Hopkins Insider

Whew!

Over the last two and a half months I have felt like the Energizer Bunny -- I just keep going and going andgoing and going. Every evening I would go to bed thinking there is no way I still have fuel in my tank, yet every morning I would wake up (typically around 5:00 a.m.) and my battery light was fully charged. Since the start of the fall semester in early September, I have been consistently working 15-16 hour days non-stop. From September 1st through the end of October I had one day off and I slept 20 out of 24 hours. Hence the title of this post ... WHEW!

I write this not as a complaint or to ask for sympathy, but rather as a confirmation of my prediction of a few blogs ago when I wrote that September and October would be the busiest months of my professional career. As I finally have a chance to reflect, I can honestly say that though I constantly had that running on empty feeling, I also remained completely and utterly passionate about my profession. Though I hope I never have to put myself through two such months again, I can say in retrospect it was worth it ... for the most part. 

What was the biggest struggle during this time you ask? Simple answer: not being with my best friend Soze (yes my dog) as he was on vacation with my family in Florida. Soze and I have been inseparable for the last 8 years, so to be without him for more than two months was difficult. We re-connected a couple of weeks ago, and well let's just say we are back to our old routine (such as, he snores louder than me and takes up most of the bed).

As my busy schedule commenced I was ambitious in thinking that I would maintain an active journal and get to blog frequently. However, when each day ended and it was time to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, my mouth opened wide into a huge yawn and my eyelids slowly closed. I learned quickly that I had to set priorities, to survive the workload and travel, and unfortunately the blog suffered in the end.

However, one thing that I did regularly was snap pictures. So as a re-cap of the last few months I share this collection of pretty random photos. Enjoy.

Make sure to check back Friday for the return of Friday Favorites and then early next week for the start of a series of application-related entries.

A SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER TO REMEMBER

 
   
Early September: Move-in and Orientation for the Class of 2013. Pictures are of actual move-in day to start the week and of the Job and Student Activities fair that end Orientation week.

    
One of my favorite events during Orientation week is the Class Photo. It takes a while to get everyone in place, but in the end the result is awesome. 
Don't forget to check out our Orientation re-cap Video Blog entrytoo. 

   
Mid-September: Got to enjoy a special weekend on the Homewood Campus celebrating the installation of Ron Daniels as Hopkins President. There was the special Fun Run, the installation ceremony, and then the reception afterward where I got to be with friends (Jameel and Sarah) and check out an amazing cake. Yum!

  
   
End of September: NACAC Conference invades Baltimore. It was one amazing week of events both on-campus and at the Convention Center in downtown Baltimore. As you can see, Crab hats and designs were the cool thing. Thanks to Jessica, Josh, Lauren, and Mandy for representing Hopkins Interactive so well during our educational session on blogging, and making me look good (well despite the hat). 

    
Early October: My fall travel begins in New England. I picked up an awesome rental car (Chevy Traverse) and made sure to add the JHU sticker so I remembered what car I was driving. What a way to start my travels, at St. George's in Newport, Rhode Island -- an amazing view. I also had to take a picture of the most important thing to an admissions counselor on the road ... where is the visitor parking lot???

  
October: When on the road for two and a half weeks straight your home/office becomes a hotel room and the back of your car ... a view of that madness. 

  
Mid-October: The aftermath of travel ... tons of work to catch-up on and you keep finding hotel room keys everywhere you look for a few days. 

 
October 15th: Not the best picture, but this is of snow falling in Connecticut ... on October 15th. What the heck!!! Mother Nature's cruel sense of humor?

  
End of October: Once I returned from travel I was able to take a few days off and head down to Florida to see my family. The highlight was spending Halloween with my niece Lilly and nephew Cooper. 

  
The End: My two favorite pictures of the last couple of months -- Jameel and I acting as Baltimore Police Detectives (we watch The Wire too much) & members of the JHU Admissions Counseling staff partying at the NACAC Conference social. 

10,064 miles in 43 days (Part Four)

With the start of Thanksgiving week on the horizon I must say that I am thankful there is no travel on my horizon. I am thankful that I will not be on an airplane again for a while, and my next long drive isn't until the end of next month when I head down to Florida to spend the holidays with my family. All the travel I have done over the last few months has worn me out ... and yes I know that I really shouldn't complain that much because just last week I was in the warm and beautiful Bahamas -- much different than the early winter we are having right now in Baltimore.

I am also thankful that I will be finishing up my re-cap of my fall travels. I hope you have enjoyed these entries and gained a bit more insight into the life of an actual Admissions counselor. So if you haven't read Part One, Part Two, and Part Three you should go back and do so. If you are all caught up, then enjoy this final trip down recruitment travel memory lane ...

Saturday, October 11 (traveled 406 miles in a new rental)
On the road again ... I must be on the road again. This morning I picked up a nice large Trailblazer from National Car Rental at BWI Airport and began the trek once again to New England. The XM Satellite Radio kept me company on the way up as I enjoyed a lot of 80s and 90s alternative music. I do enjoy the flashbacks I get whenever the Cure, or the Smiths, or Depeche Mode, or XTC, or etc. comes on the radio. In fact, only the Killers nowadays compares for me to these past tunes.

I arrived back at the Doubletree in Waltham, checked in, and relaxed after an easy drive. Despite only having one real day of rest in the last few weeks, I am ready for this week of travel. Why? Because it is Group Travel and therefore I will not be alone.

This is my fourth year of doing group travel and the last three years have been tremendous. My first experience with traveling with other schools was in the Midwest, when I joined up with representatives from Cornell, Rice, and UVa. Then two years ago we moved the program to New England and replaced Cornell with Northwestern. Last year, the same group of JHU, Northwestern, Rice, and UVa repeated the New England trip. We have changed things up a bit this year replacing Rice with the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. Everything starts tomorrow so I am going to go enjoy new episodes of Dexter and Entourage and then sleep.

Sunday, October 12 (traveled 147 miles by rental SUV)
Maggie, my GPS system if you forgot, and I got into the rental SUV and headed to Manchester Airport in New Hampshire to pick-up two of my three traveling partners. After the hour drive I met up with Shep Shanley from Northwestern University and Bob Patterson from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. Shep and I have known each other for the past three years, whereas this one my first time meeting Bob. We headed back to Waltham, took our mid-afternoon naps (always need sleep) and then headed to the lobby around 5:30pm to meet up with the 4th traveler, Jeannine LaLonde from the University of Virginia. I met Jeannine for the first time last year but this is our first time traveling together. Some of you may know Jeannine from the Notes from Peabody: The UVA Application Processblog. It will be fun to travel with another Admissions blogger.

With all four of us together, we headed north to Wakefield, MA and the Sheraton Colonial Hotel for our first joint college information session of the week. The group travel program format is a simple one: 5 minute introduction and explanation why the four schools are traveling together (we like each other); 10-12 minute presentations by each school (well we try to keep it to 10-12 minutes); joint Q&A about the admissions process; and we end with the chance for attendees to connect with each individual school at separate college-fair like tables. These programs are great because in 90 minutes you can learn about four fantastic institutions.

Night number one was tremendous. We packed the hotel ballroom and had to squeeze an extra 100 chairs into the room. I am pretty sure we broke the fire code with the standing room only crowd. It was so busy that I really don't remember much except being beat when we got back to the hotel.

