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College of Wooster – Changing Lives

Jared Hobson — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 14:38:25 +0000

On a Friday afternoon in August, Mark visited the College of Wooster in Ohio, and was impressed by the personalized attention of the staff.
Watch this video to see how this Midwestern gem is changing lives of its students through its special liberal arts programs.

Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant
***************

Here’s the transcript if you’d like to read:

I’m here on the Campus of the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. And I could say that the College of Wooster is another one of those Mid-Western surprises. I’ve had on this trip where you walk into the campus and are really shocked by how really wonderful it is. I can’t say I was completely shocked because I knew from reputation that this is a really solid academic school. It’s kind of under the radar screen for a lot of people but a fantastic little liberal arts college in Ohio.

The thing I wanted to mention is the way I visit colleges. I tend not to go on canned admission tours. I tend to just show up kind of unannounced without a lot of fanfare or giving them prior warning of my visit. Then I walked into the Admissions Office today at 4:15, okay it closes at 5.

Immediately they said, let’s get you in touch with the person, what are the admissions reps and he sat down with me. He talked with me for about 40 minutes. He gave me kind of a personal tour of the campus as much as he could before he had to run off to pick up his wife. But really took a personalized – he gave me personal attention. And that’s really indicative of what the College of Wooster is all about spending the time and the energy and giving personal attention to each and every student.

Loren Pope put the College of Wooster in his book 40 Colleges that Changed Lives and, you know. It’s not surprising just my little experience here on an August day when the campus is pretty dead to walk into the Admissions Office and get a lot of personalized attention. We just met with the professor he was walking out of his office, stood there and talked with us for a few minutes, really impressive place.

Yes, the landscaping and the architecture yes that’s kind of a surprise to me. Because it really does kind of help to get a feel of the physical plant of a college. But really by reputation College of Wooster is one of those places that they take – maybe their students are diamonds in the rough not necessarily the tippy top academically. They will take students who have academic potential and they will mold them into scholars. That is really the hallmark of education here at Wooster, excellent education, someplace that is definitely off the radar screen for a lot of students but it shouldn’t be. This is a high value education and it deserves more attention.

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College Catalog – A Student's Bible

Jared Hobson — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:47:42 +0000

On his recent visit to Otterbein College, Mark shared his views about what helps students finding the desired information they’re looking for about a college. A college’s catalog–or bulletin, as it is sometimes called–is the source of all knowledge about the policies, programs, and procedures of a college. If you are interested in a particular place, make sure to pick up the catalog.
Watch this video and learn how a college catalog can help you find the right majors, graduation requirements or answers to any other questions you may have:

Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant
*****************
TRANSCRIPTION
Hi, I’m here today on the campus of Otterbein University which is in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio in a beautiful little town, a nice little center here right next to the campus but I want to take a minute just to talk about something about researching colleges and that is the catalog, the college catalog, also sometimes known as the bulletin. This is the bible of any college student and it should be the college of any student who is looking at and trying to decide which college to attend. When you’re serious about a particular college, make sure that you get a copy of this catalog. Now you can find it on the internet sometimes, it’s kind of hard and sometimes it’s kind of funky to navigate but this is really important. Why? Because while choosing a college is partly about sports and activities, you can see the stadium and the track behind me, it’s sometimes about parties and about fraternities and sororities, the fraternity houses are just down the road here and sometimes it’s also about residence halls and living on your own and growing up and expanding in those personal ways but, you know, really college is primarily about school. It’s primarily about learning. It’s tests, it’s papers, it’s all the things, going to class. This is the book that you need to have in order to understand the academic structure of a university and the requirements to your degree. So, you want to make sure that you understand that when you’re looking at a particular college and trying to figure out whether or not this college has the things that you’re interested in.
So, you know, take an example, if you want to know about how to double major or what a dual degree option might be, you need to know all of those things are listed in here. If you’re looking at, say, the politics department, you want to know about what kinds of courses are offered and what are the introductory courses, what are the second level courses, what’s the philosophy of education in that particular department? What is the emphasis? Looking at who the faculty are, that’s all going to be in this catalog. Again, you know, we have all kinds of information at our fingertips. When we go to the internet, we go to the websites of the various colleges, what do we see primarily? We see pretty pictures, we see virtual tours, we see student blogs, we see, you know, talking heads telling us how wonderful this particular college is but if you want to understand what’s going to, what’s in it for you, get the book that every student has on campus, get the college catalog or bulletin and make sure that you read up and understand how this college is structured, what its priorities are and what it’s going to mean for you academically speaking because that’s really what college is all about.

