How To: Online Registration for A&R/Orientation

We have had a high volume of calls this past week from deposited students asking how to register online for Advising and Registration so that they can sign up for classes, and for fall orientation, Incipio. In order to help students find the “Next Steps” page that was mentioned in their letters, I have created a visual step-by-step guide for navigating our website:

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8) (For first year students)

There’s a lot of great information throughout those pages but if you just want to skip to the registration click on the screenshot above. All of the screenshots take you to the correlating page on our site so you can jump around to the information you are interested in.

–Emilie Schnabel

The Last Summer

Yearbook signings, the resurgence of Vitamin C’s “Friend’s Forever” and Pomp & Circumstance, Prom royalty and picking out the perfect graduation shoes all signal one thing–the last summer. Long days, sunshine, and no essays to write or maps to memorize can equal a lot of free time. Unlike the other summers, however, the summer before college can be an interesting time full of change. Friends who have been together since grade school will be jetting off to different schools, jobs, and life adventures. So what do you do? Spend your entire summer working, or spend every last second with your besties?

Attention graduating seniors: Here are five things I suggest you do over your last high school summer break:

1) Earn some money: Operative word=some. You’ll have your entire life to work so don’t forgo all pleasures over the summer just because bills are looming. You will need money (often several hundred dollars) to buy books in the Fall and having a bit of a savings can be nice when your new friends ask you out to a movie or midnight dinner, but make time for friends and family while you still can.

2) “Like” your high school class’s official FB page: Even if you think it’s silly now, your class’s official page can be a great resource in the future when you decide it’s time to reconnect. Phone numbers and email addresses left in yearbooks become obsolete over the years but luckily social networking profiles can be updated. As someone who could not wait to “get out” after graduation, I will be the first to tell you that I have spent time with more people from high school in the year after college than I did during all four years in college thanks to social networking sites.

3) Attend Advising & Registration: If you are going straight into college, most schools will have a summer session where you can come to campus (or speak over the phone) for a one-on-one advising session where you can pick your classes for the first semester on campus. The sooner you sign up the better as these sessions fill up quickly and if you don’t get in that means you will be picking from the last available classes. (If you are attending SMU this fall and have not signed up for our A&R I strongly suggest that you go do it now. While you’re at it, sign up for orientation too).

4) Pack Early, Pack Moderately: I give you this advice from experience because I failed it miserably. Planning ahead will allow you to shop around for necessities, and will save you from constantly running to the store your first week of college because you didn’t bring any cups or towels. While being away from home for an entire year can make you start packing like you would for a nuclear apocalypse, “but what if I go through five rolls of duct tape?” remember that you can pick things up later if you have to. Also, as my freshman roommate can tell you, bringing a guitar to school because you want to pick it up and your entire crafting closet because you might want to use it is not a good way to make new friends. Often times you will get your roommate’s name and contact information before the year begins, so coordinating with them can not only be a good way to get to know them but also a great way to deck out your room while saving money. If you bring the mugs your roommate can bring the forks.

5) Say “thank you”: Even though you are probably dying to move on and be treated like the adult you are don’t forget to say thanks to those who got you where you are going. Did a teacher write you a letter of recommendation for your college applications? Say thank you. Did your counselor send your transcripts off to ten schools? Say thanks. Are you fighting with your parents? Say thanks anyway, and toss in a hug for good measure. Just because you can be self-sufficient that does not mean you have to be alone.

Best of luck with whatever the future holds for you, and don’t worry about not having the answers.

–Emilie Schnabel

Silver and Gold: Saying Goodbye to our Seniors

In elementary school my classmates and I used to fight over carpet squares, trying desperately to obtain the highly coveted dark blue ones, and then we would hold hands while singing loudly, “make new friends but keep the old, some are silver and the others gold”. While this traditional folk song may not have been a good lesson in economic principles and the value of metals it was a reminder of the fact that all friends are “precious” and friends can be found anywhere. As I grew up I came to find that the “make new friends” part of the song was nowhere near as hard as the “keep the old”. My classmates grew up, we were on different halves of the building in middle school, different cliques in high school, and then finally we all veered off on our own paths after high school graduation. While life is full of people coming and going, this cycle of change is probably most evident in the world of education since it can be seen up close every fall and spring.