Monday, October 13 (traveled 32 miles by rental SUV)
I love Christopher Columbus and it has nothing to do with his exploring. Columbus and the work he did back in 1492 is the reason why I am so well rested today. With the national holiday, we had nothing to do until the evening when we traveled the 16 miles south to Dedham, MA and Noble and Greenough School. Here we were hosting our second Boston metro area group information evening and though not the same turnout as Sunday night, things went quite well. The audience did not have many questions, but that wasn't a problem because the stage lights were over-powering and I was glad to get off stage. Actually though my mini-presentation I think went very well ... I can tell when all my jokes get a response. (And yes I count a response as either a laugh or a groan.) The day ended with my watching Chuck, Heroes, and Prison Break through my SlingBox ... but that also means that the extra rest may be ruined when my alarm clock goes off at 5:30am tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 14 (traveled 46 miles by rental SUV)
Up early this morning so I could join 50 other people for breakfast. Huh? Well, group travel isn't just about evening information sessions for prospective students and their parents. We also hold early morning counselor breakfasts so we can connect and update area high school guidance and college counselors. The Boston counselor breakfast is always the largest and this one did not disappoint. My fellow travelers and I shared wet eggs, good bacon and sausage, and some juice and coffee while chatting about the major issues facing the world of college admissions this year. Obviously, as expected the economy and financial aid were the main topic of conversation.

Following the breakfast, we piled into the Trailblazer and drove one hour southto Providence, our second stop for the week. Since we had the afternoon off, Jeannine and I (both former college students in Providence) showed off a bit of the city to Shep and Bob. We ended up at my favorite restaurant in all of Providence, Hemenway's, and I got to enjoy some excellent seafood. That is another reason I love group travel -- good meals with company. Most travel is average meals alone ... you can see why this is an improvement.

With full stomachs we all headed into the meeting room in the evening and held a session with about 150 or so peeps from Rhode Island. This was our third of five evening sessions, and this was the best to date -- well as it pertains to timing. None of us went overtime ... which has been a bit of an issue early on. A nice dinner, more seafood - yeah, finished a great day.

Wednesday, October 15 (traveled 144 miles by rental SUV)
Wednesday is always the longest day during group travel. Is that why they call it hump day? Since it was a long day I really didn't write down much. I do know the day started with a small counselor breakfast in Providence followed by a drive to Norwalk, CT. Jeannine once again found a great place for lunch and then the requisite nap followed. The evening continued with another wonderful event at Darien High School. The only note I did write down, but can't remember why is ... "New England people are so nice."

Thursday, October 16 (traveled 97 miles by rental SUV)
Day two in Connecticut and this started with another interesting counselor breakfast. Once again, many questions about financial aid and the economy -- these aren't easy questions to answer because no one knows what is going to happen. We just have to wait to see what happens with this global economic rollercoaster and whether it is going to be like the modern day roller coasters (short with steep climbs and drops) or more like the olden day coasters (long with many twists and very rickety).

Once again I didn't write much in my journal except:

- Drove to Farmington, CT
- Jeannine is three for three on finding good lunch restaurants
- I love naps.
- Simsbury High School hosts final program ... all good.
- Dinner and debate

Sorry these journal entries aren't as exciting as before, but I've been caught up in the wonderful company I am keeping during this trip.

Friday, October 17 (traveled 339 miles by rental SUV)
And it all comes to an end. Following our fourth (and second largest) counselor breakfast we all went our separate ways. Shep on his way back to Chicago, Jeannine back to Charlottesville, Bob back to Chapel Hill, and me back on the road to Baltimore. Simply put, year four of the group travel experience is an absolute success with an A grade.

The drive back to Baltimore was uneventful aside from the fact that I came to the realization that my recruitment travel is done for 2008. Whew!

And oh yeah ... I now know who I am going to vote for. On the way home I listened to XM's special POTUS '08 radio station and got to listen to two of the debates and some other great interviews.

Saturday, October 18 (traveled 12 miles by my SUV)
So what would you want to do after 7 days on the road? Well I never had the chance to answer that question ... the answer was set for me already = Fall 2008 Natural Science and Engineering Johns Hopkins University's Open House. After a week of travel connecting with over 1000 people and 100 counselors, I get to spend a full day on campus entertaining over 800 visitors. I'll let the pictures tell the story of the day:

   

Sunday, October 19 (did I even wake up?)
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! (My second day of rest ... finally.)

Monday, October 20 - Friday, October 24 (traveled 72 miles by my SUV - once again back and forth to the office)
Another busy work week. Wrapping-up my travels ... preparing for the next Open House ... lots of Engineering work ... Hopkins Interactive work ... and training on our new application reading season. The week flew by with me only remembering one thing -- I need more sleep.

Saturday, October 25 (traveled 12 miles by my SUV)
Open House #2 - just like last Saturday except the weather was horrible and there was less people visiting.

Sunday, October 26 (traveled 478 miles by my SUV)
So after traveling three out of five weeks, and working pretty much non-stop during those two off weeks, you would agree with me by saying one would have to be crazy to get back on the road and drive nearly 500 miles. Right? Well that is just what I did. Why you ask?

I drove from Baltimore to Florence, SC to meet up with my parents and more importantly to get Soze back. Yes, after 8 plus hours of driving I arrived at the Days Inn in Florence and re-connected with my little buddy. This was the longest we had not been together since I got him at 9 weeks old. And the greeting ... well he jumped right into my arms and that is a lot for a 65 lb. dog.

Monday, October 27 (traveled 478 miles by my SUV)
What goes South must go back up North -- and that is what Soze and I did today. Soze is back but that doesn't mean my crazy schedule is done yet.

Tuesday, October 28 - Friday, October 31 (traveled 60 miles by my SUV)
Another crazy week at work. I did by the end of the week get organized and that is a good thing.

Saturday, November 1 (traveled 12 miles by my SUV)
So November is here ... and where am I ... yup at the office hosting our Saturday visitors' session. After the busiest September and October in my life I had to ring the new month in by working. Thankfully, I am done ...

10,064 miles
43 days (only 2 days of rest)

Priceless???

10,064 miles in 43 days (Part Three)

Greetings once again. It is Sunday, November 16 and here I sit in another airport. I am blogging because there really is nothing else to do as I sit out a three-hour flight delay after an enjoyable five-day personal vacation. I must really be getting over this fear of flying. This time there was an easy reason to get on an airplane – to fly to the Bahamas (Paradise Island exactly) and celebrate my father’s birthday with my whole family and my niece Lilly. Plus, flying was much more comfortable as I got to sit-in first class (thanks American Express Membership Rewards).

So here I type away waiting to board my fourth flight in just over a month. I could be stressed … I could be frustrated over the long delay … but instead I am relaxed after spending a relaxing few days in the epitome of Paradise. Now I fly back to the states, prepared for cold weather, and ready to start reading Early Decision applications. But before that, I want to continue my fall travel journal with Part Three. (Part one can be found here and Part Two is here.) Enjoy….

Monday, September 29 (traveled 106 miles by rental car)

I am beyond tired. The flight back from Seattle last night went quite well and I was able to control my nerves pretty much the entire time. I returned to cold and wet weather in Boston, and then experienced a nightmare commute to my hotel in Dedham (what should have taken 30 minutes took nearly 2 hours). To top off the day there was a hysterical crying baby in the room next to mine, and I had to suffer all night as the paper-thin walls did not keep out the wailing. Thankfully, mother and child checked out this morning.

Today was O.K. though as I visited four high schools around the Boston area again. My planning of this day was not the best as I started west of Boston in Needham then south of Boston in Braintree and then north of Boston in Topsifled. A lot of driving and with my lack of sleep I really can’t remember much. Tomorrow is another day, and I am now going to enjoy a mid-day nap, then some quality TV (Chuck, Heroes, Prison Break) with room service and then a good night’s rest (I hope).

