriculum, but should you have any questions as you select your courses next year, please don't hesitate to call our office and speak with an admission counselor: (401) 865-2535. Good luck with your scheduling!
Construction work continues on the Slavin Center Expansion project, scheduled to be completed by the start of classes in September. Here are some photos of the progress as of this week:
 
Best wishes to all of this year's graduating class, especially our Admission Ambassadors and members of the Friars Club!
Find out more about the Ninety-First Commencement Exercises and read the Commencement Address given by award-winning filmmaker Martin J. Doblmeier, Providence College Class of 1973.
...Time flies when you're having fun (or when you're an admission counselor in the spring!). First of all, congratulations to all of the seniors who have selected PC as the college they will be attending this fall. Doesn't it feel great to have made that decision?? We look forward to welcoming you to campus for orientation in September! If you haven't joined the Providence College Class of 2013 Official Network yet, please e-mail me at admission@providence.edu and I will give you the login information (please include your full name, hometown, and high school attended).
For students who remain active on the waiting list... we have made some offers of admission from the waiting list already and will be inviting another group of students later this week. All students will receive information about their waiting list status within the next week.
Switching gears... it is Commencement Week on campus, and our seniors will be graduating on Sunday. On behalf of the entire Admission staff, I want to extend a huge thank you to all of our Admission Ambassadors, Friars Club members, and Office of Admission student workers, who have given so much time and energy to our office and the College over the past four years. We are truly appreciative for all your hard work, and will miss you all next year! Finally, I want to say an extra special thanks to our four senior members of the Ambassador Executive Board: Shannon, Brynn, Catherine, and CJ. The four of you were outstanding leaders this year, and we wish you the best with your post-PC plans!
And finally, in the annual Admission Staff vs. Admission Ambassador softball game...
Final score: Staff 8 - Ambassadors 6 (and the winning streak continues!)
The Providence College Enrollment deadline is tomorrow, May 1, 2009 (postmarked). If you have decided to attend PC, please make sure that you indicate your intention to enroll on the Enrollment Reservation Form, sign the form, enclose the Enrollment Deposit of $700, and mail it to:
Providence College
Office of Admission
Harkins Hall 222
1 Cunningham Square
Providence, RI 02918
To those of you who have decided on PC, congratulations and welcome to the Class of 2013! We look forward to welcoming you to campus this fall!
Currently, 750 students have indicated that they would like to receive further consideration should there be spaces available in the Class of 2013.
Through April 24, Providence College has received fewer deposits than a year ago, with a class goal that is 65 students higher than last year’s enrollment goal. However, it is important to note that this year, more than in previous years, students are waiting until the last minute to make their choices. So we must wait until closer to May 1 to know for certain whether or not we will be using the waiting list. It is also too early to determine whether need-based financial assistance will be available.
As indicated in our first update, each year is different, so it is difficult to predict how the deposit figures will change between now and the May 1 postmark deadline. The Committee on Admission has begun the preliminary evaluation of the candidates who have requested further consideration; but no final decisions have been made and candidates have not been placed in a specific rank order.
If we are convinced that we will have space available, we would begin notifying students as early as Tuesday, April 28. Any waiting list notifications will take place by telephone, with an official letter following in the mail. Offers of admission will include information on the availability of financial assistance – students will not be required to submit a deposit without knowing their bottom line cost of attendance.
We will keep the waiting list open at least through the end of May. At the point when we determine that no additional spaces are available, all remaining candidates will be notified in writing. Unless you hear from Providence College directly, the waiting list remains active.
We continue to encourage you to submit a deposit to your next choice by the May 1 deadline to assure that you have a place reserved for next September. Remember that if you are invited and choose to enroll at Providence College, a deposit sent to another institution may not be refundable. If you have any additional questions, please call the Office of Admission at 401-865-2535 or 800-721-6444.
Note: If you have decided not to remain on the Providence College waiting list, please respond to pcadmiss@providence.edu so that we can remove your application from further consideration.
For all of the students who have chosen to remain on our waiting list, we sent out the first e-mail update over the weekend to let you know where we are in the process. In case you haven't been checking your e-mail, the information is reproduced below:
This year, Providence College offered 2,166 students a place on our waiting list. Through April 18, 756 students have indicated that they would like to receive further consideration. The students who have chosen to remain on our waiting list will have their applications re-evaluated once we determine how many class and residence hall spaces may be available.
Each year is different, so it is difficult to predict how this year will unfold. The number of class spaces available to students on the waiting list varies from year to year. In the past six years we have enrolled as many as 125 and as few as 13, so it is very difficult to predict each year in advance. As an added reminder, the availability of financial aid is another variable that we will be monitoring. There have been recent years where some institutional financial aid was available and other years when there was no aid available. At the time of an offer of admission, you will be notified if any institutional funds are available.
So far, deposits for the Class of 2013 are running behind last year’s pace. However, in speaking with our colleagues at other institutions, this is a common theme. The general sense is that many students are going to wait until just before the May 1 deadline to make their decision.
For this reason, it is unlikely that we would be able offer you a decision regarding the waiting list before May 1. However, if we have any definitive sense that class space will be available, we will begin a notification process during the last two or three days of April. The Committee on Admission will begin the next round of evaluations later this week. The initial review that we undertake will not create a definitive rank order because residence hall availability and space in selected majors may dictate what types of students we may be able to accommodate.
