The Career Development Center at Purchase has taken a fresher approach to informing our students of their services.  Check out this fantastic YouTube video made by two of their New Media Interns!  To learn more about the Career Development Center, check out their website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm2ZYvoke60

As long as the SAT, and its cousin the ACT, have been around, students, parents and educators have asked the question: are they good or bad tests? Well, as reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education, two professors of Journalism recently decided to retake the tests and let us know. Of course, being good professors, they disagree on the answer. One says yes, it is a worthwhile test, and the other says, no way is it a good test. So who is right?

Well, you could say they are both right to some degree. There are good things and bad things about these standardized tests. Hence, the debate about their use in college admissions and the changes in how some colleges use the tests in their admissions processes. But on the whole, the SAT is still considered to be one reasonably good predictor of a given student’s potential to succeed in college level coursework. It is not the only predictor, and that is the important thing to remember here: the SAT, like any other part of the application, is only one piece of the larger puzzle that makes up a whole student application. Yes, it’s a very important part of the puzzle, and many schools still don’t consider the puzzle complete without it. But many schools, like Purchase, employ a holistic approach to admissions that takes into account everything from overall academic record and a writing sample to special talents and letters of recommendation to volunteer and extracurricular activities. And admission programs like the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and Purchase’s own Merit Access Program (MAP) provide “access, academic support, and [in the case of EOP] financial aid to students who show promise for mastering college-level work, but who may otherwise not be admitted” because of lower SAT scores.

Yes, in the end, colleges are institutions of academic learning, and we all want to know that our students are academically prepared to handle the rigors of a college education. The SAT and ACT are still considered good measuring tools to gauge this piece of the applicant puzzle and many schools, including Purchase, will continue to consider them integral to the admission process. We also say let the great debate over standardized testing rage on, for it is healthy and necessary and, eventually, it just may lead to sharper, more refined tools for gauging a potential student’s readiness to succeed in college.

Every once in a while a prospective student will ask about playing ultimate frisbee at Purchase.  You may or may not know, that once upon a time, Purchase had a nationally ranked team.  These days a group of devoted students are committed to keeping this legacy alive with the “Sub-Atomic Puppies.”  Check out this article from “The Brick” to learn more about the team!

http://thepurchasebrick.com/articles/sub-atomic-puppies-unleash-their-frisbee-fury

Last Friday, May 15th, Purchase held its 37th Annual Commencement for the class of 2009, said to be our largest graduating class to date. Over 1,000 newly minted graduates celebrated their last Purchase hurrah under the big white tent on the West Lawn in front of the Performing Arts Center.  It was a beautiful, sunny day - a welcome switch from last year when we had downpours all day. Some of us even managed to catch a little sun burn while taking in the ceremonies.

It’s always fun and exciting to watch the procession of budding scholars, artists, and future leaders as they’re called up on stage one by one to receive that last validating, all-important paper that says, “Congratulations, you made it! You’re a college graduate!” Parents beamed with pride as they watched their students cross the stage, degrees in hand, basking in the applause. It’s an especially proud moment for Admission staff as well, as the fruits of our labors move out into the world.

It didn’t go unnoted that this graduating class has a particularly difficult job market awaiting them. Many of our speakers, among them Oscar winning Film alumni, Chris Wedge, and Pulitzer Prize winning-playwright, Donald Margulies, and of course, President Thomas Schwarz, offered messages inspiring our students to make the most of the challenges that lay ahead by following their true passions, serving others, and working to make a difference. President Schwarz urged our graduates to take the advice of President Obama’s Chief-of-Staff, Rahm Emanuel, when he said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” The grads and parents responded with laughter and cheers when speaker Senator Charles Schumer said, “You have the opportunity to do anything … under the cover of a difficult job market.” Ultimately, many grads chose to take our speakers up on this advice by signing on to take the Graduation Pledge, a commitment to social and environmental responsibility. The pledge staetment says, “I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work.”

While graduation is a joyous time for everyone, it’s also a little bittersweet for Admissions as we say goodbye to these confident, mature adults that we helped bring into Purchase when they were nervous, new freshman just finding their way. In our office, some of our Student Ambassadors and Workers are leaving us with the graduating class, and while happy for them, we’re also a little sad to see them go. And not just for selfish reasons. I mean, I won’t pretend we won’t miss all the benefits of having hard-working, talented students helping us out in vital areas of our day to day operations. But it’s more than that. It’s the bonds of friendship that develop between us all as we get to know each other as peers. They will be sorely missed.

So, yeah, that’s enough sappiness. Now, thanks to the wonders of technology, you can do more than read about graduation here on the blog. You can watch video and see photos of the graduation ceremonies on our website here. Enjoy!