Tuesday, September 30 (traveled 149 miles by rental car)

Today will go down as one of the worst days in the history of my travel. It started off well enough as I got to sleep in a bit and then had three very successful high school visits. Though I didn’t see many students – many had exams in their AP classes during the times I visited – I did have time to connect with some college counseling friends. I finished my visits at around 3pm in downtown Boston, grab some lunch, and then got on I-93 North headed up to Concord, NH.

As I left Boston I had four hours to complete the 55 minute drive, check into my hotel, take a nap, shower, and then make it to the St. Paul’s School Fall College Fair at 7:00pm. Well you know what they say about the best laid plans ….

 

Just as I crossed the MA / NH border on I-93 North a horrific car accident occurred less than 15 seconds in front of me. This is the worst car accident I have ever witnessed with my own eyes and later in the evening I learned that there was two tragic fatalities. The accident completely shut down the two-lane highway preventing any cars from moving for over two and a half hours. All of us on the road just shut off our engines, got out of our cars, sat on the roofs of our cars and chatted as the emergency response teams did their work. The whole experience was surreal, including the part of the conversation where we all thought what if we had been just 15 seconds earlier in our day.

 

Finally the state troopers assisted with turning all the cars around (over a 20 mile back-up) and after a detour I returned north to Concord. I arrived exactly at 7:30pm just as the first students were arriving for the college fair. No dinner, no nap, and no time to freshen up. The college fair went well, but obviously when I arrived at the hotel I wanted to take a shower and go to sleep to forget the whole day.

 

Wednesday, October 1 (traveled 231 miles by rental car)

I am dragging big time. Planning my busiest days this far into my travel was not the best idea but I really had no choice. After a rough night sleep I departed Concord for the one hour drive to Exeter, NH. Upon arrival I attended the Phillips Exeter Academy Spring College Fair where I chatted with a handful of students really interested in Hopkins. Though I only met about 20 students, I did get to catch up with some good friends on the College Counseling staff at Exeter and I know that come application time we will get 40+ applicants from the school.

 

Around noon I got back into the school and headed south for two high school visits. First, Newton South High School where I met 2 really nice girls and then to Prospect Hill Academy where I connected with over 20 students. The funny thing is I expected the larger group at Newton South, but was so happy with the students I chatted with at Prospect Hill. In fact. the questions I was asked during my hour at Prospect Hill were easily the best questions I have been asked by students throughout the whole trip. I am looking forward to reading those applications.

 

My busy day ended in Andover, MA as I attended the Phillips Academy - Andover College Fair. Just like with the Exeter Fair earlier in the day, the Andover Fair went well and I met with a great group of students and college counselor friends.

 

Unfortunately my day didn't not end until a 90 minute drive to Providence. I arrived in Providence, the city that was my former home for four years in the 1990s, and fell asleep right after checking-in to my hotel.

 

Thursday, October 2 (traveled 178 miles by rental car)

You know what, I didn't even realize it was October. Wow, this two weeks of travel has definitely messed with my comprehension of time and place. I am missing my home, my bed, Soze, and just normalcy. I typically feel like this on my last day of travel.

 

I did plan a great day of visits to end my trip, as I end in Rhode Island with four of my favorite schools. I started at Moses Brown and then proceeded to Wheeler School. Both schools neighbor Brown University's campus in Providence and I am quite familiar with the schools because I lived so close to them when I attended Brown and some of my favorite current students at Hopkins attended these high schools. Oh yeah, as with many of the schools I visit, the college counselors are great friends of mine. My visit to Wheeler was especially interesting as I arrived just in time for a fire drill. Thankfully the weather was beautiful today.

 

The beautiful weather made my final two visits of the day even more special as I headed to the water and the Newport, RI area. Two more great visits, first to Portsmouth Abbey School and then to St. George's School. I arrived early to St. George's so I spent some time on the beach. What a way to finish with my high school visits -- just check out the picture of the school's campus.

 

At 3:00pm my recruitment trip was officially over and I got in the car (my second home???) and headed south back to Baltimore. I didn't make it back home, but rather checked into a hotel in Fairfield County, CT. It was the smart thing to do rather than try to get back to Baltimore through NYC rush hour traffic.

 

Friday, October 3 (traveled 264 miles by rental car)

Homeward bound ... finally! I arrived back in Baltimore around noon, stopped off at home, went to the post office to pick-up some mail, and then in the office to check-in. By mid-afternoon I could barely keep my eyes open, so I headed home and to the comforts of my bed.

 

Saturday, October 4 (traveled 12 miles in my Trailblazer)

No rest for the weary. Here I am in the office on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, just back from two weeks of hectic travel. It was lonely at home with out Soze -- he is spending these two months with my family in Florida -- so I decided to head into the office and catch-up on the tons of work I have to do. I wrote up a lot of my travel reports and realized that this past trip was quite successful. A little better planning of my visit days, and less traffic and I would have given the trip an A-grade. Instead, a solid B+.

 

Sunday, October 5 (traveled less than 100 steps)

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Enough said.

 

Monday, October 6 through Friday. October 10 (traveled 72 miles by my car - pretty much back and forth to the office each day)

No journaling this week as I have been too busy at work catching up and preparing for my next trip. It was good to see my colleagues and really good to see the Hopkins Interactive students during our weekly meeting. I also got to catch-up on all my TiVo'ed shows, but it was sad because Soze wasn't around to enjoy our favorite shows. Well it is Friday evening now and I just finished packing for my next trip. I hope I will survive, but it should be fun because I will not be alone.

 

To be continued:

Stay tuned for the final part (part IV) of my travel journal where I will talk about my next recruitment trip and reveal who I traveled with...

10,064 miles in 43 days (Part Two)

Before I continue with the tales of my travel the last few months, I thought it imperative to share the big news of the day. On November 11, the Board of Trustees elected Ronald J. Daniels as the 14th president in Johns Hopkins University history. Daniels, the current Provost at the University of Pennsylvania and former Dean of Faculty at the University of Toronto Law School, will begin his service to the Hopkins community in March. Check-out the Web site created to announce the New President and don't forget to celebrate President Brody's years of service through the President's Web site. Much more to come.

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Welcome back. If you have yet to read Part One of my re-cap of my fall recruitment travels, then click hereto start at the beginning. If you have already read that entry then lets continue. As a reminder, when last I left you, I was sitting nervously at Logan Airport preparing to board an Alaska Airlines 5+ hour flight to Seattle.

Wednesday, September 24 continued...
Whew, I am glad that is all done. Here I am in the Red Lion Hotel in Seattle, WA with a beautiful view of the Space Needle. I have no idea what time it is because I am horrible with time zone changes, but I do know it is late. The last time I was out of the Eastern Time Zone was four years ago when I did some travel in the Midwest (Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland).

I should be getting to bed, but before I forget the experience, I have to journal about my flight. Clearly since I am writing this right now I did actually survive the cross-country flight. However, there were a few moments when my anxiety rose to critical levels. Thankfully I was able to distract myself and calm down a bit -- always be prepared. The 5 hour, 23 minute flight felt like 10 hours though. And since I would not get out of my chair for any reason, my bladder almost exploded. In the end though I do exaggerate a bit ... it wasn't that bad.

I understand that a fear of flying is a bit irrational, especially since I have never had a bad experience with turbulence or a really bad flight (knock on wood). But for me the fear does not just stem from the fear of crashing or fear of a hijacking or fear of some tragedy, though I do think of all those things while in the air. The main problem I have with flying is the inconvenience and lack of control. I think if I was flying the plane I would be better. It does boggle my mind though how small airplanes are and how they pack passengers and bags in as sardines. See I am not a small person and I understand a person of my size is going to be uncomfortable, however it amazes me that even normal sized people don't fit comfortably anymore. Add to that the lack of amenities on board, and the seeming rudeness from the majority of flight attendants ... and well let's just say I will continue only to fly when it is an absolute necessity. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about flying again until Sunday ... oh darn it!

