Showing posts with label admissions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label admissions. Show all posts

Friday, August 31, 2012

A note on essays

By Kelly M. Rawlings, Associate Director, Undergraduate Admissions, Virginia Tech

Kelly M. Rawlings, Associate Director,
Undergraduate Admissions, Virginia Tech
A note on essays:

…or, as we here in the Admissions office at Virginia Tech call them, "personal statements." Folks often wonder if a personal statement is the same thing as an essay. Not really. Or at least I hope not. 
I've read a lot of essays in my life. I used to teach AP English Literature in what feels like a former life. (Truth be told it was only 12 years ago.) As many of you are currently experiencing, AP English Literature tends to be writing intensive. And if you think it's difficult to write all of those essays, just think of your teacher who is lucky enough to actually grade and critique not just yours but those of all your classmates. Yeah, while you're hanging out with friends on a Friday night, he/she is probably at home with a red/green/insert-color-of-choice Sharpie in hand slaving away at trying to provide you with constructive criticism that will help you become a better writer. And this is important.  
Regardless of your future profession, I guarantee that you will need to possess a decent command of the English language and the ability to communicate effectively to advance in your career. So don't ever underestimate the importance of doing well in English. However, these are NOT the types of essays I hope to read on your college application. Been there, done that. 
What we want from you are not essays. We want personal statements. We don't have the luxury of personally interviewing our applicants. After all, we will receive about 21,000 freshman applications and there are only 12 of us who review them all. So these personal statements are your only chance to share your personality with us.  
My biggest and best tip: use your voice; your own, genuine, unique voice. Address the writing prompts as if you were sitting down and chatting with me over a cup of tea, or coffee, or Red Bull (except I don't drink that).  I'm a real person, really. I go grocery shopping at Wal-Mart (but only because we don’t have a Trader Joe's in Blacksburg), am addicted to Starbucks, admittedly can't wait for the season premiers of "Modern Family" and "Parenthood," tuck my boys into bed each night after reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See" more times than I'd like to admit, and will be one of the 66,000 fans jumping up and down to "Enter Sandman" as the Hokies enter  Lane Stadium for the opening game on Monday night. So please "talk" to me like I'm a real person. And in addition to using your own voice, make an attempt to employ these tips:
  • Don't introduce yourself in your essay. I'm holding your application that has, believe it or not, your name, high school, list of extra-curricular activities, etc. No need to review what I already know. 

  • Note the word limit.  There's a reason we prefer personal statements of 250 words or less. Reference above the size of the applicant pool. And each should answer at least one essay.  Many will choose to respond to the maximum of three. So let's say on average we get two from each applicant. That's 42,000 personal statements. That's a lot of reading; almost as much as your AP English teacher. So we appreciate brevity, clarity, individuality, and poignancy. And entertainment, but that brings me to my next point…

  • This is not the time or place to try to be funny if you're not naturally a funny person.  Enough said.

  • Similarly, this is not the place in which to demonstrate your extraordinarily colossal lexicon undeniably facilitated by the overemployment of the thesaurus option on your computer. Translation: don't use a thesaurus. Remember: we want your voice.

  • Lastly, proofread. This should go without saying. But every year I am reminded how apparently trivial this step is for many applicants. I'm often regaled with stories of how you "can't wait to walk the Lawn following in Jefferson's footsteps" or how you were "born to wear purple and gold."  Copying and pasting from another application is frowned upon. Really, that's just in poor taste. And it doesn't stop there. Please remember that THIS IS YOUR APPLICATION TO COLLEGE! Capital letters, spellcheck, the avoidance of acronyms, and punctuation are all, in fact, still greatly appreciated. 

  • In all seriousness, we do look forward to your personal statements. It is the highlight of my day when I come across a personal statement that makes me laugh out loud, shed a tear, or run down the office hall sharing that, "I just read the best personal statement. Listen to this!"  (And yes, we do that.) Personal statements are what make application review bearable; even enjoyable I daresay. So please, help me help you. Give some thoughtful reflection to your personal statements and make them just that, reflections of who you are as a person.

