At the end of what feels like the longest month of the year, things are relatively quiet. With weather that changes faster than my choice of major, it’s a little difficult to plan activities you usually want to do over the summer. And that’s not to mention the number of people who are taking classes or hunting for jobs in the liveliest economy since… wait, I’m sorry, that last part isn’t true. The point is that not a whole lot outside of classes, work, or the job search is happening for anyone. Without much going on, academic offerings are probably a good topic to mention.
Grand Valley has about 200 different fields of study, offering approximately 70 different undergraduate majors and 27 graduate programs (mostly masters, but we do offer two doctorates, in nursing and physical therapy). The latest major to be added to the mix is Chinese, in the modern language department, and those numbers tend to grow over time.
In terms of the undergraduate programs, there’s a myriad of different arrangements. Some courses students can simply apply for and be a part of, while others are secondary admit programs (such as Nursing or the Seidman School of Business). For those not aware, a “secondary admit program” refers to one that has admissions requirements before an individual can call themselves a member of the program, and even those come in multiple forms. Business, for example, has a noncompetitive admission. Students sign up to be a pre-business major, and once they accrue enough credits and maintain a GPA, they are admitted to the school of business. Nursing, on the other hand, is a competitive secondary admit program, meaning that only so many students are accepted into the major each year. This encourages students to strive for success in their early semesters, which really pays off in the long run.
As always, feel free to ask questions of any kind, especially if you're wondering about any individual major.
-Kyle
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Timelines
A lot of students have been coming through over the last couple months who have been scrambling to take care of application and admissions requirements at the last second, so today’s topic is…
Stuff to keep in mind when considering an application to Grand Valley.
The smartest thing to do first is probably check us out online. If you’re reading this, the chances are good that you’ve already done that, so the next step is to visit campus. There are lots of options for visiting the campus, but the standard choice is just a tour of the Allendale campus. We give tours at 10:00AM, 12:00PM, and 3:00PM during the week close to year round, and on non-holiday weekends during the school year. We also offer appointments with admissions counselors (not academic advisors), as well as group visits called “previews.” Keep an eye out for our Student Visitation Days during the school year, which are larger group experiences.
If you’ve decided that Grand Valley could be the place for you the next step is to apply for admission. We accept both paper and online applications, with no particular preference for either. There is a $30 nonrefundable application fee, and students have to be finished with their Junior year to apply. If students apply for admission and submit their ACT/SAT and GPA information before December 31 during their Senior year, it is possible that they could qualify for a few scholarships offered through our office. Once students are accepted, we suggest that they apply for housing quickly, because the different styles of living centers are first-come-first-serve. There is also a $150 application fee for housing, but this one is 100% refundable up until May 1, and if students apply for housing before March 1 they’re guaranteed a spot on campus (both dates apply to the student’s Senior year). May 1 is also the deadline for scheduling Freshmen Orientation, which has a $75 fee attached to it (also refundable before May 1) and is essentially the equivalent of a student’s commitment to GVSU (although you can still cancel later).
Personally, I suggest that students visit at the end of their Junior year, over the Summer, or very early in their Senior year, so they have the information they need to meet the deadlines. And always remember that sooner is defiantly better than later for college. If you want to schedule a visit you can call our office at (616) 331-2025 or 1-800-748-0246. If you have any questions about this information feel free to call us at those numbers or post your questions here.
At this point though I wanted to ask any readers what they’re concerned about. I’ve listed quite a lot of things to think about up here, but is any of it unclear, or perhaps do any of the parents or prospective students reading this have questions I haven’t addressed? Don’t hesitate at all to post those.
-Kyle
Stuff to keep in mind when considering an application to Grand Valley.
The smartest thing to do first is probably check us out online. If you’re reading this, the chances are good that you’ve already done that, so the next step is to visit campus. There are lots of options for visiting the campus, but the standard choice is just a tour of the Allendale campus. We give tours at 10:00AM, 12:00PM, and 3:00PM during the week close to year round, and on non-holiday weekends during the school year. We also offer appointments with admissions counselors (not academic advisors), as well as group visits called “previews.” Keep an eye out for our Student Visitation Days during the school year, which are larger group experiences.