Thursday, September 25
After a good rest and adjustment to the three hour time difference, I am up and about and looking over the beauty of Seattle. The last time I was here in the Pacific Northwest was in 2000 when I was covering some recruitment travel for my colleague while working at American University. I had a great time then and fell in love with the city, despite the frequent rain and overcast skies. I remember expressing after that trip that if Seattle was on the eastern seaboard I would move there in a heartbeat. And now that I am back, that sentiment still holds.

My first reaction on my return to Seattle is how much the city has grown and is growing. I have counted already 7 major construction cranes working on sky rises in the downtown part of the city. As I walk the streets I am reminded by how clean the city is, how friendly the people are, and how there is still quite an alternative (grunge / punk?) youth that occupies the city. The weather is actually beautiful and is supposed to be for the whole weekend.

So what am I doing in Seattle? I am here to attend the four day National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) National Conference. This conference is the largest collection of admissions counselors, high school guidance counselors, independent college counselors, corporate vendors, and other parties connected to the world of higher education admissions. This is the seventh national conference I have attended, and you can read about my past experiences while in Pittsburgh a couple of years ago (click here). Well I best get to the Convention Center and check-in with today's events.

... I'm back. A great first day of the conference. Actually, it was quite a relaxing day, as I took it easy and only attended one educational session and then my state and regional membership meeting. The educational session I attended was about recruiting at Engineering Schools (representatives from MIT, Rose-Hulman, and Cornell were panelists), and since I am the Engineering liaison at Hopkins I thought I should go and hear what was discussed. I had high hopes for the content of the session, yet in the end I learned very little and really was upset that the session turned more into promotion for the specific schools on the panel and not an open dialogue of key issues and ideas on how to connect with prospective engineering high school students. Oh well, strike one.

The state and regional membership meeting, PCACAC (Potomac and Chesapeake Association of College Admissions Counselors) specifically, was more enjoyable. It was fun to connect with others in the profession from colleges and universities as well as high schools throughout MD, DC, VA, and WV. The PCACAC leadership includes many national level leaders in our profession and networking with them can never hurt. Plus, PCACAC is all excited at this conference because next year (2009) the National Conference is coming to Baltimore ... more on that later.

Friday, September 26
Today was a busy day. I returned to the hotel quite late in the evening, very tired with a strained voice, but overwhelmingly professionally developed from the day's sessions and conversations. The day consisted of a number of educational sessions followed by the Counselors' College Fair and then a lovely dinner with friends I haven't seen in some time.

The sessions today were much more informative and I actually learned a lot. One session featured four current guidance / college counselors working at high schools across the country who all previously worked as college admissions counselors. The session was titled "If We Know Then What We Know Now" and the presentation included a top ten list of advice for today's current college admissions counselors on how to interact with prospective students and guidance counselors. The list was so well put together, that I am going to have to type up my notes and share with all my colleagues when I get back to Baltimore. I also attended a session on the Education Conservancy that I will need to write more about in the future. It raised a lot of interesting questions about the state of college admissions today.

The day ended with the Counselors' College Fair. Not your normal college fair ... Imagine 400+ colleges and universities in alphabetical order lined up in an exhibit hall. Then imagine that the attendees of this fair are not high school students but rather 1000+ high school guidance / college counselors. The fair is a chance for high school counselors to meet with the admissions counselors and get updates and ask questions. As well, this is a time to talk about potential applicants and make contacts. This is always a highlight for me, but this year was even more exciting because we got these little scanners and could scan the ID badges of the counselors who were interested in receiving more materials. I let my colleague Amy field most of the questions, and I just played with the scanning machine as much as possible.

OK, off to hang with friends and have some good Seattle food and drinks.

Saturday, September 27
As I was walking to the Convention Center this morning I was reminded by what a unique event the National Conference has become. Nearly 5000 people invade a metropolitan city for four days to share stories, advice, and thoughts on our shared profession. The educational sessions are a great time to learn new skills or heed advice from one's peers. The evenings are a great time to catch up with old friends and make new acquaintances. And the rest of the schedule enables for all kinds of professional development.

I also realized that at this conference I have been spending a lot of time learning more and more about how we can use new technologies to connect with the current generation of prospective college students. I spent a good amount of time walking the vendor exhibit halls to learn about all these new initiatives. I learned a lot about new social networking college admissions sites like Zinch.com and Cappex.com, and also checked out a lot of these new video college search sites like universitytv.com. A lot of things to think about in the coming year.

As I departed the convention center for the last time, I made sure to stop at the NACAC Baltimore booth to get a cool little crab sticker, check out the cool crab hats, and start networking for next year's conference in my home city. This is going to be a ton of fun, and a great opportunity for us to show off the Homewood campus to thousands of college counselors.

Sunday, September 28 (3056 miles by plane; 29 miles be rental car)
Well here we go again. I am in the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport awaiting my return flight on Alaska Airlines to Boston, MA. My amazing adventures in Seattle have come to an end, and now I have to return to New England for another week of high schools visits and college fairs. Boy do I miss my own bed ... and I really miss Soze too ...plus the laundry is piling up.

The conference came to an end with the Conference Social last night at theExperience Music Project / Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame at the base of the Space Needle. The museum was amazing, the food was good, the drink was great, the karaoke corner was interesting, and the live band was quite good. Of all the Conference Socials I have ever attended, this was hands down the best that I remember (the one in Salt Lake City was good too but I don't remember everything from that night).

In reflection, not only was the Conference Social excellent, the whole conference was exceptional. The city of Seattle was a great host, the logistics of everything worked so smoothly, and the sessions were pretty much all worthwhile. In my ten years, this was the second best professional development experience of my career -- nothing will every top the Enrollment Management College Board program I attended at the University of Central Florida in 2001. It is great that the conference was such a success, however that puts the pressure on the host city in 2009 --- BALTIMORE.

The planning will begin as soon as I return to my home city ... but that won't be until another week. First, I have return to the Eastern Time Zone and that means getting back up in the sky, so my anxiety levels are increasing. Fingers crossed ...

To be continued...
Check back at the end of the week for Part Three and to see if I survived my second cross-country flight in five days.

10,064 miles in 43 days (Part One)

Now that I am back from my blogging hiatus, I thought it would be interesting to fill you all in on what I was doing during my 43 day absence. Even though I was not posting to the Hopkins Insider blog during late September and throughout October, the blog was never out of my mind. In fact, during my travels (and tribulations), I was actually journaling on a regular basis with the main purpose to inform you all what the life of a busy Admissions Counselor on the road is like.

Since my "Hitting the Road" entry on September 20th and my return entry this past Sunday, I have been monumentally busy. When I wrote on the 20th, I was just embarking on the first leg of my travels for the fall.  Between then and November 2nd, I traveled 10,064 miles and I was home for only a third of the 43 days. And as you will read, even when I was home I was still quite the busy bee.

So let's rewind the clocks, and let me open up my journal to share with you all the thoughts of an Admissions Counselor on the road while in the throes of a chaotic six weeks:

Saturday, September 20th (traveled 398 miles by rental car)
My three weeks of fall recruitment travel began as it has for the past eight years – me, a rental car, a case of Deer Park water, 2 suitcases, bins of recruitment materials, and a long drive on I-95 North.  My destination is a familiar one: the Doubletree Hotel Suites in Waltham, MA.  This hotel has in many ways become my base of operations during my travels in the Boston metro area.  The drive is a pleasant one, meaning it took me less than one hour on the Cross Bronx Expressway.  The foliage is just beginning.  The only downside of the trip is listening to my beloved Mets lose another miserable game.  (This will be my only reference to the Mets as I quickly became aware of their impending doom and found reasons to avoid their last games of the season).

