Ed's Admissions Blog

One month and counting...

2008-07-23T20:58:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow marks one month to go before New Student Orientation. It's an exciting time for all the soon to be college freshmen and we look forward to welcoming everyone to campus on August 24th. If you are an incoming student and haven't finished (or started!!) the course registration process please be sure to contact the Academic Advising Office immediately.

Lots going on over the next few days - The Frontiers Program is wrapping up. The students head off to the Museum of Science tomorrow and then the closing ceremonies on Friday. The two weeks flew by.

Next week will see the start of our academic visit days. Planning a visit? Check out the schedule on the web: http://admissions.wpi.edu/Visit/summervisits.html.

The student blogs will be kicking in again at the start of the school year, but in the meantime also be sure to check-out my colleague Adam's blog: http://www.epsteada.com/. He has some great updates on the new residence hall.

Ed

Summer brings campus improvements

2008-07-17T13:43:00.003-04:00

I am please to report that Harrington Auditorium will be reopening tomorrow. It will be boasting a brand new basketball court that was installed over the last several weeks. It's beautiful!!

If you are on campus stop by and take a peek or come to a game later in the season.

Ed

New Project Opportunities Around the Globe

2008-07-16T11:10:00.003-04:00

As we head into the new academic year I have been made aware of two new global sites for major projects. Major projects will be available in Alberta, Canada and Shanghai, China in the near future. In Alberta the projects will be focused on Civil Engineering and most will be sponsored by Stantec, an engineering design and consulting firm with more than 125 locations in North America. There will be projects in infrastructure, environmental engineering and sustainability.

The Shanghai site is just getting going, but I can share that projects will be focused on opportunities for our Chemical Engineering students.

Ed

Updates on the New Recreation Center

2008-07-14T11:17:00.002-04:00

A quick update on the new sports and recreation center. Regular meetings are continuing with the architects and I was recently informed that we are on target for ground breaking this coming May. The new sports and recreation center will feature a regulation pool, basketball courts, a fully-equipped fitness and weight-training center, a running track, workout rooms, attractive common spaces, classrooms, offices, and meeting areas. It will be a great addition to the campus and something the entire community looks forward to.

Stay tuned for more updates

Ed

Frontiers and the All-Star Break

2008-07-13T21:38:00.002-04:00

Frontiers 2008 is underway at WPI. Over 160 students from around the US and around the world will be spending the next 2 weeks on the WPI campus sampling college life. The rising juniors and seniors checked into their residence halls today, met their program assistants and got to partake in some fun activities on campus...classes begin tomorrow!!

For the baseball fans out there it's the All-Star Break and all is right in the world as the Red Sox have jumped back into first place. It's been a crazy first half of the season, including more crazy Manny moments. Here's to a great second half and another run at the World Series.

Ed

It's been a while...

2008-07-07T22:03:00.001-04:00

It’s been a while since I posted and yes things have been quite busy. On May 5th my wife and I welcomed a son, Sean Edward, to our family. Sean is our first child so there has been quite a learning curve for all of us:) WPI Class of 2030? We’ll see…I guess I better get him started on his numbers!!

Things continue to be busy in the admissions office. We are expecting are largest first year class in our history. Well over 800 first year students and another 40 to 50 transfer students will arrive on campus in late August. We are excited to welcome a great group of new students from all over the world. Only about 6 weeks to go!!

If you are one of our incoming students hopefully you’ve taken all the necessary steps in preparation for your enrollment at WPI. Have you mailed us a final high school transcript? (Official college transcript for our transfer candidates.) Have you set up your WPI e-mail address? If you are living on campus make sure you get your housing application in…the deadline was June 1st!! And of course your classes…Have you registered for your WPI classes? Let me know if you have questions about any of these items.

Our daily visitors have picked up considerably over the last few weeks. Once school ended for the summer we began to welcome many rising junior and seniors to campus for their first look at WPI. Just a reminder tours are Monday thru Friday at 9, 11,
1, and 3; information sessions are at 10 and 2.

Look forward to more frequent postings over the rest of the summer, as long as Sean allows it!!

Go Sox!!

First Year Class Registration

2008-05-02T12:27:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update for all the incoming students, your WPI ID and PIN number have been sent out via e-mail. Most were sent yesterday, with a small batch going today. If you haven't seen the e-mail please check your junk folder just in case. This would have been sent to the e-mail address you provided on your application.

If you did not get the information please contact the Office of Academic Advising.