Today, Saturday, Saint Martin’s University will be saying goodbye to its Class of 2012. While those of us on the faculty and staff side pretend to be jaded about the whole thing, “oh this happens every year,” I think you’d be surprised by how sentimental this half of campus gets the first week in May.  The Fall is an exciting time for making new friends, but the Spring is the time for saying goodbye and good luck to the gold.

The Office of Admissions would like to extend an online hug and pat on the back (not to mention  fervent thank you) to all of our departing seniors who have at one time or another been life-savers for Admissions.  We could not operate without our student workers.

For those of you who will be joining the Saint Martin’s community in the future, or are perhaps already here, two of our graduating workers have agreed to share what made their time at Saint Martin’s University great.

Name: Timothy Cleary

Major: Criminal Justice with a minor in Business Administration

Admissions Job: Tour Guide (3 years)

Tim has been a constant presence in the Office of Admissions—not to mention all around campus–for the past three years, willing to fill in wherever needed whether that meant jury-rigging sound equipment for presentations, appearing in the nick of time for surprise tours, or running thankless errands at special events. Surprisingly, his favorite memory didn’t have anything to do with Admissions, it was “sledding down the hills during the snow storms” on campus. After graduation Tim plans on moving back to his hometown and looking for a job. His advice to future students? “Enjoy your time in college, get involved.”

Name: Melissa Barfoot

Major: Community Service

Admissions Job: Tour Guide (4 years)

Melissa has had to brave all sorts of terrible conditions over the past four years as a tour guide–rain, hail, sleet, burning sun, snow and wind, sometimes on the same tour! Luckily she’s a pro, and we’re excited for her to graduate but sad to see her go. Melissa says her favorite memories are all based on “the people I’ve met and the friendships I’ve developed here”. She even has a funny story about this year’s Commencement Speaker, retired Registrar Mary Law. “We heard a golf cart coming up the hill, and all [of a] sudden we turned around and heard Mary Law say, ‘Registrar on the loose’ [...], she was driving the cart.” Melissa’s advice for incoming students is also to get involved and to “join clubs your first year, that’s when you have time and make memories”. Melissa is still deciding what her future holds in the long term, but right now she has an internship to complete.

Tim and Melissa and all of our other graduates may find that today’s Commencement Ceremony is over a lot more quickly than they expected, but their time at Saint Martin’s will be as unforgettable to us as it is to them.

As far as I’m concerned, you’re all platinum.

–Emilie Schnabel

SuperACAC! 2012

Flying overhead in colors of red, green and blue were three strong figures dressed in spandex. Clasped around their waists were opulent belts with the initials “PN” “W” and “RM”, shortened versions of their individual acronyms. These three heroes didn’t often travel together but one super event was enough to convince them, at a crucial time in the year, to convene in the seemingly most unlikely of places, Reno, Nevada. What could have coaxed them out of their daytime offices to gear up and roll out? What could have pulled the everyday champions of justice [and post-secondary education] from the Pacific Northwest, Western, and Rocky Mountain regions? The one, the only, Superacac!

For the past three days college admission officers and counselors, high school and independent counselors, and other representatives from the world of furthering education joined forces for an Association of College Admission Counselors (ACAC) conference. While the week was a lot of fun, it was about a whole lot more. This was my first time at an ACAC conference and it just happened to be a super conference where three regions, instead of just one, met for three days.

 The conference was structured with a rotating schedule of an opening session, breakout sessions, and social events. The breakout sessions covered pertinent topics to the world of higher education, given by admission and school professionals. There were over 80 different presentations being given, including an excellent one on the partnerships between athletics and admissions given by one of our counselors, Kellen. The biggest problem I faced was having to choose between sessions.

There were some sobering discussions on the amount of students graduating from college and the need to increase that number in order to meet the demands of the job market. I went to an interactive session to see how our social media use stacked up against other small universities. I participated in a discussion about ways for small high schools to collaborate with each other in order to draw in college reps, and finally I went to another presentation that broke down the traditional “high school visit” made by college recruiters to see if it was still effective or if changes needed to be made.

