An Admission Process That's About YOU!

Here's a little story that might make you feel better about your college application process. When I was seventeen years old and informed by my teachers that it was time to apply to college, I had no idea where to begin. There were no websites that would help me narrow down the list of schools or social networking sites that would connect me to others to learn more. I learned about the college I eventually chose by borrowing a VHS tape from my school and playing it over and over again. I only applied to 4 schools and forgot to send part two of the application to several of them! I wrote my college applications with a pen and when I made a mistake I would use "white out." I was so nervous about this process that I once called the admission office of a college and hung up the phone when the counselor picked up because I thought she might be writing down everything I said and using it against me in my application!

Well times sure have changed and your college search process certainly does not have to be this way! There are an outstanding number of resources to help students today and counselors are always excited to speak to you about your hopes and dreams. I share my story with you because the admission and financial aid staff at Pitzer College knows how complicated and emotional this process can be. We dedicate our life's work to helping young people and their families navigate the journey to higher education.

If you are reading this, you are probably a student embarking on the college admission process, or a family member wanting to know more about Pitzer College. I hope that as you explore these blog posts, you learn more about what makes Pitzer an extraordinary place.

At Pitzer, we are eager to find the next generation of socially responsible and engaged citizens of the world. We seek students who are ready for a global education and want to use their degrees to make a difference in the lives of others. Whether it's through medicine, art, music, math, science, film or writing, students are using their Pitzer education to stay ahead of the curve and learn ways to best tackle our world's problems. Our community is built on five core values that shape everything we do. If this kind of education excites you, Pitzer College may just be the right college for you.

My goal is to make sure that you have as much information as you need and that my staff and I personalize this process for you. To that end, it is my pleasure to re-introduce Admission Unpeeled, the blog you’re currently reading. So much of the admission process is about stories, and our goal is to showcase the stories of the people that make Pitzer what it is: our students. Our students are a diverse group of young people who have had some wonderful experiences, experiences they are eager to share with you. With each new post, I hope you will learn more about what makes Pitzer a special environment for the students who call it home.

Finally, I know that choosing a college can be emotional, but I believe this process can be exhilarating. And remember, it's ok to be a little selfish. If you are a student, this process is about exploring what is most important to you. I'm sure many people will give you advice about college, but in the end, the one having to live that experience will be you. Shut off all the noise and listen to the person who knows best – YOU. If along the way, you find out that Pitzer may be one of the schools that "fits" you, my staff and I look forward to working with you.

 

Sincerely,

 

Angel B. Perez

Vice President and Dean of Admission and Financial Aid

Pitzer College

Welcome to the Class of 2015

Move-In Day
Incoming students moved into their rooms the morning of August 20, 2011.

Walking up the stairs of Pitzer Hall.

It has to all fit into that room...

Welcome Day/Meet Your Mentor/Faculty Meet & Greet

Welcome Week Opening Day was a full day of activities including mentor meetings, welcome programs for incoming students and parents, a barbecue on The Mounds, and the Faculty Welcome, a Pitzer tradition.

Santiago Ybarra, Associate Director of Admission and Danny Irving, Assistant Director of Admission give new students their information packets.

Angel B. Pérez, Interim Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid welcomes the Class of 2015.

Resident Assistant Tim Williamson with a big thumbs up!

After moving into their residence halls, new students met with their mentors and RAs and met with their Orientation Adventure trip leaders.

President Laura Skandera Trombley greets a new student while Professor of Political Studies and Chicano/a Studies Adrian Pantoja and Professor of Philosophy Brian Keeley look on.

It's Liberal Arts College Party Time!

It's Liberal Arts College Party Time!
By Laura Skandera Trombley
Posted: 7/21/11 11:35 am

Every college president's heartbeat quickens whenever a reporter from a major media outlet calls to have a chat. Of course you always hope they're calling because they've just realized how utterly fabulous your institution is and they want to sing your praises to the wider world and stress the importance of a liberal arts college education and the kind of transformational experience your students have. However, that is rarely the case. In fact, after having been president of Pitzer College for nine years, I can tell you that has rarely been the case.

Recently, an article appeared in Bloomberg News with the subtle headline, "Bowdoin says no need for SAT while buying College Board Scores." Oh my! While I've never spent much time worrying about decisions made at Bowdoin (although I do applaud them in making the SAT optional as Pitzer College did in 2003), clearly something must be amiss. What are they up to in Maine?

