Category: Admissions Staff

Hi everyone!  Thanks for checking out the new Admissions blog!  This is a great way for you to learn more about us and our travels throughout the process.  Our collective goal is to also offer you some useful advice we hope will ease some of the inevitable anxiety which always seems to surround this process.  Check in often – – we hope to be posting a lot of entries!

So .. who’s that Jim guy anyway?  I was born and raised in Southbury, Connecticut, attended public schools for the duration of my upbringing, and then headed off to Rhode Island to College in 1988.  I returned to Connecticut briefly after graduating in 1992, but by 1995 I had headed back to Rhode Island to begin my Admissions career.  By now, its safe to presume I’m an Admissions ‘lifer’.  I’ve been visiting high schools, reading applications, doing interviews, and helping students and families through their respective process ever since.  I joined the Admissions staff at Holy Cross in the fall of 1999, and have served the College as the Associate Director of Admission for the last 3 years.  I currently live in Lincoln, Rhode Island with my wife and daughter. Although my daughter is only 20 months old and just now beginning to speak, we’ve been practicing – – "Go Crusaders!".

If you haven’t yet been to visit campus, I would highly encourage you to come to Worcester to see it!  We have a very beautiful 174 acre hillside campus which has won two first-place prizes for ‘best landscaped campus in the nation’.  While on campus, we hope you feel the strong sense of community we all cherish so much.  Spend a few hours there … have lunch … speak to students and staff … have an Admissions interview … all will be important experiences for you to have.

Thank you for your continued interest in the College of the Holy Cross.  We’ll look forward to many opportunities to meet you throughout your college search and selection process; best of luck!

James Richardson
Associate Director of Admissions

So you’re ten year’s old – you’re sitting at the kitchen table surrounded by stacks of unopened library books on a topic that you were supposed to have started researching weeks ago and now, here you are, the evening before your report is due and you are overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.  In her book Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott describes her brother’s experience with a 4th grade report on birds this way:

“. . . he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, “Bird by bird, buddy.  Just take it bird by bird.”

If you spend too much time with your nose in the guide books, the college search process, much like the 4th grade report, can become absolutely overwhelming in its size and scope.  Our goal in the Admissions Office and particularly in this blog, is to help humanize the process and to encourage you to “just take it bird by bird”. 

So to follow my co-workers’ example let me tell you a bit about myself.    

I was raised throughout the Midwest and New England and now reside in the great city of Worcester (once known as “The Shredded Wheat Capital of the World”).  I’ve worked here in the Admissions Office at Holy Cross for three years now and in my free time I enjoy fighting crime, spreading world peace, singing duets and searching for the best American-made doughnuts (not necessarily in that order).  This fall, I will continue my search in parts of MA, CT and upstate NY; in between doughnut shops, I hope to find time to visit high schools, meet with students and make this process just a bit more human.

Andrew N Carter
Associate Director of Admissions

Hi everyone!

My name is Suzanne Timmons and I am an Admissions Counselor here in the Admissions Office at Holy Cross. In July of 2006 I was fortunate enough to join the Admissions Staff and my experience here has been everything I hoped it would be. I could not be more pleased with the opportunity that Holy Cross has given me to work with both great colleagues and talented prospective students.

Outside of my life in admissions, I love heading back to my hometown of Norwell, Massachusetts to spend time with my family. Recently, we’ve welcomed a new addition to the Timmons clan, a yellow Labrador Retriever named Lulu. When I do make it home for a visit, my family gives me the honor of making sure that Lulu gets some much needed exercise. Having a burly puppy around the house has forced me to get back into the sport of running (one of my favorite high school and college sports) and on select Saturdays you may just find me hitting the pavement with Lulu in tow. We typically finish up our Saturday runs by heading to the nearest Dunkin Donuts where I can have my fix of Hazelnut iced coffee (yes, I am addicted) and where Lulu can indulge in one plain munchkin (I guess it’s not a secret anymore) 🙂

Speaking of hitting the pavement, in less than a week I will be heading out of Worcester to visit with students like you! My travel territories include St. Louis, Maryland, Virginia, the Chicago suburbs and portions of Massachusetts.

