Hi there –

Megan here.

I have to apologize for being so slow in the posting of this blog. The pace has really started to pick up on the transfer side of things. It’s really one of the more exciting times of the year for me. I’ll leave work one day, thinking I’m all caught up with transfer students, and them come into the office the next day with a whole new crop of students to look at! Joyce, our transfer secretary, is doing a great job keeping all of us on track.

Then there’s the fact that we have just finished our winter term, so, we were on spring break last week, and our students will came back Monday to a whole new set of classes. We even have a few transfer students starting this spring, which is always exciting.

Bottom line: it’s always an adventure in transfer admission.

Now, onward to the reason for my blog-ishness. I am reporting to you live from Illinois Central College in sunny Peoria, IL. However, as I sit here, chilling with my table adorned with North Central brochures and goodies, I’ve been thinking about how great it is for me to visit students at community colleges, but how much better it is for students to come visit North Central.

I kinda started to touch on campus visits in my first blog, but I really want to get into them today, because the weather is starting to get better, and in my opinion, a campus visit is the number one cure for cabin fever. Basically, I just want all you fun transfers out there to know a) how easy it is to visit campus, and b) how to get the most out of your visit.

Let me begin with some advice that will do anybody good when it comes to the college search – VISIT ALL THE SCHOOLS YOU ARE INTERESTED IN. I put that in caps-lock because it is just that important. Think of it this way: have you ever bought a pair of shoes without trying them on? How well did they fit? Would you buy a car without test-driving it? Where you complete your college education should be as important (and hopefully more important) to you as a pair of shoes or a car. You have to check out the schools you are interested in and see if you really like what you’ve seen in the brochures and on the internet.

So, let’s say hypothetically that my talk of shoes and cars has convinced you that you need to visit campus. Well, what is a transfer student to do?

Don’t worry, I’ve got two fabulous options to send your way.

• The Transfer Visit Day – We have three Transfer Visit Days a year, and the day really is all about you, the transfer student. We start off the day with our “Meet the Faculty ” session, where a faculty member from every academic department is there to talk to you and other transfer students about our programs at North Central. This is a great way for students with several interests, say, Music and Education, Biology and Philosophy, or may even Psychology and Computer Science (who knows?) to meet with faculty from a variety of academic disciplines.After some presentations by the transfer admission staff, a faculty speaker, and a panel of current North Central students, we send you off on a campus tour, and then lunch on campus. It’s really a great day, and a great introduction to North Central. Our next visit day is Saturday, May 3, and for more information or to register, click here.

• The Individual Campus Visit – While the Transfer Visit Days are a blast, if you want something a little more in-depth, then this is really the option for you. You can set up an individual visit for any weekday, evenings (Monday-Thursday), and selected Saturdays throughout the year (check out our Visit Us page for more info.) What do we do on these days? Well, think of it like getting a special order at a restaurant. It’s literally all up to you. Because individual visits are, well, individual, you can have an individual appointment with a transfer admission counselor to talk about how your course work will come in to your area of academic interest, and more. Also, you can head out on an individual tour with one of our student ambassadors.But what else? Would you like to talk to a member of our faculty for a one-on-one about your major? OK. Sit in on a class? How about meet with a coach about participating in one of our Division III athletic teams? Sure. Lunch with one of our student ambassadors? If you are hungry, we’ll send you down to the cafeteria.Do you see a theme forming here? It’s all up to you, and if we can set it up, you can do it. I would recommend giving us at least two weeks notice to set up faculty or coach appointments, but other than that, it’s all up to you. To set up a campus visit, you can contact Kathy, our lovely visit coordinator, at (630) 637-5800 or 800-411-1861, or contact your admission counselor.

One more thing. I would like to give a shout-out to Jen McKinney, my fellow bloggette on the Freshman side of things. A fellow NC alum, she is absolutely fabulous, and worth a read:

http://blogs.northcentralcollege.edu/jmmckinney/

Okay, I think I’m all blogged out for now, so I better wrap it up.

Here’s where you can find a Transfer Admission Counselor in your neck of the woods:

Tuesday, April 1
Joliet Junior College 10am-1pm C-Concourse
Morton College 10am-1pm

Wednesday, April 2
Kishwaukee Community College 10am-1pm

Thursday, April 3
College of DuPage 10am-1pm SRC-second floor (near library)
Moraine Valley Community College 9:30am-12:30pm

That’s it for now. Until I blog again,

Megan

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 10:49 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response.