Fall foliage has reached its peak here on campus and I couldn't help but snap a couple of shots on my walk in from the parking lot this morning:

I feel so fortunate to come to work every day at such a beautiful and special place - inside and out!

Although it's hard to believe it's November already, a big reminder of the time of year is that our application shelves are quickly filling up. Ever wonder what happens to your application once it reaches our office? Well, first we open, sort and date stamp all of the mail. Here's a picture of one of our Admission Fellows, Dan, going through some of the mail:

Then we put all of your application components into our computer database, then into a folder, which goes on our "application wall." Once an application is complete, meaning we've received everything required to review and make a decision, the file goes to the admission counselor responsible for that applicant's high school and the reading process begins! After spending 8 weeks traveling all over the country, it is so rewarding to come back to the office and review files of students we have met during our travels.

Two of our application deadlines are rapidly approaching! Our Early Decision I deadline is November 16, 2009. If Bryant is your first choice school and you know unequivocally that you want to be a Bulldog in the fall, then Early Decision is the option for you! It is a binding option, with decision notification by December 16. You will receive an estimated financial aid package (as long as you've completed the FAFSA4caster) and scholarship information. Then your application process is done!

If Bryant is high on your list, but you are not ready to commit to Early Decision, then Early Action might be the best option for you. The deadline is December 1 and you will receive your decision by mid-January. But you have until May 1 to make your final decision. So you get the decision up front, but the extra time to weigh your options and decide.

If you have any questions about Early Action vs. Early Decision, please feel free to email me at bfarias@bryant.edu.

This Red Sox fan just can't let this post go by without throwing in a "Go Phillies!"

That's all from Bryant for now...

Beth

Welcome to Bryant!

The stage is set! We're ready to begin!

President Machtley addressing our guests

Some of our wonderful Student Ambassadors!

So happy and cheery on a Saturday morning!

During the Academic Fair, students were able to meet and talk with faculty from all of our academic departments

Decorate your own cookies! YUM!

In the Amica Center for Career Education students were able to meet with the director and several alumni to learn about career services at Bryant. The amazing chocolate fountain was an added bonus!

We also learned on Saturday that a team of Bryant Sophomores, Team PURO, WON the Ideas into Action Business Plan Competition at Babson College! Not only did they win $30K to make their business plan a reality, but they beat out teams from all over New England, including teams of MBA students! Did I mention that they developed their business plan as freshmen in their Business 101 class? Did I also mention how incredibly proud the entire Bryant community is of them! Read more about the team here.

Bryant is pleased to announce the addition of Early Action to our admission options! You asked us for it, and we listened!

Learn more about Early Action at Bryant and watch a video of the announcement.

The Early Action deadline is December 1 and students will be notified of their decision mid-January, but under this non-binding option, will have until May 1, 2010 to submit their enrollment deposit to us.

This Saturday, October 17 is Bryant's Fall Open House! It's a great way to learn about Bryant and spend time on our beautiful campus. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the weather gods will cooperate with us, but rain or shine, it promises to be a great and informative day! In addition to taking a tour, you can attend a presentation on admission and financial aid, meet with faculty, talk with alumni about career opportunities and learn about all of the resources available at Bryant  help you make the transition from high school to college. The program starts with registration at 9:30 a.m. If you'd like to pre-register, click here.

That's it for now, but stay tuned for a big announcement in the next few days...

Beth

 P.S. Keep up with what's going on at Bryant. Follow @bryantuniv on Twitter!

 In my last post, I showed you some of the new buildings and renovations to campus over the summer. On Thursday, the Interfaith Center had an open house to invite the whole campus to see the beautiful new facility. On Friday, President Machtley and the Board of Trustees held the dedication of the center. Check out some pictures and an article in The Providence Journal.

View of the center aisle

Close up of the altar

The ceiling has "in the beginning" written in 5 languages

Beautiful new baby grand piano

This weekend was also Homecoming/Reunion weekend, and despite the rain on Saturday, thousands of alums journeyed back to Bryant for fun and friends! The football team pulled out a victory over Wagner and there were many events on campus throughout the weekend. Saturday night, comedian Dave Coulier (of Full House and the Surreal Life fame) perfomed on campus.

Have a great week! Until next time...

Beth

Today marks the first full day of Fall and it's...80 degrees? Such is New England weather. It has been a spectacular week of warm weather and sunny skies. A new semester is under way and I am back in the admission office and back to blogging about Bryant and hopefully offering some good advice about navigating the college search process. I returned last week from maternity leave and I spent the summer enjoying the new addition to my family. But it was time for me to come back to my Bryant family, so here I am!

