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Interview inspiration from Facebook

Julia
We spend a lot of time online: researching, doing business, emailing… maybe even procrastinating. And without much contemplation, I can guess that you probably spend more time renovating your Facebook pages than you do reading our Holy Cross admissions blog. Terrible pity. But understandable nonetheless.
The fact of the matter is, you’re living in a world where opportunities to advertise yourselves are countless, and extremely accessible. Forums like Facebook, Myspace, and Youtube give you the opportunity to paint fantastic portraits of yourself, package them up nicely, and send them out across the universe for all eyes to see.

Ironically, one of the biggest problems I encounter in the interview process is a student’s inability to do just that: to paint an honest and glorious portrait of him or herself and hand it to me in a pretty little package. Many students are extremely uncomfortable with the idea of self-promotion in the interview arena. They struggle to pinpoint significant accomplishments, and to list what they’re proud of, for fear they will come across as conceited, cocky, or even worse, corny.

Throw those fears out the window. The interview is your time to shine. If you have nothing to be proud of, why should we admit you?

Now we’re not asking you to jump around our offices Muhammed Ali –style, air boxing and listing off accomplishments with reckless abandon, but we do urge you to think about achievements – big or small – and come prepared to tell us about them.

So start thinking of the interview like you think about your Facebook page. Don’t be afraid to promote yourself. It may be the only time you have to tell us how truly awesome you are. If you do a good job, we may just “add” you (sorry, just couldn’t help myself) to our next class of Crusaders.

Julia Sanders
Admissions Counselor
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Good ‘First Quarter’ grades important

Pmaloney_2 Hey all, after what seemed to me to be a very short week in the office, I’m back out on the road.  I’m writing from Wilmington, Delaware and I apologize that I don’t have any exciting photos to share in this entry.  I’m not saying that Delaware doesn’t have anything worth taking photos of, but I just didn’t have time to see much before driving north to the Philadelphia area for the next few days.

Anyway, while taking in a few sports games yesterday in the airport, namely the Patriots and the Red Sox, I saw a car commercial several times that made me think.  Maybe you know the one.the women is running through a neighborhood and then crosses the street and runs directly into a parked car with a loud thud and then falls to the ground.  Admittedly, I chuckle a bit when I see it and maybe that’s not great to say, but it’s the truth.  At this point, you should be asking what does this have to do with college admissions.  (If you’re not, I’m concerned for you.)  Anyway, I’m telling you about this commercial in the closing weeks of October because for many of you high school seniors the next few weeks represent the end of the first quarter of your senior year, and this is a milestone.  Senior year should be a year that you buckle down and show colleges that you are doing your best work in your senior year in your toughest courses.  Getting back to that advertisement, a few students represent that runner and they run smack into a car during the 1st quarter of their senior year.  Not literally, of course, but for one reason or another, their grades slip and this is a trap you do not want to fall into.  Some of you may even be thinking about applying Early Decision to a college, and that only further stresses the importance of these first quarter grades.  Holy Cross, along with several other institutions, require 1st quarter grades from your senior year.

So remember, it’s not enough that you just signed up for lots of Honors and AP classes this year, but you must be performing well in them as well.

Watch out for those cars along your running route!

And, of course, go Sox!

pat

Patrick Maloney ’02
Assistant Director of Admissions
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Thank you notes demonstrate interest

Allison
In just a month we’ll all be gathered around our respective dinner tables, passing mashed potatoes (yum) and creamed onions (eww) and waiting, inevitably, for Dad to pose the question, “What are you thankful for this year?” …at least this is what happens at my house. I’ll complain about this corny Danny Tanner moment, but then I’ll play along. When it’s my turn, I’ll have plenty to be thankful for: my good health as well as that of my family and friends, a stable job, the Sox winning the World Series (hopefully), and of course, the greatest objects of my affection, my sister’s babies, Jack and Caroline. What will you be thankful for? Will your proclamation of thanks be related to your recent college search? Do the people who have helped you (parents/teacher/counselor/mentor) know that you appreciate them?

