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As we get closer and closer to the time of year when all of you seniors will be making your choices as to where to attend college for the next four years, we want to give you as much information about PC as possible so you can decide if Providence is the right fit for you. Two new voices will be joining our blogging team so that you can get the student perspective (along with my admission commentary)... Jaclyn Anderson is a senior and is in the same sort of position that all of you are: finishing up her PC career and ready to move on to life after college. Nicole Facompre is a sophomore and right in the middle of her PC experience... Each student will be providing her own perspective on PC, how they have gotten to where they are today, and what they are doing in their day-to-day lives on campus. They will also be happy to answer any and all questions that you have regarding the student experience here!! Keep checking back for their first postings and continual updates! (And don't forget about me, too!!!! I'll still be here!!!)
Ryan Loiter, a member of the class of 2008 and one of our student speakers at the Early Action Academic Program last Friday, received a number of compliments from the parents who listened to his presentation. Ryan spoke about his own transition from high school to college and the occasional bumps in the road he encountered. Many of you requested that Ryan's speech be posted for prospective students to read, so here you are:
Good afternoon and a sincerest welcome to the Class of 2011. I have a story to tell you - of my Providence College experience thus far. As you can imagine, I am up here because I truly love this college, this city, and the people that have made for such a fantastic journey. This journey has been quick and when people tell you that college moves faster than you ever imagined, believe them because it’s the truth! It’s necessary to take advantage of every opportunity that this place has to offer making sure that you are getting every penny's worth of this very expensive education. I feel that I have done that and as result Providence College has not only become a second home for me but will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Although right now my experience to you may sound perfect and my adjustment to college may appear to have gone smoothly, it did not. I had come from a small Catholic high school and to say the least I was a "big fish in a little pond," and expected my notoriety to continue. However, I found that people here were smarter than me, more athletic than me and maybe even had more to offer than me. I was rejected from certain clubs on campus and some of the other things that I rushed into were simply not a good fit. I may have forced too many things, rather than letting them happen naturally and I began to get down about my situation. However, I never gave up on me making the adjustment to college life - of wanting to make this place work, because I knew it could, and I heard from so many other upperclassmen and graduates that PC was a great place!
Freshman year at Providence was a lot like my transition to high school, believe it or not. I had left my public school friends for a Catholic school education. My high school is very near and dear to me, but that feeling did not develop overnight. I used that high school experience to keep my hopes up and not get too discouraged when I didn’t feel that Providence and I were a good fit at first. I knew that all I needed was time and eventually the pieces would fall into place. I continued to do things that made me happy such as attending sporting events, being physically active and attending weekly mass, where I collected my thoughts, searched for guidance and even prayed for better days. Finally, at the end of my freshman year, I decided to apply for the Admission Ambassadors and after interviewing I was selected to be a part of the group. Now it is kind of ironic that I was selected into a group that are the advocates for the school and at the time I probably wasn’t really “feelin’ the love,��? but I had put my best foot forward in the interview because there were still many things that I appreciated on this campus, it was just about finding my place and for me, being an Ambassador was a start. I knew I could become even more of an advocate once Providence felt like home. That really is what a lot of freshman year is about, making college your home. By the end of the year, things were changing. I found my friends. I looked forward to having them as roommates. I had this group that I was a part of and by the end of my first year, I was excited to be a Friar.
I was eager to come back to my sophomore year knowing that I wouldn’t be going through freshman year jitters and awkwardness. Providence was comfortable. I felt confident and happy. It was an entirely new place, and I was ready to make the most of it. I was grateful (and still am) knowing I was getting a great education. I became more involved with admissions and enjoyed being with PC friends who had the same interests and lifestyles. I played intramural basketball and soccer. Sports were a place where I had experienced success in high school, and it was fun to be part of a team again. I loved going to both Schneider ice arena and the Dunkin Donuts Center and watching our hockey and basketball teams. More and more, I began to develop my niche. I even decided to participate in an alternative spring break with a group of ten PC students. We traveled to North Carolina to build houses for Habitat for Humanity. This was a great experience. I felt good about doing a service project, something that this college encourages, and I was able to travel to another part of the US where I had never been before; I was meeting new people in the PC community while having a great time. Providence College provided the opportunities, and I realized how lucky I was to be here.