Sunday, September 21st (traveled 23 miles by rental car)
My official travel begins as I host just over 200 people during my Boston Explore Hopkins program.  I have done many of these regional information sessions before (September 2007 entry), and once again the program was a success.  This was one of the largest crowds I’ve ever had, and I met a number of very unique prospective students. And many of my jokes worked ... I hope. The success of another Explore Hopkins program has made me really think about hosting more of these programs in the future.  Stay tuned.

Monday, September 22nd (traveled 74 miles by rental car)
My first day of high schools visits. I visited four schools in the western Massachusetts suburbs of Boston. All four schools are places I have been multiple times before and I consider the guidance and college counselors to be good professional friends. The visits went quite well and just like yesterday, I met a number of great students where Hopkins is clearly not only a top choice for them but a good fit as well, based on what they are looking for in a school. I am reminded how much I enjoy recruiting in New England, because even though the students up here are a bit too savvy about the college search process, they do traditionally ask wonderful questions and know a bit about the school in advance. It is rare that I meet someone up in New England that calls us "John Hopkins," well aside from the occasional archaic guidance counselor.

Tuesday, September 23rd (traveled 48 miles by rental car)
Between my four visits today I actually had some down time, so I can up with a list. Basically, I claim that the process of visiting high schools is the traveling salesman part of my job. So, with all due respect to Willy Loman, here is a the list that consists of my typical high school visit routine:

arrive at school (hopefully 5 minutes early)

desperately search for visitor parking

locate main office and sign guest book

head to guidance/college counseling office

chat with college/guidance counselors – a series of mutual updates

talk about Naviance and reading applications online (oh boy, technology)

then meet with students, hopefully lots of Q+A

try a few jokes and hope for no awkward silences

thank everyone and leave my business card

pack up my satchel and head to rental car

write-up visit report

head out to next high school hoping not to be late, hoping not to get lost, and avoiding speeding tickets

This has been pretty much the tale of my HSVs (short for high school visits -- love those acronyms) for the past 8 years of my travels in New England.  This year though there is something new and wonderful that has helped me tremendously with that final bullet-point: MAGGIE.

Maggie is my Magellan GPS navigation unit and is competing to make the list of my 5 greatest loves (not counting people). The list currently includes my dog Soze (I miss you boy), TiVo, my HDTV, Slingbox, and my iPod touch. Maggie may be replacing one of those items soon.  She not only gets me to every one of my high school visits on time, she makes sure I never get lost, that I avoid Boston’s infamous traffic, and that I have someone to talk to in the car.  Actually she does all the talking and can be quite bossy at times.

Wednesday, September 24th (traveled 69 miles by rental car and 3056 miles by airplane)
Another set of four high school visits went well today, aside from not seeing any students at one school. That never bothers except when the counselor assures me there is a ton of students interested and begs me to come visit. Oh well ... cross them off for next year.

I am currently sitting in Logan Airport preparing to board an airplane headed to Seattle, for the second leg of my travels. I am trying to keep my mind busy and distracted, as I am not someone who likes to fly. Actually, I loathe the idea of getting on an airplane. If I can drive the distance, I will. But I need to get to Seattle within the day, and I don't think it is humanely possible to drive from Boston to Seattle within one day.

The flight should take about 5 hours and I have stock-piled my carry-on bag with as many distractions as possible. My iPod Touch is loaded with the entire second season of the Riches. I also have an eclectic games magazine with Sudoku puzzles, Crossword puzzles, and a collection of other Mensa style puzzles. I also have a cheesy James Patterson novel to read, or a more intense fictional book that takes place in Barcelona if I am in the mood for some heavier content. I just hope all that stuff can keep me distracted and help keep all the horrible thoughts and images that run through my mind when I am 30,000+ feet in the air. Fingers crossed ... aaaaaahhhhh!

To be continued ...
Check back on Tuesday for part two of the continuing tales of my Fall 2008 travels. Find out how the flight went and why I was headed to Seattle?

Hitting The Road

It's that time of year again when I pack my bags, send my dog Soze on vacation with the grandparents, pick-up a rental car, and head north. Yes today is the official start of the fall travel season for me, as I will be doing the six and a half drive up to Boston this afternoon. My first event will be tomorrow afternoon (Sunday, September 21) at The Doubletree Hotel in Waltham, MA, but more on that in a moment.

My travels for the next two weeks will take me to the Boston metro area for a series of high schools visits, then out to Seattle for a National Conference, then back to New England for visits and college fairs in southern New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. It will be a long journey with many miles to cover, many prospective students to chat with, and tons of Johns Hopkins information to dispense. After ten years of being a "road warrior," I still enjoy it ... though ask me in two weeks and my sentiments may be a bit different. Don't get me wrong, recruitment travel is a wonderful aspect of my occupation, but at the end of a long trip the only thing you are thinking about is getting back home and back to a normal daily routine. (Hey, read out my past travel experiences by checking out the new Categories feature of the Hopkins Insider blog - just click on "Recruitment Travel Entries.")

So as I embark on my journey, I thought I would mention to you all where you might be able to run into a Johns Hopkins Admissions Counselor over the next two months. (You might even be lucky to meet me!!!) My colleagues and I will cross the country, and the world, and we all look forward to interacting with you. Our Off-Campus Events Web site details many of the various programs the Admissions staff will be involved with while on the road.

Personally, I feel the best off-campus events that we participate in are our Explore Hopkins Information Sessions. These are traditionally two-hour presentations conducted by an Admissions staff member at off-campus sites such as a hotel, library, museum, or area high school. The presentations focus on topics such as academic opportunities, student life experiences, and the application process. We are holding over 20 Explore Hopkins sessions this Fall, and check out the Google Map below for the various locations:

View Larger Map

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=109073032112485701196.000455f3bc67eb00ee0d1&ll=36.244273,-95.844727&spn=34.892776,79.101563&z=4

As I mentioned above my first event will be an Explore Hopkins presentation just outside of Boston in Waltham, MA. So if you are free this Sunday afternoon from 2:00 - 4:00pm and would rather meet me and listen to details about Hopkins than watch NFL football or the Ryder Cup, then complete this RSVP form.

Explore Hopkins programs aren't the only way to meet the staff this fall. Many of my colleagues will also be in attendance at a variety of College Fairs throughout the country, and also some international locations (Trinidad, Turkey, France, and the United Kingdom). Check out our College Fairs Web site for additional details. As well, yours truly, will be joining representatives from UVA, UNC, and Northwestern on a series of Group Travel events in MA, CT, and RI. Details about Group Travel can be found here, and I will write more about these events as time approaches. Finally, in mid-October we will update our Alumni Off-Campus Interviews site for further details about the chance to meet an alumnus in your area.

Learning about Johns Hopkins near your hometown is great, but can't replace the experience of visiting us in Baltimore and checking out the Homewood Campus. So be sure to explore our On-Campus Visit options and hopefully you can plan a visit to our campus if you have yet to visit. To encourage you to visit I suggest viewing our Virtual Tour, and next week I will write a bit more about the various on-campus visit opportunities.

O.K., time for me to finish packing, load up the rental car, turn on my GPS system, and head out for I-95 North. Hope to see some of you on the road ... and yes, I will be writing in the coming days about my travels.