Oh yeah, there were also the socials. The Thursday night social, which will not be forgotten soon, was the highlight of the conference. Dancing with the Deans, a live imitation of a popular television show, featured college deans sashaying their way across the stage with local Reno dancers. With only four hours to rehearse, sparkling costumes, and a prestigious judging panel the evening was as hilarious as it was competitive. Surprisingly, there were actually some great performances!

Other than a fun and educational time, what did I take away from the conference? It is a tough time both nationally and internationally for students right now. Many students are not sure if college is attainable or if it will be affordable, and some still ask whether the investment is worth the cost. Also, in the recruitment season and the competing aid awards, a lot of students get the impression that it is every college or university for themselves. While it is true that we all try to show students how our schools can be the best fit, it was extremely comforting to get a chance to meet other school Reps and recognize that every school is a part of a much larger organization. An organization filled with people whose end goal is to make post-secondary education assessable for all, even if that means at a different school. If I get a chance to attend another one of these conferences, it will be a reunion of friends and colleagues rather than rivals and enemies.

–Emilie Schnabel

April Madness, SMU Style

You may have noticed that it has been all quiet on the blogging front these past two weeks, but if you have been following my @connectsmu twitter account you have probably surmised that it is because things have been anything but quiet here at SMU. April, in addition to being the last stretch before finals, thesis defenses, final recitals, and presentations leading up to graduation, is also a very busy month for events on and around campus. So where have I been and what have I been up to? The real question is, where to begin?

Two weeks ago I had a last minute recruiting trip to Honolulu for a national college fair. While my first trip to “Earth’s Paradise” was interesting, I actually had very little time to see the island. I flew in (for six hours) on a Wednesday, spent that evening after dinner walking around the Ala Moana park and ate at the mall attached to my hotel. Thursday was spent mostly at the Hawaii Convention Center working the fair. During the extended lunch break I was able to drive over to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, featuring a personal tour from a high school classmate who works there! Then I headed right back to the Convention Center for the evening fair. Friday morning I packed up and headed to the Honolulu International Airport. I had the dubious pleasure of spending half the day in the airport, as the original plane I had been scheduled for was delayed two hours. Finally, after it arrived, our flight was boarded. Then we were promptly deplaned as the weather radar sensor was malfunctioning and could not be simply repaired. After another hour we were boarded onto a new plane and flown for six hours to Portland, and I then arrived home about 2am after a two hour drive.   I loved visiting Hawaii and meeting the students, counselors, and a couple of Alumns there, but it was definitely a quick trip.

[The Tree of Life at the memorial]

Barely back home, I then headed off to Vancouver, Washington for a Gear Up event. Gear Up is an organization that helps prepare young students for college, and this particular event was a middle school Career Day and College Fair. These students weren’t the only young prospects I’ve met recently–just this Wednesday we had about 190 fifth graders on campus for a NELA visit.

As the year wraps up, student events tend to overlap on campus as well. Last week I spent Wednesday night downtown at the State Theatre watching SMU’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Set in the 1970′s, this telling of Shakespeare’s popular comedy was populated with fantastical punk fairies led by a David-Bowie-esque Oberon and his leather-clad counterpart Titania, while the Athenians represented class and race boundaries with the leisure-seeking upper crust and the free-loving youth. Fog machines, farce, and a really cool set all contributed to a hilarious two hour plus evening (with intermission) that was over too quickly.

[The fairy Puck, Oberon's sidekick, descending in a haze of smoke]

Thursday evening I took part in a “Take Back the Night” walk led by Saint Martin’s students, as a culmination of the Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This fourth annual event was the culmination of a couple of weeks of education, including the annual “Clothesline Project” which preceded it. “Take Back the Night” is an evening devoted to bringing awareness to sexual violence, especially against women, and featured a keynote address by SafePlace Executive Director Mary Pontarolo.