Congratulations to the Class of 2009! You’ve made us proud we know you will continue to do shine! The Office of Admissions wishes you all happiness and success in all you do!

Hey students and College Counselors. You may have heard of the new SAT test score-reporting feature from the College Board called “Score Choice.”  As the College Board’s web page states, Score Choice “gives students the option to choose the SAT scores by test date and SAT Subject Test scores by individual test that they send to colleges, in accordance with each institution’s individual score-use practice.” The key language in this sentence is “in accordance with each institution’s individual score-use practice” because Purchase College does not participate in the Score Choice option, or the similar program offered through Educational Testing Service (ETS). We encourage students to submit scores from all test sittings of the SAT, ACT or SAT subject tests (note: we don’t require SAT subject tests, but if you took them, you should send them all). Admissions Advisors here evaluate thousands of competitive applicants each year for admission and access to students’ full testing profiles enables us to fully and fairly assess each applicant. 

No big deal really - we are no different than most other colleges in setting our own policy as to how we receive and evaluate student test scores during the admission process. As College Board reminds on their website, “Different colleges use test scores in different ways and a “one size fits all” approach to college admissions does not reflect the diverse needs of colleges and universities.” Students, you can rest assured that Purchase maintains a holistic review process with a focus on the quality of your academic program, your cumulative academic average, your test scores and your supplemental application, including recommendations, extracurriculars, community service and creative talents. Standardized testing is a measurement of aptitude and will continue to be part of our admissions process. We recommend testing for the SAT or ACT in the spring of junior year and fall of the senior year. And we highly recommend acing your finals and finishin this last month or so of school in good academic shape so you can enjoy the summer!

Creative Writing @ Purchase College
Spring 2009 Women Writers Reading Series

March 5th, 2:30 p.m. Jacqueline Kolosov
Jacqueline Kolosov’s young adult novels are Grace from China, The Red Queen’s Daughter, and A Sweet Disorder (forthcoming from Hyperion Books, June 2009). Also a poet, her full-length collections are Vago and Modigliani’s Muse. Her work has appeared in The Southern Review, Western Humanities Review, Poetry, Orion, and others. She won a Literature Fellowship from the NEA in 2008 and is currently an associate professor at Texas Tech University where she teaches creative writing.

April 8th, 1:30 p.m. Hannah Tinti
Hannah Tinti grew up in Salem, Massachusetts, and is co-founder and editor-in-chief of One Story magazine. Her short story collection, Animal Crackers, has sold in sixteen countries and was a runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway award. Her first novel, The Good Thief, is published by The Dial Press and Headline. The Good Thief is a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and recently won the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize.

Readings will be held in the Humanities Theater, HUM 1065, and are free and open to the community.
* This reading series is made possible in part by a grant from the Purchase College Affiliates.

High School Juniors, you are cordially invited to our 3rd Annual Junior Open House on Friday, May 1st.

It’s a day full of workshops and information from which you can learn more about the college selection and application process, choosing a major, student/campus life, and financing an education. And they’ll be ample opportunities to tour the Purchase campus, meet our faculty & current students, and experience Purchase College in all its brick-clad glory! You can make a reservation on our website at www.purchase.edu/junioropenhouse. Hope to see ya!

The Purchase Jazz Orchestra
April 2, 2009 7:30pm at the Performing Arts Center

BE THERE OR BE REALLY SQUARE!!!!!!

The Purchase Jazz Orchestra
“The Artistry of Randy Brecker”

Chair of the Jazz Studies Program and Grammy Award-winning, internationally acclaimed Bassist Todd Coolman leads this exciting evening of music

April 2, 2009 at 7:30pm
In the Pepsico Theatre At
The Performing Arts Center
Tickets are $20
For further information call PAC box office – X6200
Or Music Conservatory – X7908
Purchase students - free admission with student ID.l

One of the perks of working in the Office of Admissions at Purchase is the opportunity to work with our fabulous Student Ambassadors.  They really are some of the most talented and interesting students I’ve ever met.  Their main Admissions responsibility is leading campus tours but often they’re called upon to meet with prospective students and their families to help them to decide if Purchase is the right fit for that particular student.  In addition to their responsibilities here in Admissions and their rigorous coursework, they are often keeping up with other responsibilities like athletics, rehearsals and leadership positions on campus.  One Ambassador superstar, Matthew (Matti) Plen has just been invited to attend a prestigious NCAA Student-Athlete Development Conference in Orlando Florida!  We’re very proud and honored to have him representing the college at this event.  To check out what Matti and the other student ambassadors are up to, check out their blog here:  http://ambassadors.blogs.purchase.edu/