Decision Time Approaches

So it is Monday evening and I have just checked into my hotel in Portsmouth, N.H. after a very successful college fair. I've been on the road for the last few days and so far I have met some great prospective applicants for the Class of 2013. But before I can really switch me mental gears towards the classes of '13, '14, and beyond, I need to first close the door on the JHU Class of 2012.

As I sit waiting for a new episode of House to come on (about time!), I contemplate the long journey this admissions cycle has been, and how much is still left to do to close the book on the Class of 2012. (I know it has been a long journey because this is probably only the third time in the last month where I actually have had a considerable amount of time to just think, and by considerable amount of time I mean one free hour.) Based just on the number of emails in my in-box and the number of voicemails on my log ... the journey is clearly not yet complete. Mainly the questions that I need to focus on this week relate to three specific audiences:

• Admitted, yet not Decided
• The Wait Listed
• The Enrolled, and Over-Anxious

With May 1st (Decision Day) just a few days away, I will be addressing this group with this blog entry. Don't fret, I will have updates for the wait listed students soon and will also have one last farewell entry to the Class of 2012 later in May. So for those of you who have been admitted (congrats again) but have yet to make your college decision (choose Hopkins), read on ...

Just about a month ago my colleagues and I were finalizing the last group of admissions decisions. Now the tables have been turned and we in Admissions await the responses from the admitted. After a long (LONG) month of admitted students events, an abundance of communications with students, parents, and guidance counselors, and much discussion about why Hopkins is great ... WE WAIT!

Actually, our waiting game is an interesting one ... basically we stalk our mail services team twice a day during their deliveries and await to see how many candidate reply form envelopes have arrived and more importantly how many "Yes" responses have come in. This year has been more of a waiting game than before, as it appears more students are torn about their decisions and are waiting until the last possible days to decide. With those students still debating their choices, I though I would write this post providing as much advice as I can pass along.

In fact, I have actually written a number of times in the past about the approach one can take in making their final college choice. Two years ago I put pen to paper (actually fingers to keyboard) and came up with 4 key points of advice to help one decide what is the right college:

1. Self-analysis time: What is important to YOU?
2. PRO / CON Lists for each school can help
3. Do not focus on superficial statistics and rankings
4. Avoid hearsay, conjecture, myths, and rumors - the truth does not exist in them.

To read the full post, check it out here:
April 24, 2006 -- May 1st is Almost Here

Last year I actually got even more ambitious with my pseudo-advice column. I wrote one of the longest Hopkins Insider entries as I compared choosing the right college to my purchasing of a new HDTV. The theme of the past was the search for the right fit while weighing all factors and doing as much research as possible.

To read the full entry, check it our here:
April 23, 2007 -- The Big Decision (in HDTV)

This year I planned on writing a similar entry, this time relating the college decision process to my purchase of a new car in January, but then I realized I didn't have anything new to say. So instead, as you admitted yet undecided students struggle with this final choice, I refer you to my previous ramblings, but also encourage you to use the Hopkins Forums. There are actually a number of wonderful discussion threads that can help as you make this final decision. Here are the ones I suggest:

Why I Chose to Attend Hopkins?: Top 5 reasons I am at JHU
CLICK HERE

A Letter to Yourself: Before Coming to Hopkins, Looking Back, What Advice Would You Give Yourself?
CLICK HERE

What Do You Wish You Knew Before Coming to Hopkins: Unique Aspects of Hopkins
CLICK HERE

What Would You Change About Hopkins?
CLICK HERE

FACT OR FICTION: Academics Section
CLICK HERE

FACT OR FICTION: Student Life Section
CLICK HERE

It's Time to Make a Decision about College ... How Can a Parent Help?
CLICK HERE

So take a look at these forums, ask questions of the current students, and best of luck as you make this wonderful decision. And as I have said many times before, in the end just go with your gut and choose Hopkins -- you can't go wrong.

Here are some photos taken during the three Admitted Student Open Houses. Hope you enjoy them, and thanks to everyone who came up to the Ask-a-Student table during these events and thanked me and the Hopkins Interactive students.

 

The Return of Admissions Mark

Life is still a bit Busy, Hectic, Crazed for me. So, since you all enjoyed his first guest entry back in September, I have asked my colleague Mark Butt to return to tell you all about his second round of recruitment travel this Fall. Enjoy!!!

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One of the most exhilarating times of the year for admissions counselors is travel season.  We at Hopkins set out to comb the planet and seek out the top students who are interested in pursuing higher education here.  That said, I’ve returned safe and sound to Baltimore after four weeks of travel.

Chinese writer and inventor Lin Yutang once said “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”  I can most definitely attest to these sentiments.  This was my second overseas trip for Hopkins and in two weeks I was able to visit five beautiful countries in Europe.  Needless to say I was taking part in what I like to call the newest Olympic event:  Power Sight-Seeing.  This is where the traveler will make concerted efforts to visit as many locations as possible in the shortest amount of time.

In my time overseas I was traveling with my colleague Martha from Swarthmore.  And let me tell you, we had a blast.  Traveling with a colleague makes the adventures that much more fun!  It’s twice as much brain-power first of all when making efforts to navigate quickly in foreign countries which includes, but is not limited to finding hotels, catching flights, locating taxi stands, paying bills and locating schools and fairs!  We were able to visit high schools and attend three International College Fairs run by the Fulbright Commission in London, Paris and Istanbul.  In total I met over 700 prospective students who were interested in coming to Hopkins for either this coming fall or the following year. 

Like most things, familiarity is your best friend.  New locations are challenging in the sense that it takes a while to understand how to move effectively between schools, calculating appointments times and using domestic public transportation.  Traffic is almost impossible to estimate.  I never could have told you it was going to take three hours to land in Istanbul and then get to our hotel which on the map, looked close.  However, traffic was another story on Saturday night in Istanbul – you know it’s bad when the driver turns off the car!  That said, we were on time for 98% of our visits which was a pleasant surprise – and much better than anticipated. 

Perhaps some of the more notable moments of the two weeks were the following:

• Realizing I packed too many suits and having to carry them for two weeks.  Never again.
• Finding an evening to see Fiddler on the Roof at the Savoy in London.
  Strategically navigating the London tube despite the Circle & District line shutting down.  I also got stuck in the jam-packed lift at Gloucester Rd. 
• Finding myself drawn into French game shows (Des Chiffres et des Lettres) which I recognized from growing up in Canada watching TV5. 
  Having our dare-devil driver in Italy take us 100 mph on the Rome Autostrada on the way to the airport!
• The re-kindling of my love for authentic Turkish cuisine.  Menemen, anyone? 

After returning from my European adventures which I was covering for my colleague Rachel, I still had a week left of my own domestic travel in New Jersey and Delaware.  My last Explore Hopkins took place at the Crowne Plaza Cherry Hill which had about 250 people attend.  The presentation and visits were great and I was able to see some familiar faces of students and counselors.  One of the best parts of the week was having three current JHU students and one alumna attend the Explore Hopkins presentation with me!  I always love having Hopkins students and alumni at the events because once again, it’s way more fun than just hearing me talk about Hopkins being such an outstanding place. 

As for now, I have but one trip left over American Thanksgiving which is to Madrid for the ECIS Conference and fair.  Now approaches the Early Decision reading season.  This means our new building, Mason Hall, has already started to see the increase in mail volume flowing into our office.  To all the prospective students, you should receive a blue card in the mail indicating your application is complete.  We will contact students if they are incomplete during the process so my best advice is to sit tight, continue working on your other applications for Regular Decision and enjoy your final autumn of high school.   

Busy, Hectic, Crazed ...

