The OLINformer

Yes, it’s true. I admit it. And if my involvement at our recent National Association for College Admission Counseling (a.k.a. NACAC) Conference in Austin was any indication, I’m a hopeless case! So consider me “Julie, your Cruise Director” for College Search/Admission Resources…

…(if you don’t get the reference, brush up on your 80’s TV shows)…

First of all, I don’t think I ever explained in my blog post last year what NACAC actually does. Silly me! Our mission:

The National Association for College Admission Counseling will support and advance the work of counseling and enrollment professionals as they help all students realize their full educational potential, with particular emphasis on the transition to postsecondary education. NACAC is committed to promoting high professional standards that foster ethical and social responsibility.

Last year, I joked that our national conference is where all of your counselors and college admission folk sit around and talk about YOU, but of course that’s not entirely true…heheh… Actually, one of the things I enjoy most about being at such a small place like Olin is that when I run into one of your counselors and I’m asked about one of our current students, the chances are very good that I not only know who s/he is talking about but that I probably have recently had a conversation (or lunch or played soccer) with that student! I *love* that! But I digress…

Secondly, what made this year’s conference different for me was that I am now a member of a NACAC committee (there are also state and regional associations/committees) and we meet several times a year, one of which is at the national conference. I’ve still got a lot to learn, but just listening to my committee colleagues and taking the opportunity to observe the Assembly - our governing body that initiates, advises and provides consent on association and professional issues - in session was quite educational!

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HI! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Emily Moscol. I have worked at Olin since 2004 in Campus Services, and made the move to Admission in August. I love working over here, it’s really a wonderful feeling being able to be part of this admission team as well as this blog, as a new Assistant Director of Admission at Olin.

A little bit about me: I am a native Bostonian, born and raised in Roslindale. I went to UMass Amherst for my undergraduate degree, where I was an RA (Resident Assistant) and majored in Legal Studies. I was all geared up to go to Law School when I decided that it wasn’t the path that I wanted my life to take. I went to UMass Boston instead and got my Master’s degree in Dispute Resolution, which encompassed negotiation and mediation. I worked for a while at a group home for adolescents in Jamaica Plain, and then I decided that I needed a change. Olin College was exactly what I was looking for, and coming to work here was one of the best decisions I ever made. The community here is really quite unique, and getting up and going to work each day to a place where you are excited to be is one thing that I have come to value very much.

I am still learning a lot about Admissions in general, and I have been so surprised by how intense the process has become since I went to college (not THAT long ago!). The young adults that I have met in info sessions seem to be experts by the time they are juniors in high school! Part of my job includes planning events for our division, including Fall Open House (which is coming up, RSVP on our website as space is extremely limited), Career Initiatives Day, Family Weekend, and Candidates’ Weekends. The entire community gets involved in these events, either through the planning process, volunteering, or running sessions. It makes the culmination of the event that much more satisfying when you know that so many people were part of it.

Another part of my job here is that I am the staff advisor to the Honor Board. This has been a really interesting experience. I have learned a lot from the students by being a part of this process. The fact that it works so well is a testament to the intelligence and maturity of our students.

If you have any questions for me you can either comment or you can email me directly. I look forward to hearing from you!!!!

Ciao!

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” ~Douglas Adams

So there have been some questions… OK… a lot of questions about our December 1st deadline. Let’s see if I can shed some light on some of the confusion:

1. This is our regular deadline! We still only have ONE deadline - no Early Decision and no Early Action. For those of you wondering why we would do such a radical thing as move our deadline up an entire month, well, it basically comes down to our desire to spend more quality time with y’all - or rather your applications… it is is no way meant to be seen as cruel and unusual punishment! In the past, we only had 3-4 weeks to read ALL of the applications but now that more of you are applying, one month simply isn’t enough time for us to read all of those applications in a meaningful way. Given the timeline of our unique 2-part application process and the increased applicant pool, we now need a few more weeks to thoughtfully evaluate your applications.
2. The December 1st deadline is for submission of the online portion of the application. Other pieces of your application - letters of recommendation, transcript(s), senior grades - may arrive after the deadline, but please try to get everything delivered or postmarked by December 1st.
3. What does this mean for standardized testing?!? Breathe. Inhale. Exhale. We realize that there is an SAT test date on December 1st as well as an ACT test date on December 8th - please do not stress about this! If you need to register for the 12/1 SAT or 12/8 ACT, you may certainly do so; we usually receive scores from the testing companies about 3 weeks later. However, we strongly encourage you to complete all of your standardized testing prior to December 1st so that we can begin reviewing your application as soon as possible after the deadline.

I hope that makes a bit more sense to everyone. Now that classes are back in session, so is this blog…. I should definitely have a couple more posts in the next few days.

FYI - the winds of change are blowing…I’ll make a formal announcement soon.

Time to rejoin our first Saturday Information Session of the season!

Take care,

Allison

allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/

It’s Senior Week at Olin! Finals are finished. 3 days of Expo have just concluded. Graduation is on Sunday. Life here now revolves around one or more of the following things:

1. sleep
2. relaxation
3. packing
4. sleep
5. eating
6. celebrating seniors
7. sleep
8. celebrating sleep

With all that going on, I haven’t quite been able to keep up with everything. So I have decided to forgo any lame attempt to capture all of it. Instead, I bring you my SUMMER PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS…

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The first official day of spring! Here at Olin, the sun is shining and birds are singing but it’s still really cold outside!! I actually thought I’d take Dunkin’ Donuts up on their offer of free iced coffee today (in honor of the possibility of warm weather in the near future) but thought better of it after getting all warm and toasty in my car on the ride into work. Ahhh, New England weather… I find it quite similar to my native Texas weather in one regard: wait 15 minutes and it’ll change. But we do have 4 distinct seasons, of which I am still quite enamored!