There was an article in this week’s NY Times that addressed the role of the thank you note in the college admissions process. The article detailed how some colleges appreciate a letter of thanks for a tour, interview, or day visit. Other colleges shred these expressions of gratitude which, to them, serve only to fill already overflowing recycling bins. The article suggests that more and more students and parents are writing notes to college admissions counselors as a strategic ploy for gaining them an edge. When was the last time you heard of a student being admitted based on the flowery cursive, elevated diction, or artistic stationery of their thank you note?

It’s pretty simple: if you appreciate getting a thank you note, write one. If you were impressed by the student/teacher/counselor/alumni with whom you interacted, write one. A thank you note does not get you into college. Does it demonstrate that you’re thoughtful? Yes. Does it show us you’re interested in the college? Yes. Do we like to see that you took time out of your busy schedule to write a thank you note? Yes. This is not an ego trip, however. We do not paper our walls with laudatory notes, and no matter how many compliments you bestow on us, your note will never be the deciding factor in an acceptance. Similarly, there will not a gaping hole in your application if you don’t send one. Bottom line: don’t send one if you don’t mean it.

So this Thanksgiving, let those who have helped you know that they are appreciated. Your guidance counselor, parent, teacher will be happy you did.

Allison P. Rose ’06
Admissions Counselor
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Tell us what you think

DrewThe popular view in the 17th Century was that the Earth was stationary and that the Sun revolved around the Earth.  Through his research and calculations, Galileo knew better and suggested such in writing. Fearing he would be put to death if he did not comply, Galileo, when called before the Inquisition, recanted his belief that the Earth revolved around the Sun.   But, legend has it that after renouncing what he knew to be true, he muttered underneath his breath, “E pur si muove!”
And yet it [the Earth] moves.

So what’s the point of this slightly hyperbolic story?

Well, the point is this – we all have a voice.  We all have passion; we all have something to say and sometimes, our voice gets stifled.  In the college application process, students sometimes feel as though their GPA and SAT scores get plugged into a giant admissions computer and after being fed a quart of motor oil, it spits out decisions.  This is far from the truth (at least at Holy Cross!).

We want to hear your voice so let it be heard – in your interview, in your essay, even in an email to the admissions office.  Tell us what you think.  Tell us what you know.  Tell us what you love.  And don’t mutter it under your breath.  Say it with confidence.  Make sure that when your part of this application process is done, there is no doubt in any admission office about who you are.
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What if my guidance counselor doesn’t know me?

AmandaWhile in New Jersey last week a common question that kept coming up is, “What if my guidance counselor doesn’t know me very well?”

Holy Cross asks for two letters of recommendation; one from a teacher of your choice and one from a guidance counselor.

So what if you guidance counselor doesn’t know you very well?  Don’t stress!  Make an appointment with your counselor to sit down and talk about you: your classes, interests, what you want out of college, etc.  Tell them about you so that they will have something to write about.  All you need is a half hour.  No big deal!  You may want to ask him/her to write you the recommendation in person anyway so if you set up a meeting you can get both tasks done at the same time!

If you’re still worried about the counselor recommendation, get another recommendation from someone else.  Two recommendations does not mean you are allowed to send only two.  If you have a coach, employer, volunteer supervisor, mentor, etc. have him/her write a recommendation for you as well.  Anyone who has another point of view on your abilities or personality may write you a recommendation (parents don’t count, you know they’re biased).

Sending in 5-6 recommendations is OK.  Sending in 10-12 maybe not.  As long as each additional recommendation tells the Admissions staff something new and different about you it is acceptable.  Send it in!

Amanda Juriansz
Assistant Director of Community Outreach
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Why are interviews so important?

Suzanne I’ve been back in the office for a week now from my trip to the Windy City where I spent my time visiting with high school students in the Chicago suburbs. Thinking back over my travels to both St. Louis and Chicago it seems like the theme of my fall travel has been INTERVIEWS. While on the road in Chicago and St. Louis I personally conducted twenty interviews and also helped to run an Evening Interview Session where twenty students were interviewed by Holy Cross Alumni.

So, you may be sitting at your computer thinking, “Why are interviews so important anyway?” Or something along the lines of, “If they are so important, how can I get one?”  In this blog I hope to answer both of those questions…

First and foremost, interviewing prospective students is one of my favorite responsibilities as an Admissions Counselor. My friends tell me that I’ve become quite the listener. The logic behind interviews are simple;  can you think of any better way to have someone on our staff get to know you than to sit with them for about twenty minutes and tell them about yourself?