If you’ve decided that Grand Valley could be the place for you the next step is to apply for admission. We accept both paper and online applications, with no particular preference for either. There is a $30 nonrefundable application fee, and students have to be finished with their Junior year to apply. If students apply for admission and submit their ACT/SAT and GPA information before December 31 during their Senior year, it is possible that they could qualify for a few scholarships offered through our office. Once students are accepted, we suggest that they apply for housing quickly, because the different styles of living centers are first-come-first-serve. There is also a $150 application fee for housing, but this one is 100% refundable up until May 1, and if students apply for housing before March 1 they’re guaranteed a spot on campus (both dates apply to the student’s Senior year). May 1 is also the deadline for scheduling Freshmen Orientation, which has a $75 fee attached to it (also refundable before May 1) and is essentially the equivalent of a student’s commitment to GVSU (although you can still cancel later).
Personally, I suggest that students visit at the end of their Junior year, over the Summer, or very early in their Senior year, so they have the information they need to meet the deadlines. And always remember that sooner is defiantly better than later for college. If you want to schedule a visit you can call our office at (616) 331-2025 or 1-800-748-0246. If you have any questions about this information feel free to call us at those numbers or post your questions here.
At this point though I wanted to ask any readers what they’re concerned about. I’ve listed quite a lot of things to think about up here, but is any of it unclear, or perhaps do any of the parents or prospective students reading this have questions I haven’t addressed? Don’t hesitate at all to post those.
-Kyle
Friday, May 15, 2009
Buses and the Campus
One of the nice things about working on campus over the summer is the fact that parking is free over the break. Gas, unfortunately, is not. Keeping my car’s gas tank relatively full is one of the big problems with living at home and commuting to work (aside from not being able to order pizza whenever I want).
The best way that I’ve found to save gas, though, is to only actually drive half way, to the downtown campus, and just take the bus up the other half. Over the summer, the campus connector travels between the two campuses about every half hour, and it’s about a half hour ride to and from the downtown campus. During the school year they come and go at least once every ten minutes or faster (when classes are in session). There are also two more routes that run during the school year that head to apartments off campus.
The truth is, though, that the campus is pretty self-contained. Three main dining halls, several ATMs, lots of venues for entertainment, you don’t really have to leave the campus for very much. But, unfortunately, there are a few things missing, namely grocery stores, banks, and places to dine out. Thankfully, the buses make up for that. The downtown route stops in Standale along the way, about ten minutes from campus. If you need more banking than an ATM, there are several bank branches nearby, if you need more grocery shopping than the on campus convenience shop, the bus drops you off in front of a Meijers. If campus dining isn’t working for you that particular day (and the ten pounds I gained freshman year would beg to differ on that), there are several sit down restaurants right near the bus stop. And that’s not to mention the fact that that bus continues on down towards the second largest city in Michigan.
I don’t really have much more to say, so I suppose this is a good place to stop. Don’t forget to submit any questions you guys have.
-Kyle
The best way that I’ve found to save gas, though, is to only actually drive half way, to the downtown campus, and just take the bus up the other half. Over the summer, the campus connector travels between the two campuses about every half hour, and it’s about a half hour ride to and from the downtown campus. During the school year they come and go at least once every ten minutes or faster (when classes are in session). There are also two more routes that run during the school year that head to apartments off campus.
The truth is, though, that the campus is pretty self-contained. Three main dining halls, several ATMs, lots of venues for entertainment, you don’t really have to leave the campus for very much. But, unfortunately, there are a few things missing, namely grocery stores, banks, and places to dine out. Thankfully, the buses make up for that. The downtown route stops in Standale along the way, about ten minutes from campus. If you need more banking than an ATM, there are several bank branches nearby, if you need more grocery shopping than the on campus convenience shop, the bus drops you off in front of a Meijers. If campus dining isn’t working for you that particular day (and the ten pounds I gained freshman year would beg to differ on that), there are several sit down restaurants right near the bus stop. And that’s not to mention the fact that that bus continues on down towards the second largest city in Michigan.
I don’t really have much more to say, so I suppose this is a good place to stop. Don’t forget to submit any questions you guys have.
-Kyle
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Done with Undergrad... Now What!!!???
So, I am officially a graduate from Grand Valley State University as of about 2 weeks ago. It was a blur of excitement the day of graduation. I graduated in the afternoon with about 1,000 other students in VanAndel arena in downtown Grand Rapids. It was pretty surreal. I felt as if I shouldn't have been graduating!! Its too soon! It seems like yesterday I was moving into my freshman living center! The ceremony for graduation was awesome and they made all of us graduates feel very important. We individually walked across the stage with our name being called as we did so. I was fortunate to find a group of my friends to sit with at graduation among the thousands which made the ceremony that much more special. After the ceremony I ended up celebrating with my family and friends.
