Western New England College Opens New Building

Introducing the New Center for Sciences & Pharmacy!

Yesterday afternoon was a historic day at Western New England College. Hundreds of people gathered in the new $40 million, 127,000 square foot center for sciences and pharmacy's ribbon-cutting ceremony. This four-story building took nearly 16 months to complete but after personally attending the ceremony yesterday I must say that it was worth all of the time, effort, and dollars. This building was made possible through the tireless efforts of so many through the Western New England family and the Greater Springfield community. In a rough economic time the college and its Board of Trustees vowed to have the building completed and also created 120 new construction jobs in the process.

This new center will be home to our newest school, pharmacy, as well as a brand new neuroscience major that was made possible through the generous donation of Business school graduate Kevin S. Delbridge. In addition to these new programs, the center will hold the college's existing biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, and forensics classes. 80 faculty members will have offices located in this building and the center could hold up to 900 students at a given time. Certainly this is a monumental day in the history of Western New England College and the possibilities that exist for our students, faculty, and staff seem endless with the technology that now will be at the hands of those in our campus community. Check out some of the pictures from yesterday's events and hopefully you'll be able to see the building yourself in the near future!

'Tis the Season

That's right, 'tis the season for reading applications! So far there have been a ton of applications to read. Counselors are doing their best to keep up with all the applications, and so far so good. For those of you who haven't submitted your application yet, you should know that Western New England College works on a rolling admissions basis. This means that we read applications as they come in so the sooner you submit an application, the sooner you will receive a decision from us.

When you apply to Western New England College you also are automatically considered for merit scholarship. We determine merit scholarship by combining your grades over the course of four years with your standardized test scores (either ACTs or SATs). You can find out what you can expect to receive in terms of a merit scholarship by visiting our website and clicking on the scholarship calculator (located on the right-hand side of all our prospective student pages). Merit scholarship is separate from financial aid, as finances are not taken into consideration when it comes to merit scholarship. For financial aid the only form that WNEC requires is the FAFSA form which is available beginning Jan. 1, 2011.

Now that you know what happens after submitting your application, now it's time to apply! Hopefully we'll see your application soon!

End of the Travel Season

The time has finally come for Counselors to trade in their rental cars, unpack all of their college materials, and start sleeping in their own beds. Yes, the travel season is over, and for me, the first of my own travel seasons is finished. My final stats from the 2010 travel season:

6,100 miles put on the rental car
185 total high school visits/college fair/mini fairs attended
6 different states visited
9 weeks of travel
15 different hotels that accounted for 25 nights away from home
and probably about 50 trips to Dunkin Donuts

This was my travel season in a nutshell. I had a blast visiting different high schools and meeting a number of students that have a profound interest in Western New England College. It is nice to be back in Springfield (although short-lived with the upcoming holiday) and begin our next cycle of work...reading applications! I look forward to seeing many of the students whom I spoke with come across my desk via an application. Over the course of the application season, I will be sending along tips on how to stand out with an application and some of the do's and don't in the admissions world. Until then, enjoy your Thanksgiving, eat a lot of turkey, and watch a ton of football!

Greetings from the City of Brotherly Love

Hey everyone! Currently I am in Philadelphia where I am in the midst of some great high school visits. For the past week I have been in the greater Philadelphia area visiting schools. It is amazing how far our school has branched out! Many students and Guidance Counselors are very familiar with Western New England in this area. I have talked to students who have already applied and/or are applying which is great news! If you are planning on applying to Western New England, remember that first quarter senior year grades are required. You are welcome to send in your materials piece by piece if you have finished early and your first quarter grades have not come in. We won't consider your application complete until we receive those first quarter grades. Or, you have the option of waiting until your grades come in and sending all of your application materials (application, transcript, standardized test scores, essay, and at least one letter of recommendation). Hopefully we will see your application soon!

One of the best part of travel season is seeing places that us Counselors have never been to before. For me it's the entire state of Pennsylvania! I was able to check out downtown Philadelphia last night and went to the Flyers-New York Rangers hockey game last night! Here are some pictures from the game. Check back soon for more pictures from Philadelphia! Enjoy!

Post from Abroad!

Today we have a special guest post from our very own Michelle Kowalsky who is the International Recruiter for Western New England College. Let's see what she had to say about her experience abroad...

Hello from Tokyo, Japan! My name is Michelle Kowalsky and I am the international recruiter for the WNEC. In the past seven weeks, I have been on a total of 23 flights, attended approximately 15 fairs, and visited a large number of secondary schools as well as colleges. My travels have taken me to Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Jakarta, Singapore, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Taipei, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo. In all of these cities, I have spoken with a number of great students who are interested in all that Western New England College has to offer. Unfortunately, there has not been a lot of time to explore these wonderful places, but I have had some amazing food and seen some amazing sights such as the Krishna Temple in India, Boat Quay and Clarke Quay in Singapore, Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi, Tiananmen Square in Beijing, and Deoksugung Palace in Seoul.