There were many new changes on campus over the summer that I want to share with you. We completed construction on 2 new blocks of senior townhouses, added an additional room in our science lab complex and completed the Interfaith Center, to new a few! Here are some pictures of the latest additions to campus:

Center for Teaching and Learning - home of the Academic Center for Excellence and Writing Center

The Interfaith Center - I love the waterfall!

The Study Abroad Office, complete with a peer advisor helping a student that will be studying abroad

Here in the Office of Admission, most of the counselors are traveling throughout the world meeting students and talking to them about Bryant. On campus this Saturday we are hosting our first Bryant 101 information session program. Register online at http://admission.bryant.edu.

Until next time! Beth

One of my favorite things about being an admission counselor is the cyclical nature of the process. The admission cycle begins in September, where counselors spend three months traveling across the world visiting high school and attending college fairs, and talking with prospective students about Bryant. Then, just when we think we can't possibly spend another night in a hotel (or eat more take-out!), we are back in the office reviewing applications and seeing what true standouts the students we met while traveling really are! That process goes until March when our decision letters are mailed! Then we spend the rest of March and April working with students as they are making their decision about where to attend college. At the same time, high school juniors begin their college search process so we attend some college fairs for juniors and spend the summer working with juniors and getting ready to welcome the incoming freshmen to campus.

This is the time of year where the cyclical nature of the position is bittersweet. I am really excited about this incoming freshman class, but am also sad that it means saying goodbye to so many seniors and wishing them well as they begin the next step in their journey. This is the second year that I've watched students that I met as high school students and helped through the admission process, walk through the Archway on their graduation day. It is a moment of immense pride for me, for Bryant, and certainly for the students.

This year's commencement will be no different! Our speaker is Boston Red Sox President and CEO Larry Lucchino, which the campus is really excited about (and as a die-hard Red Sox fan, so am I!!). I'm anxious to hear all of the wisdom he will impart to the graduates.

Next week marks Senior Week at Bryant - a week of activities including the Senior Ball for seniors to celebrate their accomplishments and enjoy their last few days on campus.

As we wish our seniors well, I'd also like to encourage high school juniors to take some during their summer vacation to visit Bryant. We offer student-guided tours throughout the summer at 10:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm and 2:30 pm, and information sessions at 10:00 am and 1:30 pm. Click here to schedule a visit.

Beth

For high school seniors, this week is decision time. Enrollment deposits are due to colleges all across the country, including Bryant, by Friday, May 1. This reserves your place in the freshman class, so if you haven't submitted your deposit to Bryant yet, you can mail in the forms or deposit online by Friday!

 This Friday also marks the last day of classes, with finals beginning next week. It's hard to believe that another year has already gone by and we are getting ready for Commencement on May 16!

 Even though most students will leave campus after Commencement, the University remains open and we invite students to visit during the summer. We offer tours and information sessions daily. Although we always recommend students come back and take a second look when school is in session, the summer is a great time to start to get a feel for colleges and universities you might be interested in.

 Until next time...

Beth

Happy Tax Day! I guess happy probably isn't the right word, but at least we've made it to another April 15. As the old saying goes about the certainty of taxes, in admissions, April is certain to be busy! With the May 1 deposit deadline for high school seniors looming, April is the perfect opportunity to visit all of the schools you've been accepted to and make your final decision. At Bryant, we have lots of ways to do that. Saturday, April 4 was our Admitted Student Open House, and was once again a hugely successful event. For the first time in a few years, the rain held off! Students had the opportunity to attend a simulated Business 101 class, speak with faculty about our academic programs, tour the campus, meet current students, and eat in the dining hall. The theme for the event, and for all of our April events, is "The Right Fit." Choosing a college is all about finding the right fit for you as a student, academically and socially. The more we thought about it, the more we realized that choosing a college or university is a lot like finding the perfect pair of jeans. We all have those - the pair that you would live in if you could, that fits perfectly everywhere, that you wash and wear until they are thread bare before you part with them!

For students who couldn't join us for Open House, we are hosting Admitted Student Days for two weeks. They began last week and will continue through Friday, April 17. This provides another great opportunity to take a look at Bryant's campus, inside and out. Even if you can't make it this week, we will still be offering our regularly scheduled tours and information sessions next week when many students are on school vacation. Whenever works best for you to come and take another look at us, we'll be here!