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Ohio State University – Size Does Matter

Jared Hobson — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:20:37 +0000

In his recent visit to Ohio State University in the heart of Columbus, Mark talks about the difference between a small school and a large school.
Watch this video as he speaks at one of the largest campuses in America or read the transcript that follows.

Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant
********
Transcript

I’m here right now on the campus of Ohio State University which is in the heart of Columbus, Ohio. And it’s one of the largest campuses in America. Ohio is a state in contrast because there are so many colleges and universities, lots of large public universities, several large private universities, and then many small liberal arts colleges and religious affiliated colleges; a huge number of institutions.
What I want to talk about right now though is this idea of large versus small. Obviously, this campus is just ginormous. So many different opportunities, so many different programs with well over 50,000 undergraduates; there is something here for everyone. When I’m trying to explain the difference between a small school and a large school many students come to me and they say I want a large school because I want to have all kinds of opportunities. I want to have everything there. I liken that to a buffet table. Think of it like a buffet table that is miles and miles long; so many different opportunities, all of it tasty and delicious. But you can’t even see the end of the table. It’s such an enormous table. It has, you know, Russian studies, East European languages, Neuroscience, nursing, business – just absolutely everything you could ever imagine at a place like this. But when you’re an undergraduate you’re only going to be able to take advantage of a small part of that table. It may be very tasty, all the way down to the end. But you’re really going to have to have a strategy when you get there about which part of the table you are going to take advantage of, academically as well as socially. I mean you’re; there are so many people and so many different opportunities you really have to figure out where are you going to start in this great big huge buffet table.
A small college like a Kenyon or an Otterbein or a College of Wooster. Those colleges are certainly; everything on the table is as delicious and as tasty, but you can see the ends of the table. You can see exactly what’s on there. And if you know that you want to sample particular dishes from that table, well there’s everything you ever wanted there. What’s the issue here? Knowing what it is you want. As you go to select a university, don’t think large versus small automatically. Think what is it I want. What are the things, what are the opportunities I want? Yes, Ohio State has bazillions of opportunities, but which of those opportunities are most relevant to you. If you’re saying well I want an English major, well certainly a place like Kenyon or Otterbein or anyplace else will have that major. If you’re looking for something more specific maybe that’s when you need to be looking at Ohio State. Or, if you want the bustle, the level of independence that is required at a place like Ohio State well then it could be perfect for you.
But don’t think first of what, of large versus small. Think what do I want, what do I need, what are the things that I want to study, what is tasty to me, what do I find delectable. And then go out and find that. It may be on a huge table like the one at Ohio State or it might be at a smaller one like at the College of Wooster. Know what you want, go see for it.

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Kenyon College–Liberal Arts and Journalism (Without the Journalism)

Jared Hobson — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:04:20 +0000

Mark recently visited Kenyon College in the tiny town of Gambier, Ohio. Kenyon is a liberal arts college widely known for its very fine writing program. Writing, obviously, is an important skill for a journalist to acquire and maintain. But is journalism school a better way to prepare for a career in journalism? Or would it be better, perhaps, to pursue a liberal arts degree?

Watch this short video…and see if it helps you reevaluate your interest in pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant
You may prefer to read the transcript below.
**************
I’m here now on the campus of Kenyon College in the tiny town of Gambier, Ohio. It’s not that far from Columbus. Kenyon is really well known for – well, first of all, has an absolutely gorgeous campus. And when we came in we came in kind of the back way. And we came by the field house and this enormous Olympic size pool with towering windows. Absolutely gorgeous new facility, and new construction going on on campus. But aside from the environment, Kenyon is known for its writing program, creative writing is really big here, and writing across the curriculum is huge.

I bring this up because I just had a call the other day from my freshman year roommate from college. He is a reporter with one of the Time Warner outlets and he – I was asking him, I said, look, what about journalism, should students major in journalism today in the 21^st century? And he took a pause for a minute, and he said, you know what, no, and here’s why. He explained to me that in his division, Time Warner had four interns this summer. And one of them was from a well known liberal arts college and three of them were from the most prestigious journalism programs in America.

He said, hands down the person from the liberal arts college. The best writer really could do anything and did not need heavy editing. Did not need a lot of guidance in terms of how to write and analyze and communicate. Whereas the journalism majors, poor writers, even though they were going to some of the best journalism universities in America.

