Almost out the door...

A lounge in the corner of South C Apartment Complex

Well, I suppose there’s time for one more update before the holiday. I hope everyone has a fun weekend (but restful certainly wouldn't hurt, either).

As long as I have the moment here, I wanted to mention how impressed I have been with a lot of the GVSU administrative staff lately. I’ve been interviewing several members of varying levels of administration over the course of this semester, and there are quite a lot of cool people working here. Aside from the fact that they’re all very enthusiastic about the jobs they do, I have a very strong understanding that the experience and welfare of the students at this university is top priority for them. I’ve had the chance to talk to a few staff members who have been here for quite some time, and it’s been very interesting to hear some of the stories of how the campus has changed or how the social atmosphere here has evolved, and most of them have more than a few humorous anecdotes to share. And that’s about all I have to say; just a little praise for Grand Valley administration. I’ve known for years now that GVSU has top rate faculty, and that the staff in dining, athletics, facilities and maintenance are some of the best you can find, but I didn’t realize until recently that this university is in as good hands as it is in terms of policy and direction.

All that aside, I think I speak for everyone in the admissions office when I say that we’re wishing all of you guys a safe and fun holiday weekend. Take care, and we hope to see some of you soon.

-Kyle

Odds and ends

Some of the artwork inside Padnos Hall of Science (photos are back)

Well, the weather has certainly taken a turn for the colder, and with Thanksgiving break just around the corner, it means we’re at the end of the fall. You might say that it’s the autumn of… well, autumn, I guess. Anybody have big Thanksgiving plans? I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m just looking forward to having an extended weekend. Classes finish up on Tuesday of that week, but Admissions will be open on Wednesday, and then it’s four days off. But I wouldn’t say it’s all break that weekend, I still have a senior project on my mind.

So lately I’ve been working on a few other projects for the admissions office, and have had a chance to talk with a lot of current students in an informal capacity about GVSU and the services offered here. There’s been a lot of talk about activities on campus, meaning that it’s probably a good time to make an update on campus life. Clubs and student organizations have surpassed 320 at this point, meaning that there are no fewer than 320 ways to get involved on campus (and, as always, it only takes four students to start a new club). Athletic events are going quite well lately; we have the first football playoff game of the season on Saturday, and tickets are free (which is nice; I didn’t know for sure if playoff games were covered for students). It also looks like the Padnos International Center is having a few on campus events, such as information meetings for students considering study abroad programs or a study abroad photo contest. And with the holidays approaching, there are quite a lot of fundraisers and charity events ramping up on campus. Blanket drives, book/toy drives, and winter clothes collections, they’re all taking place in the coming couple of weeks. It’s nice to see the student body get as excited as they do for on campus events, and to see as much spirit as you can find on campus for athletics, but it’s also great when the student body joins together and reaches out to the community.

But things here are getting a little too sentimental for me, so I figure it’s a good time to sign off, before I need a box of tissues. Post any questions or any break plans you have.

-Kyle

Visits, interviews, and competitions

Hello, everyone, it’s been a little bit longer than I’d like, but things are back up and running smoothly again (hopefully). As always, it’s been a whirlwind of activity around here; our counselors are right in the middle of their travel season, so keep an eye out, you may have one of our representatives visiting you soon. If you’re interested in visiting the campus, definitely consider giving us a call soon; a lot of our visits are starting to fill in for the remainder of this semester. Not that I’m trying to rush anyone, since there’s still plenty of time to make final decisions on college (refund dates haven’t changed, it’s still May 1 to withdraw most deposits), I would just really encourage any student considering Grand Valley to get an application in. December 31 is the deadline for the merit award scholarships, but don’t think that you have to have visited the campus to apply.

As a last note on career services, they seem to be pay off for me. Maybe. The update here is in the fact that I had a major interview this morning, and all week long I’ve been asking advice of staff members and working with career services (I had a staged interview just this Wednesday). From the looks of things, this has all helped; the interview went pretty smoothly, but I’ll know in a couple weeks for certain.

