Admission: Not Impossible

You’ve filled out the Common Application and submitted it online, double and triple checking to make sure that you’ve attached your essay upload. You’ve filled out the paper work at your guidance office requesting that they send along your transcript and recommendation letters to Holy Cross (in Massachusetts, not Indiana). You’re positive that everything has been sent to us. We have it, right? You think we have it. You hope we have it. How do you know if we have it?

There’s no need to stay up nights worrying about whether or not we have your materials, you can now check the status of your application materials online! Simply go to our online checklist, click “register”, put in your personal information and you will be provided with a glimpse into our database. More specifically, you’ll see your application checklist as it appears in our records.

Furthermore, you’ll be able to tell exactly what (if anything) is still missing. A list of required application materials will appear along with notation of whether or not each item has been received.

***One caution – It takes some time for us to receive your materials in the mail, open our mail, sort our mail, and input the pieces of your application into our system.

DO NOT PANIC if you do not see all of your materials listed. You may be positive that you sent in that Verification Form, you know that you put the right postage on it, it should have been here, it’s not listed, you may check compulsively – it WILL eventually appear. Give it some time, and if after 10-14 days you still don’t see your materials appear, feel free to call our office and we’ll tell you whether or not we think you need to submit the missing piece again.

We wish you all the best of luck as you finish up those college applications over the next few months. You’re in the home stretch of your application season, and we can’t wait to begin ours!

Diane Soboski
Assistant Director of Admissions

By now, if you’ve made it this far in the search process, and this deep into the Holy Cross website, you’ve “done your homework” in a manner of speaking.  You’ve researched various schools and you know you like Holy Cross, but may still be wondering about a few things, and need some additional information.  So, how else might you connect with us to gather those final pieces of information you need?  No worries, there’s still time, and lots of ways for you to accomplish this.

• As my colleague Amanda Juriansz mentioned in her most recent blog post, an interview is one of the most important “connections” you can make throughout the process.  Interviewing is one of the single largest expressions of interest you can make in the College, and one of the easiest ways for you to tell us you’re really serious about your application here.  Interviews are offered here on campus until the end of the year, or with an alumnus in your area if that’s easier.  SO, as Amanda said, “What are you waiting for? “

• Chat it up with us! We will be offering several online chats over the course of the next several weeks and months, so login and chat away with Admissions Counselors, Holy Cross students, and other prospective applicants.  The next online chat will be happening November 4 … we’ll hope to see you online from 7:00 – 10:00PM EST, or for any portion of that time you may be available.

• Meeting students is always a great way to connect with a college and get a good feel for what life is like there.  In our Meet Some Students section online, you can actually specify your criteria, and choose who you want to connect with!  Whether its connecting with another student from San Francisco, or someone from Visual Arts, you can choose with whom you correspond.
• You can also make some additional connections with us on staff, or with our Admissions Senior Interviewers through the ‘contact us‘ link on the Admissions page.  We all have photos and email links there – - whether you recognize us or not, make a connection!

And finally, the absolute best way to “connect” is to apply!  Applications for Early Decision consideration are due here in the office December 15, but ED is a rolling process, and we’ll be reviewing applications as soon as November 1st, so feel free to submit your application as soon as it’s ready.  Regular Admission applications are due January 15.  Apply … and get connected!

Good luck!

James T. Richardson
Associate Director of Admission

I’m a driver.  I commute over an hour to and from work each day, and spend the better part of the fall months driving around various U.S. cities.  I like to drive, and I think I’m pretty good at it.  I’m not the type of driver who gets flustered or nervous about navigating around new cities.  I’m proud of my ability to quickly figure out the lights/wipers/radio/seat adjustor/cruise control on any rental car, and actually find it kind of exhilarating to drive in a new place.

My current driving conquest is Houston, TX.  I’ve noticed something very distinctive about the experience of driving in Houston.  There are highways–lots of them.  Loops too.  And those highways and loops have lanes–lots of them.  Most highways I’ve experienced in other cities have 3 lanes, and it is understood that speeders use the left, slowpokes use the right and Goldilocks sticks to the middle.  Other than that, the lane you choose means very little.

