Regional Recruiting

Travel Week Two, From the Airport

28 September 2007

Week two on the road finished just as successful as did week one. Now sitting in the airport, reflecting back on the week, things went very well, and hopefully students learned something about the admissions process.

As I tell every student in the classes that I teach, if there was one part that I would leave out of my brief, it would be the piece on Norwich University. Now, of course, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Norwich- it is the greatest institution of higher education in the entire country. However, in the overall scheme of things, Norwich is just one of over seven-thousand colleges and universities across the country. With that in mind, Norwich is not for everyone; and that is completely acceptable. Any college that a student attends has to have a certain “feel”; you, as a student, have to feel comfortable wherever you attend. I would love for you to choose Norwich, but if Norwich isn’t your type of school, I would never force anyone to attend in the beginning.

So as I visited with high school students from Orlando to Jacksonville, I noticed one overarching concern from many of the juniors and seniors- they were lost in the college admissions process. Many students, who stated that they desired to go on to an institution of higher education, did not know how to pursue their options and really sort through all of the information. The college search process really starts with the collection and deciphering of all of the information that schools mail out, and that students collect at college fairs.

I recommend to any junior or senior out there, right now, to start going to college fairs; start looking online at what colleges are putting on their websites. It may be a cheesy blog by an admissions counselor, or an actual campus tour, so that you can watch it right from the comfort of your own home. The college search process is a lot like a funnel. At the top, there are many, many schools that you’ve heard of; maybe your neighbor attends one, maybe your parents are alumni, maybe you went to a college fair and started to look at the information. Whatever it is, the top of the funnel is filled with schools that may or may not meet your criteria. As you move through the process, the schools that don’t quite fit your mold will fall out. At the bottom, you’ll come to between five to fifteen schools that spark some more interest. These are the schools that you want to focus on and start looking at more closely. For juniors, these are the schools to get in touch with, and see what other information you can gather from them before your applications next summer/early fall. For seniors, these are the schools you want to apply to, as time is really come close to deadlines, especially with all of the other activities that you’re all involved in.

Starting early really can’t be stressed enough. Whether you’re a freshmen and you focus your college search by ensuring you enroll in four years of math, science, English, history and some foreign language classes; or you’re a senior and it’s time to actually start applying; the next few months, or next few years will fly by. The earlier you start looking and applying, the easier the process will be.

Back to Vermont. Yee-haw!

Until then, I remain.

Tim

 

Travel Week One, In Review

21 September 2007

Last week I visited the southeastern coast of Florida in my first official travel week for the University. On Sunday, 09 September, my associate and I flew to West Palm Beach and then based our travel schedule between West Palm and Fort Lauderdale. From visiting high school students to teaching classes about the college admissions process, the week was extremely productive, and set a good tone for the rest of the year.

Never really having been to Florida before or traveling professionally, this was both an interesting and challenging experience. As a native of the northeast, Florida was a new territory for me to explore and learn about. From four-five lane expressways to torrential downpours, something new enriched my routine every day. On one day, I was meeting with JROTC classes in Fort Pierce when the instructor commented about a tornado warning, stating that it would not be rare to have a warning, which would mean evacuating to the gymnasium or a similar building. Again, as a native of Massachusetts and a student/employee in Vermont, I had never experienced a tornado, let alone a tornado warning. At the end of the day, though, the only excitement was the unbelievable amount of rain that fell in a relatively short period of time.

Another item of interest was the size of each of the schools that I attended. At Coral Springs High School, during one lunch period, there had to be over 750 students in one cafeteria. Overall enrollment at the school was just about 2000, according to the teachers and staff. Again, having gone to a high school with about 600 students, and having attended a college with fewer than 2000 students, this too was a new experience.

As this week closes, and preparing to depart this coming Sunday for Orlando and Jacksonville, I am ready to learn more about life in Florida. I cannot wait to see the palm trees and sunny skies again. I look forward to another productive week of visiting high schools and searching for well qualified Norwich students.

Until then, I remain.

Tim :)