Tag: Facebook

Using Social Media to Explore Loyola

Using Social Media to Explore Loyola

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Hopefully, by this point you have a short list of schools left on your list (and hopefully these applications are complete, if not, submit them ASAP!) If you have narrowed it down and are waiting for decisions, use this time to get to know the schools better.

Social media is a great way to get to know schools more closely – by following these accounts, you can get an inside look at events, classes, experiences, and life at different universities. Use this as an excuse to spend a ridiculous amount of time getting lost in pages upon pages of social media.

Here is a collection of some of my favorite Loyola social media sites:

Twitter:

Facebook:

Pinterest:

Instagram:

Flickr:

YouTube:

Weibo:

 

Enjoy browsing! As always, contact me with any questions you might have!

 

 

A Summer To Do List for Prospective Students

A Summer To Do List for Prospective Students

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While the start of application season is still about a month away, there is still plenty to do for rising seniors this summer before the school year begins:

  1. The first step, create an appropriate email address to use for the college application process. Keep in mind that your parents, admission counselors, and high school counselors/teachers will likely see this. Avoid using your high school email address because these email addresses are often deactivated right when you graduate and you may miss out on emails from colleges that are sent over the summer after you graduate.
  2. Create a list of schools of interest and gather suggestions from your classmates, teachers, parents, and family friends by asking about their alma maters and collegiate experiences. Spend a lot of time on their websites researching student life, study abroad, athletics, available majors and minors, or anything else you deem a significant factor in your collegiate decision-making process. Don’t forget to sign up to receive more information from the school’s on their websites. Also, follow your prospective schools on Facebook and Twitter for up-to-date information.
  3. After you have a list, create a calendar with all application deadlines, scholarship deadlines, honors program application due dates, campus visit dates, etc. Once the school year starts, it’s important to keep track of all admission-related dates in addition to your homework assignments and test dates.
  4. Visit as many schools as you can over the summer while you don’t have to worry about missing classes or interrupting your extra-curricular schedule. If you can’t visit campus, look on school websites for virtual tours of residence halls or campus to at least get a feel for the institution.
  5. Start working on components of your application: You can start working on college essays before even opening the application. Click here for college essay tips!
  6. You can also start creating a resume. Be sure to include all leadership positions, community service, involvement with clubs/organizations/sports, internships, research experiences, ministry youth groups, part-time jobs, or whatever it is that you’re involved with outside of the classroom!
  7. Send your test scores to schools you are definitely applying to in the fall (Loyola’s ACT Code is 1064 and the SAT Code is 1412). If you’re unhappy with your original scores, sign up for a new test date and use your time off in the summer to prepare.
  8. Start searching for scholarships. Many scholarships are looking for students with very specific majors, interests, or skill-sets or cast a broad net when searching and use as many research resources as possible (websites like scholarships.com or fastweb.com; talking to your high school counselors about local opportunities; have your parents ask their employers about any company scholarships; etc.)
  9. Make a list of possible people to send in letters of recommendation for you- consider teachers, employers, coaches, supervisors, counselors (anyone who knows you professionally or academically). While it’s a little soon to ask them for a letter now, you certainly want to ask right away in the fall so they have plenty of time to write and send in letters before the application deadline.
  10. Enjoy your summer!

 

Facebook Page: Loyola University Chicago Class of 2016

Facebook Page: Loyola University Chicago Class of 2016

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I want to use this post to give a shootout to the official Loyola University Chicago Class of 2016 Facebook page.

There are a few thoughts I have about this page that I think may be helpful for prospective students.First of all, use this page.

When I was an admitted Freshman I made what I could call “medium” use of Facebook pages about Loyola. By that I mean I didn’t use them heavily, but more than just once or twice.

The whole reason I am making this post is because I am currently sharing my table in the IC with 2 people that I met through Facebook before school started. I am not saying that everybody you meet on the page will be your best friend, but although I have met many great friends in many different ways I still have kept up a few of the friendships that started there. It is a good place to start relationships. Then you can go from there and see which stick. A lot didn’t, but a few cool ones did.

Second, I have mixed feelings about using the page to recruit roommates. I have nothing against it, but I personally do not see any reason compelling enough to do so. My Freshman year I had a randomly assigned roommate. He turned out to be AWESOME. And I don’t mean in the “we are best friends today” sense of awesome.

I mean that he and I honestly had very little in common. Different family backgrounds, different fiscal backgrounds, different geological backgrounds, different tastes in music, different tastes in friends, different majors, you name it and we did not have it in common. Yet, he was the coolest roommate ever.

We would spend the entire day hanging out with other people. We had very few friends in common and even fewer activities in common. But when it was just the two of us hanging out in the room we got along famously. We found all sorts of interesting things to talk about and would stay up late talking all the time.

My point is that anybody you might meet on the Facebook page is just as likely to be a stranger and have less in common with you than you may think based on a few FB comments and conversations. At the same time, having a random roommate is just as unpredictable, but can end up being a great experience.

All I am trying to say is that you can go ahead and find a roommate on the page, and it may work out great! But if you don’t, the odds are just as good that you’ll have a similar experience with a random roommate. Because let’s face it, Facebook is still pretty random until you starting meeting people first and then friending them.

Other than that, I would just encourage anybody reading this to hop on over to the page and put up their major, residence hall, interests and any questions they have on the wall. I enjoy finding other Ad/PR, Communications, or Philosophy students on there and answering questions. So go ahead and ask!