Helpful links

As admitted students become more interested in statistics like job placement, internships, average starting salaries, etc., it is important to keep up-to-date with Notre Dame's information in these areas. Below are some links to help answer questions and guide your conversations with students.

Future Plans Data

Based on an annual survey of graduating seniors, The Career Center complies a profile for graduates of each individual college and also the University as a whole. The most recent numbers -- for the class of 2008 -- show that, at graduation, only 2% of graduates were still seeking employment (meaning 98% were placed in employment, graduate/professional school, service programs or the military).

A bit further down on that page is the average starting salary for students based on college.

Below that might be the most helpful information on the page. If you click on one of the majors, you will find a profile of future plans for students graduating in that academic area. For example, clicking Chemical Engineering will show you that 67% of Class of 2008 graduates had full-time employment plans, 25% planned on furthering their education, and 8% were going into service. The average starting salary of the 24 chemical engineers who reported a figure was $62,346, and the employers, graduate schools and service organizations are also listed.

This example would be a great opportunity to explain to a student that, although Notre Dame may not be known as an "engineering school", graduates from that college are still incredibly well prepared for their future endeavors.

Internship Survey Data

Students also want to know about internships -- they may not know what they are, but it's a question that is almost always asked as they search for the right college. The link above will take you to a page with more information than you could ever want about internships (broken down by college, year in school, geographic location, pay type, experience type, etc.).

This page, like the one for job placement, will also break down the information by major.

College Salary Report

Last summer, payscale.com conducted a survey to determine the "best investment" for an undergraduate education. 1.2 million users of the website reported their salaries and education credentials, and those without an advanced degree were considered in the final figures (to determine the value of the undergraduate education).

Notre Dame ranked eighth on the list, with a median mid-career salary of $121,000 and a starting median salary of $55,300.

If there are any other questions we can answer, or information we can provide, please do not hesitate to let me know!

The Yale Video

You may or may not have seen this, but a few graduates of Yale put together their own admissions video for the College.

It's a bit lengthy, but certainly enjoyable, especially if you're into the High School Musical or Glee scene (or so I've been told, I can't say I've seen either).

Some feedback that's come across my desk about "That's Why I Chose Yale": http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/yale/?scp=1&sq=that's%20why%20i%20chose%20yale&st=cse and http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2010/02/15/100215ta_talk_mcgrath

Picture of the Day - February 11

A little bit of light snow Tuesday morning.

Tuition announcement

Today, the University announced that tuition for the 2010-2011 academic year will increase 3.8% to $39,919. The 3.8% is the University's smallest percentage increase in 50 years.

The full Unviersity press release is found here.

Also, a letter to students' parents from Father Jenkins, in which he discusses the circumstances of the increase and Notre Dame's general approach to finances, can be found here.

Notre Dame remains dedicated to reading its applications in a need blind fashion (for US citizens and Permanent Residents) and to meeting 100% of those students' demonstrated financial need.

Financial problems at Dartmouth

From yesterday's The Chronicle of Higher Education:

As part of a broad-reaching plan to close a projected budget gap of $100-million, Dartmouth College announced on Monday the layoffs of 76 people and a return to including loans as part of the financial-aid mix for some students. No faculty members will lose their jobs, officials said, and all of the layoffs will come from the ranks of managers and hourly workers...

Here is a .pdf copy of the full article from The Chronicle.

This Too Shall Pass

You may have seen this in the latest edition of ND Magazine, or remember their appearance during a football halftime show earlier this year, but the band OK Go was on campus this fall. OK Go is known for their "eccentric" music videos (mostly this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI) and took some time during fall break to film a video on campus with members of the Band of the Fighting Irish.

YouTube will not let me embed the video to the blog, but links to the video and the ND Magazine article are below:

YouTube: This Too Shall Pass

ND Magazine: A 'massive explosion of joy and music'

The science of Avatar

Maybe you saw Avatar (I still haven't - I'm not sure I will), or maybe you have no idea what it is (James Cameron's latest movie, which, I believe, became the highest grossing movie of all-time last weekend). But apparently, the "world" in which the movie is set has floating mountains and other sci-fi wonders. But are things like that really possible?