When I was contacted by the reporter, I took her call, as I always do, and after two quite long and extensive conversations (presidents love to sing the praises of their institutions), imagine my dismay when I found that our entire conversation had been boiled down into an inarticulate 19 words in the article. The crux of the reporter's story is that colleges who have made the SAT optional are wicked because they purchase names and addresses of students who've done well on the SAT from the College Board, owner of the SAT. When that thesis was proposed to me, my immediate response was that I saw no contradiction because we also buy lists of students based demographic and academic interests which are in line with our programs. Other colleges buy lists based on their own specifications of student demographic they believe will be a good fit for their institutions.

When Pitzer College decided to go SAT optional, we did so because we felt we had been excluding a whole group of students who perhaps did not perform particularly well on standardized tests but excelled in their academic pursuits and we wanted to reach out to as many potential students as possible. Current students wanted to be assured that if they scored highly on the SAT, this wouldn't work against them. And so, in a moment of opening our arms to all so that we could recruit the finest, most "Pitzeresque" class possible, the faculty, staff, students and Trustees ultimately voted to make the SAT optional so that everyone could be considered as a potential future Pitzer alumni.

Now this issue of purchasing mailing lists is in my view really a straw dog. I don't know about you, but when I throw a party I like to send invitations to the guests. This is what our admission office does in purchasing lists. We run tours 364 days out of the year, present at college fairs, visit high schools and yes, we try to get the names of as many college-bound students as we possibly can. I guess we could place giant advertisements in publications like Bloomberg, but I doubt that would result in an appreciable return. And while the College Board is the only provider mentioned in the story, there are many others that schools routinely use in order to enlarge their mailing lists such as Cappex, Peterson's and Zinch. And why do we go through all this effort? Because I happen to think we are the best liberal arts college in the country and every student in high school should learn more about us because what we do is very, very special indeed.

While I understand that it's always a good thing to make news, sometimes there just isn't news to make out of the pieces that you're trying to put together.

In response to being asked whether I thought our increase in selectivity as well as our rise in U.S. News & World Report coincided with making the SAT optional, my response was that if it were that easy I would quit my job as a college president and go hit the road as a consultant and make millions offering that rather simplistic and reductionist advice. Trust me. Success never comes without substantive effort.

When I arrived as president in 2002, Pitzer was ranked 70th by U.S. News. We saw a dramatic jump the following year, not due to the fact that we had made the SAT optional, but because we had actually started filling out the forms and sending them back. Go figure. The reason that probably holds the most water in terms of our dramatic increase of 31 percent in the total number of applications over the last nine years, which has translated into making us one of the most selective colleges in the U.S., has to do with several factors. Perhaps making the SAT optional did encourage additional applications, however, at the same time, there was an increase in the demographic of high school aged students entering college and the common application went online, which allows students with a click of the button to apply to not just one or two but 10 to 15 institutions.

Simultaneously, Pitzer College engaged in a sustainable building program, which will ultimately make all our residence halls gold and platinum LEED certified, that has garnered an enormous amount of attention from the media and for the past six years we have been ranked number one for Fulbright Fellowships per thousand students. We have exciting academic programs such as our socially responsible documentary filmmaking program and our environmental analysis program. All of these aspects work together to create an institution that students become excited about and want to attend.

So, was I disappointed in the story? Not really. It was evident to me from the start what the angle was. Never fear, if you are interested in hearing a really great story drop by Pitzer College for a visit because anyone who loves the liberal arts is always welcome to my party.

To read this article, please visit: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-skandera-trombley/its-liberal-arts-college-_b_905713.html

Pitzer College Commencement

Today we celebrate the 47th Annual Commencement Ceremony at Pitzer College. The first graduating class at Pitzer Collegeconsisted of only 3 graduates back in 1965... but today we graduate 229 seniors from a diversity of backgrounds, interests, majors, and dreams.

Chelsea Kumabe '11, D.O. Student and Office of Admission Tour Guide

Chris Moore '11, Admission Fellow

Maricela Ledezma '11, Admission Fellow and Diversity Intern

With Pitzer-Pomona Sagehen, Alexis Garcia '11

CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2011

Let's Play Some Softball... Pitzer Style!

Every year, faculty and staff give the seniors their last educational lesson at Pitzer College by beating them at the traditional softball game.

This year was no different. The Class of 2011 played a great game! Many of the players on the field included some of our very own Admission Fellows and student workers from the class of 2011.

About a year ago I was playing as a senior against the faculty and staff, but oh my how the tables have turned! This year I had the opportunity to roll up my sleeves, take off the tie, and take a swing at the ball... I almost made it past first base until Admission Fellow, Chris Moore '11, tagged me out! Next time Chris, next time!

