kyliestanley November 18th, 2009
When I was a high school student visiting colleges and universities I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was a first generation college student and just the idea of going to college was both overwhelming and exciting. During a visit to Indiana University (which I eventually attended for my undergraduate education) the admissions counselor I talked with after the group information session asked me which career field I was interested in. Dazzled by her energy and enthusiasm for the institution, I told her that I wasn’t sure, but I thought it would be fun to be an admissions counselor!
During my second year of college I was away at a leadership retreat when we were going around the room announcing the usual (name, hometown, major, what you want to be when you grow up). I still had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up, so when it became my turn I said, “Kylie Stanley… LaPorte, IN… English and Political Science… and I have no idea what I want to be, but I am pretty sure I never want to leave college.” One of the staff leaders responded, “I have the perfect field for you, talk to me after group.” Later he told me about higher education administration and about all the ways I could work for a college or university.
Fast forward about five years. I graduated from an amazing public flagship university. I received my master’s from the top ranked education school in the nation (Peabody College at Vanderbilt University). Now, I am an admissions counselor at one of the best national universities in the country.
When I hear those in popular media call admissions counselors “gatekeepers”, it makes me think they really don’t get who we are as individuals. Every single one of my colleagues has an equally inspiring story about how they came to work here, and all of us run into high school students that remind us of ourselves not too long ago.
You have to do your part as an applicant (i.e. get good grades, proofread your essays, ask individuals for letters of recommendation), but know that we are not standing on the other side of the gate trying to keep you out. More accurately, we’re on the same side as you, adding a bit of manpower to help you open it.
Thom July 31st, 2009
College Fairs and Road Shows
The summer is gear-up time for our office. Plans are being made, flights being booked, and programs being scheduled. Our biggest tradition in travel is our 2 week, nationwide blitz of admissions receptions called Vanderbilt Roadshows. We hit more than 50 cities in 10 days all across the U.S. These programs are meant to provide the latest details on admissions and financial aid, and start the school-year and travel season off with a bang. They are open to all grades and you can register now.
ROADSHOW TRIVIA: Special mentioning in an upcoming post for anyone who can correctly guess what famous musician’s logo was the artistic inspiration for the Vanderbilt Roadshow logo (above). Post guesses in the comments section.
Last year, our office recruited students in 45 states and 26 foreign countries. In fact, the BBC, USA Today, and the Chronicle of Higher Education have picked up a story of Vanderbilt’s participation in a college fair geared toward opening the doors to deserving Iraqi students in Baghdad. BlogVU has the complete run down.
VU on Facebook
Become a fan today. I’m also working on a future post for this blog about the intersection of Admissions and facebook, addressing such questions like, “Will Vanderbilt admissions look me up in Facebook?”
Number one worst way to start a blog post? “Hey guys, sorry I haven’t posted in a while.”
I’ve been away for a couple weeks and I feel fantastic. For those of you who read this blog regularly, you know that I don’t usually do much talking about myself. I believe this blog is about you not me. But I want to share a recent joy happening in my life. For the 4 of you who have read my profile you know that I have been trying to finish up a Ph.D. Three weeks ago, I finally did it, and in two weeks, I will graduate from Purdue University with a Doctorate in Educational Psychology. It’s been a dream 7 years in the making. So I offer this as an only marginally better excuse for taking a break from the blog than if I said that I was busy getting caught up on Entourage before watching season 6 episodes (which is also true - so NO SPOILING PLEASE). For those of you who might be interested in my research topic, it was a study that attempted to predict how adolescents would cope with the college search by considering their Myers-Briggs personality. We actually found that we could predict how a student would cope with the stress of applying to college by looking at their personality type. I’d be happy to post more on it if people are interested so let me know.
Thom September 29th, 2008
There are two things I learned yesterday that I didn’t know the day before:
1) The largest truck stop in the world is right outside of Davenport, Iowa. I mean it’s huge. Driving to Chicago from Des Moines (for college fairs and high school visits), you can’t miss it. It takes like a full minute to drive past it, even going 80, I mean, going 65.
2) ESPN’s gameday program will be coming to Vanderbilt this weekend for the first time ever!
Go ‘Dores!
Thom August 27th, 2008
Question: What are you left with after 12 hours of driving across the Greater Midwest with OUAer Brad Weiner?
The Midwest Road Show last week was a blast, if nothing else because of the wonderful new friends we made in the cities we visited. The programs we attended were full of bright & interested students and families and it was a great start to the fall travel season.
If you know Brad or me very well, you know that we love a good conversation/debate. It’s kind of our thing. So what better way to pass time in the car as the corn fields fly by than to discuss the following actual topics of discussion (listed in no particular order):
- Most influential rock album of all time (Brad says Dark Side of the Moon, I say Pet Sounds)
- Spirituality and the existence of God
- Whether Brad should attend his 10-year high school reunion
- Whether Michael Phelps is part fish (8 gold medals, seriously?)
- work/life balance
- Blackberry: modern efficiency or just digital handcuffs?
- The exact nature of existance and truth: “If I punch you in the face, can you prove to me that I just punched you in the face?”
- The place of religion in politics
- Debated merits of the US highway system while noshing Italian beef and Polish sausage sandwiches over I-94
- Kids and family and how they forever change you
- The purpose of higher ed in American culture
- Jalapeno poppers: better with cheddar cheese or that strange white cheese?
- Nashville: how many musician/baristas are just too many?
- Is it Indi-ucky, or Kentuckiana?
- Jack Kerouac’s best book not being On the Road
- Jimmy Buffett, musical phony or simplistic songwriting genius
- Ernest Hemigway’s tell like it is writing style
- Whether to eat at yet another suburban ”O’Ruby Fri-bees”
Gearing up for Reading Season
While applications are coming in slowly, we actually do not start to read the complete files for another month or so. We get through the Fall travel season and will begin reading those files in October after we’ve had a chance to gather our staff for a training session to make sure we’re all reading files the exact same way.
Stat of the Day: 2% The average weekly internet traffic our Vanderbilt admissions page receives from people looking for “Vanderbuilt University” in a keyword search.
admin April 10th, 2008
Newman’s character from Seinfeld famously quipped, “The mail never stops Jerry.” And so goes admissions work. Less than two weeks have passed since our decision letters have left the office and we’re all out on the road simultaneously talking to admitted students and families, and introducing ourselves to interested students for the incoming class of 2009. For both groups, it’s amazing to hear the high level of buzz that our new freshman Commons is creating (http://commons.vanderbilt.edu).
I’m reporting from a Panera in the suburbs of Chicago. Ah Panera, an all too familiar haven of the on-the-road admissions officer. Free wi-fi squatting in coffee shops to fill the time between visits to high schools and college fair programs is a tradition of necessity, and one that I carry forward on this cold and rainy Illinois day.
The admissions shoe is certainly on the other foot now. We get regular email reports of the daily response cards that our office receives from our admitted students. We see who has accepted our offers of admissions and who will be attending elsewhere. So while you waited patiently to get our decisions, so now do we wait to hear what you are planning to do. It’s all a part of some karmic balance, a ying and yang I suppose (I will leave it up to my philosophic colleague James to weigh in on this one). Over the speakers of my Panera, Elton John is singing the Circle of Life. Time to log off.
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