Month: August 2015

Welcome Class of 2019

Welcome Class of 2019

 

Happy first day of classes to all Ramblers, and specifically the Class of 2019!

It was so great to see everyone here on campus at Freshmen Convocation last Friday:

Students gather for Freshmen Convocation to kick off Welcome Week 2015!
Students gather for Freshmen Convocation to kick off Welcome Week 2015!
The Dean of Students, Director of ALumni Relations, Student Body President, and Director of Undergraduate Admission lead the Class of 2019 through the convocation walk around campus.
The Dean of Students, Director of ALumni Relations, Student Body President, and Director of Undergraduate Admission lead the Class of 2019 through the convocation walk around campus.
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Students walk through a tunnel of cheering faculty & staff during their Freshmen Convocation Walk.
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Students walk through a tunnel of cheering faculty & staff during their Freshmen Convocation Walk.
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Students walk through a tunnel of cheering faculty & staff during their Freshmen Convocation Walk.
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Students walk through a tunnel of cheering faculty & staff during their Freshmen Convocation Walk.
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Students walk through a tunnel of cheering faculty & staff during their Freshmen Convocation Walk.
The 10 BIGGEST Application Mistakes

The 10 BIGGEST Application Mistakes

 

Every year we read thousands of applications and every year we see the same common mistakes, while many do not instantly cause rejection, they’re still worth avoiding. Here are the top 10 common mistakes that you’ll want to avoid:

  1. Parents filling out the application – This is a student application! Not your parents. They should not be filling it out, You should.
  2. Missing the deadline – This is a horrific mistake to make because it can cause you to lose out on scholarship opportunities. The deadline for Freshmen applying for the Fall of 2016 is December 1st.
  3. Not submitting the optional essay. This can really help you out with your admission decision. This is your chance to talk to your admission counselor right as they’re about to make an admission decision take advantage of the opportunity! It can be a personal statement, a short story, poetry, an excerpt from a high school paper, or whatever you like. Feel free to get creative; one of the best essays I have ever read was about Skittles!
  4. Not submitting the optional resume. This can help you out a lot with scholarships. While it’s not required, you should take the time to give us this information – it doesn’t have to be fancy, a bulleted list in Microsoft Word will be fine.
  5. Using nicknames or incorrect information – This is a formal document, so use your legal information. Remember that you are committing to submitting truthful and honest answers in your application, so don’t lie (we almost always find out anyways).
  6. Not sending in your highest test score – if you’ve taken the ACT and SAT (or if you’ve taken one of the exams 5 times) make sure to send in your highest composite score since this will help you the most with admission & scholarship decisions.
  7. Uploading the wrong documents – Make sure you save essays and resumes clearly and that you submit the correct documents. We’ve received photos of celebrities instead of essays…. While entertaining, this will not help you out in terms of admission & scholarship awards.
  8. Asking the wrong person to write your letter of recommendation – Ask someone who will take the time to write you a personal letter (we can recognize the generic letters a mile away). Give them plenty of time to write your letter. If sending in multiple letters, don’t send more than 3 and make sure you’re only asking those who know you in a non-biased way – no moms/best-friends/sisters/neighbors/cousins/etc. I recommend asking people who know you in different capacities: a math teacher, a coach, a counselor, a supervisor, etc.
  9. Using the wrong email – 1. Use an appropriate and professional email address (nothing that you wouldn’t want your admission counselor to see, because we will see it!) 2. Again, do NOT use your parents email. This is not their application. 3. Using a high school assigned email address, as many times these emails are terminated right after graduation and we’ll still be trying to contact you after that point.
  10. Not keeping track of your information – Keep track of your username/email and password. This will allow you to easily access your Applicant Status Page throughout the year, which is your main portal for admission, event, and scholarship information.

Now go forth and complete your applications!