I'm Moving

OK I am not leaving WPI...but my blog is moving...after my first 117 posts we decided to incorporate the blogs of our admissions staff members into one....Adam Epstein, Liza Michie (a new addition!) and I will all be contributing posts to http://wp.wpi.edu/counselors/

I hope that you'll continue to follow the happenings in our office!!

Ed

Time to sign the letters!!

It's been a busy weekend already in the Connor household. A Christmas party last night, a breakfast with Santa this morning (my son had a ball!!), a bit of Christmas shopping, and of course signing the Early Action acceptance letters.

For all of you anxious to hear about your application to WPI we hope to have all the letters in the mail by Wednesday. I'll be busy signing letters over the next couple of days. I am about to start with the Ds...I've already signed dozens of letters headed across the US and around the globe...Worcester to Walpole and Peach Tree City to Paris!!

Hang in there...you'll be hearing soon.

Ed

PS - We still have about 130 applications that are incomplete...if you think one might be yours give the office a call on Monday.

WPI Basketball on ESPN!!

Well I didn't think I'd ever see WPI basketball on ESPN, but last night it happened...almost:) The Men's Basketball team took on Harvard and while the game wasn't televised on ESPN the score made it to the ticker on ESPN!! It doesn't often happen that a Division III basketball team gets coverage (in any way shape or form!) on ESPN, but actually it was the second time in the last 3 years.

Unfortunately both times were in losing efforts. In addition to the Harvard game, WPI was featured when Bobby Knight set the all-time coaching mark for wins in men's college basketball in 2007. WPI has the distinction on being on the losing end of Coach Knight's first NCAA basketball victory when he was coaching the Army collegiate team.

So what about last night? Keep in mind that Harvard just beat Division I Colorado and only lost to Michigan by 3 points...so this seemed like a mismatch for the ages!! When all was said and done I will have to say I was very proud of my alma mater. Harvard held a double digit lead for much of the game, but when WPI had the chance to cut it to 5 points in the second half I thought the impossible just might happen...Unfortunately the Harvard team proved too strong and WPI went down in defeat 69 to 54. I think the Engineers surprised everyone with their strong outing and this contest should only help them in the Division III rankings in the weeks ahead.

All the winter sports teams are out to great starts and hopefully you can come out to a game!!

Ed

Happy Thanksgiving!!

After a hectic couple of weeks in the Admissions Office I am looking forward to the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Our Early Action Rd 1 deadline passed on the 10th and we were excited to see our applicant pool continue to grow. We received just over 2,000 applications which represents a 20% increase over last year. We'll be busy reviewing the applications over the next few weeks. Some are sure to be read between the main course and dessert on Thanksgiving!! If you are interested in who will be reviewing your application you can learn more about our staff here...

If you are one of our Early Action applicants we'll be sending out decision letters in time for you to receive them by the 20th of December. Please make sure that your application is complete...we do need first quarter/marking period grades before we can review your application. We'll be reaching out to applicants and schools to follow-up on missing items, but don't forget you can check your application status online. You will need the login and PIN that were sent in your acknowledgement mail and letter. If you have questions just let us know!

We hosted our 2nd open house of the fall on November 11th and were pleased to see almost 500 students in attendance. The weather cooperated and we were able to provide a traditional fall New England day for all of the guests in attendance from outside the area:)

Last but not least we will be launching a new Admissions web site tomorrow. This is phase one of a two-part project. You'll notice a new admissions home page and redesigned pages on all levels of the site. Next time you visit admissions.wpi.edu be prepared for something new and exciting!! If you are a frequent visitor you won't notice many changes to the architecture and the links off of the home page...most things should still be easy to fine. Phase two will include some tweaks to the architecture and some new/refreshed content on may pages of the site. Be on the look out for phase two early in 2011.

I've worked closely with Julie Chapman and Adam Epstein in our office on the web project. We worked in conjunction with the WPI Marketing and Communications Office over the last few months and we are all very excited with the results. I appreciate all the hard work and time to pull the project together. Please consider sharing any feedback by e-mailing me or commenting here on my blog...