Emma Fisher '11

Admission Fellows Alex Smith '11 and Ben Harris '11 put up a good fight, but that didn't last too long. Assistant Director of Admission, Danny Irving, went up to bat on behalf of the staff/faculty and how to show the seniors how it's done!

Cecil the Sagehen would have been proud to see us all playing a good game of softball!.

PZ Admitted Student Day(s) RECAP!

Wow! What a crazy adventure these past two weeks have been! Our first Admitted Student Day was Friday, April 15. If that was not enough, the office of admission hosted about 25 students for our Spring Diversity Program from April 14 through the April 16. It was such an awesome series of events; from the airport pick-ups, to Santa Monica Beach, to a late night IN-N-OUT run.









Fast forward a week later... we were back at it again! The second and final Admitted Student Day, along with a second Spring Diversity Program (this one was much smaller and only occurred April 21-22). For the second Admitted Student Day, we had well over 300 guests!!! Now that has to be a record of some sort!


The entire admission and financial aide offices hope that YOU enjoyed your day at Pitzer while we rolled out "the orange carpet" for YOU and your families. REMEMBER... if you are planning on committing to Pitzer College, your commit cards AND deposits are to be post marked by MAY 2 (the 1 of May is on a Sunday).

Waiting for the Incredible Hulk
November 16, 2010
By Angel B. Pérez

From Inside Higher Ed: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/11/16/perez

If K-12 education is waiting for Superman, then higher education in America must long for the Incredible Hulk. In the movie "Waiting for Superman," Davis Guggenheim highlights the problems that plague elementary and secondary education in this country, and illustrates how a system challenged with systemic injustice and bureaucratic red tape is obstructing students from attaining the American dream -- a shot at college.

But what happens when those students who make it arrive at the doorstep of the ivory tower and realize (like Geoffrey Canada, the educator in the movie whose childhood awakening inspired the documentary's title) superheroes don't exist? Higher education leaders paint images of colleges and universities in America that we don't live up to. Like the fictional characters we grow to admire in our infancy, postsecondary education can often disappoint.

Of the students who enter college in America, 43 percent don't graduate, and those who do typically don't complete in four years. Between 1971 and 2009, the gap in bachelor's degree attainment between white and Hispanic students grew from 14 to 25 percentage points. At public four-year colleges, less than half of the recipients of Pell Grants -- our lowest-income students -- graduated with a bachelor's degree. For African-American students, the proportion is even smaller.
We have a for-profit college sector that preys on low-income and first-generation students who are not savvy about the college application and financial aid process. These schools have produced the highest student loan default rate in the country and amongst the lowest graduation rates in the nation.

There are students who attend universities where they have little contact with actual professors because professors are so busy doing research. You can't blame the faculty, since promotion and prestige in academia is based on research and publication outcomes, not teaching and student engagement. Those who lose are our students, who experience education from a factory, instead of a second home where they are nurtured and cultivated.
In the world of elite colleges and universities, institutions compromise their values to compete for top ratings in U.S. News & World Report. They don’t always engage in student’s best interests; rather institutional policies are shaped to ensure climbing a few numbers on a report that earns a magazine millions of dollars and tells students and parents nothing about a college where they will thrive.

Most shocking of all are the unethical practices of college enrollment offices that disguise information in financial aid packages to enroll as many students as they can -- at the lowest price. Since our government does not require colleges and universities to provide certain basic information in a financial aid package, colleges sometimes provide the minimum amount, knowing that naïve students will enroll, even if they really can't afford it. We have a multibillion-dollar student loan industry and the highest rate of default in our history. Some would argue it's the consumer's fault, but colleges and universities that hide total cost of attendance and don't counsel students about the implications of borrowing are just as much to blame.

Higher education is an industry at risk. We focus on opening the doors for students, but we have not done a good job of making sure they persist. We are moving further away from our values, and if the pendulum does not swing drastically in the opposite direction, we will be the focus of the next documentary that shakes a nation and inspires a movement. We should not set our educational agenda around the egos of faculty and administrators, or the hopes of gaining prestige. We should do what's ultimately best for students. If a college education is the dream our young people reach for, it's up to those of us who lead it to create a system that embodies the strengths of the superhero they truly deserve.

Angel B. Pérez is director of admission at Pitzer College and a fellow at the Bowen Institution for Higher Education Policy at Claremont Graduate University.