As you continue with your college search, don’t be nervous of the unfamiliar. You should know that we recognize how hard you work on applications and essays, and we are here to work just as hard for you. Please take advantage by asking as many questions and gathering as much information as possible. We’ll definitely get you an answer, and if nothing more, point you to our fun website. We specialize in helping you find out as much as you can to know if this is the undeniable school for you. Good luck and I look forward to working with you during your college application process!

Suzanne R. Timmons
Admissions Counselor

Hello everyone!  We’re excited to begin our new blog, and hope that you will check back frequently to hear what’s going on in the world of Holy Cross Admissions. 

My name is Lynn Verrecchia.  I grew up in Port Chester, NY and first came to Holy Cross as a student 1997.  I chose Holy Cross for many of the same reasons I hear students mention today, including our close-knit community and focus on creating well-rounded individuals. 

I began my admissions career in 2002, and returned to Holy Cross in my current role just over three years ago.  I love having the opportunity to talk with students about a college that has played such an important role in my own life.  I work with over 65 student volunteers in our tour guide program.  Some of you may have already attended a tour at Holy Cross, and I hope that you found our students to be as friendly, genuine and helpful as I have.

I recently purchased my first home with my husband, a fellow Holy Cross grad, in Somerville, MA.  Much of our time is now spent in Lowe’s or on the Home Depot website.  True loves of my life include foreign language, travel, cookies and Alton Brown.

My recruitment territories include Texas, Tennessee, Maine, and parts of Massachusetts.  I hope to see many of you "on the road", and others on campus this fall!  I truly believe in the importance of finding the right "fit" in a college.  Happy searching!

Lynn Verrecchia
Assistant Director of Admissions

Happy fall! 

My name is Amanda Juriansz.  I am the Assistant Director of Community Outreach in the Admissions office here at Holy Cross.  I grew up in Rhode Island and graduated from the University of Rhode Island.  After that I spent a couple years in Albany, NY working on my Masters. 

During the summer I enjoy hiking and kayaking.  During the winter I become an indoors person, I don’t like cold very much.  My guilty pleasure is celebrity gossip.  I read the magazines and watch Access Hollywood. 

Best of luck to all of you who are college searching and working on your college applications!

Amanda Juriansz
Assistant Director for Community Outreach
Admissions

Hi everyone!. My assignment (and I’ll skip the lame "should I choose to accept it" Mission Impossible allusion) is to introduce myself to you.

I grew up and went to high school in Western Massachusetts.  I’m not a Holy Cross alum, but some of my most caring, intelligent and interesting friends are.  They influenced my decision to join the Holy Cross Admissions Staff, and three years later I have no regrets about that choice.

My favorite admissions responsibilities include reading the applications that you’re currently, or soon will be, slaving over (Though you may not have fun filling them out, yes, we do actually like reading them.) and acting as co-commissioner of the Admissions’ summer bocce league (the sport of champions :-).

When not reading essays or refereeing bocce games, I enjoy watching Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch, though I admit that because each episode bears a remarkable resemblance to every other episode, I’m sure I’ve seen some of them numerous times and never noticed.  I also enjoy hanging out with my betta fish, Jann (pronounced yawn) and Bjorn, who like reality television too, but don’t like shows about fishermen.

In the near future, I look forward to sharing a story or two from the road—my travel territories include Atlanta, the five boroughs of New York City, Long Island, and Chicago proper.  If you live in those areas be on the look out for me at college fairs or high school visits.  Perhaps we’ll see each other this fall.

Kelli J. Powell
Assistant Director of Admissions

Dear Student,

Welcome to the Holy Cross Admission blog! I hope that the start of the new school year has been a successful one for you. The Admissions staff and I are pleased that you are considering Holy Cross as one of your options for college. Please know that we are eager to provide you with more information about the College, and more importantly, with tips on taking some of the stress out of the college search. Throughout the year, my staff and I will be posting our observations and suggestions, as well as sharing some of the specifics about our admissions process.

Founded in 1843 as the first Catholic college in New England, Holy Cross is renowned for its mentoring-based, liberal arts education in the Jesuit tradition. The College integrates faith and knowledge with an emphasis on service to others. An exclusively undergraduate institution with a student/faculty ratio of nearly 10/1—among the best in the nation—Holy Cross assures you of highly personalized instruction. Keeping that in mind, we hope that reading our posts will further personalize your experience with the Admissions Office at Holy Cross.

Ann McDermott
Director of Admissions