Stonehill Invades Pittsburgh

Greetings from "the road!" I'm currently in Cleveland after spending several days in Connecticut, Pittsburgh and Rochester. Since I had high school visits and fairs on Friday and Monday I had the opportunity to stay the weekend in Pittsburgh and see all the sights! It was the week before the G20 summit so the city was abuzz but luckily I was out of there early enough to avoid all the traffic, flight delay, protesters and general craziness that surrounds an international event of that magnitude.

I have a few friends from college in the Pittsburgh area so it was great to catch up with them and let them show me around the city a bit. On Saturday we caught a football game which was a new experience for me. Coming from a small high school, attending a college with DIII athletics and working at Stonehill (Division II) I've never really experienced the wonder that is BIG football. We got tickets for Pitt v. Navy and had a blast...especially since Pitt won! Chris is the world's biggest Steeler fan so he was just excited to be in the new Heinz Stadium for the first time. That's him with the Superbowl Trophy. I was more excited for tailgating and food! I ordered a hotdog and this is what I got. As you can see by my face it was a daunting task.

Despite the rain, Chris and I headed to the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. They were feeding the Komodo Dragon when we were there which was really cool to see. We're both huge fans of penguins (who isn't?) so the aquarium was the best part for us. I've attached a live action video of a penguin diving and playing peek-a-boo with Chris.





It was a great weekend to relax a bit before travel really gets underway. This week I'm in Cleveland, OH visiting high schools from Monday-Friday. In October I travel from Hartford, CT to Springfield, OH and finish up with Philadelphia, PA.

We'll update soon with some frequently asked questions we receive during travel season and what types of questions you should be asking reps at college fairs and visits.

On the Road Again!

Well it's that time of year again- fall travel! The Admissions Team is hitting the road and coming to a high school or college fair near you. We'll be traveling all over the country for the next 6-8 weeks and blogging live about our adventures!

I'm currently in Pittsburgh, heading to Rochester, NY on Tuesday and finishing up September with Cleveland, OH next week. I'll have mostly local travel for October before I finish up in Philadelphia. Look for a post about my exciting weekend in Pittsburgh soon! One word: football.

Eric is currently in Chicago, IL and I'm sure he'll have a post since it's the first time Stonehill has traveled to Chicago in at least a decade!

Below is the college fair schedule for the entire office. Check in with your college counseling office to see if we're visiting your high school as well!

http://www.stonehill.edu/x11047.xml

We can't wait to meet you!

Busy school year? Same here!

What the best way to know if a school is right for you? You have to visit!

We're offering some new ways to visit Stonehill this fall. We're now offering TWO sessions on select Saturdays to come visit campus during the fall. Group Information Sessions followed by campus tours will start at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on September 19th, October 10th and October 17th. Please call the main Admissions line at 508-565-1373 to make a reservation. Space is limited so please plan in advance.

The Senior Class Visit Program is also in full swing! Seniors are assigned a current student host that takes them to class, lunch and a personalized tour. This is a great program for Seniors that are thinking about applying to Stonehill and have already done a Group Information Session or a Tour. We require one week's notice to sign up so we can notify professors and find suitable student hosts. Please call the main Admissions line at 508-565-1373 to reserve a spot. Space is limited.

Friday, September 18th (Rosh Hashanah)
Monday, September 21st
Friday, September 25th
Monday, September 28th (Yom Kippur)
Tuesday, September 29th
Friday, October 2nd
Tuesday, October 6th
Thursday, October 8th
Friday, October 9th
Wednesday, October 14th (PSAT Test Date)
Friday, October 16th
Tuesday, October 20th
Friday, October 23rd
Monday, October 26th
Wednesday, October 28th
Friday, October 30th
Thursday, November 5th
Friday, November 6th

New Dunkin Donuts!

While the new science center has been open this summer to students doing undergraduate research in the S.U.R.E. program, there has been one important component missing from the building.....Dunkin Donuts!

Yes, the time has finally come! The entire campus came out in full force last week for the Grand Opening which included free coffee, donuts and tons of samples. Included are some photos of the *new* Dunkin Donuts which is located right outside the atrium with beautiful floor to ceiling windows. This space can be set with tables (see photo) or chairs for presentations, speakers and hopefully Open Houses in the spring for the Admissions Office!

It's also another exciting time: back to school! The academic year officially started yesterday with the first day of classes. Congratulations once again to the Class of 2013 and best wishes on their first week of college!

Ted Kennedy

I was sad to learn of the passing of Ted Kennedy. I've always admired his work ethic, empathy, and the genuine concern he had for those less fortunate. I especially admired his dedication to the important issue of education. Kennedy made it one of his priorities to work towards ensuring high quality education for all students. Kennedy was a main contributor to the creation of such programs as TRIO and GEAR UP.

Kennedy also worked to help make Higher Education more affordable. Kennedy is credited with helping to create the Pell Grant Program, and the Direct Lending Program. Millions of students who did not have the economic means to pay for college, have directly benefited by Kennedy's work. Kennedy's tireless effort to help low-income, first generation students, receive a high quality college education is something I personally admire. I was one of those students so I can personally attest to the impact his work can have.

Kennedy has also been a part of Stonehill's history. In 1964 he received an honorary degree from Stonehill. Since then, Kennedy has returned to campus on several occasions. He will be missed but as he famously said in his 1980 Democratic Convention speech, "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream will never die."

To view a photo snapshot of Kennedy's various visits to Stonehill, click here

Stonehill College Ranked 7th in the Country!

So I know we always talk about the wonderful community we have here at Stonehill...and we do! 93% of our students live on campus, are heavily involved in community service, activities, and in genreal have a lot of fun.

Yet sometimes it can be hard for us to truly get across that our students are genuinely "happy" here at Stonehill...How does one measure that? Well Princeton review does each year when they release their Top-10 list of Colleges with the happiest students. and guess what? Stonehill is number 7 on that list.

Here are the other Schools on the list:
Brown
Clemson
Clarmont McKenna
Stanford
Bowdoin
Yale
Rice
St.Mary's College in MD
Colorado College

Pretty good company I say.

To learn more why our students are among some of the happiest in the country click here to read the article.

To see for yourself come visit us. Here is a link to our Visit Schedule in August:http://www.stonehill.edu/x12715.xml

See you on Campus!

Eric

Happy 4th!

As per tradition, my family always goes down to my aunt's lakehouse in CT for the 4th of July. After THREE STRAIGHT WEEKS of non-stop rain, we finally had a weekend of sun! Below are some pictures of my fun weekend.



Lounging in the lake


Intense game of volleyball



My attempts at serving


Mom's version of "tanning"


Chris attempting to jet ski

My sister's 21st birthday cake


My cousin Michael's fireworks display

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! Eric and I will be on vacation for the next week but we'll be in touch soon. In the meantime, check out some of our student bloggers who have been posting throughout the summer. Kathleen (our newest First-Year blogger) just wrote about her 1st experience as a Stonehill student at Orientation! http://www.stonehill.edu/x13106.xml