Stonehill Wins President's Cup!!!

Hi Everyone,

As you can see by the title (3 exclamation points) we are all very excited to have won the President's Cup this year. The Presidents Cup is given out every year to the school with the most success across the board in the Northeast 10 Conference. The President's Cup is something we try to win every year, so when everything comes together the way it did this year schools across the country take notice.

Director of Athletics Brendan Sullivan accepts the award

So why did we win this award? Because we're awesome (of course), but also because a number of teams had outstanding seasons. The baseball team won the NE10 Championship defeating Franklin Pierce on their home field. Our Skyhawk Field Hockey team also won their NE10 Championship right here on campus. The Men's and Women's Cross Country teams each won the NE10 Championship, and our Men's Basketball team had another great year capturing the NE10 Championship as well.

Our Athletics Program can also boast about 10 All Americans (and counting). So all things considered our Skyhawks had a fantastic year. Congratulations to all of our student-athletes. Aside from the obvious joy and excitement over winning the President's Cup (the last time we won was 4 years ago) I think the campus should be incredibly excited about me wearing the Ace Costume.

I know what you're all thinking, and I'm sorry for breaking your hearts, but yes Ace the Skyhawk is a costume (correction: a smelly costume). While Ace may not be physically real, he is real in each of our hearts.

Orientation 2010

To all of the students in the clas sof 2014, we can't wait to have you on campus for orientation. Enjoy it! There is no reason to be nervous, you will have fun, you will learn, and you will make connections that will make your transition to college a lot easier. If you see a crazy person running around with a Flip taking video of the events, that is probably me. Feel free to flag me down and say hi.

As always, remember to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube

Stonehill at NEACAC

Hi Everyone,

In case you were wondering why the admissions office basically came to a screeching halt, it's because we were all at NEACAC! NEACAC stands for Northeast Association of College Admissions Counseling, the Conference was held at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. Not a bad spot right?

Salve's Ochre Court

View from the Cliff Walk

Much of Salve's campus is overlooking the ocean and we had great weather. NEACAC is really a learning session for all of us, kind of like going back to class. A number of sessions are held by other professionals in the field so it's great to hear other perspectives on the college admissions process. For instance I saw a presentation advocating the shortening of information sessions so visitors to campus will have more time on tours, not a bad idea right? The conference also has nightly scheduled events, the most popular of which is BINGO!

Counselors Andrew and Shamika have mixed results

Well let me tell you, I have been practicing BINGO! for literally an entire year. Practice makes perfect right? Anyone that tells you BINGO! is a game of luck has obviously never lived throught he ups and downs of a competitive BINGO! game. Despite all my practice, the hours of blood, sweat, and N39s, I was still unsuccessful this year (sad face). But fear not, I have already started a new training regimen and I hope to come back even stronger next year. BINGO! is a fickle game my friend.

My How the Tables have Turned (BINGO!)

The whole gang had a great time at the conference

At the conference we had one big announcement to make: Stonehill College will be hosting NEACAC 2011! We are really excited about it. It's a great chance to showcase our school to a lot of college admissions folks. We have a lot to live up to, Salve did a great job. Ace decided to join us for the announcement so you know it was a big deal.

Ace and friends making the announcement

And now since I know you want them (and I have no place else to put them) here are a few pics from around Newport.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube

Stonehill Baseball win NE10 Championship

I know that my blog posts are generally not very serious. So why change now:

In case you didn't know, Stonehill College plays Division II athletics in the Northeast 10 Conference. This Sunday the baseball team achieved something that does not happen often, a Conference Championship! I'm lucky enough to be an assistant coach on the team.

The team came together at the right time, we have won 11 straight. The tournament was hosted at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge New Hampshire. They have a great turf field up there which really helped with all the rain we had in the Northeast Saturday. The NE10 Championship is a grueling schedule. We played 4 games in 4 days, the weather ranged from hot and sunny at the beginning to cold and raining towards the end.

The guys on the team gave a great effort everyday, we ended up defeating Franklin Pierce in the Championship game on May 9. The title is the 3rd for the baseball team.

I think at this high level of competition, the winner usually ends up being the team with the best assistant coaches (kidding). In all seriousness, I don't think I can describe just how excited everyone was so instead I'll just put a link up to the YouTube video we have been watching non-stop.

Thanks to everyone who supported us throughout the year! Now it's on to the NCAA tournament and our regional games in New Haven. For game schedule and updates please check our varsity athletics website http://www.stonehillskyhawks.com/

On a completely different note, I would like to welcome all of our great students entering Stonehill in the fall. The Class of 2014 will be one of the most competitive we have ever seen.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!

If you are looking for a little more from orientation, check out our orientation video from last year at www.youtube.com/whystonehill.

If you have not already, join the Facebook Stonehill Class of 2014 Group

Follow @WhyStonehill for the latest admissions updates!

Greetings from Philly!

Boston- I love you. But sometimes it's good to get out! I've spend a good portion of April 'on the road' recruiting juniors and sophomores and catching up with all the folks in the world of college admissions. Since I'm the rep for a large portion of CT, I usually spend at least a week in the area towards the end of April. I had a great time meeting students from Avon and Simsbury High School, TONS of students at the Hartford National Fair and many more at the HAISSCCA Fair (Hartford Area Independent Secondary School College Counselors Association). Also had time to stop by fairs at Pompfret School and Choate Rosemary Hall. A big thank you to all that came out and had a nice little chat with me. It's always great to meet students that are enthusiastic about Stonehill!