As far as admissions events go we’re just around the corner from scholarship competitions. The deadline for these isn’t until December 31, but for anyone who has already applied for admissions, been accepted, and been notified of award qualifications, December 4 is the first day available and a great chance to get in and take care of your merit competition early.
But it’s just a quick update for today, and hopefully setting us back on your regular blogging schedule. As always, post any questions that you have, and let us know about any college visit plans.

-Kyle

Career counseling and other services

Happy early Halloween, everyone, I hope nobody’s overdosed on chocolate yet. I think trick-or-treating this year is a day early, on the 30th. I can understand that kids have school on Monday, but I still think it’s strange not celebrating Halloween on the 31st. Then again, I’m too old for trick or treating (or at least too old to get away with it), so I don’t suppose my ranting actually means anything.

Not that it has anything to do with Halloween, but I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the Career Service Center as of today. A potential employer told me yesterday to email a copy of my resume, and suddenly remembering the advice I always give younger students, I realized that I should really have someone look over my resume and give me some pointers. But I didn’t have an appointment, so last minute (this morning) I ran into the Career office and asked if anyone was available, and one of the career counselors had happened to have had a cancellation, so I managed to jump in on short notice. And wow, was that time well spent. It’s funny, because we played around with the format and style a little bit, and we definitely expanded on the important points of my education and work experience, but the core items and bullet points didn’t really change, we just kind of expanded them and explained the benefits to my pool of experience.

That’s a great example of how helpful and accommodating the Career Service Center is, the fact that they had the time so they jumped to fill me in, but most of the counseling services across campus will tend to be about that helpful. I’m sitting in the Admissions office at the moment, and one of our other tour guides just mentioned that he has a mock interview scheduled for next week, and that’s another function of Career Services, but the Tutoring Center is just beneath us as well as the Advising Center and Disability Services. Across the way from those three is the Counseling Center, who just finished a depression awareness program earlier this month for National Depression Screening Day. I haven’t noticed all of the student support offices until the last couple of years, but the truth is that there are quite a lot of services available to GVSU students; I’ve only started noticing them as I’ve made better use of them.

I do certainly hope that whatever plans everyone has for Halloween that everybody stays safe. Have fun, but don’t do anything you wouldn’t do any other night of the year, and make sure you guys are all still working on college requirements and keeping deadlines in mind. Do keep working on those college applications, don’t eat any home-made candy, especially if it comes from your parents. Seriously, Mom and Dad, just leave it to the professionals.

-Kyle

Midsemester blues

I suppose you could say we’re right in the middle of fall semester at this point; the truth is, I never really keep track of the weeks. After the first couple classes some time goes by and then I’m just kind of surprised when someone talks about winter break. Maybe that’s just me, but I always seem to lose track of what's going on at this point in the semester. Although part of that may just be all of the activity at the moment in class and on the job; I had two exams last week, an ongoing, major class project I’ve been trying to dive into, and my senior project more or less looming over the whole thing. Here in admissions, we just had one visitation day last Saturday, and our next is this Friday. We’re also trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) to generate a little interest in focus groups for current freshmen, hoping to better understand how well we’re doing in communicating with them as they prepare for college.

The weather has certainly been kind to us lately; it’s raining for the moment, but that’s little more than the punctuation at the end of about two weeks of gorgeous fall climate. Maybe I’m crazy here, but I love this time of year, and I think it’s one of the best times to visit campus. Aside from being beautiful outside without being too hot, visiting around this time will give students an opportunity to see the campus and still enough time to apply before deadlines start rolling in.

But I’m on my way out right now, so as usual, post any questions, and don’t hesitate to give us a call and schedule a tour of the campus.

-Kyle

Reminders for students

Well, this is partly that I don’t have any big subjects to cover today, but it’s also convenient that now is a good time for some reminders and notifications, just so all of those potential students can keep an eye on the future. We’re about five weeks into the semester, and there are a few big events just around the corner. No deadlines have passed just yet, but a couple are on their way.

