Mary Jo Coughlin
Year: 2013
Hometown: Brookfield, Massachusetts
Major(s): Undeclared (leaning towards Psychology)
Why I love Holy Cross: I love Holy Cross because of its excellent academic reputation as a small liberal arts college with access to challenging classes and individual attention from professors. Outside of academics, I have made amazing friendships that I know will be long lasting. Holy Cross also offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities, a favorite of which is volunteering at the Nativity School, a Jesuit middle school for boys in Worcester. Having recently completed my freshman year, Holy Cross has met my every expectation.
The flowers have begun to come into full bloom and the trees are finally full of green leaves again. Needless to say, it is an absolutely beautiful day at Holy Cross. Unfortunately, our students have just finished their spring semester classes and are eagerly (or begrudgingly) spending these gorgeous days locked away in the library preparing for their final exams. Although our campus tours for the spring semester have officially come to an end, it does not mean that you as a prospective student cannot enjoy our campus during this beautiful month. If you have some free time and want to visit during the month of May, you certainly may do so. Feel free to stop by our office, fill out a walk-in visitor form and grab a map of campus to explore on your own. We are more than happy to direct you and point out some of the highlights of campus to you and your family.
August has arrived, and with it, for many of us, has come the feeling that the end is near. The end of summer … the end of sleeping late, beach days and pool time … indeed, its back to school! You might find comfort in the fact that you’re not alone … its back to school for us as well. As my colleague Amanda wrote not long ago, for us here in Admissions, we’ve been planning our schedules and getting ready to have the rubber meet the road in just a few short weeks. We’ll be coming to your schools and college fairs before you know it; for many of us, in less than a month! For some of you reading this in Arizona and Florida, you’re already back; but for many others, you still have a few days or weeks to enjoy! How should you be spending that time, you ask? Why, visiting colleges of course … including, I should add, spending some time here at Holy Cross!
It’s August and it seems that summer has finally arrived on Mt St. James! The upside to all the rain we have had: a very green campus! While I admit to being a bit biased, I know that our visitors will agree that the campus looks amazing. If you haven’t visited yet, or if you would like to return, we have tour guides eager to show you around, and an enthusiastic staff ready to answer your questions. So stop by and say hello.
So it’s July and while you’re (we hope) sitting by the pool enjoying your summer break, we’re here in the office thinking about your college applications. Yes, we’re already planning for next year. Over the past few weeks we have begun planning our fall travel schedules. We put a lot of thought into what schools we will be visiting. We consider where we have visited in past years, where we receive applications from, and also where we would like to build awareness about Holy Cross. After much deliberating, scheduling and rescheduling, each counselor will have approximately a seven week itinerary of high schools, community based agencies and college fairs to attend spanning from September to November. We can’t always visit every school or attend every event we would like but we do our best to fit everything in. In August, our schedules will be posted on the web page, so be sure to check that out to see when we’ll be in your area. We’ll see you on the road this fall!
Ever wish someone from an admissions office would tell you exactly how to go about writing your college essay? Curious about the process of interviewing at a college or university?
I just got off the phone with my seventeen year old cousin who is inevitably freaking out. If you are a rising high school senior, like he is, you have a lot to think about. Face it, next year at this time you will have graduated from your respective high school and most likely will be attending college summer orientation. This upcoming year has a lot in store for you as you begin to finalize your college list, visit campuses, interview, write your essays, and send out numerous applications. You have a lot of goals that need to be set and prioritizing that has to be done. Trust me, if you work hard, everything will get done.
Summertime is finally here!