Ed

Welcome to the busiest week of the year

2008-04-21T21:42:00.002-04:00

It's spring vacation week for high schools in Massachusetts, bring on the visitors!!

In case you were unaware Patriot’s Day was celebrated in Massachusetts today and as always the Boston Marathon was run. Now I don’t think I need to explain the marathon, but just in case you are not familiar with Patriot’s Day it is the day that marks Paul Revere’s famous ride to Lexington and Concord to warn of the British advances to seize military supplies. While Revere did warn many people along his ride, few people remember he was actually captured and his fellow rider William Dawes was actually the one to escape and make it all the way to Concord. Just a bit of historical trivia:)

If you are thinking of visiting this week we’ll be happy to see you. Tours are at 9, 11, 1 and 3 and the general information sessions are at 10 and 2. This is typically our busiest week of the year as we expect many admitted students taking a last look at WPI, as well as sophomores and juniors just starting their search. No need to make an appointment just check in at the Bartlett Center and we’ll take it from there!!

See you at WPI!!

Ed

Tax Day

2008-04-14T21:12:00.002-04:00

A long night ahead as I finish up my taxes...with the Red Sox losing 4 to 1 I am just about out of excuses....I guess I need to bite the bullet and finish them up!! Oh wait a nice single to right by Manny Ramirez....are they going to suck me back in?

Don't forget to get your free donut at Dunkin Donuts tomorrow...the only good thing to look forward to on tax day!!

In WPI news - lots of visitors to campus the last several days in spite of the rash of bad weather we've been having on Saturdays. Don't forget we'll be open the next 4 Saturdays.

For the admitted students don't forget to RSVP for Closer Look next week (the 23rd).

And last but not least - If you are waiting on your financial aid award, please be sure to make sure all your paperwork has been submitted....we do require the CSS PROFILE form as well as the FAFSA...not everyone seems to realize this!!

Have a good one,

Ed

Movies and FAQs

2008-04-05T18:24:00.002-04:00

Happy Saturday everyone!! The sun has finally come out and it’s over 50 degrees, who can ask for more...

Things are quieting down in the office just a bit before our visit programs kick in this week. I actually had the chance to sneak in a couple of movies last night; No Country for Old Men and The Queen. I’ll have to admit with all the hype surrounding No Country, I was a bit disappointed. Now I had no idea what to expect from The Queen (My wife’s choice) but I’ll say it was pretty darn good. Two thumbs up!! Michael Clayton is on deck for tonight.

We were open this morning (and will be open the next 5 Saturdays) and welcomed over 30 families to campus. I had the chance to chat with families from New Jersey, New York, Minnesota, and London, England…I hope everyone had a great visit.

A couple of items that have been popping up in the admissions in-box and elsewhere….

Deposits – If they are postmarked by May 1st you are all set!!

Housing Selection – NEW this year – Students do not select a specific residence hall. Instead you will let the residential services staff know the type of hall you would like, big, small, co-ed, etc and they will look to match you up with a roommate(s) with similar interests, as well as with someone looking for the same type of living environment. This is new, so if you visited in the past you may have heard something a bit different. We are excited about this new process and think it will work great for students.

Pre-Professional Programs – Lots of great options at WPI. Pre-Med, Pre-Vet, Pre-Law and Pre-Dental. There seems to be some concern among some admitted students that choosing a pre-professional program might delay graduation or that it will take you 5 years to compete. Not at all true. Students in those programs are on 4-year tracks and will beginning submitting applications to their professional schools early in their senior year.

That’s all for now….Keep the comments coming.

Congratulations

2008-04-01T23:07:00.002-04:00

A quick word of congrats to all of our admitted students!! I hope to see many of you on campus for a visit in April...the weather will improve, I promise:)

Go Sox!!

Have the letters mailed?

2008-03-25T22:03:00.002-04:00

Yes the letters have mailed!!

The majority of our decision letters mailed over the past few days. You should be getting your news shortly if it has not arrived already. If you are living overseas letters will take a bit longer to arrive. (If you are an international student (non-US citizen) your letter will mail in a few days. For our admitted students we will include financial aid awards with your admission packet.)

Believe it or not we still have a handful of files that are incomplete. Without all the required items we were unable to make a decision on these applications. If you fear you might be one of those students please feel free to contact the office.

Congratulations to all of our admitted students and best of luck to everyone with the remainder of their senior year in high school.