 
Application Dates & Deadlines
  • Early Decision Deadline: November 1
  • Early Decision Notification: December 15
  • Regular Decision Deadline: January 15
  • Regular Decision Notification: April 1
  • Deadline: February 15
  • Notification: June 1
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Friday, March 16, 2012

Consider visiting us this spring

Spring has arrived in Blacksburg, Va. Hokies are eagerly finishing their spring semester. This time of year, you often see a lot of activity on campus, be it Hokies feeding ducks at the Duck Pond; biking, walking or jogging the Huckleberry Trail; or enjoying the many other recreational activities on campus or in the surrounding areas. You'll almost always find some sort of activity on the Drillfield – Hokies playing sports, the Marching Virginians practicing, a special event, or people simply studying while sunbathing.


For those of you who are contemplating whether to apply to Virginia Tech in the future, we hope you will consider visiting our campus. Many choose to visit during their high school spring break. Others decide to visit during one of our fall Open House programs (October 20 and 21 and November 10 and 11). However, we accept visitors most any time of the year. If you do decide to visit, please take a minute or two to register so you can be sure to reserve a space in one of our admission information sessions as well as one of our student-led campus tours.

(Note: For those of you who have applied for the fall of 2012, you are most likely waiting to learn of your admission decision. Those who applied will learn of their decision no later than April 1 – the national notification date.)


We hope you decided to check out our campus this spring. However it's really hard to pick a bad day or time of year because Blacksburg truly is a beautiful and welcoming place throughout the seasons.
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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Time to review your application

By Amanda Sparks
Assistant Director
Undergraduate Admissions

The weather might be cooling down, but things in the undergraduate admissions office are heating up! We're sure that things are pretty busy for you as well, but make sure you are keeping up with your application to Virginia Tech.

Even though you should have submitted you application by now if you were planning to apply to Virginia Tech, there are still a few things you could be doing.

To track your application, visit the application status page. If you submitted your application within the last few days, please keep in mind that you had lots of company. As a result, it might take up to two weeks for you to be able to see your application status online. Please try to be patient and know that we are processing your application as fast as possible. Keep checking the application status page.

Don't hesitate to contact our office with any questions you may have. This can be a stressful time of year for you, but it doesn't have to be complicated!


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Monday, April 26, 2010

Attention New Hokies: Key contacts and upcoming dates and deadlines

Congratulations are in order if you have been accepted to Virginia Tech as a member of the class of 2014! Below are some key dates and deadlines you should keep in mind.
  1. If you haven't already, you need to accept the offer of admission by paying your matriculation deposit. Deadline: May 1.
  2. Once you have accepted the offer of admission and paid your matriculation deposit, you need to create your VT PID. Please keep in mind that if you pay your matriculation deposit online, please wait at least 1 business day for us to process your payment. You will not be able to create your PID until your payment has been processed. (As soon as you accept the offer of admission)
  3. Look for your housing and dining contract (Complete in May)
  4. Get ready for July Orientation. (Sign up in May)
  5. Look for your computer specifications (Available in May)
  6. Submit your Immunization History Form (Complete in June)
  7. Submit your final high school and college transcripts (Deadline: June)
  8. Consider attending Hokie Camp! (Sign up anytime)
  9. Get ready for move-in (August).
We are looking forward to welcoming you to campus!

Here are some key contacts you might find useful in the coming weeks and months:

Undergraduate Admissions (?s about your offer of admission)
admiss@vt.edu
540/231-6267

Bursar (?s about money stuff):
bursar@vt.edu

Financial Aid & Scholarships (self explanatory!)
finaid@vt.edu

Health Center (?s about immunizations and health history form)
540/231-8104

Housing & Dining (self explanatory!)
housing@vt.edu

tracks@vt.edu

4Help (?s about computer stuff)
540/231-4357


More info:
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Monday, April 12, 2010

Attention New Hokies!

If you were accepted to Virginia Tech as a member of the class of 2014 and you are still trying to make up your mind about whether the university is right for you, consider attending Hokie Focus this weekend.

