Tag: Sacramento

Around the Country and Back Again

Around the Country and Back Again

It’s been a long October. I’ve been literally all over the country, visiting high schools and attending college fairs. At one point, I visited three time zones in less than 48 hours. I felt like some world famous rapper on a global tour. But I wasn’t on tour. And I am not a world famous rapper (yet). What am I really? A bit tired and an admission counselor. Curious as to where I’ve been?

Well my travel started in Columbus, OH in late September. I spent a couple days visiting high schools and eating Blizzards from a cool DQ north of the city.

Columbus reminded me a great deal of my home town, a bit smaller and a capitol city, of Sacramento. Speaking of home…

My first stop in October was to head back home to Sacramento, California.

(For some reason there’s a massive rabbit in Sacramento’s Airport)

I was lucky enough to head back to the Golden State to do some school visits/college visits. I don’t get to go back West Coast too often, so it was nice staying at home for a while. It was even nicer having a home cooked meal prepared when I finished college fairs late at night. Thanks Mom! I met a lot of great students while I was in Northern California. Many of the students I chatted with didn’t even know there was a Loyola in Chicago! I had to do some educating.

Next I flew back to Chicago for 30 some odd hours.

On Columbus Day I jetted to Dayton where I then drove to Cincinnati to stay for about a week.

This was my third time in the Queen City and I have to say it’s growing on me. The city is nestled in a beautiful group of tree covered hills. I came at a wonderful time of the year, just as the leaves began to turn yellow and gold for the start of the Fall.

I saw a number of students at all the high school visits and college fairs I attended. I felt pretty popular. The students were brimming with great questions about the application process and about life at the university.

While I loved meeting with students and their families, the best part of the trip was something I got to do on an afternoon off.

The Cincinnati Reds were in a playoff battle with The San Francisco Giants. The five game series was down to the last game at the Great American Ballpark. Being a Giants fan, I jumped at the chance to attend the game. This being a playoff game, I assumed the tickets would reach astronomical prices. I checked Stubhub before one of my visits to see if I could find anything in my price range. To my luck/surprise I found a $15 bleacher seat! I snagged that ticket ASAP and traveled to the game later that day. It was a beautiful day for a baseball game (check out the photo above), made even better when the Giants won.

After the game I had a couple more high schools visits then I drove back up to Dayton to catch my flight back to Chicago.

Now is when the real fun starts. We’ll start reviewing applications for the Fall 2013 semester very soon!

In the coming week, I’ll be sure to post some of my tips for applying to Loyola.

It’s That Time of Year Again

It’s That Time of Year Again

August is coming to an end. The warmth that has enveloped Chicago the last couple months will flee and we will return those cold winters the city is famous for. While summer turning to fall means colder weather, it also means travel season is approaching for admission counselors around the world.

Travel season is when admission counselors leave their offices and pound the pavement around the country. Much like Santa Clause, we spread joy and merriment wherever we go. Well, sorta. We talk to excited students and share wonderful words about our respective universities or colleges. It’s a great time of the year. It’s always nice to see different areas of the country and talk to perspective students about school.

This year will be my second travel season. I’m looking forward to spending time in my main travel territories of Cincinnati and Columbus. I’ll be visiting some new schools and attending new fairs that I’ll mix with some the same stops I had last year. My full travel schedule will be on our Undergraduate site shortly. I know you all wait with bated breath until then.

In addition to my travel in Ohio, I’ll also be venturing someone where new. Well, kind of new.

CA's capital

Early in October, I’ll be heading back home to Sacramento for a round of college fairs and high school visits. Loyola’s admission counselor responsible for California will be doing visits elsewhere on the west coast and asked me to cover for her. Boy, I’m glad she asked. It’ll be nice heading home for a short time. Sacramento’s falls tend to be pretty warm. It’ll be great going back to my high school, for the first time in some time.

While fall might signal the start of travel season it also means that a new round of students will start applying to Loyola. Loyola’s director of undergraduate admission, Lori Greene, posted some great tips for students applying this year.

I’ll be posting more before I hit the road. I’ll be sharing some of my tips and tricks for applying too.

See you soon class of 2017!

Photo From Flickr User: Franco Folini

What’s Up World?!

What’s Up World?!

Hello! My name is Alex Benson and I’m an undergraduate admission counselor here at Loyola. I’ll be blogging through out the year, so I thought I’d take some time to tell a little about myself.

I’m originally come from the great state of California. Specifically, Sacramento. I came to Loyola a couple years ago to attend the university. I came in my Sophomore year, as a transfer student, after spending a year at a community college back home.

While attending Loyola I studied Journalism with a minor in Visual Communication (our major for graphic design). So, I split my time between our two campuses while I was a student. I had a fantastic time as a student. I loved how well many of my classes integrated all the great resources available in Chicago. I think Chicago is a wonderful place to live and learn.

When I wasn’t chipping away at school work, I stayed active outside the classroom working for both the student newspaper (The Phoenix) and radio station (WLUW 88.7). I also stayed active physically, by playing intramural soccer in the fall and spring.

My job as an admission counselor is basically talking to incoming students about Loyola. A big part of my job is reviewing applications from prospective freshman. All the admission counselor have different areas of the country we’re responsible for when it comes to applicants. I have the greater Cincinnati, Columbus area and some of the more western suburbs of Chicago.

My blog posts will cover a variety of topics through out the year. I’ll share some different admission tips and tricks. I’ll also talk about the different events around campus. And from time to time, I’ll post updates from my travels.

Hope you enjoy what I have to say!