We encourage you to submit a deposit by the May 1 postmark deadline to your next choice of college to assure that you have a place reserved for next September. Remember that if you are invited and choose to enroll at Providence College, a deposit sent to another institution may not be refundable. If you have any additional questions, please call the Office of Admission at 401-865-2535 or 800-721-6444. Another update will be provided next week.
Note: If you have decided not to remain on the Providence College waiting list, please send an e-mail to pcadmiss@providence.edu so that we can remove your application from further consideration.
Hello from Southern California... spring travel is upon us in the admission world!
*Southern California juniors, I hope to see you at the NACAC National College Fairs I will be attending...
-Thursday, April 16 - NACAC Inland Empire National College Fair
(Ontario Convention Center, Ontario, CA)
-Sunday, April 19 - NACAC Orange County National College Fair
(Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA)
-Monday, April 20 & Tuesday April 21 - NACAC Greater L.A. National College Fair
(Pasadena Conference Center, Pasadena, CA)
*Invited students... Family Day is this weekend! Please call our office to register if you haven't done so already. We hope to see you this Saturday (and by "we," I mean the rest of the PC community since I'll still be in California!).
*Students on the waiting list... We will be sending an update in the coming week to the e-mail account you have provided us to keep you informed about the waiting list process. Should you have questions, please feel free to call our office at any time to speak with an admission counselor.
*High School Counselors... Do you have students who are on the waiting list? We will be providing waiting list updates throughout the process on the "For School Counselors - Class of 2013 Updates" page.
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Also, I have received a few e-mails from invited seniors who lost their login information for the Class of 2013 Official Network. If you've been invited and have not yet joined the network, please do so with the login information that was e-mailed to you. If you need your login information again, please e-mail me at admission@providence.edu with your name, hometown, and the high school you attend.
...you'll love it when the sun is shining."
I heard that when I visited Providence College for the first time as a high school junior. It was absolutely pouring outside, but my tour guide was still in incredibly high spirits. And even though it rained the next two times I visited PC, I already loved it- I didn't even need the sun! That was nearly 10 years ago, and now here I am working for the Office of Admission at Providence College...
I spoke those words today to about 50 high school juniors and parents at a Group Information Session on campus; many of these students were visiting campus for the first time, and I hope that they enjoyed their experience, despite the raindrops they had to dodge during their campus tour. Hopefully, they were able to look beyond the weather and see all of the great opportunities offered here at PC.
But these words also have meaning for our invited students, seniors who have visited campus multiple times (in many different types of weather!). If you are an invited student, you are coming to the point where you will make your college decision. You have likely received acceptance letters from a number of different colleges and universities, and are considering the different aspects of each school as you go about making your decision. And now the question many students have is, "How do I decide?"
Well, there are certainly a number of factors you and your family need to consider: academic programs, availability of majors, campus environment, student activities, location, size, financial aid/scholarship information, athletics, grad school/career preparation services, internship and study abroad opportunities and I'm sure many other factors that will vary by individual student.
But it is also important to find the environment you feel most comfortable in... Whether it's a small school or a large school, a rural or urban environment, you want to select the school where you can most see yourself living for the next four years. That's why visiting campus and meeting current students and staff members are so important when making your decision... that "feeling" you'll get on one campus that you won't get on others might not be explainable, but it can help you decide which school is truly the right fit for you.
So, visit us at PC and visit your other choices again, if you can. Take another campus tour. Shadow a current student and sit in on class through the Day Visit program. Join your potential future classmates at Family Day. Or just come to campus and walk around on your own. How do you feel on each campus that you visit? Can you see yourself there? Talk to current students... can you see yourself as one of them?
It's a tough decision to make for many students, I know... and no college or university is perfect. But, if you can find the place that you feel the most comfortable, the place that shines the brightest of all the schools you visited even when it's raining outside, you'll have found the place that will become your "home" for the next four years.
I wish all of you the best of luck in making your decision over the next several weeks... Obviously, I hope you decide that Providence College is the place for you but if not, I certainly wish you the best at whatever college or university you decide to attend. If we can answer any final questions as you narrow down your choices, please don't hesitate to be in touch with our office. And again, take the time to come visit again... even if it's raining. And if you like it in the rain, I'm pretty sure you'll really love it when the sun is shining.
Best wishes and good luck,
Scott
Hannah's blog actually has some better pics of the Relay for Life that took place on campus this past weekend, but here are a couple more:
 
900 PC students spent the entire night walking and raised $117,000 in the fight against cancer! (Including a number of our Admission Ambassadors!! Thanks to all the Ambassadors for participating!)
*Liberal Arts Honors Program invitations and merit scholarships were mailed on Friday, March 27.
*Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cunningham Scholarships were mailed on Friday, March 27.
*Need-based financial aid will be released by Friday, April 3.
To all of you invited to PC during the Regular Decision process: Your invitation to join the Providence College Class of 2013 Official Network was e-mailed today. Please check the e-mail account you supplied on your application for the access link.
This network is designed to bring Providence College to you. You will find practical information about visiting before May 1, orientation updates, and campus contact information. More importantly, you'll find current students and staff available to answer your questions.
On the Providence College Class of 2013 Official Network, you can also:
•Receive updated enrollment information
•Network with other invited students
•Chat with current PC students
•Check out campus photos
•Link to admission blogs
If you have questions or difficulty gaining access to the network, please e-mail me at admission@providence.edu or post a comment here.
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