Chris Boehm, Director of Admission

New Blog address: http://albrightcollege.ning.com/profile/ChrisBoehm

Chris Boehm — 2007-08-27T10:09:03-05:00

My blog has moved to our social networking site:
http://albrightcollege.ning.com/profile/ChrisBoehm

The more things change, the more things change

Chris Boehm — 2007-08-16T15:10:30-05:00

Move in days across the country are fast approaching. May how things have changed since my move-in day. A lot of things are similar: over packed cars, posters, anxious students, grateful and nervous parents, and enough toiletries to stock most Target shelves three times over. Some things have changed appearance and capabilities, cell phones have replaced wall phones, plasmas have replaced the dinosaur TV (I remember when 19 inches was a big screen!), PDAs have made day planners unnecessary. And now you can call, watch and day plan on one machine!

Summertime

Chris Boehm — 2007-07-17T09:53:20-05:00

Been slightly delinquent with updates, the lost sleep our new family edition is destroying brain cells and I am still catching up from my time away from work.

Hopefully all college bound high school seniors have already visited their top choice school this spring or earlier. However, many students have not and there are too many places to visit even for the most ambitious of families. Summertime is a great time for rising seniors to visit those colleges that they aren’t sure about and rising juniors to get a start on their college search.

Here are two very good articles that I recommend EVERY family read before they take off on that college tour of 10 colleges in 5 days – which I DON’T recommend. Best advice- have fun, plan and call ahead, take notes, compromise and smile!!!!!!

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07156/791473-298.stm

http://www.newsday.com/travel/am-kids0713,0,252771,print.story?coll=ny-travel-headlines

Summer Open House

Chris Boehm — 2007-07-16T10:49:13-05:00

Tell me another college or university where the vice president of enrollment makes cotton-candy at an open house. Sunday was our summer open house, always a fun day, little too humid, but overall a lot fun. How can you not have fun when snow cones, cotton-candy and popcorn are being served.

Best Week Ever!

Chris Boehm — 2007-06-25T15:00:19-05:00

VH1 has the show “Best Week Ever”. Well that was me last week! It had nothing to do with SAT scores, interviews, enrolling a class, or financial aid. Nope, this had to do with real life, things that matter. Its been a week to sit back and know that everything outside of family and friends is secondary.

Let’s see if you can top my week:

Celebrated my birthday with family and friends.

Went to my daughter’s first dance recital.

Watched my son, Aiden, be born.

Celebrated my god-son’s and mother-in-law’s birthday on the same day.

I even fit in a round of golf!!!!

Financial Aid- Start Early, Plan Smart

Chris Boehm — 2007-05-25T09:42:12-05:00

I too often talk with families of high school juniors and seniors about scholarships and financial aid and by that time 90% of the decision have already been made. And sometimes these decisions are bad ones.

I wish college admission and financial aid counselors could talk with parents of preschoolers. I’m not sure if young parents are getting proper advice or maybe they are and are ignoring it. I am the parent of the three year-old and the cost of higher education is very intimidating for me, and I work at a college!

If you have young children here are some quick types and myths to avoid:

Albright Graduation 2007

Chris Boehm — 2007-05-21T13:37:39-05:00

Four years ago we welcomed the class of 2007 as freshman. I’m sure in August of 2003 the last thing on these student’s minds was May, 2007. Probably felt like a million miles away. I know when I received my college admission letter- so long ago that it was probably actually typed, I never thought my college graduation would come. Four years seemed like a lifetime. But I’m sure all our graduates on Sunday will tell you it went by in the blink of an eye. I had a chance to stop by prior to graduation with my daughter to congratulate some of the students I got to know really well. Didn’t catch all of them, but it was good to see Natalie, Ed, Meredith, Natalie B, Megan, Jessica and some others.

Politics of Higher Education

Chris Boehm — 2007-05-03T07:29:19-05:00

I had the privledge of spending yesterday morning in the Pennsylvania Senate talking to leaders about the importance of increasing funding for higher education and higher education preparation programs. Did you ever wonder where the state grant you have came from? Or where the funding that paid for your dual-enrollment class magically appeared? The answer is simple; the financial politics of higher education.

May 1

Chris Boehm — 2007-04-30T11:36:13-05:00

Our jobs (admission professionals) are dependant upon the decisions of seventeen year olds. Pretty scary stuff. Even scarier attempting to predict these decisions, which is our jobs. The scariest day of all is May 1. That is the day that this the universal decision deadline for colleges and universities place on accepted students for the enrollment decision. That makes April 30 and May 1 very hectic days.

