Loyola University Chicago – Page 2 – College Admission at Loyola

Joppa Farm Here I Come!

By | March 1, 2016

Spring break is only a few days away!!! I am really excited because I will be spending my spring break at Joppa Farm, located in Tennessee. I never have been to Tennessee so this will be a wonderful experience! How did I end up choosing to spend my spring break in Tennessee? Loyola’s Alternative Break Immersion (ABI) program provide opportunities for students to expand their knowledge and be involved in service and cultural immersion within a host community during university breaks. Let me tell you, I did not know about the ABI program or what it was when I first came to Loyola. So, I decided to do more research and asked friends about ABI. I finally found out what an ABI was, it is a program where students would go to a place to learn about a community they are living in and learn about the four different pillars: live simply, build community, deepen faith, and do justice. You can do an ABI during your winter break, spring break and/or summer as well! There are many places you can go such as New York, Oregon, West Virginia, Mexico, El Salvador, Jamaica and many more!

The reason I chose Joppa Farm, Tennessee as my ABI experience is because it is open to only first-year students. I really liked that because I can meet other freshman just like me and get to know them better and build relationships. Also, I decided to do this trip because in their community, there are Latino farm workers and their families and I feel like I can relate to them because I come from a Mexican family. I want them to feel comfortable talking to me in Spanish and having someone that may understand what they are going through.

Now, I just have to pack and get my things together to leave Saturday morning and get ready for a nice 9-hour trip so I will be getting to know my peers very well! I really can’t wait to see how my spring break will be! Once I come back, I’ll tell you all about my spring break trip at Joppa Farm, Tennessee!

Giving Thanks For LUC

By | November 29, 2015

I feel bad for Thanksgiving. This perfectly good holiday has become overshadowed by the upcoming Christmas season. Rather than serving as a pause and time to give thanks with our loved ones it has become the perfect long weekend to get the best deals on the perfect presents and set up the Christmas tree. I’ll admit that this year I was out shopping on Black Friday and had been listening to Christmas music since the week before, but I still think that Thanksgiving should be given the credit it deserves.

I want this holiday to receive the credit that its due, because I for one have so very much to be thankful for. My thanksgiving weekend was filled with quality family time, reuniting with high school friends, and of course good food—all of which I am insanely thankful for. But I’d like to send some thanks Loyola’s way because it too has brought me plenty to be thankful for in the last 2 ½ years.

LUC thank you for…

The city. I’m grateful that you have given your students the city of Chicago to explore. You’ve never tried to keep us hidden on the Lake Shore Campus, but instead encourage us to enjoy all the exciting things our neighborhood and our city offers us. And I’m always grateful that we’ve got a UPASS to get us around, plus a campus right in the middle of downtown.
Jesuit values. Before I started school at Loyola I didn’t even know what a Jesuit was, but now that I’ve seen them in action I’ve become grateful that it was upon their values our school was founded. Our mission for social justice is one that seeps into nearly every course I’ve had and is certainly a message I will carry with me far beyond my college years.
Experiences abroad. I quite honestly would not have become the person I am today without having spent a semester at Loyola’s John Felice Rome Center. LUC thank you for encouraging your students to take a leap of faith and spend time abroad while we are in college, and thank you for making that opportunity so easily accessible to us.
Caring for the environment. You were not given the title of “The Greenest University in the Midwest” on accident. The initiative you take to make our campus one that will leave a small footprint on this planet is widely appreciated by your students. Thank you for recycling bins, water bottle refill stations, and geothermal powered buildings; your efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.
Our professors. The reason we are here is to receive a high quality education and that would not be true of this institution if your professors didn’t strive to meet that standard. I’ve seen professors teach classes of 200 and still show us how very much they care and each semester I have a professor that blows me away with their knowledge, expertise, and ability to inspire.

Thank you Loyola, for all that you do.