As part of our ten year strategic plan at Western New England, we are looking to internationalize the campus both by increasing our international population on campus as well as increasing the opportunities for our students to study abroad. This is the second year that I have traveled abroad to recruit students and I look forward to many more trips in the future! To learn more about our admission requirements for international students visit our the International page at www.wnec.edu/internationalstudents. You can also learn more about our study abroad programs by visiting www.wnec.edu/studyabroad. I hope you enjoy some of the pictures I have taken along the way!

New Building Status

On Friday, I returned from a four day trip to New Jersey. This was my first time visiting the Garden State since I was a kid so it was certainly an adjustment (especially with the driving). I spoke with a lot of nice students and parents over the course of my stay. Many students whom I spoke with had similar questions about Western New England that I was happy to answer. One current WNEC news event that seems to generate a lot of interest is the new academic building. I am happy to report that our new building will be ready for classes beginning in January 2011! The building will hold all pharmacy, science, and psychology classes. It looks beautiful from the outside (I have yet to go inside). One of the best parts of this new building which I believe is a great aspect of Western New England as well, is that the constructors of the building actually took input from WNEC students and faculty in regards to what they wanted in their new building. So quite literally this new academic building is a result of what the current Western New England community wanted. You can see the amazing progress of the construction of this building online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEaaRmNUncg

Snapshot from the Road

In the midst of my travel I was able to take a quick shot of the scenery as I was driving through the Ipswich, MA area (thankfully, it wasn't raining that day, unlike the rest of this past week). Enjoy the long Columbus Day weekend!

Traveling Man

It has been a very hectic past few weeks! Travel has been insane with college fairs every single night this week in addition to the four high school visits each day! The rental car is still feeling the effects of the travel, but so far so good. I have met a lot of great students so far this fall. Everyone has come prepared to the college fairs and high school visits with great questions. I have primarily been in the North Shore MA area (staying at my parents house for the past two weeks). I was able to visit my old high school which brought back a lot of great memories from the days when I was a student. I remember how stressful the college search is but here are a few tips to make things a little more manageable...

1. Try bringing a label w/ all of your contact information, school, and year of graduation to each college fair. This will save you time because you will be able to slap down the label on college inquiry cards rather than filling out each school's card.

2. Attempt to get a list of the schools that will be at a college fair in advance so you can do some background research on which schools you would like to target. This again will save you time and will help make the college fair a little less overwhelming.

3. Be aware of college visits to your high school by regularly checking with your guidance or career office. Schools are traveling to see you and if you are interested in a school keep checking with those offices to see when they will be in the area. If you want to know when WNEC will be at your high school, visit our website at this link: http://www1.wnec.edu/admissions/events

Week One in the Books

Just finished up my first full week of travel, and my rental car is certainly feeling the effects. In just about a week and a half, I have put almost 2,000 miles on my rental car! This past week the WNEC caravan rolled into West Springfield on Monday for a local visit. Next, it was onto some schools just south of Boston including Catholic Memorial, Xaverian, Archbishop Williams, BC High, Ursuline Academy, Fontbonne Academy, and Notre Dame Academy. Finally today I was able to get back to Connecticut for another round of schools featuring Bolton High, Rham High, and Bacon Academy.

Next week I will be heading to North Shore MA which also happens to be where I am from! I'll be staying with the folks who are very excited (I think) to have me around. I look forward to getting back home and meeting with some more great high school students! Enjoy the weekend!

Traveling in Connecticut

Hey Everyone! I am in the midst of my first week of travel. I have been cruising around Connecticut stopping at schools in the Litchfield area. Shout out to all the students from Terryville, Torrington, Wamogo Regional, The Gilbert School, and Thomaston, many of whom were at Litchfield High School last night for the annual College Fair! I was able to take a couple snap shots of what life has been like on the road so far, I hope you enjoy the pictures! Keep checking out our website to see when an Admissions representative will be heading to your school! See you on the road!

Let the Travel Begin

Hello Everyone! My name is Drew Guarino and I am an Admissions Counselor for Western New England College. Over the course of this year I will be blogging to all of our readers out there about the latest news from the Admissions Office at Western New England College. This is my first year at the college and after being here for just over a month, I am already enjoying my time. Everyone at the college has been so welcoming which has made it an easy transition into the office. Check this site regularly to see how the year is progressing at Western New England. You will hear some interesting stories, useful advice for prospective students, and much more!

Currently the office is buzzing because all of our Counselors are gearing up for their fall travel. For the past month, our Counselors have been setting up their travel plans to visit a high school near you! After hours of calling high schools, setting up rental cars, and booking hotel rooms, our Counselors are ready to hit the road. Check out this link to find out when an Admissions Counselor will be visiting your hometown. http://www1.wnec.edu/admissions/events/

Until then, we'll see all you high school students soon!