Last week I spent 5 days in PA- a little work, a little play. My best friend from college is getting married so I flew down early to attend her bridal shower. One of my official duties as a bridesmaid was to make a lovely hat out of the discarded wrapping paper and ribbons. Lisa would probably kill me if she saw this picture so let's just keep it to ourselves.... Also got the chance to eat lunch in Philly with my friend Teddie from my semester abroad in France. After those rendez-vous it was time to do what I do best- bring Stonehill College to PA! I spent two days in the Wilkes-Barre area at a regional fair and another in the greater Philadelphia area at Holy Ghost High School and the Main Line Fair at Villanova. I was SWAMPED at the Villanova Fair which was great. It sounds like lots of juniors area heading up to the Boston area this summer and are stopping by Stonehill on the way. I gotta say- it's a good idea...you should think about it too!

Side note: you may ask, "What does one do in Wilkes-Barre, PA on a Sunday night?" Answer: go to the casino. My buddy Neil from Wentworth Institute of Technology and I headed up to the casino to get dinner and decided to take advantage of a free $20 voucher we received from our hotel. Did we win big? No. Was it good, clean fun? You betcha. And yes, that's $14 in one dollar bills. High rollers.

May 1st is coming up....

Have you sent in your deposit to Stonehill? Just a quick reminder that deposits need to be postmarked, NOT received by May 1st. This gives you until Saturday to put it in the mail! Best of luck in the decision making process!

Wrap up for Receptions

Hi Everyone,

This year we hosted two regional receptions for our students accepted into the class of 2014. One was held at the Westin Time Square and the other was at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. We had a great time at both unique venues, it was nice meeting all of you accepted students! Here is a quick recap from our trip:

Ben Carr '11, Counselor Katie Stango, and Tim Cushing '10

Our trip to New York City started with cramming our whole admissions team, many Stonehill faculty members, students, and various leaders in the community into our bus to take Stonehill on the road. The team took off down 95 South singing "The Wheels on the Bus". Ok, they may not have been singing, but that's how I imagined it. The bus had to make a pit stop at the lovely bus stop in Westport, CT to pick up Admissions Counselor Katie Stango and myself. We were both doing college fairs in Connecticut but could not bear missing a night in the City with Stonehill.

We arrived at the Westin Times Square and started preparing for registration etc. By the time we were done it was 3:30pm so we had some time to explore the city. Being the avant-garde, metropolitan, world travelors that we are, we decided to do the most touristy thing imaginable and have dinner in Times Square. As a lifelong Yankee fan I was ecstatic to be back where most of the hats in the streets have the interlocking NY on the front.

Me trying to be cool

The reception went great! We had a number of Stonehill Alumni who are working in the New York area stop by to meet our accepted students. The food was good, the venue was good, the people were great. Speakers for the night included the Vice President for our division Mary Beth Carey, two senior students Tim Cushing and Sara Morales, and our President Father Mark Cregan. Everyone who I spoke with enjoyed themselves, we even had 2 deposits!

A newly enrolled student with Dean of Faculty/Assoc. VP for Academic Affairs Joe Favazza

We made our way back to Stonehill's Campus late that night, only stopping for ice cream (of course).

Our next reception was held at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. It's a very interesting place. I have been a basketball fan my whole life but this was my first opportunity to wander around and see all the exhibits. I really enjoyed the exhibits featuring my favorite UCONN championship teams and the exhibit featuring all of Michael Jordan's sneakers throughout the years.

VP Marketing and Enrollment Management Mary Beth Cary addresses the crowd

The reception really went great, the accepted students who came were impressed with their tours of the Hall of Fame. I think through it all, what I will remember most is the free games. The Hall of Fame has some great free games the Matt Gorman '11 and I decided to take advantage of while touring the building.

I want to clear something up right now, I've been hearing this rumor that I was dunked on by a WNBA superstar. This is true and can be verified by the picture below. However this occured while I was playing the virtual video game at the HOF (Hall of Fame). This would never happen in real life because I have much too much game.

Me playing the vitual video game at the HOF

Me getting dunked on by a WNBA superstar

So now that we have cleared up that issue, we can move on to the other games. The old fashioned arcade basketball shooting games were probably the most used games there. Our current students could not get enough of the competition. The HOF even had a machine that moved a basketball for rebounding up higher and higher until you could no longer jump to reach it. (Yes I beat Matt Gorman, but he also took the picture of me getting dunked on so I guess he got the last laugh.) The HOF even had a booth you could sit in and pretend to be the announcer for your favorite game then have it played back.

All of our receptions were fantastic! That's to everyone who participated. We only stopped on the way home from Springfield for one thing, you guessed it, ICE CREAM

Andrew Leahy, Sr. Admissions Counselor, Ice Cream Enthusiast

Twitter

Facebook 2014

Behind the Scenes: The Pics You Should Have Seen!

Guest post featuring financial aid!

It looks like spring is finally here! We're having some absolutely phenomenal weather in New England this week-it was in the 80's today! Ok...back to business. Every now and again we like to have "guest posts" from other folks on campus. This week's guest post is from the financial aid office so please enjoy!

The financial aid office is back to work after a restful Easter break and we are busier than ever! Like the incoming class we are gearing up for the May 1 commitment date, and we are working hard to help make this process as smooth as possible for you and your family.

The financial aid award letters were mailed on April 1, so if you haven’t yet received your letter you may contact Student Financial Services at 508-565-1088 and we can make sure there isn’t a problem with your financial aid application. You should also have received the 2010-2011 Financial Aid Guide, which explains the various types of aid offered to Stonehill students and what the requirements are for keeping these awards. If you plan on appealing your financial aid award, please refer to page 14 of the Financial Aid Guide which outlines the appropriate steps you should take to file an appeal. Please remember, all appeals are due by Friday, April 9. You can expect a response to your appeal by Friday, April 16.

Congratulations again on your acceptance to Stonehill and we look forward to seeing you in the Fall!