Kristy Neveu

November 11th, 2009

Hello everyone! I know, I have been a terrible blogger lately!! I have been very, very busy!! Not only have I been traveling all over, but I got married two weeks ago!! Let's see if I can catch up where I left off... I finished up my time in Chicago with one of the largest college fairs in the country - the Chicago NACAC National College Fair at the Navy Pier. 11,500 students came through that day!!

This year, we used a scanner to easily import student data. Students attending the fair could have a bar code printed that contained all the data they wanted sent to colleges, then when they found a college they were interested in, they could just have the college scan their bar code. It was very futuristic!

College fairs are a lot of fun, and they are a great way for students to learn more about lots of different colleges in a short period of time. When I am at a college fair, there are some VERY important things I need to have with me:

Water

Especially important this year - hand sanitizer!!

The rest of my time in Chicago was a lot of fun. I discovered a brand new section of the city which I am in love with! It's call "Old Town," and it's full of great restaurants, shops, and fun things to do. I really loved it here:

Before I knew it, it was time to head back to the east coast. The travel season flew by after that! I went to many high schools in the Hartford and Boston areas and met tons of great students. I met Chad from East Hartford, who is applying ED, and Max from Beaver Country Day, who was dressed up like a rabbi for Halloween! I grabbed this great shot from Farmington Town Hall in Connecticut:

Most of the staff is back in the office now. We have received MANY applications already and we've started plugging away at reviewing them. I've got a good number of early decision applications from all over my territories and I've started to review them this week. Since we added early action this year, we've received HUNDREDS of EA applications! The deadline is still a few weeks away (December 1st), so I'm sure there will be many more coming. The first ED-I deadline is next Monday, so if you're thinking about ED-I, there's still time to get your applicaiton in.

I think that's all for now. As always, let me know if you have any questions! Happy fall!!

Kristy

On the Road Again…

October 1st, 2009

I am not a big Willie Nelson fan, but the song certainly suits this post. I have been working in admissions for awhile now, and this is my six travel season! You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but travel season is never predictable, so sometimes it's hard to adapt. This time of year is fun, exciting, and very tiring! I live out of my suitcase and travel from school to school, town to town, and state to state. Here's a little bit of what I've been up to over the past three weeks.

First I visited some somewhat local schools in the Boston area, like this one, Innovation Academy, which is this really great charter school in Tewksbury, MA.

They are graduating their first class next year, so I met with only juniors this time around. They were a really fun group!

My first real hike of a trip this year was actually to Baltimore, MD for the annual National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC)Conference. It was really exciting! There were 5,400 members in attendance! I've never been to such a large conference before. The sessions were really interesting and educational, and it was really great to see some of my colleagues from high schools and colleges all around the country!

The Bromo Seltzer Tower in Baltimore - near our hotel.

After a few days in Baltimore, I flew to Chicago.

I really, REALLY hate to fly, so getting there without any major panic attacks was a really huge feat! I've been here for almost a week now, and I've visited a bunch of really great high schools, and met with great students. My favorite visit so far was Glenbrook South in Glenview, where I met Emily. She's really excited about Bryant and is planning on making a trip out to Little Rhody to see us. I also met with Chris, and his family for an informal interview at Starbucks. They were really interested in the Actuarial Math program and we talked a lot about Career Services at Bryant, particularly internships, which are really important! I went to a college fair at Lake Forest Academy last night, and it was a really great fair!

It's a beautiful school. There, I met Xin, an international student from China. She was so excited about Bryant, we are meeting on Saturday for an interview.

Today I drove back into the downtown Chicago area and took a picture of the Sears Tower. Don't worry, I was in STAND STILL traffic, so I wasn't driving while shooting pictures!!

It's a gloomy, rainy day in Chicago today. But hopefully tomorrow will be better! I'll be attending a college fair at De La Salle Academy and Saturday I'll be at the National College Fair at the Navy Pier. Come back if you're around!

See you soon!

Kristy

 

Away We Go Again!

August 19th, 2009

One of the really neat things about working in the field of college admissions is the cyclical nature of the "biz." It's like a roller coaster we ride with each class of seniors, and just when you think it's all about to end, and the seniors hop off the ride... the new rising seniors hop on, and away we go again!

While this "ride" actually started a few months ago, it really gets going when we kick-off our first admission campus event, Discover Bryant. This year, our first (of two) Discover Bryant took place last Friday on August 14th. We had absolutely GORGEOUS weather! Lots of sunshine, not too hot, a cool breeze... perfect!