Learning Loyola’s Lingo

By | November 15, 2015

In the same way that you’ll never understand the language in a foreign country you’ve never studied, you’ll never understand the ins-and-outs of Loyola without brushing up on the lingo. So to get you prepared for campus I’ll give you a quick LUC dictionary:

Ramblers (ram-B-lur-z)
mascot
1. Loyola’s mascot, represented by LU Wolf, formerly represented by Bo Rambler, which was short for Hobo. In 1990 the university stopped using Bo based on the fact that using a homeless man as the mascot for a top university was unfitting and decided to use a wolf instead because of the animal’s tie to St. Ignatious
2. The name is derived from Loyola’s previous mascot-less football team of 1926. The team travelled extensively across the United States earning the nickname “ramblers”, the football team is now gone, but the nickname lives on

LSC (el-S-see)
campus
1. Lake Shore Campus
2. Loyola’s main campus located in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood with more than 40 buildings and housing over 3,000 undergrad students
3. As the name implies, the Lake Shore Campus has one of its borders along the shore of Lake Michigan offering beautiful views and the perfect place to study or relax

The IC (eye-see)
place
1. The Information Commons
2. The floor-to-ceiling windowed building (connected to the Library) that sits on the shore of Lake Michigan
3. Three floors of pure study space, with every resource a student could possibly desire

Madonna (mah-D-on-ah)
chapel
1. In no relation to the popstar, Madonna della Estrada is Loyola’s on-campus chapel
2. This stunningly beautiful chapel hosts mass daily and is a proud symbol of the Catholic faith this university is rooted in
3. Voted as one of the most beautiful campus churches in the United States

Core (k-oar)
curriculum
1.Loyola’s layered system of “gen eds” that involves 3 credit hours of college writing seminar, artistic knowledge, quantitative analysis, and ethics and 6 credit hours of historical knowledge, literary knowledge, scientific literacy, philosophical knowledge, and theological and religious studies
2.Designed to provide a well-rounded education for all students while promoting four vales essential to a Loyola education: understanding diversity, understanding and promoting justice, understanding spirituality or faith in action, and promoting engaged learning
3.Required for all students, but some course exemptions apply depending on your major

Sakai (seh-K-eye)
online resource
1. Accessed using your university ID and password
2. An online tool used by Loyola students and professors to access assignments and resources for each of your courses

LOCUS (low-k-us)
online resource
1. Accessed using your university ID and password
2. Loyola’s online student portal used for class scheduling, posting grades, requesting transcripts, paying bills, registering for housing, and more
3. At times complex, but with trial and error will become a familiar and frequently used resource

LUREC (loo-R-eck)
retreat campus
1. Loyola University’s Retreat and Ecology Campus
2. Located in Woodstock, IL this campus is used to host many Loyola sponsored retreats for students throughout the year
3. The campus is dedicated to restoring the wetlands and woodlands it calls home and is also home to an organic farm and apiary, much of this produce is used and served in LUREC’s kitchen

Most Common College Essay Mistakes

By Lindsy Fagerstrom | September 15, 2015

Every year admission counselors read hundreds and hundreds of college essays, and every year we are awed by both phenomenal essays, but we do still see essays that could use a little help. Today’s blog will cover some of the more common essay mistakes we see when reviewing applications, so seniors – be sure to avoid these:

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.

Not reading first. What is the question? How many words can you use? This is one of the biggest mistakes an applicant makes by submitting an essay that doesn’t answer the question or fails to stay within the guidelines (relatively speaking). While we don”t have a particular question or prompt you must adhere to, we do have a word limit!

Repeating the resume. You may be asked to submit a resume of activities as a part of your application. Do not use your essay to just reiterate your resume by listing all of your activities again. This is a new supporting document to your application, so tell us something we haven’t already read.

Not taking a risk. Some of the best essays I ever read started with an unusual statement. To this day, the essays I remember most are those who took risks and wrote about creative, unique, and unsuspecting topics; like my all-time favorite essay, which was about Skittles!

