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Blog postings by Ben Toll - Admissions
Ben is an admissions counselor at the University of Minnesota, Morris. He currently works with students from Southwestern Minnesota, North Dakota, and Arizona.
April 27, 2008
Senior Blogger Receives Campus Award
This is an exciting time of the year for those of us in the admissions office as high school seniors are in their final few days of making college decisions. This year we have had the chance to get to know some really great students and we look forward to having them join our campus this coming fall.
Unfortunately it is also the time of the year when we have to say goodbye to seniors who will be leaving us for greater things. UMM has a great student body and we sometimes wish we could keep them forever. I was browsing through our website today and came across this article announcing that Simón Franco will receive this year's César E. Chávez award along with Anthropology professor Donna Chollet. If you have ever visited campus for an open house you may have met Simón as he is always happy to volunteer to be a tour guide and last week even served on a student panel for junior visit day.
Congrats Simón!
March 26, 2008
UMM Summer Jazz Workshop
Interested in Jazz ...
Many know that a highlight of the spring jazz calendar is UMM's Jazz Fest. This year, UMM is also offering a Summer Jazz Experience for high school students.
This June we hope you will have the chance to come to campus for a 3-day residential jazz immersion. In addition to instruction from UMM's Jazz Director "Doc" Carlson, students will also receive instruction from international jazz legends Chris Vadala and Allen Vizzutti.
This event should be an excellent opportunity for high school students to further refine their jazz skills. The clinic is open to high school musicians in grades 9-12 (coming year) with a range of music and jazz backgrounds: from beginners to experienced, there will be sessions designed for your needs and interests. Click here to further explore this opportunity.
February 18, 2008
New Bloggers
More people at Morris want to tell you about their life at UMM!
In addition to your current favorite bloggers, you will soon see from entries from new bloggers. As they are currently learning the blogging software you may see some test posts and test images as they get comfortable with blogging. Things will look spiffy soon!
And here's my clever interpretation of the typical website under construction icon.
February 14, 2008
ACT Scores and Course Selections
I read an interesting report this week that looked at ACT results of Minnesota students. For those high school students that will soon be selecting their high school classes for next fall, I found some information that will be of particular interest to you.
There are some very strong correlations between high school course selections and ACT subscores, especially in math in science. Students that take calculus typically score much higher on ACT Math, and students that persist all the way to physics in their science course selections see a similar effect on their subscore for ACT Science. While I realize that there is a self-selection effect in the data, I think the data results make a convincing case to continue your course of studies in each subject rather than meeting the minimum graduation requirements. Overall, this data should make Minnesotans proud, for in every category the Minnesota average score exceeds the national average.
January 03, 2008
Skiing down Mt. Washington
Well the students are not yet back from winter break but I just got back to Minnesota yesterday. I spent two weeks visiting family in New England. One of the highlights of my vacation was skiing down Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast. Mt. Washington has an elevation of 6,288 feet and is the world record holder for surface wind speed at 231 miles per hour on April 12th, 1934. On the day of my journey to the summit, wind speed was only a mild 60mph. Current conditions can be found here.
While people do hike Mt. Washington in the winter, I am not that crazy. A great point of pride of many New Englanders is the famous “This Car Climbed Mt. Washington” bumper sticker drivers are awarded after successfully navigating the 7.6 mile auto road all of the way to the summit. In a bit of irony, the massive Hummer H2 SUVs you see navigating the world’s worst terrains in their commercials are not allowed to travel on the road.
Such weather conditions warrant an extreme method of transportation. Thus, the SnowCoach. The SnowCoach is a large van that has been modified for all-wheel drive and outfitted with tank like caterpillars. The SnowCoach takes you four miles up the auto road to the 4,000 foot mark. Once at the top there are stellar views as you overlook the rest of the Presidential Range. However, the wind chill causes one to want to limit their time at this elevation. As I write this, the current wind chill at Mt. Washington is -40 degrees. Most people choose to ride the SnowCoach back down, but my family and I chose alternative methods of transportation. My parents snow shoed down, while my sister and I used cross-country skis. Snowboards and downhill skis are forbidden on the road, though some members of the staff manning the weather observatory at the summit are known to sometimes use plastic sleds.
I have no clue how old my skis are but a good indicator of their ancientness is that they come from the time when cross-country skis were made from wood. However, they served me well on the four-mile descent down the mountain.
December 17, 2007
Light Blogging Over Winter Break
It's been a bit light on the blog these days as Morris students are currently wrapping up their semester with the glorious fun of final exams.
Classes will be back in session on January 22nd, the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. So expect the blogging to pick pack up in pace around then. I myself will be taking a vacation too, though not quite as long as the students get. I'll be in New England for two weeks visiting family.