To say that students can get a little worked-up about the interview can sometimes be an understatement. There’s no need for unwarranted pressure.  So, I encourage you to think about it as a conversation. We never ask you questions that you don’t know the answers to, because guess what….our questions are always about you! More importantly, we want you to come off as the impressive soon to be high school grad that you are. Come dressed professionally and be prepared to talk about your experiences as both a student and person. Don’t forget that interviews are an opportunity for to you to ask questions of your interviewer as well. Spend a little time on the Holy Cross website and be ready to gather even more information on Holy Cross during your interview.
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So hopefully by now you feel more at ease about the actual interview. Now, let’s get it on the calendar! Call our office two weeks prior to your desired interview date to schedule your appointment on our campus. Alternatively, you can visit our website to learn more about opportunities to interview in your hometown with a Holy Cross Alumni Representative.

In closing, I would like to extend an enormous thank you to Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois and to our Alumni Interviews who made our Evening Interview Session a success.

To all of you students out there, I hope to see you getting a leg up and taking advantage of the very important college interview!

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Suzanne R. Timmons
Admissions Counselor
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Common Application essay advice

Drew Now that the October SAT testing date has passed, for high school seniors, there is little left to do in the college process.  That is either a great relief or quite scary.

But you’re not done just yet.  That big Goodyear blimp hanging above your head is the Common Application essay and for many of the students that I’m meeting on the road, it keeps releasing parachuting boxes of doubt on their head:

What do I want to write about?

What do colleges want me to write about?

How long is too long?

How do I make my essay stand out?

It goes without saying that all of this doubt is not conducive to creating a quality essay and there’s nary enough room on this little computer screen to answer all those questions, so let me leave you with just a few pieces of advice.

Students, proved by the questions above, tend to be riddled with anxiety about their essay and they grip too tightly.  Just relax.  Your essay is a sparrow.  If your grip on it is too tight, you’ll squeeze the life out of it.  If your grip is too loose, it will fly away.  Hold it just tight enough that it won’t fly away but not so tight that you suffocate it.

We really do look forward to reading your essay and we’re not expecting to read something profound nor do we expect you to summarize your entire life in 500 words.  We just want to read what you want to write.  It’s that simple.

So don’t worry about those questions above, just write what you want to write.

One final thought: inspiration can come when you least expect it.  I was inspired today by a few thoughtful students (you know who you are!) and it came in the form of a bottle of Mountain Dew and a box of Pop-tarts.  So if you’re still stuck, go buy those two things, sit down at your computer and listen to your sparrow.

Andrew N Carter
Associate Director of Admissions
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Director of Admissions’ tips for application process

Annmcdermott I hope you are enjoying getting to know members of the Admissions Staff.  I have been reminded by a staff member (okay, it was Kelli) that I have been invisible since my opening greeting.  So here is a bit of my story:

I am originally from Wilton, CT (though born in CA) and attended public schools there. I sort of stumbled upon Holy Cross, and after a visit to campus knew that this was where I wanted to spend my four years of college. I was a psychology major, but took full advantage of the broad range of classes offered here. I have spent all of my professional life working in the field of admissions, returning to work in the Holy Cross admissions office in 1989.  My husband Ed is also a graduate of Holy Cross. He is an attorney by profession, and on the side he too is employed by the College. He teaches a class on legal reasoning and rhetoric, and coaches the College’s mock trial and moot court teams.  Our oldest child, Brian, is a sophomore here, and daughter Lauren is a junior in high school. Will she follow in mom, dad, and bother’s footsteps? That’s a blog for the future.

My tip for making the college application process a bit saner: Don’t get sucked into the hysteria that frequently escalates at this time of year. Getting distracted by the frantic conversations among classmates about who’s applying where, deadlines, etc. is simply not helpful.  Stay focused. Be organized. Maintain perspective. And breathe.

Ann McDermott
Director of Admissions
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The Standardized Test Affair

DrewTo submit or not to submit, that is the question.

In light of the opportunity that you all had this past Saturday morning to suffer the slings and arrows for several hours with your number 2 pencil, I thought it was time to address the standardized test affair.