I wish you and yours a very safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Ed

New Sports and Recreation Center Taking Shape

October has been a busy month in the Office of Admissions and on campus as a whole. Our staff has been busy visiting high schools and conducting interviews around the globe. We'll visit about 300 high schools in October and interview over 200 students away from campus by the time the month ends. We had a great open house on Columbus Day with over 1,100 visitors on campus. It's hard to believe that the fall recruitment season is starting to wind down already.

On campus the first day of classes for B-term kicked off today and all of our students were back from fall break looking a bit more relaxed. In addition, today our new sports and recreation center reached another major building milestone with the start of steel erection for the building’s structural frame! The first steel column was placed on the southwest end of the building (below Morgan Hall and near the running track).

The next milestone is scheduled to happen on Thursday November 4th as we begin to erect nine 216-ton pre-cast concrete “ribs” of the Natatorium. If you are in the neighborhood come by and check it out!!

After 5 months of working “in the hole on the hill”, it will be great to start to see the structure rise up and the building take shape over the next several months.

Ed

PS - Don't forget our Early Action Rd I deadline is just around the corner...November
10th...call or e-mail with any last minute questions.

October In the Office of Admissions

Well after a long hot summer the last couple of weeks have been damp and chilly. September is typically one of the quietest months for visitors to WPI as everyone is busy returning to school and getting into the new routine. Given the weather and the rainy tours probably a good thing!! That will all change with our first open house of the year next Monday. We are expecting about 400 students and 1,000 visitors overall...extended forecast looks good:)

In addition to September being a quiet month for visitors, there are many days when the staff offices are dark. From mid-September until mid-November most staff members are traveling across the US and around the globe meeting with counselors, families and students. As we speak there are WPI Admissions Staff in Louisiana, Minnesota, Maryland, New York, and Connecticut.

If you come for a visit in the next couple of weeks you are likely to find Julie Chapman or me in the office, along with another counselor or two in between their recruitment trips. However even I get out of the office a bit as well. Last week I was off to St. Louis for the National Association of College Admissions Counselors Conference. This is the "main event" each year for the profession.

In addition to a couple of thousand admissions counselors, the conference welcomes hundreds of guidance and college counselors, as well as many companies with educational related products. It was a short trip...2 nights...but a busy couple of days. Yes I did squeeze in a short steamboat ride on the Mississippi, but in addition got to attend a couple of sessions, meet with a reporter from CBS Moneyline, touch base with some vendors we team up with, and connect with colleagues at many of the other technological universities across the country. In addition several schools (MIT, Carnegie Mellon, RIT, U-Miami, WPI and others) hosted a dessert reception for guidance counselors from across the country. I was pleased to see over 200 guidance counselors in attendance. A good time was had by all and hopefully the counselors learned a bit about our schools as well.

That was my excitement for the fall...although I will be in Framingham, Maynard, and Lincoln next week. Maybe I'll see you there:)

Ed

Brochures, Photos and the Web

I trust that many high school seniors return home everyday to a mailbox full of college brochures. Yes, I have seen the videos on what happens to them, including the video of a young man weighing everything he had received. Now I will say WPI probably does contribute our fair share, but as many schools we also spend a lot of time connecting with students electronically. Whether it is e-mail, Facebook, or our own website we try to provide important and pertinent information to prospective students, families and the counseling community.

I am pleased to share that we are working on a new undergraduate admissions web site and we hope it will be live in the next 5 to 6 weeks. This is an exciting project for us and we do hope that everyone will be excited with the results. I am spending a fair amount of time on the project, and even helping out a bit with photo shoots...(see above right). One of the featured elements will be our new virtual tour, Eye on WPI, which recently went live. I hope you are enjoying the virtual tour and that you'll find time to check out the new web site as well!!

Ed

WPI Virtual Tour

After several months in the making, WPI's new virtual tour, "Eye on WPI" launched on Friday. I am very excited about this great new option for students, parents and counselors. It has been designed to help you learn more about the WPI experience, and can be customized to meet your needs. I hope you'll spend a few minutes to check it out.

Enjoy the holiday weekend.


Ed

2 weeks and counting...