Ed

New Addition to the Office

2008-03-11T20:53:00.003-04:00

There was lots of excitement in the office today as our newest addition to the building was delivered, our WPImap kiosk. This Interactive Project was just completed by two WPI juniors and advised by faculty in the computer science department, with a bit of input from the Office of Admissions:)

At a quick glance you might think you are looking at an arcade game, but the kiosk actually houses a 3D virtual map of the WPI campus and allows the user to walk around WPI’s campus in a virtual setting. If that’s not enough fun for you, you can hop on a Segway and take a virtual tour of campus complete with 7 minutes of audio.

It's a great addition to the building and we are looking forward to sharing this with prospective students and their families. If you are on campus make sure you come by and check it out, it's a most impressive example of our student's work!!

Spring, Scholarships, and the Red Sox

2008-03-10T19:39:00.007-04:00

So is Spring almost here? Well with the clocks springing back it was nice to actually get home before the sun set…well just barely!

I hope you have been checking out a couple of our other blogs as well. Visit admissions.wpi.edu and check out Adam’s Blog and some of the WPI student blogs. The student blogs are centered on the project experience and typically change every couple of months as students come and go from our project centers around the US and around the world. Jeremy will be getting his started this week from Denmark…be sure to check it out.

If you are waiting to hear your application decision just hang in there. Decision letters will be going out by the end of the month. The admissions staff will be spending lots of quality time with me these next couple of weeks as we meet in committee to make our final decisions on all the regular decision applications.

We’ve been getting some questions about scholarship notification. Just to remind everyone some scholarship letters are mailed with decisions, but others come a week or two later. The scholarship committees are busy meeting as well, but until they know who we are going to admit they can’t finish their job!!

It is worth mentioning that we still have applications that are incomplete and can’t be reviewed for admission. We are trying to contact you!! However between e-mail blockers, caller id, and spam filters it’s not always easy to reach you. If you think you might be one of the applicants we are trying to chase down give us a call or check your application status on-line.

So you’ve been admitted and still aren’t sure if WPI is for you? Join one of the many Facebook groups, “I’ve been admitted to WPI” or “WPI Class of 2012” to chat with other accepted students. Check out the admitted student section of the admissions web site and make your plans for our Closer Look program in April. Closer Look will give you that last chance to see the campus, meet the professors, and of course sample the food one more time.

Finally, I will have to admit there haven't been many comments so far on my blog (thanks to Kushi for getting the comments started!!). So any thoughts on the Red Sox chances this year? Maybe this will spur some conversations;)

To all you seniors, have a great Spring and go Sox!!

Applications, Oscars, and Basketball

2008-02-26T20:37:00.002-05:00

The counseling staff is in the throes of application review and we are getting to know the applicant pool very well. Many of us are spending a good part of our evenings and weekends reading the essays, recommendations, and transcripts that have been submitted. We've just surpassed last year's application count and have set another all time high for applications. I am pleased to see all the interest in WPI.

A good part of my weekend was dedicated to the very same, although I did take a break to watch the Academy Awards on Sunday. Now I thought I had done well this year and I would be familiar with many of the movies up for awards, however I was only fooling myself once again. I can share that I thoroughly enjoyed 3:10 to Yuma, American Gangster, and Eastern Promises but it looks like I still have some viewing to do when things quiet down in May!!

If you've been to campus recently you have probably heard about the new apartment style residence hall opening this summer. Everything is on track for an August opening. The housing selection process for upper-class students was completed just a few days ago and I am excited to share that it seems to be a big hit!! It is filled to capacity for next year. If you haven't had a chance to check it out see the web site and live web cam -http://www.wpi.edu/About/NewResHall/. Of course you may want to wait until the snow stops!!

And last but not least, congratulations to all the winter sports teams as the season winds down. The Women's Basketball team finished the season 14-9 and will be hosting a first round playoff game Wednesday night at WPI. Not to be outdone, the Men's Basketball team wrapped up another tremendous season with a 20-5 record and will be hosting the NEWMAC semi-final game at WPI this Saturday at 1PM. Come on out and cheer on WPI!!

See you at the game....

Ed

Winter Preview

2008-02-18T23:10:00.003-05:00

Here in New England, and in many other states across the country, many high schools are closed for the week for Winter Vacation....enjoy the break!!

Over 375 students kicked off their break by attending our Winter Preview event on Sunday. This visit program allowed students admitted through our early action program the chance to spend some time on campus getting to know some current WPI students, as well as many other high school seniors who are considering making WPI their college of choice.

When you include parents and family members over 1,000 people were on campus Sunday. We welcomed visitors from over 25 states and I was happy to recognize some of our distance travelers during the opening, including students from Alaska and France.