Forgetting the basics. Spell check. Read it out loud for grammar and transitions. Type it. Use a font size easy to read. If you used the same essay for a different school, take the name of that school off the top of the essay and/or check the body of the essay so it doesn’t appear there, either. If you e-mail the essay or upload it to your application account, put your name and address on it.

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. We’ll accept essays in most formats, but not via Google Docs.

If you have any questions about the application process don’t hesitate to reach out the Undergraduate Admission office at 1-800-262-2373 or via email at admission@luc.edu. Best of luck to everyone with their essays!

Congratulations to the Class of 2015!

By Lindsy Fagerstrom | May 6, 2015

This week on campus we are celebrating the 145th annual commencement ceremony of our Class of 2015 graduates! Needless to say, it’s an incredibly exciting time for the thousands of students graduating after putting in years of hard work and effort. You can’t miss the mix of emotions in the faces of the grads as they walk across the stage and are handed their diploma, it’s a mix of excitement, fear, hope, sadness, optimism, relief, and maybe even a little exhaustion leftover from finals week.

The Loyola community is incredibly proud of this year’s class and knows they will go on to lead extraordinary lives and that they will remain part of the Loyola community as newest alumni.

While many of our students are completing their time at Loyola, we’re equally as excited to welcome the Class of 2019 to campus next fall! But before we can do that, we know they have graduation ceremonies all over the world to attend first, so to them we say CONGRATULATIONS!

Embrace every last moment of high school and make sure to thank and cherish all of those – teachers, counselors, coaches, supervisors, lab partners, teammates, classmates, parents, grandparents, relatives, siblings, friends, and best friends – who contributed towards your experiences and success.

Completing high school is an accomplishment to be proud of, but your journey is just beginning. We look forward to transforming your life during the next 4 years so that you, too, can become Loyola alumni who are leading their own extraordinary lives!

Congrats, grads!

Job Hunting

By Stephanie Rodriguez | May 3, 2015

My graduation is T H I S Friday at 3 pm! I am so excited, but so are my parents so I can start job hunting! I want to share a website that has really helped me out to get organized on my job search. Sorry for the short post, but after having a semester full of detailed posts, I figured I would end by keeping them shorter. 🙂 One more post…wait for it!

Click the link below:

http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/professors-guide/2010/03/31/10-tips-for-college-students-looking-for-a-job-in-a-tough-market

Graduation Dress

By Stephanie Rodriguez | May 1, 2015

Graduation is quickly approaching, and who is freaking out about what to wear!? Luckily, I already knew what I wanted for my special day. I definitely wanted to go with a Lilly Pulitzer dress, so dress shopping was much easier for me. I went to the Von Maur in Lombard, IL because they were the only ones that carried Lilly, anyway. I found so many cute dresses, but I had arrived so late! 🙁 Most of the dresses were extra small or sizes way too big!

I was really hoping to buy a white dress, but I figured that would be too messy. Therefore, I chose the same dress that I liked in white, but in a very pretty light blue color. I hope it is not too bright, but it is very simple. I cannot wait to wear it! I am so happy that I bought the dress ahead of time because I hear too many people that are struggling. However, if you are graduation next year: DO SHOP EARLY. I mean about a month before, because two weeks before will only give you a dress that you like, but NOT love.

My boyfriend who will be joining me on the 8th was also debating on what to wear! If there are any guys that have any ideas, let me know down below! I want to hear feedback, please. 🙂 ttyl!

Recorded Lectures: a love and hate relationship

By Stephanie Rodriguez | April 22, 2015

I cringe every time a professor tells me that they record his or her lectures. Why? Well, at that point, he or she is giving me the chance to not listen. I am tempted and the struggle is real. However, I understand why the professors do it. I really do! I love hand writing all of my notes. I am a fast writer, but sometimes I cannot get every single word that the professor is saying. Sometimes, it is so difficult to understand what he or she is saying. Sometimes, my thought processes are faster than my typing. There are pros and cons to every method of note taking. This is why recorded lectures have been very beneficial to me as well.