Welcome to November. I hope you all enjoyed Halloween, the start of Fall-like weather on the east coast (finally!), and for many of you the arrival of the Early Decision deadline. I hope many of you have already clicked submit or made your visit to the Post Office ... but if not, good luck with meeting the deadline you procrastinators!!! For you EDers, I recommend taking a look at the "Early Decision Questions" thread on our message boards for answers to frequently asked questions, or for the opportunity to ask us your own questions; click here.

Today actually symbolizes for me the end of the busiest two weeks of my calendar year. As the title of this entry states, life has been busy, hectic, and crazed. Actually those three words barely describe my life for the last half of October ... but it is over now and I am off for a few days of Mental Vacation!!!

Before checking out for a few days, I thought I would update you all on what's been making life some crazed. So let's rewind to 12 days ago:

Friday, October 19

I got to the office early since I knew it would be a wild day. It was the day before our first Open House, the first day of Jameel's Colors of Hopkins program, our first of two overnights, and I had to head out to BWI Airport to pick-up my rental car for my up-coming travel. As the day began, I never expected it would be the last of these things to do that would cause the most chaos. Yes, I spent three hours at BWI because my car rental place (starts with a NAT and ends with an IONAL) did not have any cars in the size I had ordered. See my up-coming travel was group travel which meant four people, four sets of luggage, and four sets of materials for recruitment events. Finally, after me exploding on the manager, they drive down a beautiful extended-cab Dodge Durango. The car was awesome, though it did feel like driving a boat and was a gas-guzzler, but it worked. By no way should I have had to endure three hours in the rental car pavilion at the airport. Oy vei.

The rest of the day was great though. Before leaving for the Airport, I did have the chance to check-out the Overnight registration and enjoy a couple of songs by the Octopodes, one of the best campus a capella groups. Here is a bit of their performance, held in the new session room in Mason Hall:

Saturday, October 20

The Engineering and Natural Sciences Open House was a smashing success. Great weather and nearly 1000 visitors. The Hopkins Interactive students were in full force, staffing the ask-a-student table and helping answers tons of questions. They made my job very easy. Here's some pictures for you all to enjoy:

At the end of the final session of the Open House, I ran to the new garage, jumped into the huge SUV, and got on the road to New England. The drive was endless, and I feared I would fall asleep a number of times, but at 1:00am I arrived in Waltham, MA and checked-in to my hotel ... than hit the heavenly bed for some much needed sleep.

Sunday, October 21

Thankfully, I was able to sleep a bit before waking up and heading up to Manchester, NH to pick-up the friends and colleagues I would be traveling with throughout the week. My group travel program included:

• Me representing Johns Hopkins University
• Amy Atcheson representing Rice University
• Greg Roberts representing the University of Virginia
• Shep Shanley representing Northwestern University

This is our second year recruiting together in New England, and it was great to get together for another successful week of programs.

The trip officially began Sunday evening as we held our first evening program at the Sheraton Colonial Hotel in Wakefield, MA. Expectations was the turnout would be low because something else was happening that evening - The Red Sox faced a Game 7 versus the Indians, winner heads to the World Series. Well, shockingly the people still came to see us ... in fact nearly 400 people turned out. I was the host for the evening, and obviously I began with a Sox joke ... letting everyone know that I was the only rep from the four schools rooting for the Sox (which actually was not true, but brownie points always works). Though the room was crowded, it was a great start to the week.

Monday, October 22

Our group travel is not just about evening programs. As we travel from location to location, each morning we would also host a Counselor Breakfast. For these events we would invite local area school counselors to a local hotel for a nice breakfast. We would chat about the state of affairs of our respective fields (college admissions v. college counseling). Each of the reps would also give a brief update on their respective school, and then all four of us would do a Q&A. Each breakfast went exceptionally well, starting with the 35 Boston area counselors we met with. I also got in a second joke ... I started my update about Hopkins by telling everyone we had sold the Hospital and were getting rid of pre-med. Some people actually thought I was serious.

The evening was our second program in the Boston metro area, this time in Dedham, MA at Noble and Greenough School. Another great night as we had about 275 to almost 300 people in attendance. Lots of questions at the end of the program, meant we didn't get back to the hotel to close to 11:00. I crashed!!!

Tuesday, October 23

Tuesday was our one sleep-in day. We gathered around noon, checked-out, drove an hour south to Providence, and I got to show everyone around College Hill. We had lunch on Thayer Street near Brown University, and actual were sitting right next to Lincoln Chaffee, former senator from Rhode Island. We checked into our new hotel, all took naps, and then headed down for our third evening program. Last year the Providence program was the smallest of our events, but this year it went amazingly well. Easily over 250 people. I always enjoy holding the Providence event because two of my favorite alums get to help out -- Steven Snow and Stephanie Cascio. Both are alums who have had children attend and/or graduate from Hopkins. In fact, Stephanie is the Mom of Esther, one of our current bloggers.

Wednesday, October 24

The Providence Counselor Breakfast was a bit smaller, about 15 counselors, but the more intimate environment was great. Some great conversations and questions, that actually had all four of us chatting as we headed out on a 2 hour drive to Norwalk, CT. The drive was actually pleasant not just for the conversation but also for the wonderful foliage we got to see. I wish I had my camera, but I left it on my desk back in Baltimore. Take my word for it, it was beautiful. The only negative of the day turned out to be lunch ... not that the food was bad, but our waiter was one of the most evil people we all had ever met. We were actually scared to ask for anything. So strange.

Our Fairfield County evening session was held at Darien High School and was another smashing success. Great turnout that was over 350 people, and the crowd actually included blogger Jackie's Mom, Dad, and twin siblings who happened to be high school juniors starting their own college searches. Another great night ... at this moment I made a mental note that Group Travel is really the best way to recruit nowadays.

Thursday, October 25

Another great breakfast ... 35 counselors ... a good bagel ... some good eggs (not runny) ... and some sausage. Plus, Shep had his bacon ... he loves his bacon. After breakfast and some email, it was up to Hartford and the site of our final programs.

The Hartford area evening session held at Simsbury High School turned out to be our smallest event, just about 200 people, but also turned out to be the only night when I was under 10 minutes in my presentation. Which was great ... since most nights I was closer to 15 minutes and we had all agreed to be between 10-12. It is hard ... I like to talk and there is so much to say. Thankfully, by the last night I had it down and now I am ready for next year.

Friday, October 26

Our final counselor breakfast with about 15 counselors from Hartford area schools. I love talking with Connecticut counselors because they can't hold me accountable ... I don't read CT students. Ha Ha Ha.

After the breakfast, it was the worst part of the trip. Saying goodbye to Greg, Shep, and Amy at the airport. They are three of the top Admissions counselors I have met in my ten years, it is a true pleasure traveling with them. It also meant I need to drive back to Baltimore, and specifically tackle the Cross Bronx Expressway.

I got back into Baltimore around 10:00pm. It was nice to be home, until my alarm clock went off at 5:00am....

Saturday, October 27

Why you ask? Well, Open House #2 for Humanities and Social Sciences students this time. Thankfully, this was not as big as the first Open House as we hosted between 350-400 people. The event went well despite horrible rains and winds in the morning. Honestly, I was so over-tired that I really don't remember much from the day. What I do remember is how great the Hopkins Interactive students were again with fielding questions.

Unfortunately, the day ended quite poorly as I returned to BWI airport to return the car. No problems with the return of the car, but when I went to pick-up my own car in long-term parking ... well let's just say it is not good when you turn the key to your car and nothing happens. An hour later I got a jump from a nice AAA guy, headed home, and crashed. I'd list Sunday activities, but pretty much it was just a constant day of sleep.

