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Q: When did
you come to Wesleyan?
A: I came to
Wesleyan as an assistant dean last fall after graduating from Yale in the
spring.
Q: What led
you into working in an admission office?
A: I have a
bachelor’s of arts in psychology, but in college, I became very involved in
college awareness and SAT prep outreach programs. The different programs
that I worked with opened up my eyes to the complexity of admissions. After
working with high school students for three years, I knew that I wanted to
work on the inside as well to get a better understanding of the process
before returning to the advising/counseling side again someday.
Q: What are
you enjoying most about working here so far?
A: Wesleyan
is a wonderful place to work, but what I enjoy most about this job is the
opportunity to travel and interact with students at their schools and in
their communities.
Q: Working in
the Office of Admission, do you get to work face-to-face with the students
and parents or are you behind the scenes?
A: Both. All
of the deans in the office spend time meeting students and parents at
college fairs, school visits and information sessions. But of course a lot
of the work in admissions goes on behind the scenes. We spend a lot of time
reading applications, coordinating alumni outreach, planning travel and
putting special programs together just to name a few duties.
Q: And what
about that successful WesFest?
A: It was a
community wide effort that Wesleyan can be proud of!
WesFest is our admitted student’s weekend, and I was involved with the
planning of it. It could be thought of as a celebration of all things
Wesleyan and requires coordination between the Office of Admission and
dozens of faculty and student groups on campus. Around 400 admitted students
visited that weekend and I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things from both
parents and students.
Q: What are
your thoughts on the Wesleyan students?
A: I
absolutely love working with both our prospective students as well as our
current students. One of the greatest parts of this job is getting to meet
so many individuals and hearing their stories and plans for the future.
Q: What are
typical questions that high school students or parents have about Wesleyan?
A: Our
information sessions are driven by the audience’s questions so we get asked
almost everything and anything about Wesleyan. Some common themes are social
life on campus, study abroad opportunities, campus culture and academic
programs. One of the neat things about our information sessions is that a
current senior sits on the panel with an admissions dean. Having a student
on the panel is invaluable to families that are trying to find out what it’s
really like to be a student at Wes.
Q: Students
are also tour guides, correct?
A: Yes. Our
tour guides are also excellent and we get a lot of great feedback about
them. The Cardinal Key Tour Guide Program is a volunteer program and so the
students who give tours really do it for the love of the university, which
makes for a wonderful tour.
Q: How does
your job change throughout the year?
A: Admissions
is a cyclical process, so I’ll describe the different seasons of admissions.
In the fall, the deans in our office travel all over the country -- and the
world -- to visit high schools, meet students, work at college fairs and
host receptions. It’s a hectic schedule where we visit up to five schools
during the day and then host a reception or attend a fair at night. In the
winter, you will find most of the deans reading applications. Once decision
letters go out in the spring, our office gets busy planning for WesFest,
reaching out to admitted students though phone-a-thons and recruiting the
next year’s class. Throughout the year, we hold daily information sessions
and answer questions from students, parents and counselors.
Q: Is reading
applications a pretty intense process?
A: Yes. Last
winter, I often found myself reading applications six days a week, sometimes
from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Most of the deans work at home to avoid office
distractions.
Q: Are you
involved with any Wesleyan activities?
A: The
on-campus activity that I am most heavily involved in is varsity softball. I
played in college and jumped at the opportunity to volunteer with the team
here at Wesleyan. It’s a great way to spend more time interacting with
students and sharing a passion that they have.
Q: What are
your hobbies?
A: Probably
the most interesting “hobby” of mine, if you can call it that, is football.
This past winter I joined a women’s professional football team here in
Connecticut called the Connecticut Crush (www.ctcrush.com). Few of the
women on the team have played full-contact football before, so we put in a
lot of time practicing and learning the sport. I’m also active in my church
in New Haven, Christ Presbyterian, and can often be found spending time with
that family on the weekends.
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