L.A. Local Travel: DONE!
What do food; Los Angels, community engagement and Pitzer have in common?
Keep reading and find out…

So I have bee on the road for the past two and a half months recruiting students from all parts of the Southeast, Northwest, and of course beautiful Southern California. This week I wrapped up my local Los Angeles high school visits. I enjoy having the opportunity to visit so many different high schools and meet so many interested and talented students from L.A. Aside from the recruiting, I always go out of my way to make a stop at Homegirl Café for breakfast or lunch while I am in the Los Angeles area.

At this point you may be asking, “So what does this Homegirl Café have to do with Pitzer?” Well, I am glad that you are so curious! Homegirl Café is a division of Homeboy Industries, which was established over two decades ago by Father Gregory Boyle in Los Angeles. It began as a jobs program in 1988, offering alternatives to gang violence in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the city, the program soon grew beyond the parish.

Mission Statement:
“Jobs not Jails: Homeboy Industries assists at-risk and formerly gang-involved youth to become positive and contributing members of society through job placement, training and education.”

For more information about Homeboy Industries, please visit their website and learn more about some of the many opportunities in which you can help:

http://www.homeboy-industries.org/

At Pitzer College, we have the Community Engagement Center (formerly the Center for California Cultural and Social Issues or CCCSI). Since its founding in 1963, Pitzer College has been committed to teaching students to be responsible citizens of communities both local and global by applying the study of liberal arts to concrete actions that benefit others. CEC works in the community creating partnerships, not to dispense "expert" solutions to pre-defined needs, but to identify and engage resources — both human and material — within the community. Under leadership and the guidance of the Steering Committee, the Center supports innovative community-based projects by offering research awards and fellowships. In turn, the Center's community partners present faculty and students with extraordinary opportunities to engage in applied problem-solving activities.

Community Based Education connects students and faculty with local organizations to create community-based research, service learning and experiential education opportunities that enhance the social, environmental, cultural and economic health of our communities. CEC serves a liaison between the academic institution and community partners, provides internship opportunities, and assistance with funding and programming, as well as providing logistical support to students, faculty, staff, and community partners.

If you would like to learn more about CEC please visit the website:

http://www.pitzer.edu/offices/cec/index.asp

Día de los Muertos

First off, hope you all had a safe and FUN Halloween! The only time of the year (well for the most part) that you can dress up as someone/something else and nobody can say a word about it! Cecil sure had his share of fun this past weekend. He Helped out with candy at the Office of Admission (and by help I mean he consumed most of it).

With Halloween comes another celebrated holiday, Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Día de los Muertos is celebrated throughout Mexico and the Southwest states, and coincides with the Christian All Souls and All Saints Days. On November 1st & 2nd people remember those who are deceased. November 1st is considered the Dia de los Angelitos—the day to remember children that have died, November 2nd is the traditional Día de los Muertos (day of the dead). Pictures of the deceased are placed on Día de los Muertos altars with their favorite food and drink. Candles to light their way home, and soap and water to freshen-up after their long trip back are also often placed on altars. Trinkets they were fond of, symbols they would understand, and gifts are left to communicate to them that they are always in the hearts of those they left behind, and that they are still part of the family even though they are not physically with us any longer.

Every year the Latina/o Student Union at Pitzer College puts on an amazing benefit dinner and altar presentation, complete with music from the Claremont College Mariachi group, Mariachi Serrano de Claremont, along with traditional danza azteca (Aztec dancing). This year all proceeds from ticket sales will benefit an AB540 art student scholarship provided by Im: Arte, an art collective based in Los Angeles. Students attending the Fall 2010 Diversity Program will have the opportunity to join the Pitzer community for this much anticipated event!

For more information on Im: Arte visit their website at www.imarte.org


Oh and by the way... this week is the first Fall Preview Pitzer Day (along with the Diversity Program) this Friday November 5th and then again next Friday, November 12th. Check back soon for coverage of the preview days by our one and only exclusive reporter; Cecil T. Sagehen as he takes us behind the scenes of the day's activities.

Who said FALL was suppose to be this HOT!!!

So while the rest of us here on the counseling staff are dealing with tripple digit temperatures (113)... others are out on the East Coast enjoying the color changing leaves and rainy conditions that are typical of fall weather. Santiago just left for his traveling season this past weekend and took Cecil along for the adventure. Allow me to take the time to introduce Santiago. Santiago Ybarra is our new Asscociate Director of Admission and joined the Pitzer Office of Admission just a few months ago (actually a month after I joined the team).



Here is a message from Santiago:


" Cecil says hi from rainy New England. It was a very California 86 degrees when I landed in Hartford at 5:45pm, but two days later it started raining. The "desert chicken" known as Cecil wanted to stick his head in the ground but I managed to convince him to take a picture outside of Charlemont, MA. He's been to 5 schools and two states, and tomorrow he'll be hitting 4 more schools and 2 more states. He thinks the leaves are turning Pitzer Orange just for him!" - Santiago

Pitzer in the news!