Saturday was a day of dueling events; it was closing night of Midsummer, a String Quartet concert was being held as a part of the Abbey Church Events, and one of the largest student-led events was being held in the Pavilion. Hui O’Hawaii Club’s annual Lu’au was the latter event, and as I was scheduled to perform in the Faculty/Staff dance this was this event I chose to attend that night. Every year students, faculty, and staff volunteer to dance and work at the lu’au. This year’s theme was “Spirit of Aloha” and each dance represented a different island.

As there is no rest for the weary, the morning following the Lu’au I was back on campus getting ready for our Admitted Student Reception. Around 300 accepted students for the class of 2012 came to campus for food, some great individual panels, and a chance to meet their classmates. There were even a couple of students who met over the weekend and decided that they would room together in the fall!

The events did not end last week, however! This week we had our annual Scholars Day and Honors Convocation on Tuesday. Scholars Day is a chance for students to present scholarly projects they have worked on over the year to the entire Saint Martin’s community. The Honors Convocation honors student award and scholarship recipients in each department, the student presenters, the Staff and Faculty members of the year, and the new inductees into the Society of Fellows.

Wednesday featured a presentation on and discussion about the LGBTQ community and student safety issues on college campuses by a student senator from South Puget Sound Community College; especially regarding gender neutral bathrooms, safe zones, and the importance of bringing school anti-discrimination policies up to par with state legislation.

This Saturday brings to Olympia our annual Dragon Boat Festival which will feature cultural dances, Chinese dragons, competitive teams from around the globe from amateur to professional levels, and a boardwalk featuring local businesses and organizations. If you’re in the area and feel like dropping by, stop by the Admissions table to say “hi” and grab some free chocolates and coffee!

Dragon Boat is not the final “end of the year” event this spring, but it is the next “big one” on the horizon.

Speaking of Dragon Boat, I need to go call in the coffee order, otherwise I’m going to have a lot of angry visitors on my hands this weekend!

–Emilie Schnabel

College Preparation: More Than Research

Many of my posts have dealt with the more obvious preparation needed for college: applications, the admission essay, choosing which college to attend, how to pay for school with loans and scholarships. While important, highly-covered, and still confusing topics, these are the last steps that a student needs to take in order to prepare for college. What a lot of students don’t realize is that their college prep starts long before they start searching for schools or filling out scholarship applications. For many students, especially those interested in STEM careers, the most important college preparation they can do is taking the right classes and doing well in them starting as early as 8^th grade. As scary as it may be, some majors are just not accessible to students straight out of high school who have not done the appropriate coursework before college.

Let us take, for instance, a student who had a life-changing experience their junior year of high school and finally realized that they wanted to help save lives by becoming a doctor. The student then researches the schools they want to apply to, they volunteer over the summer at their local hospital or clinic, and are then confused when the college counselors they speak to after applying try to steer the student away from their desired Pre-Med program. They did their research, wrote a touching essay, got amazing letters of recommendation and volunteered in their desired field. What did the student do wrong? The problem is in the transcript. Earlier in high school doing more than the science required for graduation didn’t seem like a priority—especially when those extra credits could be filled with things like leadership and teacher’s assistant credits! This student, even though qualified for general college admission, may have to take some remedial classes in order to get to the level that their peers will be at when entering college, or even to be admitted to certain programs.

Student number two has always hated math and done poorly in it without help, so when they had the option their eighth grade year they chose the basic math class instead of the advanced. This led to the student beginning Algebra I their freshman year of high school and barely scraping by with a C-. Discouraged, they disengaged and while their grades improved they quit taking math after Geometry. When college rolls around, though, they are struck with the desire of becoming an Engineer (or a Business student, or a Computer Science major, or a Teacher) and only then realize that the lack of preparation they had in high school has either put them behind in college, or actually prevented them from enrolling in the Engineering program they were so excited about.

I am not here to say that neither Student One nor Student Two will ever be able to achieve their dreams, or that getting a C- in high school Algebra is going to completely ruin a collegiate career.  What I am saying is that accomplishing these goals, for them, is going to be a lot more work that will include remedial training; costing them a lot of money and time. In some cases, a reevaluation of interests is necessary.

Yes, students, listen to your parents when they tell you that you can achieve anything. Did you notice how parents never tell you that you can achieve anything easily? If you have a dream career, be sure to find out what you are going to need to do in order to achieve that dream.