If you joined us for DB, you were greeted by these smiling faces at Registration:

That's Judy, Kailin, and Chris from the Admission Office.

Once you registered, you headed into the Grand Hall for some light breakfast and relaxation before the event began. The Hall was packed! We actually ran out of seats and had to bring in reinforcements!

Then, President and Kati Machtley made a surprise appearance and chatted with some students before addressing the group.

Sorry that picture isn't very clear. That's Kati Machtley on the left and President Machtley in the center-right between the two students.

After the mock interview skit and campus tour, the group headed under the tent for a barbeque lunch including hotdogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers (my favorite!), chicken sandwiches, potato and pasta salads, and ICE CREAM!

Sorry, folks, I forgot to get a picture under the tent while everyone was under it, but here's a picture from the morning while they were still setting it up. While under the tent I got to meet lots of great students from all over my territory, and others! I met a student from Bristol, RI who was visiting Bryant for the second time, and I ate lunch with a student from Maynard, MA and one from Suffield, CT - both schools I will be visiting in the fall. I also met a student from Tyngsboro, MA and many, many more places!

If you're sorry you missed all the fun - there's another chance to attend Discover Bryant! Our last one will be Friday, August 28, 2009. You can register here.

So away we go again with a whole new group of students, ready to go one more round! The whole process starts over again, but there's many more new faces to meet and students to guide through the process. I hope you are all enjoying the last few weeks of summer. The Bryant Admission Team is gearing up to be hitting the road and we're excited to meet you all in person at your high schools and college fairs. We are busy finalizing our schedules and we're getting ready to publish them on the website. So stay tuned for info on when Bryant will be in your area! So grab your ticket, and hop on the ride with us! Need a buddy? No problem, contact your admission counselor.

That's all for now!

Kristy

Show Me the Money! (Scholarship Searches)

July 25th, 2009

So, if you've been reading along and following my advice, you should have visited a few different schools by now (and working hard on your essay!). And at least one of those schools has probably had a price tag that scared you near to death - or at least scared your parents. A college degree is an amazing advantage, a wealth of opportunitly, ...and of course, a large investment in your future. So how do you find the money to make it all come together? Scholarships.

There are thousands of scholarships totaling in millions of dollars available to students in the form of private scholarships. They are awarded to students from a variety of backgrounds and according to a variety of criteria. The trick is finding the scholarships for which you will be most qualified - and now is the time to start searching for them. It's true that scholarships have waned a bit in the recession, but they are still out there, you just need to look a bit harder.

Right off the bat, you'll notice that you notice scholarship ads more often. This is good - go with it, and continue to listen and be aware of ads, flyers, and articles about scholarships. Also, be sure to ask people about scholarships - ask everyone: family, friends, teachers GUIDANCE COUNSELORS, admission counselors, coaches, whoever. The more people you ask, the better shape you'll be in to find them. You'll likely be surprised at who comes back with more info! Be sure to have friends and family check with their employers as well. Often, companies will fund scholarships for students, particularly for relatives of employees.

There are also great online resources such as scholarship search engines that can help you find scholarships. Fastweb.com is a good start. It's easy to use and can put you in touch of lots of organizations offering scholarships. The best way to take advantage of this tool is to create a profile and request that you be notified as possible scholarships become available. Make sure you HONEST when you fill out your profile - otherwise you'll get information on scholarships you are not really qualified for, and that just doesn't help you. There are other search engines out there that are similar, so have a look around!

Be weary of services that require you to pay them to find you scholarships. This should feel a little counterintuitive, and it's really not necessary. You can find scholarships on your own, you don't need to pay someone else to do it. Which brings me to a really important point - no one is going to give you money for nothing - scholarships require time and effort. There will be more applications to fill out, possibly more essays to write, or portfolios to create. But, if you get some money to help the investment of college be more manageable, it will all be worth it!

 I hope that helps! Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions. kneveu@bryant.edu

Take care!

Kristy

Summer Fun for Rising Seniors!

June 25th, 2009

Welcome Rising Seniors!

This week as Orientations wind down, we've been seeing a lot of rising seniors begin to hit the road and visit us here at Bryant. This is such an exciting time as the cycle starts all over again with a whole new group of students. I wish the weather was better, but we've been busy giving tours anyway - luckily we have plenty of umbrellas to lend out to families during the tours! We have a new group of summer tour guides who are EXCELLENT! They are a wealth of knowledge about the campus, activities, programs, and of course student life.