I wanted to share some of the attention that Pitzer College has been receiving in the news recently.

The Los Angeles Times ran an article this weekend exploring some of the sustainability initiatives around campus. At Pitzer we really strive to live our values. The most gratifying aspect of our culture of sustainability is that it grows right out of our students. Many of the projects discussed in this article and many more that may be seen around campus are direct results of student effort. In an era when everything "green" is hotter than a mid-1990s Macarena, it's nice to be able to say that our attitude toward our environment is truly organic and home-grown!

Last week, Pitzer was featured in an article discussing another hot topic in higher education: gender-neutral housing. This article addresses some of the questions that have been raised as more colleges embrace this progressive attitude toward students' abilities to choose who they live with.

Last but certainly not least, Laura Skandera Trombley, President of Pitzer College, published her most recent scholarly study of Mark Twain this month. Mark Twain's Other Woman: The Hidden Story of his Final Years is now available on Amazon and in bookstores. As an internationally renowned Mark Twain scholar President Trombley balances her roles as both adminstrative leader and scholar with grace and candor. I was lucky enough in my first year at Pitzer to take a course on Victorian America which President Trombley "team-taught" with Stuart McConnell from the History and American Studies field groups. For those of you interested in President Trombley's work I encourage you to explore her personal website.

Getting savvy

This week the Office of Admission is quiet. Not because there’s no work to do, but because we’re on the road visiting you! Our counselors visited schools and met students in Atlanta, Tennessee, the San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas, Boston, and Southern California – and we’re just getting started! Meeting a representative from Pitzer at your high school is a great opportunity to learn more about Pitzer, ask specific questions about the school, as well as gain insights into the college search and application process in general. If you can’t meet with one of us in person, remember that we have phone interviews available, and someone is always in our office to answer your questions or find someone who can.
But what kinds of questions should you be asking? How do you make the most of your opportunity to speak directly with an admission counselor? How do you know that you’ve found the right group of schools to apply to? The questions go on.
No matter how far along you may be in your college search and application process, you have no doubt been exposed to the glut of information designed to “assist” you during these often stressful months. Whole libraries have been devoted to college admissions, selections, applications, interviews, essays, and rankings. Entire graduate-level programs exist to train the professionals that you’ll meet along your way (also, ostensibly, to assist you). Not to mention the vast sea of college-related articles and – ahem – blogs that are just a search away on the internet. Wikipedia even has an article on university and college admissions (containing, among other things, information on the process in more than thirty other countries). A USA Today article this week titled, “To friend or not to friend?” comments on the pitfalls of using Facebook and other social networking tools to enhance your relationship with a particular institution or counselor. In short, there’s a lot of information coming at you.
So with all this information about the transition to college, why are there still so many questions? How do you become what I call a savvy consumer of college knowledge?
One way, if you know that you’re going to talk to a college representative, is to prepare some questions in advance so that you can make the most of your time together. You might even have some general questions prepared that you can ask of every college that visits, and don’t be afraid to ask tough questions! We’re on the road looking for you, so feel confident seeking answers.
When you’re presented with promotional materials from a college (picture that stack of brochures you brought home from the college fair), pay attention to the “buzzwords” that colleges use to describe themselves, and then do your own investigation. If a college talks a lot about “interdisciplinary education,” go through their online course catalog and read some course descriptions. Do they seem interdisciplinary to you? When it comes to advertising, colleges are no different from private companies, so developing a critical eye will help you become a more savvy consumer of college knowledge.
Another thing you can do to get savvy is to read some of the literature that college admission counselors read. The National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC) is the professional organization of our business. At their website (NACACnet.org) you can become a student member and gain access to loads of insider information. Find out how college admission professionals talk to each other. Find out what issues are on the minds of the people reading your application. Sign up for the NACAC newsletter (Steps to College) under the “Publications and Resources) tab from the NACAC homepage.
The Pitzer College Admission staff is here to help you. You can find out which counselor is primarily responsible for your region on our website. Find us, contact us, ask us questions! Being proactive should be your goal during the college search and application process. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and there is still plenty of time. Have fun meeting counselors and investigating colleges!