When we made the decision to go test-optional a few years back, initially we heard a great sigh of relief from students, parents and guidance counselors across the land.  But soon, we realized that this decision would have unexpected consequences – applicants now were pressed with the decision of whether or not to submit their standardized test scores and this created its own form of anxiety.

But students lose sight of what we know all too well — your file in the Admissions Office at Holy Cross will be filled with four years worth of stories of your accomplishments, hopes, wishes, desires, perspective and character and none of these things, I repeat, none of these things fit within those five identical circles labeled A-B-C-D-E.

So submit or don’t submit – it’s completely up to you but know that we made the decision to go optional because standardized testing is simply not a big part of our decision making process.  We’re quite capable of making decisions on applications without standardized test scores.  If you don’t submit your scores, we simply don’t discuss the matter.  If you do submit your scores, they will be a part of our process but a very small part.

But don’t worry about making this decision now.  After you’ve submitted your application to Holy Cross, we will send you a verification form.  On that form, we will ask you to re-verify a few key pieces of information and also ask you once and for all whether you’d like us to use your standardized test scores as part of your application.

In closing, I’d like to send my thanks to the students I saw on Friday at Brooks School, Lawrence Academy and Groton School.  You guys made waking up at 5:15 in the morning well worth it.

Andrew N Carter
Associate Director of Admissions
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The 411 on Worcester

Tran Greetings from good old Worcester!  I’ve been in the office the last two days but spent the rest of my week prior traveling around to Worcester schools.  Though not as exotic a travel territory as my other colleagues who have been to the Windy City and fascinating Europe, I must say that I loved my travels nonetheless because it gave me a great opportunity to really explore Worcester.  Before this, all I really knew of Worcester was Holy Cross and a fabulous Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Dakao on Park Avenue which my husband and I regularly frequent.  There are lots of differing views on Worcester, some good and some negative, so I thought I’d offer my take on Worcester in case you weren’t at all familiar with the city or have questions about it.

First of all, Worcester is now the 2nd largest city in New England (we beat Providence recently who we’ve been neck to neck with for this prize slot behind Boston which will probably remain #1 for many more years to come) and with being the 2nd largest city, there are lots of resources and opportunities available.  But I think it’s one of those cities that these resources and opportunities are not readily visible and you have to do some searching and digging for them.  If you were only glimpsing Worcester from the highway, it would be easy to think that Worcester is run down with lots of industrial buildings.  But take a closer look and you will see that it has a lot more to offer.  There are numerous cultural offerings throughout the city including a wonderful art museum (that I have yet to visit, but have heard many praises for!).  There is a vast array of restaurants offering cuisines from Vietnamese (my personal favorite) to Mediterranean to African to American.  There are a number of cultural festivals that take place throughout the year as well such as the African Cultural Festival and the Blackstone Canalfest, which is a street festival with music, food, dance, art, etc.  There is a great deal of diversity in the city with a huge variety of ethnic groups represented.  So for those of you who are already culture junkies, Worcester is a treasure trove and for those of you eager to explore different cultures, Worcester is equally exciting.

As a large city, Worcester has many needs.  That presents HC students with many opportunities to practice one of the tenets of the Jesuit tradition: men and women for others.  Students are able to be very involved in service and tap into a lot of different service areas from working with children to public health to athletics.  These activities also serve as wonderful learning opportunities as well.  In addition, students are able to get academic year internships in the city that range from working in business areas to the sciences to education.

All in all, I feel like Worcester is a great backdrop for a college environment because you are able to apply what you learn in the classroom immediately by simply leaving campus for a moment and venturing into the city.  And Worcester is currently going through a great deal of revitalization so it’s an even more exciting time to be here because you can be a part of that.  So I invite you to take a closer look at Worcester, especially in person if you can.  Worcester gets a bad rap sometimes and I feel it’s the product of negative first impressions.  But as they say, you can’t judge a book by its cover.  So I encourage you to do some digging and really explore all that Worcester has to offer.  Here are some links that you can use to start your exploration of Worcester:
http://www.holycross.edu/studentlife/worcester/
http://www.worcester.org/
http://www.ci.worcester.ma.us/
http://www.worcester.ma.us/

Tran Kim-Senior
Assistant Director of Admissions
Coordinator of Multicultural Recruitment