If you really want to be a good journalist you have to write, you have to be able to do that communication. Now, does that mean that every student goes to journalism school is not a good writer? No. But journalism school doesn’t tend to focus on writing. It tends to focus on the practice of the craft of journalism, and what is the role of a journalist in society. Those are all very important things, but if you’re going to be a journalist, obviously, on a daily basis you are going to be writing.

So coming to a school like Kenyon getting a major in a liberal arts field, whether it’s the writing program or whether it’s economics or whether it’s government or history. If you’re going to be a journalist, having that broad background. Even if it’s in science, my gosh, they’re tons of journalism openings for science writers. So if you want to be a journalist, if you want to be somebody who’s communicating the world to the public. Then you have to learn how to communicate.

So there is every reason to go to a great school like Kenyon, or anywhere else where you can get very good training in how to be a writer because that is what a journalist does. So consider that. If you’re interested in journalism don’t neglect to think about a liberal arts education.

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What’s A Party School? Greek Life, Drinking, Making Good Choices

Jared Hobson — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:13:15 +0000

While on a tour of colleges in Ohio, I made a stop at Ohio Wesleyan University to have a look around. OWU is a nice mix of both the liberal arts and professional education on a relatively small, intimate campus in Delaware, Ohio.
OWU is known to be something of a party school, and its Greek life (fraternity and sorority life) is very strong. However, it’s unfair to single out Ohio Wesleyan as somehow more of a party school than any other campus in America. Opportunities to get drunk, do drugs, and otherwise misbehave exist at all colleges and universities.
The issue is more about the choices one makes while in college. Some kids–even at the so-called party schools–are making excellent choices and are focused on their education. And just because an individual student drinks now and then does not mean that he or she is not serious about academics. The college years are a time of figuring out priorities, of trying to understand what it means to be an adult. For better or worse, alcohol plays a central role in that exploration.
I stopped to record this short video on the subject. Have a look.

Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant

If you prefer, you may read the transcript below.
***********
I’m here right now on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University. This is a Methodist – traditionally Methodist university in Delaware, Ohio, which is just north of Columbus. Ohio Wesleyan University is a nice mix of the Liberal Arts, and Business, and Pre-Professional Education; about 2,000 students, so it’s a very nice, intimate, little campus.
Ohio Wesleyan has a reputation of being a party school, and it’s true that it has a very important fraternity and sorority program of Greek life here, and the administration is often trying to rein the Greek system in and make sure that the alcohol use is under control. But I think it would be unfair to say that Ohio Wesleyan is a party school. I think pretty much every campus in America is a party school in one way or another. There are some where alcohol plays a relatively minor role, but really any campus is going to have alcohol available.
So, for the student who makes good choices – I think that’s what we have to think about when we’re thinking about party schools, is, are students prepared and able to make good choices once they arrive on a college campus? Now, if a student is unable to make those choices and is turned loose, shall we say, on a campus, whether it’s Ohio Wesleyan or any other university campus in America, yes, they’re going to make some bad choices, and end up getting fined and maybe put on probation, as Ohio Wesleyan sometimes does. But really, if you make good choices, if you remember that college is about your education and not just about the partying, then you’re going to get a great education at a place like Ohio Wesleyan.
Now, opportunities are terrific. There are small class-sizes, really good relationships with professors. The opportunities are here. But the opportunities also are here for getting into trouble, so that’s really the case at any college campus.
As you’re making choices about which school, yes, you can decide whether you want the Greek system or whether you don’t want the Greek system, but what you really need to decide is, how are you going to stay on track academically and achieve your goals educationally, so that that will propel you into your future?

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Large vs. Small Colleges–Which Size Is Best For Me?

Jared Hobson — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 18:02:40 +0000

Goldilocks had a problem with size. She tried the large ones, she tried the small ones, and she eventually found the ones that were “just right.”
You can find the “just right” size, too, when it comes to colleges. But you really need to think about what size means, especially when it comes to academics. That is, after all, the most important consideration in choosing a college: academics. You are selecting a school where you can succeed academically. So thinking about how size has an impact on your learning is super important.
Have a look at this quick video that I filmed at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant in Denver, Colorado

