Mid-November means that the Early Action application review process is underway! As I mentioned last week, the 15 members of the counseling staff completed our annual "reading meeting," and we've each started reading our first batch of applications.

As you may know, we initially review applications by geographic territory at PC; and as you can see from my bio at the top of the page, that means that the applications I have on my desk this afternoon are from Western Massachusetts, the MetroWest area outside of Boston, and the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, and New Mexico. (And, actually, in my office right now, I have applications from all of those areas - except for New Mexico! No applicants from there yet in this year's pool.). We read by geographic territory because it helps us to better understand the context of the high school environment that our students are coming out of. So, I read every application that comes in from Needham High School in Massachusetts, my colleague Christine Hickey reads every application from Chaminade High School on Long Island, and so on... which really helps us to get a sense of the academic environment of your high school.

We begin the review by taking a close look at your high school transcript, and this academic component is the most important piece of your application. As I look over a transcript, the first thing I will consider is a student's curriculum, and ideally I am looking for four years of the five core academic subject areas (English, Math, Science, History, Foreign Language). I am also looking for students who have taken on a level of appropriate academic challenge during high school, taking advantage of advanced level (Honors, AP, IB, college-level) courses when available.

Remember, we are talking about "appropriate challenge," which doesn't mean a student has to take every AP or Honors course his or her high school offers to be a competitive candidate. For example, if you are not a strong math student, we certainly understand why that AP Calculus BC class isn't on your transcript. We always will consider your strength of curriculum in the context of the high school you attend... for example, if you go to a school that doesn't offer an AP Biology class, we aren't going to penalize you for not taking AP Bio! Along with your transcript, your high school has sent our office a Profile, which helps us to understand what courses are available for you to take. Generally speaking across our applicant pool, most students who are invited to PC have taken on an advanced level curriculum over their four years of high school... and, of course, have shown a strong performance in those courses!

More to come on the high school transcript in my next post: we'll talk about how we consider your performance (G.P.A.) hand-in-hand with the curriculum you've taken. And we'll also move beyond the academic information and look at how we handle activities, involvement, leadership, essays, and recommendations. Stay tuned!

Posted by Scott Seseske at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(Wow, that's a long title...)

Greetings from the busy Office of Admission at PC, where the operations staff is getting all of our Early Action applications ready to review! Today, though, I want to talk a little bit about some new Merit-Based Scholarships that are available to students applying to attend PC next fall.

Here's the scoop: Beginning with students applying for admission to the Class of 2014 (students entering in September, 2010), there are now three tiers of merit-based scholarships for which students may qualify:

1. Liberal Arts Honors Program
2. Academic Scholarships
3. Providence College Friar Scholarships

Students invited into the College's highly selective Liberal Arts Honors Program (find out more about LAH Program) will receive one of three levels of merit scholarship: St. Dominic Scholarship (full tuition excluding room and board); St. Thomas Aquinas (3/4 tuition); or St. Catherine of Siena (1/2 tuition). All of these scholarships are renewable for up to four years as long as students remain active members of the Liberal Arts Honors Program and maintain the required GPA. Merit scholars are typically at the top of their graduating class and have completed the most rigorous program of study possible during their high school career.

The second group are academic-based merit scholarships available to students who have demonstrated superior academic performance during their entire high school career, but were not selected for inclusion in the Liberal Arts Honors Program. These scholarships include the St. Joseph Scholarship ($14,000 annually), the Albertus Magnus Scholarship ($11,000 annually), and the St. Vincent Ferrer Scholarship ($8,000 annually). Students who have achieved consistent A- to A grades throughout high school in all subjects – and have taken a rigorous program of study – will be considered for these awards (note that an A-minus GPA is not a guarantee of a scholarship, but represents the performance required to be in consideration).

Finally, Providence College Friar Scholarships are merit awards intended to recognize high school seniors who not only have demonstrated the academic discipline necessary to succeed in the classroom, but display extraordinary commitment, leadership and responsibility in their extracurricular pursuits. While we do not have a prescription for the type of activity that warrants recognition, it is important to note that serious contributors to their pursuits are more attractive than those who have simply been members of a number of organizations. Students who have academic achievements that earn them admission to Providence College and also demonstrate a true commitment to their out-of-classroom activities will be recognized with awards ranging from $4,000 to $8,000 annually.

More information on these Merit-Based Scholarship opportunities can be found here. Also, you can see the letter sent to parents on October 15, 2009 announcing additional financial assistance availability for students applying to the Class of 2014 here.

As always, should you have questions about merit scholarships or need-based financial aid programs, please don't hesitate to call our office to speak with a counselor: (800) 721-6444.

Now, it's time to begin reviewing Early Action applications! Until next time...

Posted by Scott Seseske at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The applications have arrived! November 1 has come and gone, and here we are at the start of our Early Action application review process in the Office of Admission. What happens now?

First of all, the applications have to be prepared for the counseling staff to review. Information from applications submitted online through Common App is moved into our computer system, and applications that arrived by mail are entered into that same system. Then, our operations staff does an excellent job of matching up supporting credentials that have come in the mail (such as transcripts, teacher recommendations, etc.) with the application itself. After all of the application "pieces" have been matched up, they are sorted by geographic territory and passed on to the admission counselor who will be the first reader. (Find out which counselor is responsible for your high school.)

This process of entering, matching, and sorting applications is well underway, and the counselors will start the review process at the end of this week. On Thursday, all 15 counselors will meet to talk about this year's process; we'll talk about what we're looking for from our applicants, the size of the incoming freshman class, and other things that will help us to all be consistent as we begin reviewing the applications from our territories. As the process moves forward, I will keep you updated here, and I hope you will continue to come back to see how the overall admission review is going.

A couple of months back, I wrote to the high school seniors that November 1 would come up quickly... and it sure did for us as an admission staff! We've all come back from the road, and have already shifted gears into "reading season." More updates soon!

Posted by Scott Seseske at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)