While I was dealing with a broken down car at BWI Airport, something was going on back on the Homewood campus. Saturday evening they held a black-tie optional formal convocation for the New Decker Quad, the New Mason Hall, and the New CSE Building. A full tent went up, and the event was supposed to be amazing. Here are some shots:

Hope you enjoyed this journey through my travels of the past couple of weeks. I'll be enjoying a few days away, and then will return to begin reviewing ED apps (and updating the blog).

OK, I am going to pander for comments. In the last two weeks I have spoken in front of more than 2500 people ... so if you met me either at an Open House or during any of my Group Travel programs ... let me know!!! Just post a comment below, I'd love to hear from you. CHEERS!

What's On Tap (sponsored by TiVo)

During my last entry I mentioned I had a third topic to discuss, but since the post was running a bit long I postponed it. Well, postponement is over. Actually, let me postpone it for just one more moment. Since this 3rd topic has nothing to do with Hopkins nor college admissions, I thought I should at least start the post with some important reminders related to those areas. So here's a little calendar of important dates:

October 15: Our off-campus, alumni interview program for Class of 2012 applicants has launched. Click here for the online request form. Get your requests in early, as every year we face a high volume of requests.

October 20: Engineering and Natural Sciences Open House.

October 21 - 25: My Group Travel events throughout New England. Further details can be found on the Group Travel web site.

October 27: Humanities and Social Sciences Open House. Check out the Open House web page for details on our two fall open houses.

November 1: EARLY DECISION DEADLINE. To help prepare you for the deadline I suggest reading both our ED FAQ page and my To ED or not to ED... blog post from last year. Also, feel free to use our Early Decision Questions discuss thread on the Johns Hopkins Forums.

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Ok, so here is what I have been really wanting to discuss...

TELEVISION

It's been about a month since the start of the Fall Television Season and I haven't really spoken much about my TV preferences. It is not because I am not watching ... OH, I definitely am.

This season has been much more enjoyable than past seasons, not because of the abundance of choice or great new series, but rather I am not missing any shows. Oh yeah, and I am enjoying most of my shows in HD. See not only do I have two working TiVos on my televisions in my bedroom and office, I also now have an HD Comcast box with DVR service on dual tuners in my living room. Basically that means I can record and save 5 different shows at the exact same time. And with my addiction to television, as frequent blogger readers have read about in the past, I am pretty much in entertainment heaven.

What all this has provided me with is FREEDOM of entertainment choice. I am no longer bound to the way the Networks and Cable want me to watch my television. I don't have to watch the shows when they come on at 8, 9 , 10:30. I don't have to watch commercials. I can make my own choices ... and I want a hot, juicy burger. (Sorry those Wendy's commercials are everywhere.) No, what I meant to say is that I want TV my way. (Thank you TiVo Gods!!!). So you ask what is TV the Admissions_Daniel way ... good question. Well, let me introduce you to the way I categorize my television watching and recording:

Shows I must watch Live (and usually watch a 2nd time during the week):

Mondays: Prison Break at 8pm on Fox, Heroes at 9pm on NBC
Tuesdays: House at 9pm on Fox, Law and Order: SVU at 10pm on NBC
Wednesdays: Pushing Daisies at 8pm, Dirty Sexy Money at 10pm on ABC (note that these are both brand new shows and already are favorites of mine)
Sundays: Dexter at 9pm on Showtime

Also on this list are LOST and 24 ... but those shows don't return until the new year. How sad!

Shows I must watch each week (but on my own schedule):

Chuck: which airs Mondays at 8pm on NBC but I usually watch on Tuesdays. Fun new show with a great cast and an interesting premise.

Journeyman: airs Mondays at 10pm on NBC and I usually watch after Chuck on Tuesdays. (I watch a lot of TV on Tuesdays.) Not the greatest show but I like the lead characters and feel there is a lot they can do with this show.

Bionic Woman: airs Wednesdays at 9pm on NBC and if I don't watch it on Wednesday, I'll catch up on the weekend. This show may be axed by me, but I am giving it a shot because NBC is really pushing it.

Life: airs Wednesdays at 10pm on NBC and I watch it at 11pm on Wednesdays. This is my third favorite new show of the season and it would be in the previous category if not that Dirty Sexy Money airs at the same time.

Woman's Murder Club: airs Fridays at 9pm on ABC. It just started last Friday and the episode was just O.K. I am going to stick to the show because I like most of the cast and the show is based on a series of James Patterson books that I mostly enjoy.

Numb3rs: airs Fridays at 10pm on CBS. I love this show so if I don't watch it on a lonely Friday night, it is one of the first things I do on Saturday morning.

Comedies that I record and watch throughout the week:

It is not that I don't like comedies, but I don't feel they need to be scheduled throughout the week. I often will use a lazy Saturday or Sunday morning to catch up on comedies, or watch one of two during the week if I need a pick-me-up. So here is the list of comedies I record in order of my preference:

1. The Simpsons (Sundays at 8pm on Fox)
2. My Name is Earl (Thursdays at 8pm on NBC)
3. 30 Rock (Thursdays at 8:30pm on NBC)
4. Family Guy (Sundays at 9pm on Fox)
5. The Office (Thursdays at 9pm on NBC)
6. Scrubs (Thursdays at 9:30pm on NBC - when it returns)
7. Big Bang Theory (Mondays at 8:30pm on CBS)
8. Carpoolers (Tuesdays at 8:30pm on ABC)

Cable Shows I must watch:

One of the greatest advancements in the TV industry over the last ten years has been original television shows coming from cable networks. The Sopranos is the perfect example of this, but there are so many great shows to choose from. Here are the list of cable shows I follow, once again in order of preference:

1. Dexter (Showtime) - a serial killer who only kills people who deserve it. I watched Season 1 in a day, and I am now totally addicted.
2. Rescue Me (FX) - Dennis Leary is a genius, and this show gets better episode after episode.
3. Extras (HBO) - The funniest show on television that almost no one knows about. Ricky Gervais is also a genius ... rent the first season and you will laugh until it hurts.
4. Entourage (HBO) - Just pure campy fun. All men are jealous of these guys.
5. Flight of the Conchords (HBO) - A very unsual, strange, and completely hilarious show.
6. The 4400 (USA) - I missed this past season, but will catch up soon.

There are some cable TV shows I record daily/weekly just because they are some of the funniest shows ever created. The list includes:

• The Daily Show with John Stewart -- The Soup -- Best Week Ever -- and of course The Colbert Report.

Shows I might catch up on using DVDs or Online:

There are some shows that I miss out the first go-round, and then try to use DVDs, iTunes, or online stations to catch up on previous seasons. I will be doing that for Friday Night Lights and also probably Ugly Betty. I am also considering Sleeper Cell, Gossip Girl, The Unit, Brothers and Sisters, and of course The Wire.

New Shows I tried and just loathed:

No real comments here ... just don't bother watching: K-Ville, Cane, Cavemen, nor Big Shots. How do these shows get green-lighted???

Finally, SHOWS I WILL NEVER WATCH

1. Grey's Anatomy (and Private Practice since it is related). I can not stand this type of television.

2. CSI: Anything. How are these shows so popular. Can you spell F-O-R-M-U-L-A-I-C.

3. Reality Television. I am done ... these shows are horrible. The lone exceptions are competition shows like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.

OK, so what do you think??? Add your thoughts, criticisms, and suggestions in the comments section. (Yes, I a comment pandering again ... but you all never respond!) And if you see me at an up-coming Open House or my Group Travel events, let me know what your favorite TV show is and also maybe ask a question or two about Hopkins.