It is hard to believe freshman orientation is just around the corner. The orientation programs kick off two weeks from today with an extended orientation for international students and the full orientation beginning two weeks from Sunday. Whats even harder to believe is that classes begin three weeks from today!!




We've been welcoming dozens of visitors to campus each day checking out WPI for the first time, but we haven't forgotten about the Class of 2014!! We've seen some of you on campus taking a peek at your residence hall, buying books, and just checking things out for one last time. In addition to these "unofficial" visits we've been happy to partner with the Alumni office to sponsor a number of BBQs for incoming students over the last couple of weeks. Several events were held across the Northeast, with the final event held last evening in Worcester. We had about 100 people in attendance. Over 25 incoming students attended, along with a number of parents and family members. It was great to see so many people in attendance and a great time was had by all!!





Enjoy the rest of the summer...we'll see you on campus soon.



Ed

What to eat in Worcester

A question we often get is how is the food on campus? I'll have to say it's great. Lots of options in the dining halls, an on-campus pub, Dunkin Donuts, Quiznos and more!! But if that's not enough you don't have to wander far from campus to find great seafood at the Sole Proprietor, great pizza at Tech Pizza, and solid burgers at the Boynton, great sandwiches at New England Roast Beef, and for those venturing a bit further, classic hot dogs at Coney Island Hot Dogs right here in Worcester!!.

As you might guess from some of my favorites I am not a vegan or even a vegetarian, but for those of you who are take a closer look at Worcester...Earlier this month PETA named Worcester a top 10 veg-friendly small city in the US. Now I will have to admit I haven't been to many of the restaurants mentioned in the article, but it certainly is another testament to the great food one can find all over the city!!

Next time you visit campus just ask the Admissions Office for culinary suggestions...we'll be happy to help!!

Ed

Academic Visit Days

This year's academic visit days started off with a bang!! We welcomed close to 50 families to campus today. In addition to touring the campus and learning about the admissions process, the families had a chance to attend a general engineering overview and to learn more about our Global Perspective Program through special presentations offered during the day. These programs are a great way for families to enhance their visits to campus. If you are thinking of visiting campus soon check out the offerings over the next two weeks.

Ed

Videos, Videos, Videos

Over the last several months the admissions office has been upgrading our video content and we are on the cusp of several new releases. We wrapped up a 10 minute overview video in the spring. So far we've shared that with some of our admitted students back in April and a group of visiting guidance counselors last week. This video is typically shown at open houses and off- campus receptions, but it will be up on our YouTube channel soon.

We are also putting the finishing touches on our new virtual tour, "Eye on WPI". If all goes well this should be launched in early August!! We are very excited about this new feature which will allow students to choose from 15 short videos or create their own video by picking the topics that they are most interested in learning more about.

Last but not least Adam Epstein is working with the Academic Technology Center here at WPI to create a ton of new video content for our YouTube channel. This will include interview with faculty, staff and students.

Be sure to check out the web site for all this new content in August!!

Ed

Frontiers at WPI

It's hard to believe that the WPI's Frontiers summer program has been going strong for 27 years!! This years program kicked off on Sunday and we welcomed over 180 students to campus from around the US and from around the globe. The program continues to expand each year, with this year being the biggest program yet. Last year we added a second session specifically for our Robotics Engineering students. As you might imagine that program filled quickly and we are expecting another great group of students for that program in 10 days.

I had the chance to meet some of the students and many of the family members during move in day on Sunday. I realize for some families this may be a stressful couple of weeks as their son or daughter is away from home for the first name ever...and still others may be enjoying the quiet:)
Overall I can assure you the students are having a great time in and out of the classroom. We have some great activities planned over the coming days and will get to know many of them a bit better as they may choose to schedule an interview with our office over the next few days.

Looking forward to Session II...

Ed

Summer break and new rankings

The summer break is flying by...almost 2 months since classes ended and new students will be arriving on campus in just over 6 weeks. Visitors to campus have been increasing day by day and July and August always prove to be a couple of our busiest months of the year.

If you are planning a visit to campus consider one of our academic visit days later in July and early August. They are a great way to learn more about the undergraduate programs and opportunities on campus.