There was no shortage of questions for our panelists yesterday. Panels throughout the day consisted of WPI students, faculty and staff. Many of the panelists were also available later in the day in the Bartlett Center for Q & A. Some of the most popular questions centered around WPI's Interactive and Major Projects, the Global Perspectives Program, the transition from high school to college, time management, career and grad school opportunities and the availability of faculty.

If you weren't able to get your question answered just post something here and I'll try to address it in a future posting. If you weren't able to attend Winter Preview no worries....there are lots of additional visit options coming up for both admitted and prospective students.

Also check out our newly re-launched chat board (http://admissions.wpi.edu/chat.html). You can be one of the first to post!!

We also currently have two students completing project work off-campus and sharing their experiences through their blogs. Tom and Shannon are posting weekly and have been able to showcase some great pictures as well. They are working in Silicon Valley and Hong Kong respectively. Check out admissions.wpi.edu/Blog/.

Ed

Common Question and FIRST Scholarships

2008-02-11T21:10:00.000-05:00

Another freezing cold day...but what do you expect for February in New England!!

Most of our early applicants have received their decision letters by now and we've been seeing some questions about the password for the accepted student site...you can access the site through the link on the bottom right of admissions.wpi.edu and you can find the password on the insert that came with your acceptance letter. Enjoy!!

Application review for regular decision candidates is now in full force. I am always pleased to see how many applicants are involved with FIRST Robotics and this year's group of applicants haven't disappointed. Best of luck with this year’s challenge!!

If you are on your school's FIRST team I encourage you to apply for one of the scholarships WPI offers to FIRST participants! WPI is a longtime supporter of FIRST, and will be offering both the WPI Design Innovation Scholarship and the WPI Allaire Scholarship again this year. Each scholarship carries with it an award of full-tuition for four years of undergraduate study and new for 2008 are runner-up awards for the Design Innovation Scholarship.

Both FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) and FIRST Technical Challenge (FTC) participants are welcome to apply. More information about our scholarships, and application instructions and forms can be found on our web site: http://www.admissions.wpi.edu/Costs/scholarships.html. Scholarship applications must be postmarked by March 1, 2007. We will announce the scholarship winners at the FIRST Championship in Atlanta in April...good luck!!

Ed

Another wintery day in New England

2008-02-07T20:52:00.000-05:00

While it was a snowy day in New England there was tons of activity on campus today. Over 130 companies were on campus for day two of the career fair. It is always interesting to see all the business suits come out. Even with the snow we had several tours going out today...our guides, coming to and from the fair, were dressed to impress!!

Our Director of International Students and Scholars jumped on a plane to India earlier today. He'll be on the Linden Education Tour visiting 4 cities over the next 10 days. If you happen to be reading this in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, or New Delhi check out http://admissions.wpi.edu/Visit/interviews.html for more details.

We are also in the early stages of finalizing our spring travel to locations all over the country...more to come shortly!!

If you are in the area on Saturday the 16th the International Student Council is presenting their 20th annual cultural festival. It's a great chance to learn more about cultures from all around world and lots of good food to be had:)

Ed

What Happens in February?

2008-02-05T21:36:00.000-05:00

February is one of the busiest months for the Admissions Office. Now that the Patriots have lost it's time to get down to business!!

The application deadline has just passed and we are still busy opening mail and uploading all of the electronic application submissions that came in right at the deadline. The staff is busy "building" all of your applications...which means matching up the application with all of the recommendations, essays, test scores and of course the high school transcripts.

You can track your application at http://admissions.wpi.edu/application.html, but you'll need a log-in and pin. If you applied with the WPI web application you already have it, but if you applied through other means hang in there. We send acknowledgement letters by snail mail and e-mail...the letter will have your log-in and pin.

Please use this tool to keep an eye on your application. As you might imagine we get lots of mail this time of year. Give us a week or so to get you support materials added to the database, we are moving as fast as we can!!

The counseling staff will be busy reading applications over the next several weeks. If you applied regular decision you'll hear back from us by the end of the month.

Wondering who'll be reviewing your application? Check out http://admissions.wpi.edu/Visit/staff.html

Ed

Because I don't already spend enough time on the computer

2008-02-05T20:28:00.000-05:00

What was the first reaction to my new blog? My wife smiled and said "that's great because you don't already spend enough time on the computer"!! She was just kidding...I think:)

I hope to find time to share info on the happenings in the Office of Admissions and WPI in general during the busy application season. I look forward to comments and feedback....See you soon!!

Ed