–Emilie Schnabel

What’s Your Application Strategy?

Over the past two days I have been presenting at WCHSCR College Planning Days, events around Washington state where high schoolers, typically juniors, move from room to room during four sessions learning about different universities. The setting is less hectic than a typical college fair, and saves resources for colleges allowing them to see students from multiple schools in one place.

  Yesterday, at Lower Columbia College, my computer was malfunctioning so I used my presentation time to sit down with students and allow them to completely guide the conversations. I answered a lot of great questions from students who were eager to learn about the road to college.

One question that is really perfect for students at the end of their junior year stuck with me, “How many schools should I apply to?” This came on the heels of a discussion about scholarship searches, in which I urged students to apply for as many as they possibly can. It stands to reason that a similar approach would work for college, right?

Actually, my advice would be a litte different when it comes to choosing applications to fill out. The traditional method of having a couple guarantees, a reach, and a safety school is a good one, but what I hesitate to condone is the practice of applying to a lot of schools simply because their applications are free. The downsides are easy to see–without being invested, a student will have to do more work, they may not remember all of the schools they applied to, the school will use a lot of resources on a student who was never interested, and if the student is accepted at these places they will have so many financial aid award letters and acceptance packages and choices to make that they might be swayed to attending a school they never wanted to attend simply because the package is a little bit better.

Money is an important factor, but it is usually not the only factor. To answer the original question, then, I would advise students to narrow down their college search list to a manageable application list. Definitely keep the list under ten schools if possible (I suggest three to six), to save on confusion later and on possible application fees. I believe that students should only apply to schools they would want to be at for the next four years. This can include both reach and fallback schools, but there is no point in pumping up the application list for the sake of numbers. After all, college is not just a classroom–it is also home.

–Emilie Schnabel

Around the Web

Let’s face it–while printed brochures, college fairs, and high school visits can be great ways to learn about universities, the number one go-to resource for information about college is the internet. If a student cannot easily find the information they are looking for, they will rule a school out. Why shouldn’t they? When paying for an investment as important as a college degree, every student should be fully aware of the value they are receiving.

In an effort to reach out and join students where they are at, Saint Martin’s has put a lot of effort into our online community by creating a presence on well-known platforms like tumblr, wordpress, facebook, and twitter (a full list of official accounts can be found here).

The most recent online addition to Saint Martin’s has been a Pinterest account:

 

 

and an official Facebook page for the accepted Class of 2016.

 

My advice for all students who are trying to decide what schools to go to? In addition to scoping out school websites, go a bit farther and see how the actual student body is interacting and what is really happening from day to day at each school. In other words, get social!

–Emilie Schnabel

Start Your Scholarship Search Here

Over the past week I have met with several students including high school seniors, juniors, sophomores, non-traditional students who are interested in going back to school and middle school aged students. Their interests—volleyball, engineering, education, music, math, nursing—were different, but they did all have one question that was the same, “where do I find scholarships”?

Saint Martin’s does offer a Merit Scholarship to every student that attends, ranging from $7,000 to $15,000 annually, but most students who attend college still have a gap they need to fill from their aid award to the actual cost of attendance. What is the best way to find that money? By finding scholarships.

For students in high school, the very first stop in the scholarship search needs to be the Career or College Counseling Center on their campus. The counselors who work in these offices all keep ongoing lists of local and national scholarships throughout the year. Students shouldn’t just drop in once or twice either, as deadlines pass and new scholarships open up these lists are updated and new opportunities will be outlined. A minute or two in between classes is also not sufficient–students who are serious about their scholarship search really ought to set aside time before or after school to dig in and explore their options.

Another scholarship resource would be the community in which the student lives. Any organizations that the student or their family members are a part of are a good place to start looking for scholarships. The local library is often a great place to look for scholarships sponsored by local businesses and organizations.

In addition to scouring the newspaper, library, and high school bulletin boards, online searches are a vital tool in any scholarship search. Unfortunately, with the high mass of content, online scholarship searches can be overwhelming. With millions of scholarship searchers worldwide, and just as many scholarships available, how does one even begin to start?

