Welcome!!!

Hello faithful readers!


As Katie mentioned in her last post, we will be blogging throughout this admissions cycle bringing you the highs and lows, the ups and Downs of working in the office of admissions. It is our goal to “demystify” the admissions process. What really happens after you send off your application? We will talk openly about what it is like spending over 6 weeks on the road visiting several hundred high schools in the fall, reading thousands of applications in the winter, and coordinating dozens of programs for accepted students in the spring.

Also this blog is meant to be a forum where you can have your questions answered and comments responded to. Stonehill related, admissions related, or anything in between, we will use this blog to respond to the most frequently asked questions.

Although the admission process can be very numbers and data-driven, we hope to show the human process — that we are real people making real decisions who care about each individual applicant.

So happy reading and enjoy!

A New Academic Year, A Whole New Blog

Hi everyone and welcome to our BRAND NEW blog! Eric and I are so excited to have a fresh new start along with Stonehill College’s new website!

My name is Katie Stango and I will be one of two counselor Bloggers (blogette?) for the 2008-2009 year. I’m originally from Westminster, MA and attended Oakmont Regional High School in Ashburnham, MA from 1999-2003. After Oakmont, I enrolled at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, PA and graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. My first job was here at Stonehill College where I started last summer as an Admissions Counselor. I’ve officially made it through my rookie year and am so excited to start fall travel with some good experience under my belt! This fall I’ll be traveling to Worcester, Hampden and Hampshire counties in Massachusetts, Hartford, Tolland and Litchfield Counties in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Ohio. In addition to my travel territories, I review applications from schools in North and South Carolina, West Virginia and Michigan.

Two of the most popular questions I’m asked by students and parents is how do I start the college search process and how do I know if a school is right for me? Easy answer - GO VISIT! It’s absolutely the best way to figure out if a school is right for you. Most of you will know the moment you step on campus whether or not it’s a place you could see yourself attending. That being said, Stonehill has numerous opportunities for prospective students to get to know us a little better. A good place to start is a Group Information Session, or in super cool admissions lingo-GIS, in which an Admissions Counselor goes over the ins-and-outs of life at Stonehill and the Admissions process. During the summer work week, at least one GIS is held per day. The GIS is also followed by a Student Lead Tour with two of our Student Ambassadors (fancy word for tour guides). Tours last approximately an hour in which you visit two residence halls, the library, an academic building, the dining commons and various other spots on campus. In the case that you’re pressed for time, there are select days where tours run without a GIS. Please call 508-565-1373 to schedule a GIS and/or tour in advance.

So you’ve visited campus, liked what you saw but don’t know the next step, right? For high school seniors, Stonehill has Senior Class Visit Days in which prospective students get to live the life of a Stonehill College student for the day! You will attend a class, go to lunch with your host, meet their friends and get a one-on-one tour of campus. This is a great way to see what a typical day as a Stonehill student is like.

We’ll also be hitting the road! Each Admissions Counselor visits dozens of high schools throughout the year. Check in with your Guidance/College Counseling office to see if we’re headed your way! Here’s a link to the college fairs we’ll be attending this fall.

I hope that at least one of these opportunities to learn more about Stonehill College peaks your interest. We look forward to meeting you this summer and fall!