The day after graduation, life was back to normal! I didn't feel any different now having a bachelor's degree and all. Now the excitement is wearing off and a lot of my friends that I graduated with are looking for jobs and moving away. I am slowly finding it is quite the bittersweet time. As we are all moving on and starting our careers and lives, we have to leave Grand Valley and everything we have grown to love these past 4 years... I do not want to say goodbye to my friends!
I rest a little easier knowing I will be back to GVSU in the fall as a graduate student. I was accepted into the Occupational Therapy program so I will begin that in September. It is very exciting and still very intimidating! We shall see what the fall brings!
For now, I am working in admissions giving tours this summer while also doing an internship at the American Diabetes Association in Grand Rapids, MI. It has been really busy thus far but I am doing my best to soak up the sun and all of the fun that summer has to offer!
If you have any questions at all or anything you are wondering about - PLEASE do not hesitate to ask!!!
Hope everyone is doing well!!
-Leslie
The day after graduation, life was back to normal! I didn't feel any different now having a bachelor's degree and all. Now the excitement is wearing off and a lot of my friends that I graduated with are looking for jobs and moving away. I am slowly finding it is quite the bittersweet time. As we are all moving on and starting our careers and lives, we have to leave Grand Valley and everything we have grown to love these past 4 years... I do not want to say goodbye to my friends!
I rest a little easier knowing I will be back to GVSU in the fall as a graduate student. I was accepted into the Occupational Therapy program so I will begin that in September. It is very exciting and still very intimidating! We shall see what the fall brings!
For now, I am working in admissions giving tours this summer while also doing an internship at the American Diabetes Association in Grand Rapids, MI. It has been really busy thus far but I am doing my best to soak up the sun and all of the fun that summer has to offer!
If you have any questions at all or anything you are wondering about - PLEASE do not hesitate to ask!!!
Hope everyone is doing well!!
-Leslie
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Spring Semester
It’s been about a week since I last wrote anything here, and things have changed quite a bit since then. Spring Semester started this Monday, so life has returned to the campus in a manner of speaking. Students are in the commons areas, walking to and from class, using the buses, so on and so on and so forth.
This is probably a decent time to talk about Spring/Summer Semesters, seeing as they’re actually happening. Both periods are accelerated semesters, so the classes take place over a six week period. There are exceptions, but usually the classes are held twice a week for between two and three hours at a time. It’s a great way to take care of just about any class, but students tend to use them to take care of a lot of base requirements. I took “legal environment of business” (BUS 201) last year during spring and it worked out pretty well. I’m not taking any Spring/Summer classes this year, since I wanted to look around for a second summer job, which, by the way, has been pretty successful (if by “successful” you mean “a total failure”). All in all, though, Spring/Summer classes are pretty nice, because it’s generally a more enjoyable and less frostbite ridden experience to go to the beach after class than it is during Winter Semester. As an added bonus, the buses are still up and running, so my gas bill is considerably lower than one would expect.
That’s all I have to say about that. As a quick note to anyone who will be coming by for a tour soon, I thought it might be a good idea to suggest that you remember to ask a lot of questions. I had a great tour today with a family that had a lot of good, relevant questions, which made the tour more fun for me and more informative for them. Or don't, but realize that I won't be singing and dancing to fill the awkward silences.
-Kyle
This is probably a decent time to talk about Spring/Summer Semesters, seeing as they’re actually happening. Both periods are accelerated semesters, so the classes take place over a six week period. There are exceptions, but usually the classes are held twice a week for between two and three hours at a time. It’s a great way to take care of just about any class, but students tend to use them to take care of a lot of base requirements. I took “legal environment of business” (BUS 201) last year during spring and it worked out pretty well. I’m not taking any Spring/Summer classes this year, since I wanted to look around for a second summer job, which, by the way, has been pretty successful (if by “successful” you mean “a total failure”). All in all, though, Spring/Summer classes are pretty nice, because it’s generally a more enjoyable and less frostbite ridden experience to go to the beach after class than it is during Winter Semester. As an added bonus, the buses are still up and running, so my gas bill is considerably lower than one would expect.
That’s all I have to say about that. As a quick note to anyone who will be coming by for a tour soon, I thought it might be a good idea to suggest that you remember to ask a lot of questions. I had a great tour today with a family that had a lot of good, relevant questions, which made the tour more fun for me and more informative for them. Or don't, but realize that I won't be singing and dancing to fill the awkward silences.
-Kyle
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