Even though things were going great, I knew I wanted to follow through with one of my dreams and life ambitions. I decided that I would be taking a break from PC this past semester to travel abroad to Galway, Ireland. It was tough thinking of leaving for a few months, because by the end of sophomore year everything seemed so perfect, and Galway was new and uncertain. Regardless, it was a risk I didn’t give too much thought to. I was going. Ireland was amazing and so were the other countries I visited. It was an experience of a lifetime, and if I could give any of you advice, it would be to go abroad because you may never have the chance to spend four months living in another place, foreign and exciting. Not only did I love Europe, but I also loved how much it made me appreciate the Providence College I left behind. There were times when I did miss friends, this campus, the people and all the activities that are part of our day-to-day lives here. Even amongst the green fields and stone walls, I discovered that I had the best of both worlds and truly how fortunate I was to be a PC student both now and in the future.
The future is what I look forward to even as my college years begin to come to a close. Providence is on the upswing, with improvements coming in almost every aspect of this college. Whether it’s one of the many physical improvements to the campus or current debates that are taking place to reevaluate and revitalize our core curriculum, it’s a good time to be a Friar, past and present. The new leadership that has taken over is building on a history and I truly believe is beginning a climb that will eventually bring this college to new heights in years to come. A place that I wasn’t so certain about in the beginning is now a place that I couldn’t imagine being without. It is place that has made me better in so many ways, has allowed me to learn so much about myself and has prepared me for the world that awaits. Again, welcome; I wish you all the best and hope that all of you in your own way embrace the tradition that is Providence College.
Almost two months of 2007 are already in the books! Where did the time go? For the staff here in the Admission Office, it went to completing first reads of our Regular Decision applications. First reads have, for the most part, been completed and we are transitioning to the second review process where all applications will be read by a different counselor over the next week or so. As second reads are completed, third reads will be beginning, completed by senior staff members throughout this week, over the weekend and into early next week leading up to our Committee on Admission meetings (you remember those from EA, right??)...
While we are spending the majority of our time with our senior Regular Decision applicants, we haven't forgotten about the rest of you! We had hundreds of juniors and their families on campus last week as many high schools were on their February breaks; it was good to see all of you getting an early start on your campus visits! We also welcomed our accepted Early Action students back to campus last Friday for our EA Academic Program, which gave these students the opportunity to interact with faculty, staff, and current PC students and have their academic questions answered. A pretty good-sized group, as you can see from this snapshot:
I hope that all of you who attended had a good day on campus (despite the chilly weather!) and had all of your questions answered! If you still do have questions, feel free at anytime to contact your admission counselor or just post a question here on this blog and I will be happy to get you an answer!
... and the PC men's basketball team pulled off an important upset win over nationally-ranked #18/#22 West Virginia 64-61 on Friar Bobblehead Night yesterday at "The Dunk." The win moves the Friars to 17-9 overall on the season and keeps their NCAA Tournament hopes alive... A great game all around and I'll admit, the bobbleheads were a big hit!!!
I know that for many of you, next week begins your February vacation! Both February and April vacations (or whenever your school's winter/spring breaks take place) are times when college campuses see some heavy traffic from juniors who are starting to get into their college search process (of course, other class years are welcome too... you don't have to be a junior to come see us!!!).
We are anticipating a lot of campus visitors next week, and are offering group information sessions and tours throughout the week for you. If you do wish to attend an information session, please call our office at (800) 721-6444 to schedule the day and time that works best for you. If you wish to take a campus tour only, you do not need to make a reservation. For next week's full schedule, please see the Campus Visits section of the website.
Please note: There are no Group Information Sessions available next Friday, February 23. There will be tours held that day at the usual times (9:30 AM, 11:30 AM, 2:30 PM).
We hope to see you next week!!!
Some of you may have noticed that I've had fewer blog postings over the past couple of weeks... and here comes my excuse for that: 7,500 applications that our Admission staff has to consider during our Regular Decision review process! Yes, that is a lot for 15 counselors! That's my excuse!!! I promise to write more soon!!!
Looks like I will have some help starting next week... a pair of student bloggers will be joining in on the fun!!! Stay tuned...
The meteorologists promised us our first real snowstorm of the winter today... and here is what we have so far...
 
...disappointing the students who were hoping for a snow day on Valentine's Day!
Not exactly the nice fluffy snow that clings to the trees, as you can see... It is sleeting right now, actually, which doesn't look pretty but does make the walkways nice and slippery. I just overheard a Dominican priest tell one of our Friars Club tour guides: "Today might not be a good day to walk backwards!"