Welcome Class of 2014 and beyond

Hello and welcome to Admission Unpeeled, a personal journey through a year in the life of the Pitzer College Office of Admission. By following and participating with this blog we hope you’ll learn more about the admission process in general, as well as get to know more about exactly what’s happening with our office each week. We’ll be updating the blog every week with news about visiting your high schools, meeting you and your counselors, reading applications, hosting programs on campus, and more. Check back with us as often as you like, comment on articles that pique your interest, write to us and tell us what you think. Pitzer Unpeeled is for you!

My name is Adam Rosenzweig and I will be your primary Peeler, if you will. You will also read messages from other members of the Admission staff throughout the year. I graduated from Pitzer in 2009 with a degree in History. During my time as a student I was actively involved all over the five Claremont Colleges (“5Cs”) with organizations like the Braineaters (Claremont’s highly competitive Ultimate Frisbee club team), Hillel (5C Jewish life), Pitzer Outdoor Adventure (our biggest and most epic club), and the Center for California Cultural and Social Issues (Pitzer’s community engagement institute). I was born in Santa Monica, California but I’ve lived in Cincinnati, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Boston. For the Office of Admission I travel throughout New England (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and even Westchester County, New York) as well as Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan.
This week at Pitzer has been very exciting for everyone, including the Office of Admission! New and returning students have been settling into their classes, and reuniting with friends. We are in the process of interviewing, hiring, and training our student workers to assist the admission team this year. By the end of the month we will have well over thirty paid student workers in our office! Our counselors are busy calling high schools to schedule times for us to come visit, so tell your college/guidance counselor (when they look like they’ve got a moment!) that you’re excited to speak with a representative of Pitzer College. If we can’t make it to your high school, and you can’t visit us at Pitzer, then we can set up a time to talk and even interview over the phone.

Become a follower of Admission Unpeeled and check back often for updates on the Pitzer College admission process. We hope you’re looking forward to this year as much as we are!

WAC(AC)-TASTIC

If anyone called our office last week, you probably heard that most of the staff was out of the office between Wed and Fri. This was because we were attending the annual WACAC conference. On top of putting on an amazing conference that gave me a great opportunity for professional development, WACAC is an important organization for you to know about. WACAC is an ACAC, Association of College Admission Counseling, and there are a number of different ACACs for each area of the country.

There is WACAC-the Western Association of College Admission Counseling.
There is NACAC-the National Association of College Admission Counseling.
There is RMACAC-the Rocky Mountain Association of College Admission Counseling.
There is OACAC-the Overseas Association of College Admission Counseling.
And so on.

These organizations are a collection of College Admission Counselors, High School College Counselors and Independent Counselors all working together to find the best way to serve you, the students. WACAC represents the states of California and Nevada and works on advocating for student’s rights, making sure colleges adhere to The Statement of Principles of Good Practice and conducts research.

This year the conference was at Chapman University and it was an amazing experience for me. I hate to admit it, but this was actually the first time I had visited Chapman’s campus and I must say they have a beautiful campus. I also must thank the entire Chapman Admission Staff, you did an excellent job setting up the conference and all the social events. Since this was my first WACAC, they set the bar pretty high for all the conferences I will attend in the future.

This year’s conference was great, it gave me a chance to meet some new people in the industry, catch up with my colleagues and attend some amazing sessions. My favorite sessions were “Seniors Save the Day”, “Moving Images in the College Admission Process” and “Ready Set Launch! Help Students Get Their Scholarship Search off the Ground”.

Now I hate to be biased, but the “Seniors Save the Day” session was one of my favorites because it was presented by Adam Sapp, Claremont McKenna College’s Associate Dean of Admission and our very own Jasmin Escobar, Pitzer College’s Associate Director of Admission. This session talked about how seniors work to help the Admission Offices at their respective schools. Here at Pitzer we have what we call the Admission Fellow Program. The Admission Fellows help us by conducting interviews, presenting information sessions, recalculating GPAs and staffing college fairs. These Admission Fellows really do “save the day” for our office, and I am not just saying this because I used to be one. This year the Admission Fellows conducted 489 interviews and during the fall, while the counselors were on the road visiting your high schools, the Admission Fellows and Alumni Interviewers conducted 80% of our interviews.

Now I know a number of parents out there are hesitant when they hear their son or daughter will be interviewing with a student. I want to take this time to reassure all of you parents that interviewing with an Admission Fellows carries the same weight as interviewing with an Admission Counselor. The Admission Fellows actually go through a rigorous 40 hour week of training and are more than qualified to conduct these interviews. In fact students tend to enjoy their interviews with our Admission Fellows more than they enjoy interviewing with one of the counselors. (With the exception of my interviews of course)

The next session that I really enjoyed was “Moving Images in the College Admission Process” and it was also amazing. This session was presented by David May, Chapman’s Assistant Director of Admission and one of his student workers, Sasha de Mello. This session was amazing for me since I am in the process of creating a virtual campus tour for Pitzer and we have never done something like this before. It was great to see how another college approached this project and how they use other online resources such as blogs. You can find David’s College Admission blog at http://chappenings.blogspot.com/. After David and Sasha’s session I am even more excited to get started on our virtual tour and hope I can impress David with our finished product.