Hokie Focus is a free, one-day event where you can take part in student-led tours, talk with representatives from the various colleges and see our beautiful campus. You pick which day - either Saturday (April 17) or Sunday (April 18).

If you already know that Virginia Tech is the place for you, no need to make an extra trip to campus this weekend. If that's the case, we'll see you in July for Orientation!

To view the Hokie Focus schedule, visit our website. If you do plan on attending Hokie Focus, you will need to register for the free event in advance.


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Friday, April 2, 2010

Admissions, it's personal

By Jonathan Schramm
Assistant Director
Undergraduate Admissions

Here at Virginia Tech we're proud to say we review applications in a holistic manner, which means we consider the entire student: both their academic and personal qualities. I've discussed academics in my last three posts, so now I'd like to highlight the more personal side of admissions.

On the Freshman Application, there are a number of opportunities for applicants to get themselves across on paper. We consider:
  • Diversity, in its many forms: ethnic, racial, diversity of thought, diversity of religion, geographic diversity, socioeconomic diversity if you happen to be the first in your family to go to college, etc.
  • Interest in the Corps of Cadets: we see this as an indicator of leadership.
  • Legacy: if you happen to be the son or daughter of a Virginia Tech graduate.
  • Activities: we like to see quality vs. quantity.
  • Community Service: as long as it's not court ordered. (just joking!)
  • Optional Personal Statement/Essay: 7 different options to choose from.
  • Letters of Recommendation are not solicited, but you can send them in (just make sure they are sent by your high school with your transcript).
So you can see, even though we receive over 20,000 applications we take everything into consideration.

As always, let us know if you have any questions. It's always nice to know we have readers.

Anyway, tune in next time when we talk about a rare disease high school seniors seem to catch this time of year, called S1N1.

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Friday, March 26, 2010

Student's story: Carly's reflection on being accepted to Virginia Tech

By Carly, a senior in the College of Science

Major: Math


This coming May, fitted with a gown and cap (probably reading on the top “Thank you Mom and Dad” and “Go Hokies!”), I will be ready to walk with my fellow Class-of-2010-Hokies. At the end of that walk I will be handed my diploma. In my hands will be a symbol of four years of hard work in mathematics, a representation of my never-ending dedication to this university, and an illustration of my love for orange and maroon. I will become a Virginia Tech alumna, a Hokie for life.

My four years of being a student at Virginia Tech have come and gone in the blink of an eye. I can still remember my freshmen orientation back in July 2006, my first day of class mid-August that year, and my very first Hokie football game in September of ’06 - an experience I came to treasure and look forward to every single fall semester.

Even though those years have come and gone quicker than I could imagine, it was four years ago that I found out I was going to become a Hokie. And of course, as luck would have it, Virginia Tech was the last school I heard back from and the one I wanted to be a student at the most. For nearly a month, on a daily basis, I would log into my Hokie Spa account to look at how my application was processing and whether or not a decision had been made. All it ever said was “pending.” Pending…pending…until finally, in the last week of March 2006, it changed from “pending” to “accepted.” At the sight of that word, I did not even know how to react. I was just so excited that I was going to become a part of Virginia Tech’s Class of 2010.

A couple of weeks after finding out via Hokie Spa that I was accepted, I received my formal letter in the mail and the document asking whether or not I wanted to become a part of the student body at Virginia Tech. Within minutes, I signed the form – my mom documenting the occasion with a picture that was to begin the accumulation of photos of my experience as a Hokie. I mailed my acceptance out the same day. I knew I had a month to “decide,” but my choice to say “yes,” if accepted, was settled back in January of 2006 when I submitted my application.

Four years ago I chose to become a Hokie and the experience I have had over those years is one I have loved and will never forget. There are hundreds of photos I will always have as keepsakes showing amazing times at football games, weekend get-togethers with friends, hikes to the Cascades and other spots in the Appalachian Mountains during warmer weather, and other great memories of my time at Virginia Tech. Even though I will be graduating in a couple of months, I will be back to visit this beautiful university multiple times. This place was my home-away-from-home and my love for this university began when I saw the word “accepted.”


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