When reading my notes, I find uncompleted sentences and sometimes I do not even understand my own handwriting! However, these recorded lectures do allow me to follow my notes and clarify what the professor was saying. This is a pro, right! This is like listening to the lecture twice. Then, there are other days…

…Days which I find myself just sitting in class. Sitting in class and that is all. I am not listening to a single word the professor is saying. This is just very easy to do since I know that I can just listen to lecture later at home. To me this is a con because it is not fair for the professor or for you. The professor is obviously trusting that you will still listen in class, regardless whether she uploads the lecture or not. This is why I cringe every single time a professor says that he or she will record the lecture. It is a love and hate relationship! Do you love it more or hate it more? Please leave your comments below. What are your thoughts on this?

I think that recorded lectures are great for reference use while studying, but you cannot solely rely on them! I understand how some commuters appreciate this because accidents happen and sometimes they are unable to make it to class. We are all old enough to understand that recorded lectures are not substitutions for class time. We should still go to class, right?

The end of my internship

By Stephanie Rodriguez | April 19, 2015

Last Wednesday was the last day of my internship at Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation. It was difficult to wrap my head around the fact that I had been interning for 3x a week for a total of 3 months. I do not know how 3 months went by so quickly! It was so sad to leave all of my good friends at Bear Necessities. The amount of time and effort they put into granting a “Bear experience” for a child with cancer is beyond amazing!

I never realized how time consuming it is to plan an experience with someone. We have to make many calls to find someone who is willing to help us with donations (trust me, there are people out there who are not willing to help). I have gained so much knowledge during my short time at Bear Necessities. I became a pro at sales-force and filing/sending non-profit paper work. I learned how to talk to businessmen and leave very detailed 10-second voice-mails. I learned that you do not stop at a no. I learned how a desperate and helpless mother sounds like, but I also learned how happy a child can sound like. I learned that people are not nice, but I learned that some are willing to give more than they have.

This internship, not only brightened me with new knowledge, but it touched me spiritually. Working as a Certified Nurses’ Assistant for 5 years, I became very good at talking to family members after the death of a father or mother. I became good at this because this was all I would see. I was able to talk about the wonderful life that this person lived, and reminisced with the other family members about his or her life. But what do you say to mothers who have lost their one year old? This internship opened up challenges, but nonetheless made more conscious about a different aspect on life.

I am happy to say that my time with Bear Necessities is not completely over, yet. I loved this internship so much that the 20 hours a week was something I looked forward to every week. I believe that it emanated to them because I was asked if I could keep volunteering with the Spanish-speaking families. All I have to do is make calls and translate; of course, I said yes! I look forward to this new adventure, because the excitement on the kids’ voices is indescribable! Next week, is my first week making phone calls with the Spanish-speaking families; I will keep you updated 🙂

Employee Appreciation Day

By Stephanie Rodriguez | April 18, 2015

Walking into my exam, last Thursday I realized that I needed my coffee fix. I am a coffee drinker, yes. Coffee is on deck 24/7, like almost every other fellow rambler! I decided to stop and get a coffee when I saw Brenda! I have known Brenda for a long time, like Rambler Room long time! She has always been so welcoming and friendly. When I saw her, I had to stop her and congratulate her for Employee Appreciation Day. I only knew about it because I heard another worker talking about it.

The coffee shops were decorated with balloons and the employers were wearing beads. I thought it was a very nice gesture, and I hope they were thanked by all of their hard work! Brenda and I talked for a while about the new shop and how much Loyola has changed. We were both reminiscing about the Mertz dining hall and Rambler room. These memories made me feel so sad that I was graduating! It has been a long time coming and Loyola became my home. It is so difficult to wrap my head around the fact that I will never step foot as an undergraduate, again.

Brenda congratulated me for graduating and asked me what my future plans were. She told me that she was excited for me and that she hopes to see me again, some day! I think I will. The friends that you make at Loyola become lifetime friends. I never realized how true this was: you meet your best friends in college.

Thank you for the friendships, Loyola!