Also keep an eye out on the WPI website for more news about our latest ranking...#14 in the country for return on investment. The ranking looked at the return on investment of graduates over the past 30 years and it came as no surprise that WPI shined. Check our the Business Week article for more details. (Also check out the tables for more complete rankings.)

Hope to see you on campus this summer...

Ed

Time Flies

Wow I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since my last post. April is a traditionally busy month in the admissions world and things typically quiet down a bit in May...but not this year!!

While the office was fairly quiet in May, my family and I moved at the end of the month. We'd been in the same place for 8 years and it is amazing how much stuff one can gather it 8 years!!

So what else happened at WPI since my last post? Here's a top ten list of sorts....in no particular order:)

We held two very popular Closer Look Programs for Admitted Students

Our 2010 Commencement which included Curt Schilling as the Commencement Speaker

The ground breaking for WPI's new Sports and Recreation Center

The release of WPI's new Admissions Video...look for it on the web soon!!

The 2010 Reunion at WPI...taking place this weekend

The WPI academic plan celebrates its 40th year!

New project sites in Japan and Santa Fe, NM offered for the 2010/11 academic year

We welcomed a group of Russian university officials to campus interested in learning more about the unique nature of WPI's programs

WPI won the Worcester Cup for the second straight year. It recognizes the college athletic program in Worcester with the highest winning percentage over the entire year.

The May 1st enrollment deadline passed and we saw over 900 students choose to enroll at WPI as part of the Class of 2014!! (We expect an incoming class in the upper 800s come August.)

That's all for now....I promise to be back soon!!

Ed

Closer Look 2010

We are less than 48 hours away from our first Closer Look program for our admitted students. As you might imagine it's been quite busy in the office over the past few days preparing for the program. We are expecting about 300 admitted students and I am happy to see that good weather is expected.

Each year at our Closer look programs we see many students and their families decide that WPI is their school of choice for the next 4 years. If you haven't already paid your enrollment deposit, but choose to do so on Wednesday, we'll give you a free sweatshirt!!

Hope to see you on campus soon!!

Ed

Happy Easter!

March did not disappoint and proved to be one of the busiest months of the year. I've had a few days to catch my breath now that all the decision letters have mailed.

I am in Florida for a few days with the family visiting my mother-in-law for Easter. Beautiful weather 80+ degrees every day!! We've been able to take our little boy to the beach each day and boy does he love the water!! Spent a good part of the Easter holiday at the beach...feels a bit odd, but not complaining:)

Of course the trip's not all fun and games...I'll be heading to Miami tomorrow and will be meeting with some of our admitted students and their families on Tuesday night.

We'll be offering several events for admitted students across the country over the next couple of weeks...check out our web site for the details.

Off to watch the Sox vs Yankees...see the Sox are already losing :(

Ed

A break from application review

We've been quite busy reviewing hundreds of applications a week over the last few months, but the admissions staff took a quick break last Friday for our annual bowling competition. We all headed over to Gompei's Gutters on the WPI campus for lunch and a couple of hours of bowling. Congratulations to Jay who took home the high score of the day!!

This week as been filled with committee meetings to discuss all the regular decision applications. We still have over 400 applications that are incomplete...it's down to the wire so if you think one might be yours give us a call!!

Decisions will mail by the end of the month and be in your hands by April 1st. Enjoy the last couple months of high school!!

Ed

Post #100 - Curt Schilling

Well I guess my 100th post is something to note...wasn't sure I'd make it to 10 posts when I got started, but here I am...and people tell me they actually read this thing:)

As a huge Red Sox fan I was most excited yesterday to learn that Curt Schilling will be WPI's commencement speaker this spring. I know someone who will be volunteering to help with graduation this year!!

Ed

Early to Bed Early to Rise

Tomorrow will be our first admitted student event of the year at WPI. We are expecting approximately 400 students at the Winter Preview event from across the country tomorrow, including a number of students from the west coast. It will be an early morning for many families as they head to campus for 9AM registration....but a great day is planned and we'll be there ready and waiting.

We'll be handing out a few prizes during the opening remarks...one for the student coming the greatest distance and one for the first student to arrive tomorrow...so if you happen to be reading this tonight get an early start:)

Ed