It’s Spring Break this week, so things are pretty quiet on campus. Even the students who have stuck around are taking it easy (or at least easier) - sleep appears to be high on everyone’s list of favorite activities! Actually, I’m still trying to catch up on sleep as well. 

And even though we’re not quite through this year’s admission cycle*, we’ve already starting thinking about the Class of 2012. If anyone out there is considering visiting campus - come on over! You can arrange a visit online and sign up for one of our daily information sessions and tours. Info sessions start at 2pm and the student-led tour follows at around 3pm.

Hope to see y’all around campus soon!
Allison

allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/

*and yes, for those of you applicants still reading my blog (whoa! I’m impressed!)… decisions are live and online through your Olin Application Account at https://apply.olin.edu

As promised…

The admission decisions are no longer in our hands – they belong to UPS or the US Postal Service for delivery.

This means that they should begin arriving tomorrow (Friday, March 16) however, it is out of our control at this point. While we aim to have a decision in your hands by the end of next week… we cannot guarantee its arrival date!

In addition, your decisions will be available online at https://apply.olin.edu as of 12 noon on Wednesday, March 21^st. If you have been admitted, you can use the website to give us your reply to our offer of admission, as well as pay the enrollment deposit should you choose to join the Olin College Class of 2011 (and we hope you do!).

As outlined during CW, some of you will receive your decisions (yes, in large envelopes!) via UPS while others of you will receive standard-sized envelopes via USPS. Please note: Some of those “thin” envelopes will contain an offer for a spot on one of our two Waiting Lists - so don’t immediately think the worst and throw it away or burn it in effigy!!

Don’t forget that you can always contact us if you have any questions or concerns about what happens next in the process.

Relax and enjoy spring!

allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/

So it’s been something like a month since I’ve darkened the blogging doorway… Apologies, but well… there are only so many things a girl can do in the name of Olin College! But I’ll try to make up for it now…
I am still recovering from Candidates’ Weekends! Yes, still recovering. I was kind of hoping for a really long vacation in some far away place, but alas my friends, there is still work do. BUT I think I can safely say that the 2007 Candidates’ Weekends were a great success… at least that’s what everyone keeps telling me!

Actually, thanks for the feedback. I know it seemed like we threw a lot at you over the weekend (well, we did) but it’s great to see that so many of you took to heart the Olin ideal of constant improvement and threw your ideas/suggestions/comments back at us. We really appreciate it. I also want to thank ALL of you for joining the Olin community for a couple days - it was an honor to have you (and your families) on our campus. Seriously. Although you were invited to Candidates’ Weekends and, yes, it is a requirement for admission, you could have decided that a trip to Olin wasn’t worth the time or money or… whatever. But 178 of you did take that chance - you did take time off from school or away from outside activities, traveled to campus (whether it was from down the street or from halfway around the world) and, hopefully, got a better sense of what Olin is all about. And whether we made a good impression or not, you at least got to know us a bit better… and we got to know you a bit better too! Although I didn’t get to meet everyone during the weekends, I truly enjoyed my time spent with you and your families! It was also great to finally put happy, smiling faces with all the applications and emails and IM’s and….

Some highlights included:

• Candidates telling “bad” jokes between sessions in the auditorium
• Some impressive ideas/creations in the “No, you are not being evaluated” Design Build exercise
• The most amazing Poi shows EVER (fire spinning, dancing, juggling, tossing and more)
• A glimpse of our “quirky” and talented students at the Variety Show
• Impromptu unicycling lessons on the “O”
• The 1.25 story K’nex calculator at the Mini Expo (yes, this is proof that I have a nerdy side)

photo courtesy of Maia ‘10

• An opportunity to see our fine thespians in action at FWOP’s presentation of The Importance of Being Earnest
• The “Risotto Incident” - I am not too proud to say that it was perhaps the most unprofessional moment of my illustrious career

And of course, great food and scintillating conversation around every corner! Oh and before I forget… (more…)

So things are crazy busy here in anticipation of the 2007 Candidates’ Weekends! Can’t really talk now, but I thought that any Candidates out there - as well as anyone else! - might be interested in the updated (but still officially tentative) schedule for the Weekends. Here you go… my Valentines gift to you all!

2007 CW Schedule

And on a different note…we’ve finally got our first REAL snow of the year!!

Happy V-Day everyone,
Allison

allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/

Dear Applicants,

This note is one of warm appreciation.

We received 1054 applications for 73 places in the Class of 2011 at Olin College. That figure represents a 34% increase in applications over last year and nearly double in the last two years. We have been overwhelmed with the response from prospective students interested in attending Olin. The quality of the applicant pool can only be described as breathtaking! Your accomplishments inside and outside the classroom are very impressive, making our decisions as to whom to invite to Candidates’ Weekends exceptionally difficult.

We are honored that you have chosen to apply to Olin College. Be assured that every application was carefully evaluated.

I want to wish you the very best in your college selection process. No doubt you will have many options, and whichever college or university you ultimately attend will indeed be lucky to count you in its student body.

Sincerely,
Charles S. Nolan, Ph.D.
Vice President of External Relations and Dean of Admission