Keeping with our theme, the admission office sponsored a 30-second video contest in which current students were asked to submit videos explaining why Bryant is "the Right Fit" for them. Check out the winners at http://www.youtube.com/BryantUniv.

Next weekend marks our annual Spring Weekend, one of the highlights of spring semester on campus. There is a HUGE Bingo game, carnivals, and other activities, culminating with a concert. This year, we welcome Fabolous and MIMS to campus. Last night, Bryant held a Battle of the Bands to determine who will open the show for MIMS.

Last week the "Raise Your Voice Committee" sponsored "Going Green" week. One of the activities that got the most attention was going trayless at Salmanson (Dining Hall). Salmo is all you can eat, buffet style, and students usually walk through the lines and pile their plates and trays high with food, some of which they won't eat and will waste. For one day, trays were removed, so students had to carry what they wanted to eat. Overall, the students were really receptive to the idea, and it gave them a chance to really get a sense of how much they eat/waste on a daily basis. While some students definitely missed their trays, many others thought it would be a good idea to go trayless every day in Salmanson!

Tonight, Bryant welcomes speaker Ishmael Beah to campus. Beah is the New York Times bestselling author of "A Long Way Gone: Memories of a Boy Soldier," and will speak about his experiences.

Congratulations to our Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) organization. For the seventh time in eight years, they won the regional SIFE competition and will be heading off to the national competition.

That's all for now. Good luck to all the high school seniors out there as you make your final decisions about which college or university is the Right Fit for you!

Beth

 Click here to see what I'm talking about in the title. Last week, the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) organization held a "Duct Tape Fundraiser." Students purchased a certain amount of duct tape (paid by the yard) and were able to help duct tape their professor, Adam Rubin, to a board in the Rotunda. He taught his classes for the afternoon while duct taped on display, and was a great sport about the whole thing, for a great cause! Professor Rubin is one of the teachers of Business 101, a comprehensive course that all freshmen take. Rubin also hosts a radio show on Bryant's very own WJMF entitled "Monkey Business," with Professor David Greenan, another Business 101 professor.

Decision letters are out! By this point, all applicants for Fall 2009 should have received their letter. If you have not, please call us at (800) 622-7001 to find out the status of your application. Congratulations once again to all of those students who were admitted to the freshman class. Competition was fierce this year and we look forward to bringing in an outstanding class in the fall! We have created two websites just for admitted students: http://admission.bryant.edu/admissions/admittedstudent/default.asp and http://www.bryant.edu/wps/wcmresources/flash/microsite/welcome.html. I encourage you to check out both - you won't be disappointed. If there's some information you are looking for that we've missed, please let us know at (800) 622-7001 or admoff@bryant.edu. We want to make sure you have everything you need to make the best informed decision about where to attend.

I know some students received somewhat disappointing news in the mail recently, as they were placed on the waitlist. We have so many difficult decisions to make and unfortunately we cannot admit every qualified application for admission. If you received a waitlist letter, please try not to be discouraged. The letter means that we see great potential in you, and we do expect to have spots in the class open up to be able to offer to waitlisted students. If you are still interested in Bryant, please fill out and return the reply card. We can only consider applications for admission if you have let us know what you want to remain on the waitlist. I would also encourage you to send us a letter restating your interest in Bryant, along with any updated grades, awards, and achievements. At Bryant, we are well aware that the deposit deadline is May 1 and you will want to make a decision before then. We will make every effort to let you know of our decision by May 1. We also know how important financial aid is, especially this year. Bryant is fortunate to be able to put together financial aid packages for students offered admission from the waitlist in the same way that we do students admitted regular decision.

A few notes from around campus:

• Have you seen how great our spring sports teams are doing?? Check it out at http://www.bryantbulldogs.com. Baseball had a huge win over Boston College last week, following a win over Virginia Tech the previous week. Maybe we should join the ACC for baseball Men's lacrosse had a sound victory over Penn yesterday, continuing their impressive season.
• On Saturday, SIFE (the same group who duct taped the professor) will host the Young Women's Colloquium. Keynote speakers are Stacie Berdan, consultant and expert on women in international careers; and Lisa Churchville, president and CEO of WJAR NBC10, the Providence NBC television affiliate
• Tomorrow Bryant welcomes Eric Schlosser, author of "Fast Food Nation" to speak on campus.

That's about it for now. If you'd like more frequent updates about things going on at Bryant, follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/bryantuniv.

Happy Spring!

Beth