Not the case in Houston. Most of the highways I’ve driven this week have at least five lanes, and I learned the hard way that the lane you’re in is very important.  A lane could veer off and put you on a different highway at any moment.  The whole road could split in an instant, and if you haven’t chosen your lane wisely, you may find yourself on an unplanned detour or using one of Houston’s many handy u-turn lanes.  You might find yourself shaking your head as your GPS tells you to “stay left, then stay right, then stay right, then stay left”.  In Houston, it feels like you need to choose your lane before you put the car in gear.  It’s enough to turn the experienced calm driver into a nervous and dangerous lane-changer.

There should be an “undeclared” lane for drivers who need more time to figure out where they’re going.  At Holy Cross you can change lanes, and can even change back if you realize you picked the right one the first time.  You can hog two lanes for awhile–or for the whole ride if you like.  You can even drive right down the middle until you feel ready to make a choice.  And if you suddenly find that the path has veered and you’re not on the road you thought you were on, there are always those handy u-turn lanes.

Holy Cross students have until the end of their sophomore year to declare their major.  Many students enter Holy Cross undeclared, some pursue double majors, and many others will change their mind at some point.  So get excited, get in gear and know that we have faith you’ll find your lane when you’re good and ready.

Houston’s highways could learn a thing or two from Holy Cross.

Lynn Verrecchia
Sr. Assistant Director of Admissions

It’s that time of year again! The warm temperatures are dropping, students are heading back to school, and admissions counselors are packing up their bags and getting ready to hit the road to meet prospective students all over the country.  I often think about how similar the fall season is for high school students and admissions staff. As you all are putting together binders for your classes, meeting new teachers, and mapping out the fastest route from gym to History, we’re doing very similar tasks. I just recently put together my travel binder for the season, I’ll be meeting new guidance counselors that I’ll be working with this year, and I too am trying to plan the quickest way to get from one school to another so that I can meet as many of you as possible in my travels this fall.

We can’t get to every high school, but we do our best to span a large part of the country. You can see what schools we’ve already committed to visiting this year on our Web site. Again, just as your schedule will be changing over the next few weeks while you struggle to fit in every class and extra-curricular you want to do, we too are continuously changing schedules to try to accommodate as many schools as we can. Please check with your guidance department as the date of our visit approaches,  and make sure that our schedules are aligned.

We know this is a busy time, but remember as you run from one class to another, hoping to sneak in before the bell, that somewhere there is an admissions counselor scrambling to get to their next visit on time and hoping that their GPS will hold a signal long enough to get them there. Best of luck as you begin your new school year; and we look forward to meeting you!

Diane Soboski
Assistant Director of Admissions

‘Here we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything – even die.’

 

This quote is the inspiration for the title of the New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea, the remarkable story of Greg Mortenson and his commitment to build schools and improve lives in the poorest villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

In preparation for Mr. Mortenson’s visit to Holy Cross at the end of September , I’ve been reading his book.  The more I read, the more I realize that there are so many lessons contained within – commitment, honor, the value of hard work, respect, etc. 

But perhaps the one lesson that has stuck with me the most is the lesson of perseverance.  Without reading the book, you might imagine that Mr. Mortenson decided to build schools and simply did it.  It was not that easy. 
In building his first school, he had to deal with an unfamiliar foreign land, coming up with enough money, time constraints, missing supplies, etc.  It was no easy task. 

Similarly, as you sit down to write your Common Application essay, remember the lesson of perseverance.  You might struggle with an unfamiliar format, coming up with an idea, time constraints, missing ideas, etc.  An essay that you can be proud of is not likely to simply appear on your computer; but know that if you invest your time, effort and hard work, you will succeed.  If you persevere, your efforts will be rewarded with an essay of which you can be proud.  Hard work always pays off.

Greg Mortenson knows this to be true. 

The children who attend his schools know this to be true. 

You do, too. 

See also: http://college.holycross.edu/committees/hanify-howland/upcoming_lecture.html

Andrew N. Carter
Associate Director of Admissions