In case you get bored during vacation and are seriously lacking stimulation due to the light amount of blogging feel free to explore the archives for things you may have missed. If you want to see any of the topics expanded upon please leave a comment on the entry and the blogger will get back to you as soon as possible. It's like digital voicemail.
That's all for Now!
December 10, 2007
Listen To Cougar Basketball Games Online!
UMM’s Cougar Sports Network will be providing live webcasts of all men’s and women’s home basketball games this season. Check out the archives for all completed games from both this season and last season. If you are interested in any of our athletic teams, prospective students are encouraged to request information from the coaching staff.
December 03, 2007
What Is There To Do In Morris?
Many times when talking with prospective students, they often ask me in a skeptical voice, "What is there to do in Morris?"
The short answer is -- MORE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE!
When students visit campus I always have them go to student center and stand in front of the student activities whiteboard to pick what events they would attend if they were a current student. On this whiteboard they list all of the events for the week. In order to provide this experience virtually, I am now sitting in front of the whiteboard with my computer much to the curiosity of the students walking by. Some highlights of the coming weeks are a winter theater production, the holiday art sale, a jazz dance, open mic night, an improv show, a basketball game, ... Ok, enough, Here is a picture instead. Feel free to click on the picture to make it even bigger. You can also explore the digital events calendar.
Due to the recent snow, I should also add that only 45 minutes away is Andes Tower Hills where I took my first snowboarding lesson last Sunday. So far my defining trick is the face plant followed by an awkward cartwheel. Hopefully I'll be X-Games ready by the end of the spring!
November 19, 2007
Scholarship Application Soon Approaching
This year UMM is offering two phenomenal scholarships.
The Prairie Scholars Award is a full tuition award that is renewable for all four years. If tuition increases while at Morris, the amount of your award will increase as well.
The Morris Scholars Award is a $5,000 scholarship that is also renewable for all four years. In addition, it includes a one-time $2,500 scholarly stipend to fund an independent academic endeavor such as study abroad, undergraduate research, or travel to an academic conference.
To be considered for either of these scholarships students must complete the supplemental scholarship application, which can be found on the last page of our paper application. A digital copy of the paper application can be found at this link.
Semi-finalists for the competitive scholarships will be invited to campus in early February for personal interviews.
Moral of the story -- Apply by December 15!
October 14, 2007
UMM Marketing Photoshoot Exposed Again!
Our spy photographers once again located UMM's Prius in the badlands. Looks like we may see a very new look to UMM in the future. There are also rumors that the Prius may also be serving as a research platform for UMM geology students on an undergraduate research project.
October 11, 2007
UMM Photoshoot Exposed
Last month in western North Dakota spy photographers discovered a top secret photo shoot being conducted by University of Minnesota, Morris as part of their soon to be unveiled marketing campaign. By contrasting environmental friendliness with an unfriendly environment, UMM seeks to boldly go where no college has gone before ...
August 01, 2007
Get Your Application Fee Waived!
Are you considering attending UMM next fall?
University of Minnesota, Morris would love to have you visit our campus as part of your college search. While on campus you have many options to customize your visit. You may tour campus with a current student, meet with an admissions counselor, meet with a professor, meet with a coach, sit in on a class, sit in on a music practice ...
Also, all students that visit campus this fall will receive a waiver that exempts them from the application fee if they apply by the competitive scholarship application, December 15th.
Hope to see you on campus this fall! You may schedule your visit here.
July 26, 2007
New Scholarship Amounts Awarded
University of Minnesota, Morris is happy to announce that it has increased its scholarship amounts for students applying for 2008.
Our competitive scholarships are the Prairie and Morris Scholars Awards. To be considered for these two scholarships a student must apply by December 15th and complete the supplemental scholarship application. Semifinalists will be invited to campus in early February for personal interviews.
Prairie Scholars Award - Full Tuition, renewable for four years.
Morris Scholars Award - $5,000 per year, renewable for four years plus a one-time $2,500 scholarly stipend to fund an independent academic endeavor such as study abroad, undergraduate research, or travel to an academic conference
All students are considered for automatic scholarships as part of the application review process. All of our automatic scholarships are renewable for four years.
Chancellor's Award - $3,500 per year for students graduating in the top 5% of their class
Dean's Award - $2,500 per year for students graduating in the top 10% of their class
Associate's Award - $1,000 per year for students graduating in the top 20% of their class
This increase in scholarship award amounts plus our tuition reduction of approximately $1,000 reflects UMM's commitment to provide an affordable alternative for students seeking a liberal arts education. You can find more details about the scholarships on our webpage
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