If you prefer, you can read the transcript below.
********************
I’m here right now on the campus of Ohio State University which is in the heart of Columbus, Ohio. And it’s one of the largest campuses in America. Ohio is a state in contrast because there are so many colleges and universities, lots of large public universities, several large private universities, and then many small liberal arts colleges and religious affiliated colleges; a huge number of institutions.
What I want to talk about right now though is this idea of large versus small. Obviously, this campus is just ginormous. So many different opportunities, so many different programs with well over 50,000 undergraduates; there is something here for everyone. When I’m trying to explain the difference between a small school and a large school many students come to me and they say I want a large school because I want to have all kinds of opportunities. I want to have everything there. I liken that to a buffet table. Think of it like a buffet table that is miles and miles long; so many different opportunities, all of it tasty and delicious. But you can’t even see the end of the table. It’s such an enormous table. It has, you know, Russian studies, East European languages, Neuroscience, nursing, business – just absolutely everything you could ever imagine at a place like this. But when you’re an undergraduate you’re only going to be able to take advantage of a small part of that table. It may be very tasty, all the way down to the end. But you’re really going to have to have a strategy when you get there about which part of the table you are going to take advantage of, academically as well as socially. I mean you’re; there are so many people and so many different opportunities you really have to figure out where are you going to start in this great big huge buffet table.
A small college like a Kenyon or an Otterbein or a College of Wooster. Those colleges are certainly; everything on the table is as delicious and as tasty, but you can see the ends of the table. You can see exactly what’s on there. And if you know that you want to sample particular dishes from that table, well there’s everything you ever wanted there. What’s the issue here? Knowing what it is you want. As you go to select a university, don’t think large versus small automatically. Think what is it I want. What are the things, what are the opportunities I want? Yes, Ohio State has bazillions of opportunities, but which of those opportunities are most relevant to you. If you’re saying well I want an English major, well certainly a place like Kenyon or Otterbein or anyplace else will have that major. If you’re looking for something more specific maybe that’s when you need to be looking at Ohio State. Or, if you want the bustle, the level of independence that is required at a place like Ohio State well then it could be perfect for you.
But don’t think first of what, of large versus small. Think what do I want, what do I need, what are the things that I want to study, what is tasty to me, what do I find delectable. And then go out and find that. It may be on a huge table like the one at Ohio State or it might be at a smaller one like at the College of Wooster. Know what you want, go look for it.

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When Looking at Colleges-Ask About their First Year Experience Program

Jared Hobson — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:51:02 +0000

Arriving to college as a new first year student is exciting but it can also be overwhelming and at times a little bit scary. As a new student you are faced with navigating a campus, finding your classes, meeting new friends, learning to live on your own, managing your time, and much more. Luckily, most schools offer some type of first year experience program to help you transition from high school to college.
I recommend that when you are visiting colleges, or talking to an admissions representative, you take the time to ask about what their school does to help first year students adjust to campus life. Here are some types of first year experience programs to ask about:
Orientation Programs: Most colleges offer some type of orientation session prior to classes starting. Each college may run their orientation session a little differently and could include: registering for classes, meeting your advisor, convocation, a pep rally, “get to know you” activities, tours, etc.
Welcome Week: Depending on the college you are looking at “Welcome Week” may have a different name but most colleges offer some type of programming during the first few weeks of the school year to help new students meet each other. These programs might include: free concerts, movies, activities at the recreation center on campus, a club information fair, and much more.
FIGS & FSEM’s: Across the country there has been a movement to offer incoming students the opportunity to build small learning communities. Some large universities like the University of Oregon and University of Wisconsin-Madison use the term “FIGS” (Freshman Interest Groups ) to refer to these small learning communities. Other schools such as the University of Denver and Bowdoin College refer to these programs as “FSEMS” (Freshman (or First Year) Seminars). These programs are great ways to bring students and faculty together in discussion based courses. These are very helpful in getting connected with other incoming students and faculty on campus.
Common Read Experience: A number of colleges, such as Ohio University, have incoming students all read the same book prior to arriving on campus to create a shared experience for new students. Typically there is some sort of discussion, presentation by the author, or guest lecture on the topic of the book when students arrive on campus. The common book may be referenced during classes throughout the year.
Pre-Orientation Programs: Many colleges now offer pre-orientation trips or activities. This is a great chance to meet new students before even getting to campus so when you arrive on campus you already have a network of friends and acquaintances established. These pre-orientation programs may include outdoor trips that take you hiking, camping, or canoeing or they could be community service orientated. If you are planning to play a sport in college you may have your own pre-orientation pre-season program to attend.
Each college and university offers something different to help students adjust to campus life. When you go on tours ask your tour guide, or admissions representative, what makes their school’s first year program unique.

image credit: https://revelle.ucsd.edu/

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