The last of my favorite sessions was “Ready Set Launch! Help Students Get Their Scholarship Search off the Ground”. This session was presented by Lynette Matthews, the Director of College Connection and Rhondalynne McClintock, the Director of Scholarship Club. Rhonadalynne’s daughter Talia, who will be starting her career at Pitzer in the fall, also contributed to the presentation. This session was a little bit different from the others I attended, since I don’t get to contribute as much in student’s scholarship search. However, this session was surprisingly relevant for me. Private School education is not cheap and even with our policy to guarantee to meet 100% of a student’s demonstrated need, sometimes families still need a little more help paying for school. There is a ton of money out there to help students pay for college, but it is up to you to find it (and the you I am referring to is the students, not you parents). In the past I have directed families to the 2 scholarship search engines that I knew of, the College Board’s Scholarship Search Engine http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp, and FastWeb http://www.fastweb.com/. In reality there are a ton of other websites that are great for starting a scholarship search (see below for a longer list).

The key to starting your scholarship search, is to make a list of your attributes, this is also called a personal inventory and think outside of the box when making this list. There are scholarships out there for things as random as people with one blue eye one brown eye. Look at things like your parents employer, your parents previous employers, if anyone in your family has served in the military, what you are interested in studying, if you do community service etc. At this point start looking through the scholarship searches to see what you can find. Some of the other great search engines I learned about in this session were http://www.scholarshipexperts.com/, http://www.meritaid.com/, http://www.finaid.com/, http://www.gradefund.com/, http://www.scholarshipcoach.com/ and of course Rondalynne and Talia’s website http://www.thescholarshipclub.com/. Talia and Rondalynne are located in Rancho Cucamonga, so if you are a student from the Inland Empire I highly recommend checking them out. Remember it is never too early to start looking for money for college and the process doesn’t stop after you start your first year of college.

There was one other big issue that we discussed frequently during the WACAC conference, the Cal Grant. For those of you who don’t know, the Cal Grant is free money for students who are California natives, who are attending a College in California who, demonstrate financial need and meet certain GPA requirements. The Cal Grant award can be up to $9,700 a year and is sometimes the extra money a student needs to be able to attend a college or university. Unfortunately, with our current economic crisis, the Governor is proposing to cut the Cal Grant. This cut would affect over 200,000 students, but there is something you can do to help. Write a letter to your local California Legislator and ask them to vote against cutting the Cal Grant. You can also write directly to Governor Schwarzenegger and tell him how you feel. This takes only a few minutes and can really make a difference. You can also log onto the NACAC website and fill out a short form that will send the email for you, http://capwiz.com/nacac/issues/alert/?alertid=13464096
Please every email or letter makes a difference.


As you can see, I learned a lot while I was at WACAC and came away rejuvenated and ready for next years travel season. Now on to some blog business, as you have seen there has been a little less posting on the blog over the summer, and since I will be out of town it will continue to be a little lighter in terms of posting. Later this week I am heading down to San Diego to help conduct mock interviews at my Alma Mater Francis Parker, and then I am heading out on vacation, so expect some posts about that. Don’t despair the light posting, keep tuning in and be ready for the fall because there will be some exciting new changes to the blog.

Let's Play Ball

Hi everyone! Things are now officially quiet in the office, but as the office slows down, life around campus speeds up. Last week students were finishing up finals, others were moving out and graduation was on Saturday.

Last week, with graduation is right around the corner, there were a ton of events going on for the senior class ranging from graduation rehearsals to parties at a Professor’s house and a reception at the President’s house. Wednesday, however, was one of Pitzer’s best traditions. The Faculty and Staff vs seniors softball game. Yet again the faculty and staff won!!! In fact we have won every single year, this may be because we have the math department on our side creatively keeping score, but I think it is just because we are that good.

As always, the softball game was a lot of fun. Everyone from the maintenance staff to the President came out. Unfortunately Angel and Arnaldo were busy, but don’t worry, I represented for the Admission Office.

I think my favorite part of the game was Jim Marchant’s (our Dean of Students) new haircut.