VT

Chris Boehm — 2007-04-20T07:52:17-05:00

Albright students and staff are observing Hokie Hope Day in remembrance of the students and staff that lost their lives in the horrific events this week. Students, staff, and visitors watched in horror on Monday as the day’s events unfolded. You run the gauntlet of emotions with an event like this. I don’t know what stage I’m at right now. All I know is that it doesn’t really matter where I’m at. Only that my thoughts and prayers go out to all those effected, alive and deceased, by this senseless event.

Spring?

Chris Boehm — 2007-04-18T09:46:17-05:00

Did I say in my last post that spring was here? Well, you can all blame me for jumping the gun. While it has not felt much like spring this week there are still plenty of spring things going on. Last weekend we hosted almost 200 families for our Accepted Student Preview Day. And while not balmy, the 50 degree day was much better than last year’s sleet and freezing rain.

Spring!!!!!!

Chris Boehm — 2007-03-27T09:04:43-05:00

Spring is here and so is the homestretch for seniors and the starting line for many juniors. What a great time of year!

I went to an Albright softball game yesterday and Albright students were grilling burgers and dogs, some had their faces painted. We lost, unfortunately, but the experience was a positive one!

Albright has just returned from spring break. It is lonely here without them. NO I DO NOT GET OFF FOR SPRING BREAK! Although Adam and Loren from the admission office did go down to New Orleans with a group of students to continue the rebuilding process. This is Albright’s third trip down and another is scheduled for May. They were supposed to leave on Friday but got delayed until Monday because of the snow. Weather is a crazy thing, snow a week ago and 70+ degrees today. How does the saying go, it’s a women’s prerogative to change her mind and Mother Nature certainly has done that several times over the past few weeks.

The admission office is a crazy place right now. We are traveling to talk to juniors and sophomores. I was at college fairs at Upper Dublin and North Penn high schools last week and sat on panels at Twin Valley and Brandywine last week. We also have a lot of accepted seniors visiting who are trying to make their final decisions.

Those decisions can be tough. I don’t think we (admission people) can be much help because we are obviously biased toward Albright. But here are some pointers:

1. Go back to the list of things that you wanted in a college or university and put them in rank order
2. Take your final college choices and list the pros and cons of each.
3. Match the pros and cons with you list of things that are important in #1. Example, if strength of major is very important to you and you think Albright has the strongest program, list Albright under strength of program as a pro. If you listed “big school” as #4 on your list of importance you should list Albright as a con for #4 because we are a small liberal arts school.
4. See how your final schools match up with what you (and your family) believe are most important to you.
5. Talk to people that are close to you. Share your feelings. Sometimes when you talk about something instead of just looking at it on paper things come to you.
6. Visit again. And again. And again if you have to and are able.
7. Go with you gut! The gut sometimes defies logic, but not all decisions can be quantitative. Remember you only have to defend this decision to yourself and you will do so by having a positive experience and graduating!

Seniors, best of luck with your decisions. Juniors, we hope to see you on campus for an early visit. Get here before the semester ends.

An Albright Weekend....

Chris Boehm — 2007-02-26T08:54:53-05:00

We tell students all the time that when you choose to attend Albright you are joining a community. I’ve been a part of the Albright community for almost ten years and sometimes I take it for granted. This was a great week to realize how much I benefit from working at Albright. So here’s my Albright weekend:

Snow Problem

Chris Boehm — 2007-02-15T10:57:39-05:00

Classes were cancelled at Albright yesterday. Several admission employees braved the snow, cold weather, and icy roads to make it to work. This isn’t surprising because admission counselors are familiar with driving in all types of conditions and one admission counselor lives on campus (yes, she did make it in). We were very surprised however, when John Whelan from Bridgeton, New Jersey arrived on campus for his admission visit! Now that is dedication to your college search.

Some of you outside of southeastern PA may not know why we were so surprised by John’s arrival so here is a point of reference, I live eight miles from campus and it took me 40 minutes to get to work yesterday. Bridgeton, New Jersey, is 90 miles from Reading!

John, we are impressed by your commitment, although we do question your and your dad’s sanity. We hope that you made it home safe and expect that you will never miss a class while at Albright.

For those of you that live in southeastern PA, good luck digging out and drive safe if you have to. At least you don’t live in Oswego:

Groundhog's Day

Chris Boehm — 2007-02-01T14:19:39-05:00