Month: April 2015

Here are responses from two more students on why they decided to come to the College of the Holy Cross!

Natalie: During the college process, I wanted to make sure that I went to a college that shared similar characteristics as my high school — small, Jesuit, full of community, and full of  intellectually curious individuals. Believe it or not, I didn’t have a chance to visit Holy Cross until a month before applications were due (you can only imagine how stressed I was!), but as soon as I stepped onto “The Hill”, I knew that Holy Cross was the place for me. As someone who knew that I wanted to pursue an English major, I was particularly attracted to our notable English Department, which according to USA Today is 9th in the country, and was attracted by potential exposure  to the writing and editing fields, such as writing for The Crusader. I also knew that Holy Cross would help me grow intellectually and spiritually, supporting me to become the independent Latina woman who gives back to her global community.

Sara: As a Catholic institution, Holy Cross was always on my radar as I began my college application process. I live nearby so I’ve been aware of the school since I was young. At first, I did not like the idea of going to school so close to home; however, when I visited campus, I fell in love with the school. Part of it was certainly the ivy-covered, castle-like buildings, the…small class sizes and the sprawling, immaculately landscaped campus. There was also an indescribable sense of community and camaraderie that ultimately inspired me to apply Early Decision. This Holy Cross community transcends friend groups, personal interests–any typical social boundaries! Everyone feels a sense of unity as fellow Crusaders and I hope to carry that with me following graduation and beyond.

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, this year we received over 6,700 applications for ultimately about 750 spots.  That means that we had more qualified candidates than we had room to offer, and many great students were given a spot on the waitlist.  For the last few weeks our office has received phone calls and emails from prospective students who wanted to know more about how the waitlist works, so I wanted to take this opportunity to address their questions:

1. The first thing that students should do is log into their Holy Cross account (please go here to do so) and formally accept their spot on the waitlist.  This will change their status in our system and let us know that  they are still interested.

2. Students should consider sending us (via email) an update as to what they have been doing since they submitted their application back in January.  Did you change your classes? Have you earned some improved grades? Did you start a new activity or job? We would love to hear what’s new!

3. To keep their options open, waitlisted students should send their deposit to another institution by May 1.

4. After the national enrollment deadline of May 1, we will know what our numbers are in terms of admitted students accepting our offer of acceptance.  If the number is lower than that of our target number, then we will be able to go to the waitlist pool.  Please note that students are not ranked on our waitlist, but we definitely look at student contact as a way to determine interest.

I hope that this information helps students and their families better understand our process.  Please do keep in touch with us via Facebook and Twitter; we’d love to hear from you!

(photos by Xiaofeng Wan)