Below is a video from WGN TV in Chicago. They interviewed Notre Dame's Morten Eskildsen of the Physics Department. Professor Eskildsen conducts research on superconductors (or, for non-science people like me, "electric stuff that floats with liquid nitrogen"). I think all of this would be pretty interesting - if I understood the scientific jargon!

Picture of the Day - January 19

Sunset over the lake

Asian carp and Notre Dame

If you read my post below, and if you've been keeping up with campus over the past few years, you'll notice that Notre Dame has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in new facilities, labs, research areas and the like. While all of these buildings look fantastic and seem to have the ability to do some really interesting things, if you're like me, you've asked yourself, "but what are the practical implications?"

This article in today's Chicago Tribune discusses the Asian carp situation in Illinois (if you're not from the Midwest, this probably doesn't sound like a big deal. In essence, Asian carp--an incredibly invasive species of fish--have come up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and are approaching Lake Michigan. They pose a huge threat to the lake's native wildlife and commercial fishing industry). The article mentions a new system developed by Notre Dame researchers to identify trace amounts of Asian carp DNA, essentially allowing authorities to identify the "progress" of the carp up the river.

I do not know if this new system was developed in the Jordan Hall of Science or one of our newer facilities on campus, but the more we grow and improve, the better chance we have of developing practical uses for our research and technologies.

Stinson-Remick Hall

Last week, the College of Engineering opened Stinson-Remick Hall, a new $70 million, 142,000 square foot facility on Notre Dame Avenue (on the site of the old University Club--this building is just a tad bit larger). Stinson-Remick is home to a nanotechnology research center, the University's new Energy Center, a semiconductor processing and device fabrication clean room, and plenty of spaces for both undergraduate and graduate research and collaboration. As a side note: don't ask me what any of those technical "activities" are; I was a Political Science major.

Our office was fortunate to tour Stinson-Remick Hall yesterday, during which I was able to take a few pictures. I apologize for the quality--I was using the camera on my phone--but I figured these were better than nothing!

Undergraduate Learning Center

One of many study areas throughout the building

One of three "clean rooms" in the facility: one of grade 10,000, one of grade 1,000, and one of grade 100. Again, my knowledge here lacks, but apparently these are some of the "cleanest" such facilities on a college campus in the United States.

A view of the main hallway, with the clean rooms in the back.

It does not look like there is an online tour of the facility yet, though I'm guessing there will be soon. It will be posted at this website.

tour.nd.edu

At the end of last year, the University unveiled tour.nd.edu, a new website that essentially contains videos of campus tours. We lacked a virtual tour for quite some time, but the new website does a fantastic job of showing--and discussing--different parts of campus.

I know it is difficult for students in many areas of the country to visit Notre Dame before deciding where to attend college. While tour.nd.edu does not replace a campus tour, it certainly is the closest thing we have to that actual visit.

The Priest President

Today's edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education has a nice, in-depth profile on Father Jenkins. As expected, much of the article discusses the controversy surrounding the invitation to President Obama last year, though it also covers Father Jenkins as a person and the identity of Notre Dame.

If you do not have a subscription to The Chronicle, a .pdf version of the article is linked here.

A direct link to the article (for subscribers--a subscription is free) is here.

Picture of the Day - December 21

No--this is not a current view of campus. But, it helps me get through the cold!

EA Reception

Considering the city is only 90 miles to our west, it's no surprise that a good number of applications and admitted students come from the Chicago area. To try to reach as many students as possible, the ND Clubs of Chicago, DuPage County and Lake County have coordinated their Early Action admitted students receptions, all to be held on a single weekend in January. The invitation is at the bottom of the post.

This might be a good idea for clubs that would like to do something, but are struggling with what to do or how to pay for it. If you are in an area where there are a multiple clubs, consider throwing a joint reception for any admitted students. In the end, our main concern is reaching out to the students and doing our best to get them to Notre Dame, not club boundaries.

Thanks to everyone for their help--please keep the ideas and best practices coming!

The Chicago-area invitation:

Early Action Party

For you and your family to meet ND students & parents

Sunday ~ January 10

11:00 am ~ 1:00 pm

St. Ignatius College Prep

Please RSVP ~ www.ndchicago.org

Questions? Sheila O’Brien sobrien368@aol.com

(FYI ~ Sunday Mass at Holy Family next door at 9:45 am)

If you cannot attend this party, attend another!