There are scores of websites claiming to be fast and easy scholarship search engines, but many of them will charge students for their services. Of the scholarship search engines, Fastweb has proven itself to be reliable, free, and somewhat effective. A couple other options are CollegeNet, and the CollegeBoard. The basic rule when applying for scholarships online? Apply, apply, apply. Start early, apply often, and don’t be discouraged if there seems to be no success. It only takes one scholarship to make a huge different in a scholastic career.

From left-handers, duct tape prom dresses, aspiring teachers, to athletes, scientists, and ambidextrous students, there are scholarships out there for just about every person and reason imaginable.

Are you a Washington State resident? Here are some more resources to explore:

Washington State Opportunity Scholarship This is a scholarship designed for low-income and middle-income Washington state resident students interested in pursuing a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, or Healthcare) career at a college or university in Washington state. April 16th is the application deadline.

The College Success Foundation is a great resource both for learning about the college application process, and finding scholarships to help fund your education. Services are available in Washington state and the District of Columbia.

The Washboard.org allows Washington students to complete ‘smart’ searches for scholarships using an online profile uploaded to the site. This is one of the best resources for Washington state students to find private scholarships.

Long story short, the best advice I can give to scholarship searchers is, “start looking, and take advantage of the resources and community surrounding you”.

So if you want to get to here:

Then now is the time to start out here:

[Hint: Click the photo for the source and information about this scholarship]

–Emilie Schnabel

Say “Yes” to the Loan, With Caution

Last night I made three different online payments to three different servicers on my student loans. Each of my loans has a different due date but in order to avoid confusion and to ease my monthly budgeting I like to pay them all at once. Two of my loans are on a ten year repayment plan and the third is on a fifteen year repayment plan. I chose the regular repayment rate, not income-based or income-dependent, or graduated, so I will pay less interest over the next ten and fifteen years even though it means I have to keep a tighter rein on my cash flow right now. I also spent some time looking at loan consolidation options, trying to decide whether I should do a direct consolidation or a special direct consolidation or if I should just continue to make separate payments as I have been doing. After having to unlock my account for the sixth time because I had forgotten my password again on the third site I came to a startling conclusion: student loans are confusing.

Taking out the loan, that is the easier part. After deciding which loans are right for you, you sign a paper and about four and a half years later bills start to come in the mail. That’s when the even more confusing part begins. The first choice is whether or not to pay—unemployment, graduate school, or low income situations can all be deciding factors. Then, if ready to begin payments without deferring, you have to decide how you want to repay. You can make graduated payments that start off lower and become higher as time goes on, you can make payments that are contingent on your income, or you can ask for more time to pay off your loans. These choices all hang in the balance of whether you need more money now, or whether you want to pay less on your loans in the long run.

As students start to go over their aid award letters with me their biggest concern, having passed the hurdle of “acceptance”, is how to pay for college. While ideally students hope to find outside scholarships to bridge the gap between their university scholarships and grants and the cost of attendance, student loans are typically a necessary step toward the investment of higher education. Loans aren’t all bad either—they can be a great way for graduates to build credit, make their degree goals attainable, and the FAFSA generated subsidized and unsubsidized loans have much lower interest rates than alternative loans.

Luckily, there are scores of tools out there for students that can help them decipher their aid awards and help them wade through the different modes of paying for school. The first resource would be my office—your personal Admission Counselor at Saint Martin’s should be your go-to contact. Online tools, as well, can be vital in making those payment decisions. The Net Price Calculator is a great estimating tool for an early look at what money you are going to need to come up with. You can also find some basic information about student loans at finaid.org, SMU’s page, and on the Federal Student Aid website.

Want some words of advice from a college graduate? Know your loan options before you take any out. Read up, ask questions, and research not only the different amounts of money you can take out and their interest rates, but also know the repayment options front and back and what they mean before you sign your master promissory note. Committing to a loan, no matter how important the investment, should never be done blindly or with confusion even if it seems at the time like a loan is “something you’ll worry about later”. Let me tell you, that later comes a lot sooner than you would think and being prepared can make the difference between ease or a headache at the end of your loan grace period.

–Emilie Schnabel