Happy Halloween!

this is just so darn cute!

So yesterday was my last day of travel, and as much as I loved being out on the road, I am SO happy to be back! It's the little things you miss, you know? Like sleeping in your own bed with the sound of your own, familiar fan going, or driving on roads that you know like the back of your hand, or seeing family and roommates who are like family, or just being able to relax a bit. Yes, it's good to be back :-)

Yesterday was a great day of travel, however, because I got to see some awesome Halloween costumes on the students at the schools I visited! I was in Syracuse and visited four schools before heading home, and I was very surprised by the level of spirit that I saw from the students! I saw Rachel Berry from Glee, lots of Superheros, a few cowgirls (complete with a wagon and hay), a pig and a gorilla.

I find it absolutely hilarious when someone dressed up in a Halloween costume (or any costume for that matter) has to act normal. For example, when I was leaving one of the schools there was a teacher in the office dressed as Dumbledore from Harry Potter (fake flowing white beard and all) asking one of the secretaries where he was supposed to turn in the paperwork he was holding. I almost burst out laughing at the fact that the Dumbledore teacher was standing there, just like on any other day. The same goes from the Rachel Berry that I met - we had a full half an hour conversation about St. Mike's and her future while she was wearing a bedazzled pink headset microphone. I really like Halloween :-)

I hope that you get lots of treats and a few tricks thrown in too - and stay tuned for a couple posts about the fun "extracurricular" events of my travel season (Visiting a friend from camp in NYC! Taking Jazzercise in NJ & NY! Going to Mary Poppins with my mom! Going to a bunch of huge malls!)!

It's Application Season!!

I hope that this will help you with any questions that you have regarding what is required of your for you application to St. Mike's. A few points to clarify -

1. The application fee is waived if you visit St. Mike's BEFORE submitting your application - we cannot refund you after you pay the application fee, so please be aware of the requirement to visit before submitting your application.

2. We do not print our application, so when I say "one page front and back" I really mean two screens on the computer - it just helps me to visualize the actual length of the supplement by thinking of it this way, but don't let it confuse you...we're all online!

Hope this video helps - as always, e-mail me with questions (cpratt@smcvt.edu) or visit www.smcvt.edu/apply for all of this information in written form.

Best of luck!

Anatomy of a College Fair

whoa. 

College Fairs are a major part of my job as an Admission Counselor, but they can still be pretty overwhelming! I've observed a lot of students as they navigate a College Fair, and I've come up with a few tips for you guys -

First, you should make a plan of attack - I see lots of students wandering around aimlessly, and some come up to my table more than once, forgetting if they talked to me or not because of how many schools they've been to. If you can get to the fair a few minutes early that really helps because you can take a look at the list of colleges present and mark off the ones that you want to go to, and can cross them off after you've chatted with the rep. That way you won't miss anything - or accidentally go somewhere twice!

Typically, the popular schools in a particular area (think state schools or schools that are close to where the fair is located) will be swamped at first, so try to make it to your "off the beaten path" schools first. That way you talk to the rep without feeling rushed by other people and can go back to the local, more popular schools when they calm down a bit.

When you get to the table, ask the rep questions that you know you couldn't get the answers to on the school's website. For example, I could recite our Admission criteria in my sleep because of how many times I get asked for it, but you could easily find that on our website. Instead, try asking the rep if they are an alum and what their favorite part of their experience was, or what type of student would be a good match for the school, or ask for information about unique programs within the area you would like to study. Go beyond what you could find on the website and take advantage of the time that you have with a rep in front of you! This will also help you remember which school said what - every school's admission criteria is going to blend together if you hear 15 of them in the span of an hour, but asking unique questions will be memorable.

College fairs are overwhelming, but can be very helpful - plus there is lots of cool materials to take home with you to remind you of what websites to look at, and usually, reps will be more than willing to give you their business card so that you can contact them with further questions.

Good luck!!

Road Runner!

So this is officially my third week on the road and everything has been going great! I've visited lots of great schools and met with wonderful students and counselors, been to some great college fairs and had several Coffee with a Counselor meetings.

Admission Counselors tend to refer to themselves as "Road Runners" because of how much they are out and about and how savvy they get about navigating life out of a suitcase. Here are a few things I've learned so far -

1. WATER! Completely, utterly necessary at all times of the day. I have my regular water bottle going all the time, plus always grab a free bottle from college fairs, hotels, high school visits, wherever.

2. Shoes - you always know a rookie Admission Counselor by his/her (typically her) footwear - you won't catch me dead in anything that might squish my feet, give me a backache or make it any more uncomfortable to stand for several hours straight. I'm the queen of Dansko clogs!

3. U-Turns - apparently in New Jersey you don't make left turns. Very confusing at first, but now that I've got the U-Turn in my back pocket, I'm everywhere.

4. Hair - yep, my long locks are gone. I just couldn't do the road anymore with my hair constantly getting stuck, caught, pulled, yanked, tangled, whatever. Like the new 'do?

'Till next time, you can find me cruising the roads of NJ and NY looking for anyone who wants to hear about St. Mike's. Maybe you??