Admission: Not Impossible

It’s that time of year again; Linden Lane is changing colors, the purple sweatshirts are starting to appear…and the Admissions Office is hosting its first Fall Open House of the year!  Attending an Open House at Holy Cross is different from your typical campus visit.  Not only will you have the opportunity to take a tour of our beautiful campus, but you will also be able to explore different areas of academic and athletic interest during our Browsing Session in an entirely informal setting.  After climbing all of the stairs here on Mount St. James, you can attend one of our many panel presentations on such aspects of Holy Cross such as: liberal arts, student life or one of our pre-professional programs.  Finally, you can enjoy a lunch where you can speak with current Holy Cross students, as well as Admissions staff members. What better way to spend a beautiful fall Sunday than at Holy Cross?

See more information about our Fall Open Houses and to register.

Lauren D. Thornton
Admissions Counselor

Summertime is finally here!
While many of you are probably ecstatic that your final exams are wrapping up and you can finally relax, lie in the sun and enjoy your summer vacation, we here in the Admissions Office are conducting our summer tours.  With the official beginning of summer and the sun finally (barely!) gracing us with its presence, comes our full schedule of summer tours.  Making the visit to campus and going on one of our summer tours is a great way to get to know more about Holy Cross. Summer tours are offered Monday through Friday at 10:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, 2:00 p.m. & 3:00 p.m.  We do not require pre-registration which makes popping in for a tour easy especially if you happen to be driving on I-290, heading on your family’s summer vacation!  If the ease of visiting Holy Cross this summer and your sheer curiosity about our campus is not enough to convince you, here are our top five reasons for visiting:

1. See firsthand what is unique and special about Holy Cross.
2. Admire our 174 acre hillside campus which in Princeton Review’s 2009 college rankings was placed in the top ten for “Most Beautiful College Campuses” (and increase your stamina by climbing our plethora of stairs).
3. Feel the strong sense of community and discover more about our Jesuit traditions.
4. Learn why studying liberal arts prepares you for all aspects of life.
5. Hear from our current students about their experiences while on Mount St. James (and why they bleed purple).

Please see our Web site for  more information on campus tours.
Hope to see YOU on campus this summer!

Lauren D. Thornton
Admissions Counselor

We know you have a big decision to make.  Over the next few weeks, members of the Holy Cross community will share their thoughts on what makes Holy Cross so special.

As a newcomer to the Holy Cross community, I am often asked “Why Holy Cross?” The thing I love the most about Holy Cross is quite simple:  We have motivated, interesting students.

From my interactions with various students on campus, I have come to find that our students have an amazingly wide variety of interests.  Each individual pursues their passions fiercely, whatever they may be.  I have met the Music/Premed major who is also the president of the ballroom dance team and volunteers through SPUD (Student Programs for Urban Development). I have met the Studio Art major who hosts students through Admissions Office, but also participates in one of the most spirited organizations on campus, the Purple Key Society. I have met the undeclared first year student who is part of Oxfam America, Best Buddies, plays on the Women’s Rugby team, and is a Eucharistic minister.  No matter what a student’s interest might be, they are encouraged to pursue it during their four short years here.  And although I was not a student here during my undergraduate years, I have come to love this campus and its students as if it were my very own.

Lauren D. Thornton
Admissions Counselor

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

Well it’s that time of year again.  For some of you, this time means finishing up some work before the holiday break, searching for the best deal at the mall or relaxing and spending time by the fire with family and friends.  For the world of admissions, it means that reading season is almost upon us.

At this point in time, many of you are probably wondering exactly what happens to your application once it’s been sent to our office. Once your application file is received and is considered complete (it has your application, counselor recommendation letter, teacher recommendation letter, and transcript) it is filed alphabetically in a number of huge filing cabinets located in our office. An admission counselor is assigned to each drawer and is required to complete what we call a “first read” of your application. This requires our lovely yellow reading sheets, in which we record you name, high school, GPA, rank, test scores (if you chose to submit them of course!), the courses you’ve taken, the number of honors, APs, accelerated, advanced classes you’ve taken, the grades you’ve received, and what contact you’ve had with Holy Cross. We also read ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING you send us and briefly summarize each, as well as recording what service, leadership, and extra-curriculars you have been involved in.  Once the entire sheet is complete, your application is ready for a “second read” by another counselor.  The role of the second reader is much less taxing than that of the first.  This second reader double checks the work of the first reader and then records anything else that might stand out. After the second read is complete, the reading of your application is now complete and it is ready to go to our committee!

Happy holidays, happy application completing and happy winter!

Lauren D. Thornton
Admissions Counselor

It is that time of year again, the leaves are beginning to change, the weather is getting colder…and college admissions representatives are out on the road. One of the main reasons why we travel all over the country is to visit your high schools. In fact, that is what we spend the majority of our time doing during the fall months. Although you can gain useful information about the colleges that you are interested in through looking at their website or requesting information from their office or stopping by a table at a college fair, one of the best ways to demonstrate your interest in a college is to come to a rep’s visit. The high school visit is your opportunity to learn a little more about the college, ask the rep questions, and truly get a better understanding about what the college is really all about. Since we spend months planning these visits, it’s really nice to come to a high school and have students who are interested!

What typically happens during a high school visit is the representative is placed in a conference room or at a table in your guidance or college counseling office and usually meets with students for about thirty to forty-five minutes. Students are able to ask questions of the representative or the representative will give a brief overview of the college if students have not been able to visit yet. The representative will hand out useful information about the college and usually have you fill something out, such as an inquiry card, which says you attended a visit. These high school visits are important for you to attend because not only do you typically get to meet with a representative in a smaller group and be able to ask specific questions that you might not feel comfortable asking in a tour group or information session, but you demonstrate your interest in the college and we as representatives will remember that you took time out of your busy schedule to come down and see us.

Find out when a Holy Cross representative is visiting your high school.

Lauren D. Thornton
Admissions Counselor

My name is Lauren Thornton and I am an Admissions Counselor here at Holy Cross. I am a recent college graduate and have just begun my career in the field of admissions as of July 2008. I am fortunate to be able to have such wonderful colleagues, as well as to meet such great prospective students! I am very excited about beginning my first year in admissions and am really looking forward to traveling, as well as reading all your applications.

This fall, I will be visiting New Hampshire, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Delaware, portions of Massachusetts, as well as the Philadelphia area. One of my greatest passions is traveling to new places and meeting exciting people. I recently returned from a trip where I spent twelve days in southern California and on the Mexican Riviera. In fact, a large amount of my free time is spent planning my next adventure! Besides travel, I also enjoy spending time with my family, friends, and golden retriever, Abby, in my hometown of Windham, New Hampshire. While at home, I enjoy kayaking on Cobbett’s Pond, taking Abby out to play, watching all New England sports with my dad, as well as reading history and travel related books. During the summer, my absolute favorite place to be is on or near the ocean and I frequent both the Maine and Massachusetts seacoast. To me, there is nothing better than the smell of the ocean while enjoying a lobster at Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine.

As the days slowly get shorter, the weather begins to get colder, and your senior year gets busier, please don’t be afraid to ask us any questions that you may have. We’re here for you and anxiously awaiting to answer all of your burning questions! Best of luck as you begin your senior year and I look forward to meeting many of you during my travels!

Lauren D. Thornton
Admissions Counselor