First things first, I want to remind everyone that there isn’t an application deadline per se; the admissions deadline is determined by a student’s desires as far as scholarships, housing, and orientation. As a rule, I always say that sooner is better than later for a student’s application for admissions (at least here at Grand Valley). Students can’t even sign up for orientation until after the new year, so we’ll skip that topic right now, but one reason for an early application is to be sure that you meet the scholarship deadline. Students who want to be considered for a couple of our automatic scholarships need to make sure that they have a complete application in by December 31.

Along those lines, if any seniors right now are planning to retake the ACT or have not yet taken it, there are a couple more dates you can do that. The October session is of note in particular, just because if a student takes the ACT then, there is still enough time for us to receive the scores by the scholarship deadline (just make sure you select GVSU as one of the schools you want the scores sent to). If you’ve already taken the ACT once, you may be hesitant to take it again (read: really don’t want to spend your Saturday in school taking a larger-than-normal test). From personal experience, you want to avoid this attitude. I took the ACT twice, and the second time my score only rose a couple points, but that was enough to bump me into a new scholarship bracket. Yes, it’s a terrible way to spend a Saturday, and I’m sure I hated doing it when I was a senior in high school, but I’m pretty happy about the money that I’ve saved over the last four years due to that new ACT score. But hey, that’s just my opinion, take it for what it’s worth.

The housing deadline isn’t until May 1, but potential students still want to be thinking about Grand Valley housing, because it’s all distributed on a first-come-first-serve basis, meaning the sooner you apply for housing, the more options that are available to you (students can apply for housing as soon as they’re admitted to the university).

Finally, I wanted to remind everyone that we have a couple of big events coming up soon, namely, the Student Visitation days. These will be large events held in the field house of the Allendale campus on Saturday October 16 and Friday October 22. There will be presentations from admissions, financial aid, and housing, as well as sessions with a wide range of academic departments, student panels, and tours of the campus. So it’s basically one stop for just about any questions you may have.

And one last note before signing off, be sure to leave enough time for your high school counselor to send us your transcripts. Even if you submit your application to us on one day, it doesn’t count as a complete application until we have all of the components (application, application fee, ACT scores, and high school transcript). Keep in touch with your counselors and keep an eye on how much time they need to process and send your transcripts. But that’s about it for today, ask any questions you’ve got on your mind.

-Kyle

Grand Rapids

I suppose I would be surprised if I wasn’t saying this, but the start of this semester has been quite busy, the most recent weeks of which have been no exception. Classes have been in full swing for a while, clubs and organizations have already finished their first meetings, athletics have been doing quite well in several sports, and on campus events (rallies, concerts, guest lecture speakers) have been going strong for some time now. The weather, however, has been a little bit less consistent, but hey, I wouldn’t want anything other than variety in that category.

Lately, I’ve had my mind on the big city down the road. Grand Rapids, aside from being the home of our downtown Pew campus, is also a pretty active city. With a population around 190 thousand, it’s the second largest city in Michigan, and Grand Valley students have easy access to this city with free busing, and there is a lot to do in the city. Gerald R. Ford Museum is phenomenal, the restaurants are great (although you may need reservations for some locations), and there’s dancing and music in warm weather or ice skating in cool weather. I would say that the local art galleries and sculptures around the city are also great (which is true), but most of the buzz lately regarding art has come from Art Prize in the fall and the Festival of the Arts in the summer. Art Prize, in particular, is kind of a big deal, because it’s happening right now, and this year is already looking great. I’ve barely even scratched the surface of the tip of the iceberg myself, and that’s mostly because it’s huge this year. Over 1700 displays, in 192 venues spread across the city, making for one colossal festival of creativity.

What’s funny is that this post isn’t really even about Grand Valley. Sure, students basically have free, easy access to all that Grand Rapids has to offer, but anyone could also check out some of these events and locales. As much as I would like all of you readers to take this info into account as you weigh your college choices, I think anyone could benefit from a visit to Grand Rapids. But on that note I’m signing off, so post away if you have any concerns.

-Kyle