Du Page County party

Saturday ~ January 9

2:00 ~ 4:00 pm

Benet Academy Cafeteria

2200 Maple Avenue

Lisle, Illinois 60532

Rsvp - dcrowley@hsemuni.com

Lake County Party

Saturday ~ January 9

4:00 ~ 6:00 pm

Home of Chris & Andy Burke

23671 N. McGraw Court

Lake Barrington, Illinois 60010

Rsvp – twistagogo@aol.com

Picture of the Day - August 28

Notre Dame research

Notre Dame has always been known for its undergraduate education; the University often rivals liberal arts colleges in small class sizes, individual attention to students, and strong relationships between students, faculty and staff.

Recently, and especially over the past few years, Notre Dame has made efforts to strengthen its research opportunities and achievements at all levels. Personally, I am often amazed and what some of the very bright students and professors here at the University can do in their respective fields, whether it is biological sciences, electrical engineering, or economics.

The Office of News and Information has a website specifically dedicated to Notre Dame research and the many projects conducted on campus each year: http://newsinfo.nd.edu/news/category/research/. If you are anything like me, much of the information is over your head, but the page certainly highlights an impressive list of people and projects making Notre Dame proud.

Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Program

Yesterday, the University announced the third-largest gift in Notre Dame's history, a $35 million donation from Mr. and Mrs. Mark and Stacey Yusko of Chapel Hill, N.C.

The gift will be used to create the Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Program, "a comprehensive merit scholarship and enrichment initiative that will seek to attract talented undergraduate students to the University".

Each year, twenty Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars will be selected by an advisory committee; the committee will take nominations from high school guidance counselors and University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions. "The students will be chosen based on distinguished academic accomplishments, exemplary integrity and moral character, demonstrated leadership abilities, and a commitment to a life of service embracing the values of Catholic social tradition."

The twenty HY Scholars will receive $25,000 of merit-based financial aid annually, in addition to summer "enrichment" experiences.

As an ASC, the main point to take away from this is that, when asked about merit-based financial aid, we can now answer that yes, there is merit money available at Notre Dame. To be fair, I think it is important to stress that the money is very limited and competitive, but there are funds available.

The full University press release can be found here.

Picture of the Day - August 20

Lake County, IL send off

It might be too late to plan this year's send-off, but here's a recap of the Lake County, IL send-off for future ideas and planning. This example really illustrates the important of contact--constant contact--with the students and their families. Thanks to everyone involved who made the event a success!

I just wanted to let you know how our Send-Off went on Sunday. I think it was a really good event, considering that it started POURING rain 10 minutes before the party (and everything was set up to be an outdoor party!) So the first few people who came were gracious enough to grab what they could and bring it inside.

We had 21 incoming freshmen, about 35 parents, 5 current students, a few current-student parents, and about 7 alums. So about 75 in total. (Now you know why I wanted this to be outside.)

We have had a good turn-out for the past 2 or 3 years, which I attribute to contacting the kids multiple times throughout the summer. In June we mailed out a "save-the-date" notice to all of the incoming freshmen, with a short letter explaining what the Freshman Send-Off is all about. We also mention that there is a drawing for 2 football tickets for every student present, and we tell them that every student at the Send-Off will get "The Shirt." Then we mail out invitations in July, about 3 weeks before the event. Then I e-mail every student who I haven't heard from the week before the event, just to find out if they can come or not, and to remind them that their parents are also welcome to attend. I think that receiving two hard-copy notices in the mail really helps to remind the students, and then a follow-up e-mail is good just in case there are some kids who might have forgotten about it or lost the invitation. I know that contacting the kids several times like this is probably not feasible for larger Clubs like the Chicago Club, but for Clubs with 25 or fewer incoming freshmen, I think it really helps to increase the turn-out.

Locations for 2009 pep rallies

Football season is almost here! And, let's be honest, the season is more than just the game on Saturday afternoons. There are pep rallies, scores of events on campus, tailgating, and so on. However, with construction at the JACC this year, the pep rallies must take place elsewhere.

Many of the seven rallies will be held at various spots around campus, including in front of Dillon Hall in place of the dorm's signature event--the Dillon Pep Rally--and on the Irish Green, south of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. The final rally of the season, before the UConn game in late November, will be held in the new Purcell Pavilion (the former south dome of the JACC).

The full press release can be found here.