If you visited PC in the spring, over the summer, or during the fall, you missed out on the wintry New England fun!! But I know all of you reading this in Upstate New York and Northern New England today are looking at this picture and saying, "That's nothing!" So, if you go to one of the over 500 schools in New York, Western Massachusetts, Vermont, or New Hampshire that have closed today: Enjoy the snow day!!
I know that many of you reading this blog have already been to campus, and possibly participated in an "official" Admission event (campus tour, group information session, day visit, etc.). So, you are already familiar with our campus programming, another area we spend a great deal of time and energy on in the Office of Admission. In order to make sure that you have the best possible campus visit experience, our Programming Task Force (along with the rest of the Admission staff providing support) irons out all of the little details and, with the cooperation of the entire campus community, puts on both small- and large-scale events.
We put on three of the large-scale events each year during the spring semester, two for our Early Action invited students and one "largest" scale event for our entire group of accepted students. These events are successful due to the hard-working programming team that we have in our office, but also through the support of the rest of our campus community. In January, we held a "Student Life Program" for our EA accepted students that featured student and staff speakers from our Student Activities and Residence Life Offices, and culminated with our prospective families watching the men's basketball team take on Rutgers University in downtown Providence. In order to give our prospective students and their families the best picture of who we are here at PC, the support of our students, staff members, and athletic department were vital!
Coming up later this month, we will hold another program for our EA invited students that will focus on the academic side of Providence College. In this program, we rely on the involvement of our faculty members, who take the time to speak on panels, sit down to lunch with our prospective families, and make themselves available during departmental "open houses" so students can ask them any questions they may have about specific majors or departments.
Finally, in April, we will hold our largest on-campus event of the year: Family Day, to which we invite all of the students who have been accepted into our incoming freshman class. It is one last opportunity for these students and their families to see campus and meet with students, faculty, and staff before they have to make their final decision on where to attend college for the next four years. This event really touches everyone on campus; from the academic staff members to those working in student life areas, every department and office on campus is represented on Family Day and available for prospective students to have their questions answered. It's a big day, and believe me, planning for it is already well underway.
As you can see, the large programming events bring the entire campus community together to provide you with the most information and best possible visit experience. Although, I feel as though I haven't given enough credit to our office programming team in this posting, who spend countless hours doing the behind-the-scenes work for all of the events we have on campus. Indeed, there is an "event-planning" side to working in Admissions! Our programming task force handles everything from reserving space on campus to organizing panels to making sure that there is enough food for everyone at the events (a very important job!)... All of us on the Admission staff really look forward to these events as it gives us the chance to personally meet the students who we have often only gotten to know "on paper." I hope that this description of our campus programming was interesting to all of you... it is to us!!
On a completely unrelated note, rumor has it that some student bloggers will be joining me in the near future... I will keep you up to date... Stay tuned!
Yes, I promised I would give you some more information about the Publications Team and our creation of all of the print materials that you receive in your mailbox from Providence College. Each year, we make updates to all of our materials, adding new information, making any needed changes, and putting in some new photos! That's right, admission counselors get to organize photo shoots! (And it's just as fun as it sounds!)...
Right now, of course, it is the middle of our New England winter and even though there isn't any snow on the ground, the pictures of campus would look nicer in the spring sunshine, don't you think? We do, and that's why the photo shoot for our new publications won't take place until late April. We spend a couple of days at locations across campus taking pictures of students, faculty members, and the campus itself (and by "we," I mean a professional photographer... my job is usually just to carry his tripod!). It's usually not too difficult to find students who want to be involved ("I get my picture in the viewbook?!??! Cool!!!").
But it's not all fun and games with photo shoots... We also get a lot of opportunities to enhance our writing and editing skills. For all of the print publications we produce (our viewbook, first response/college fair "road pieces," Outcomes/Career brouchures, Multicultural Student Information, Application Guides, Transfer Application Guides, Liberal Arts Honors Program brochures, Visitors Guides/maps, and Campus Visit Schedules to name just a few off the top of my head), every page has to be fact-checked and proofread for accuracy. So, believe me, we really get to know all of our publications cover to cover!!
For all of you seniors, obviously you've already received much (if not ALL) of this information, and I know you are watching your mailboxes for college decision letters at this point. For the underclassmen, though, keep an eye out for our publications-- in the mail and on the web! Of course, if you're not on our mailing list, you aren't going to receive any of them... so feel free to join! (There's a shameless publications plug for you!)
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