Thinking About Attending College in New Orleans?

Last week your college counselors were down in New Orleans for the NACAC Conference - try to imagine 6,000 college counselors and college admissions officers talking about the exciting world of college admissions. It's actually a very interesting conference and a great opportunity for us to learn about colleges. We made a point to slip out of the convention center and round the clock meetings to visit the wonderful students and admissions officers at Loyola and Tulane.

We were charmed by New Orleans from the very beginning! We stayed at the Marriott on Canal Street in the French Quarter and  had a wonderful time exploring the boutiques and amazing restaurants in the French Quarter. To get to Tulane and Loyola (located in uptown New Orleans in the gorgeous Garden District), we hopped on the San Francisco style streetcar to take a 15 minute ride to the universities. There were several families on the streetcar who were headed to these campuses to take the admissions tour so it was fun to chat with them about their college process. Obviously we just love to talk about college admissions!

We hopped off the streetcar and were standing directly in front of Loyola's main entrance. Loyola and Tulane are located right next door to each other, and both boast stately main entrances that face  the main thoroughfare and offer a big southern welcome. Directly across the street from both campuses is an enormous park, full of green space for exercising and socializing. There were lots of joggers out and about, and the moderate weather means lots of outdoor time year round.

We visited both campuses at a very early hour on Saturday morning so there weren't many students walking around either campus, but we certainly felt the Jesuit influence and wonderful spirit of Loyola in architecture, art, and statues around campus. It is certainly a special place! The beautiful green campuses of both universities flow seamlessly into one another. In the midst of  walking around one campus, you can easily find yourself on the other campus. As one Tulane student said, “the new dining hall at Loyola is amazing with floor to ceiling glass and the food is so fantastic that we eat there regularly.” The two schools share more than eating quarters as you can take classes at Tulane and have them transfer to Loyola and vice versa.  Speaking of dining halls… it was not lost on us that in Tulane’s student center features not only fantastic dining options and Frank Lloyd Wright style indoor waterfalls, but also an Aveda salon! Where were these things when we were in college?!

We also took a tour of Tulane's athletic center, which is an amazing facility that has something for everyone. They offer everything from Zumba to squash, and to reward yourself for finding the fitness center on a Saturday morning there is a smoothie bar in the lobby.

Here are a few pictures from our visits:

Loyola:

The Aveda salon in Tulane's student center:

Computer lab in Loyola's library:

Tulane:

Fun times in the French Quarter:

Published by:SKC and TSM

A Reminder About Early Action at Boston College

We just received a reminder from the Director of Admissions at Boston College about their Early Action policy:

Boston College respectfully requests that students applying to a binding Early Decision program not apply through our Restrictive Early Action program. They are permitted to apply to other Early Action programs, including those of Georgetown and the University of Notre Dame.

FYI, this is Georgetown's Early Action policy also. This is a good reminder that you are responsible for reading the fine print about the admissions policies at procedures at each of the schools on your list. We try to check and doublecheck each transcript request that comes in, but ultimately you need to make sure you are in compliance! If you have questions, see your college counselor.

Published by TSM

Early Decision Stats for 20 schools

I think Early Decision could be described as the best of times and the worst of times. I won't get on my soap box here about all of the angst that this policy creates in the admissions process for families and students. 

I had FOUR discussions with students today about ED and the question everyone wants to know is: Will applying Early Decision to a college help me get in? The answer: maybe. In my experience, Early Decision usually will not help you get into one of the highly selective "reach" schools on your list if you are not in the range of students who are typically admitted to that college (note that I said "usually" - sometimes this does work.) However, Early Decision may enhance your chances of getting into a school that is a great match for you (you have the GPA, scores, and strength of program similar to students who have been admitted in the past), but the college is so darn competitive in the Regular Decision process that all bets are off.

If you are confused, maybe this piece from The Daily Beast will help. I'm not sure how long the link will work, but the article, Top 20 Colleges Which Love Early Decision Applicants, breaks down the ED and RD acceptance rates at 20 schools. Thanks to the mom of one my seniors for sending this along!


http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2011/09/05/colleges-which-love-early-decision-applicants-photos.html

Published by TSM

The Award for the Prettiest Viewbook Goes to...

Sweet Briar College! One of my favorite parts of working in college admissions was working on publications! I loved working with graphic designers to develop printed materials that represted the culture of the universities where I worked. While we turn to viewbooks for information less and less, I still think it's fun to see how a college chooses to market itself.

Sweet Briar's pink and brown color scheme certainly stands out from the stacks of primarily colored brochures that are taking over our offices this fall.

To check out the brochure, or learn more about this college, see your college counselor!

Published by: TSM

Kenyon College Travel Grant Application

Are you interested in Kenyon but cannot afford the cost of a visit to campus? Kenyon offers a Trustee Opportunity Travel Grant for qualifying first-generation and American students of color that will cover up to 90% of their costs to fly to Columbus Ohio, where the nice folks from Kenyon will pick you up and transport you to campus in Gambier (about an hour from the airport).

If you are interested in applying for this travel grant, please see your college counselor!

Kenyon's mailing to us gave a one sentence summary of the college which I love: We are a traditional college with a twist - embracing American Studies as well as American History, offering a neuroscience course team-taught by a philosopher and a scientist, celebrating the intersections of fields of knowledge in every course.

You might also be interested in knowing that Kenyon's acceptance rate last year was about 33% and their middle 50% SAT scores were as follows: CR 640-740, Math 610-690, Writing 640-730. Middle 50% for the ACT composite was 28-32.

When we receive opportunities like this, we list advertise them on the Family Connections website under Updates. This site is updated daily as we clear out our inboxes so check it frequently!

Published by TSM

Happy First Day of School!

Well Class of 2012, it all begins today. Congratulations on finally being seniors, taking over the Lodge, and being one year away from COLLEGE! Speaking of college - clever transition, right? - here is the rundown on the next few weeks.

• We will be visiting your English classes over the next 2 weeks to go over the deadlines and procedures for college applications.
• Your parents are invited to Senior College Night on September 14th.
• You will attend an essay writing workshop led by Parke Muth, Senior Assistant Dean at UVA who has been widely published on the subject of college essay writing. He is also an incredibly engaging speaker, brilliant conversationalist, and all around nice person! We are incredibly lucky that he has agreed to lead our workshop.
• Our calendars are up! Please sign up to see your college counselor as soon as you get your back to school bearings so that we can go over your college application plans.

That's all for now! I don't know about you, but I don't mind the dismal weather today because it's not like we could be at the beach or the pool anyway.
Published by TSM.