This time of year, I get a lot of questions from students and parents about what they should be doing during the summer before their senior year of high school, so I thought I would talk about it a bit in a blog. The first thing I recommend doing is working on your essay. Like Bryant, many colleges will accept a writing sample on any topic, so you can pick one topic of your choice this summer and start working on some drafts. There are some colleges that will require you to answer a specific essay question, and as you discover this in the fall, you can begin working on those essays, too, but at least you'll already have one essay completed, which will reduce your stress in the fall. The best advice I can give you about your essay is to BE YOURSELF. Let your voice come through. At the end of your essay, I should feel like I just had a conversation with you, and got to know you a little better. Your essay is your one chance to tell the admission committee about you in your own words. Take advantage! If you're funny, be funny! If you're serious, be serious! It's totally up to you. Make sure you have another pair of eyes look it over when you're done though - spell check is not enough. It won't catch errors that are spelled correctly, like there, their, and they're... etc. Also, be REALLY CAREFUL when using a college's specific name in your essay - especially if you plan to use the Common Application. One click and you'll be sending ALL your schools an essay about how much you want to attend Bryant. Which is fine with us, but probably won't go over so well at the other schools you're applying to.

Another piece of advice to make the best use of your summertime is to visit colleges! Visit as many as you can, the more you visit colleges, the more your "perfect fit" college will start to solidify. You'll really start to see what qualities you really want, and what you can live without. So if your friends are taking a road trip to visit a college, tag along if you can, even if you're pretty sure you don't want to attend that school yourself. It's still worth while to get the experience. A lot of colleges will host events on campus where you can get a tour and learn more about the school. At Bryant, we host two summer programs called "Discover Bryant" where you can get a closer look at Bryant in a more casual setting. This year, Discover Bryant's will be held on August 14, 2009 and August 28, 2009 (both Fridays). For more information, or to register, click here: Discover Bryant.

In fact, there are lots of ways to visit Bryant, to learn more, see a tour schedule, and register click here: Visit Bryant We also offer campus tours throughout the summer, Monday through Saturday. For a complete tour schedule and to register for tours, click here: Summer Campus Tours.

If you decide to take a tour of Bryant, here's what to expect. When you pull into the main entrance, you'll stop at the security booth to get a visitor parking pass and directions to the Unistructure, which is the building where the Office of Admission is located. When you come into the office, you'll come to the Admission Atrium, which looks like this:

When you get here, you'll meet Sandra, who will welcome you to the University and get you on your way to the tour and information session.

So those are the two most important things you can be doing this summer to get ready for your senior year and applying to college. And of course, make sure you save some time for hitting the beach, pool, or lake, too!

Take care for now!

Kristy

Reflecting back… Looking forward

June 19th, 2009

Hello!

Well, it has been far too long since we've had the chance to blog here in the Admission Office! There's been a few updates, most excitingly is that our regular blogger, Beth Farias, is out on maternity leave as she welcomed a little baby boy earlier this month! I will be filling in for the next few months while she takes care of the new little one. My name is Kristy Neveu, and I am Assistant Director of Admission here at Bryant. I've been working in admission for about 5 years now, and I've been a member of the Bryant team for 2 years. My territory is Boston's western suburbs (Lexington, Milton, Dedham, etc), Hartford and Tolland counties in Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, and Oregon.

There's so much going on in the office and we've been super busy enrolling the class of 2013, as well as a bunch of other exciting intiatives we have going on here. Let me tell you about some of them.

First of all, what a year it was in admissions! The economy hit everyone hard this year - colleges and families alike. We are so very proud of the new students who are enrolling at Bryant this year, and really excited to welcome them to our community. This week we had our first two sessions of Orientation. Despite the horrible, rainy weather, they went really well! This year's incoming class is definitely a lot of fun!

Most of the week has been dreary and cold, but there were a couple of hours on Wednesday were the sun came out for a bit, and I was able to snap a couple of nice pictures of campus to share:

While the summer is usually some down time for admission counselors, that's not so for us at Bryant this year! We are working on some really exciting new events for the fall, a facebook fan page (take a sneak peak of the brand new Office of Admission Fan Page here. Keep in mind, it's under construction!), we're also on Twitter (@bryantuniv), have a Youtube Channel, and a Flickr account. There's a million ways to keep up with Bryant where ever you are!

If you haven't met your admission counselor yet, then send him or her an email, introduce yourself! We're also so happy to meet the students in our territories. Don't know who your admission counselor is? Just click on this link and and enter your HIGH SCHOOL'S zip code, and find out!

Find My Counselor now!

Well, I think that's all for now. Stay tuned for more exciting things happening at Bryant!