This year he made a bet with the senior class. The bet ran, if the senior class got 100% participation with the senior class gift Jim would get a Mohawk for graduation. As you can see, the seniors succeeded in getting 100% participation in the gift campaign.

Here is another picture of Jim looking tough as nails (I think we also win the competition for having the coolest Dean of Students)

The senior class gift is the first chance for graduating seniors to give back to the Pitzer community.

Just so the seniors don’t get all of the attention the faculty and staff campaign was also a huge success. This your 90% of our faculty and staff gave back to Pitzer. This puts us at number one in the country for faculty and staff giving.

Back to the softball game, it was obvious that we were going win because, as Justin said, we had a ringer, Laura Skandera Trombley Pitzer’s President.

Can’t you see the fear in the students’ faces as she steps to the plate?

Here is a picture of Chris Brunell, our Director of Residence Life, right before he crushes a ground rule double.

And just to prove that I was out there, here is me waaaayyy out in leftfield

I would like to say that I was responsible for catching many pop flies, but in reality the ball came absolutely no where near me.

But hey, I did get my base hit! And let me tell you running on grass in dress shoes is not easy.

All in all it is an amazing tradition and Adam, one of our Admission Fellows who graduated in January even came back to play.

As you can see he has been missing the southern California sun.

Before I leave you to start preparing for graduation, I have a quick note for any juniors out there. The Claremont Colleges Receptions (or CCRs) are about to begin again. These receptions are a great way to get an introduction to the Claremont Colleges and gives you the change to speak with representitives from CMC, Harvey Mudd, Scripps and of course Pitzer. Here is the schedule of where we will be in the next few weeks.

Washington, DC- Sunday, May 17 at 2:00 p.m.
Philadelphia, PA- Monday, May 18 at 7:00 p.m.
New York, NY- Tuesday, May 19 at 7:00 p.m.
Boston, MA- Wednesday, May 20 at 7:00 p.m.
Honolulu, HI- Sunday, May 31 at 1:00 p.m.

If you are interested in attending please register on our shared website
http://claremontmckenna.gotoextinguisher.com/survey/index.php?time=2009-05-18%2019:00:00&id=158&timeID=592

Tune in for graduation pictures as soon as I get them.

May 1

So last Friday was May 1. You know what that means, it was decision day!!!!

For all of you high school seniors, this marks our joint trip through the admissions process (remember this is my first time seeing it all the way through from the other side of the desk). Once you get that card in the mail, which hopefully you have already done, take a moment take a big breath and give yourselves a pat on the back. You deserve it!

Even though my first cycle is coming to a close it has still been a busy time of the year for me. We just had our two Admitted Student Days, which went very smoothly. Here are some pictures

Peter Nardi our acting President giving the welcoming speech.

And here are all the students with their parents.
Take a look at Sol leading an awesome tour
And we can’t forget two of our blog winners showed up. Jacey came to say hello and offered to give me capoeira lessons next year (don’t forget Jacey, I may take you up on that offer) and Jon Rice also came. He even had the foresight to bring his Cecil with him.

Aren’t they are great team!

The next week’s Admitted Student Day also coincided with our Spring Diversity Program. This means I spent the whole week running around making sure everything was ready, but the lack of sleep was worth it and we had an AMAZING time!

On Friday we went to the beach and it was a blast. Check out the pictures from our trip.

Here is my van on the way to the beach. It is a little blurry, but still the best van group EVER (P.S. Don’t worry I didn’t take the picture while driving, Tim took it)

Here we are at the beach

We also hired 2 new interns for the program, Bryce Coefield and Maricela Ledezma. I don’t have a picture of Maricela with me, but here is a picture of Bryce

After the Diversity Program there was no rest for Danny. On Tuesday I hopped onto a plane to New Jersey for Spring College fairs. They were a lot of fun! I haven’t been to NJ before so it was a brand new experience for me. Although I must admit I was less than thrilled with driving in NJ, I don’t like roundabouts L.

Overall the fairs were fun. I say overall because my GPS decided to take me the longest roundabout method possible to get me from school to school. I would have to say one of the high points of my fair trips was getting to see Watu Poe one of our admitted students when I visited the Peddie School. I even was able to coerce him into taking a picture with Cecil.

After NJ I finally got some downtime and went to visit some friends in New York. This was great because I have only been to NY on one other occasion, and I was sick 2 out of 3 days. This time was much better. I refrained from doing any touristy activity and instead spent time with my friends in Central Park and went to the Tribeca Film festival. Overall I had a great time, but am ready to stay in my own time zone for a while.

Well it is time to get back to reading transfer files, but I wish you all luck with the last few weeks of school before summer.