Stevens Institute of Technology: Admissions Blog

Planning a Campus Visit

Gearing up for your senior year? One of the most important things you can do this summer is visit the colleges that interest you. The campus visit can be the most important part of your college selection process, so make sure you get the most out of the time you spend at a school.  Before you go, look through brochures and view the college's website to find out basic information. This will give you more time on the tour to find out information that is not found in the printed material. Here’s a quick checklist of what you can do to make the most of your campus visit:

Meet an admissions counselor. Even if the schools do not require a formal interview, talking one-on-one with an admissions counselor is a useful part of any college visit because he or she will be able to share information on deadlines, requirements, financial aid, and the overall process of preparing your application. For the schools that do require an interview, keep in mind that often times you can schedule this even before you formally apply. A college visit may be a great opportunity to fulfill an informational and/or formal meeting with an admissions counselor.

Take a tour. Campus tours led by students of the college are great ways to gain “insider” perspectives on what the student experience is really like. Ask them about the student culture. Don’t be too swayed by what individual students like or dislike about the social scene; just get the facts, and then determine what works best for you.

Tour the town. Not all your time in college will be spent in the classroom or on campus. Scope out the surrounding town to see what types of restaurants, clubs, stores and other establishments exist. Current students are great resources for activities on and off campus, so be sure to use them as a resource.

Take notes. Keep a notebook with all of your campus visit observations. This book will be a great resource if you forget some details. It’s also helpful to snap a few pictures of things that you really like or want to remember about a school.

Ask questions. This is your chance to get answers firsthand. Some questions you might ask:

• What distinguishes the college from other similar schools?
• What academic factors are considered during the admissions process?
• Are professors accessible outside of class? 
• Are there tutoring services available on campus?
• What are the college's most popular academic programs?
• What kind of career services are offered to students?
• What percentage of students receive financial aid?
• What percentage of students live on campus?
• What types of meal plans are available?
• What hours may students access food services?
• What are the most popular extra-curricular activities?
• What do most students do on the weekends?
• What’s the surrounding city/town like?
• Are there sororities and fraternities on campus? 
• How safe is the campus?

Meet as many people as possible. In addition to meeting with an admissions counselor, talk with professors to get an idea of what they expect out of a student. Speak with current students to see what they think about the college as a whole. Ask if they are happy with the college choice that they made and why. Essentially, don’t pass up an opportunity to find out more!

We wish you luck with your adventures this summer. If the Stevens admissions staff can be of any assistance during your application process, don’t hesitate to contact us at admissions@stevens.edu or 1-800-STEVENS.

Student's Gaming Humor Web Comic is Entrepreneurial Success

More than 1,600 fans have pledged more than $75,000 to support the development of a printed book of comics by Stevens student Katie Tiedrich, the under-the-radar Internet celebrity responsible for Awkward Zombie, a gaming humor web comic with a significant online following.

“My comic has gotten much more attention than I thought it would and that is really exciting for me,” said Tiedrich, a self-taught artist from Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. who first published Awkward Zombie online when she was only 15-years-old. 

Tiedrich is a Mechanical Engineering major entering her fourth of five years in Stevens’ Cooperative Education (Co-op) program. She said she was first drawn to art and cartoons as a young child trying to emulate her father’s own humorous sketches. A renaissance woman with an eclectic mix of interests – Nintendo, paleontology and robotics, to name just a few – she started Awkward Zombie “just for fun.”

“My research consists of playing video games, which is a lot of fun,” Tiedrich said. “I’m a born-nitpicker, and basically I just make observations about video games – which never make sense – and point out the things I find funny.”

Tiedrich’s content – which she creates in Macromedia Flash 7 using a Wacom tablet – immediately resonated with the gaming community, who love her Seinfeld-esque observational sense of humor and aptitude for poking fun at their favorite video games. After five years of production she now draws between 100,000 and 120,000 visitors to her site each Monday when she posts each week’s new entry.

Tiedrich said she spends between four and 10 hours per week creating Awkward Zombie, but she was interested in doing even more. This year, she decided to create a full-color compilation book of her first 100 comics – an undertaking that would require resources that she did not have. So, Tiedrich turned to Kickstarter, a crowd-sourcing funding platform that allows backers to pledge money to support the development of a product.

“Kickstarter takes away the middleman between a creator and her audience,” said Tiedrich. “I like it because if you have a good product, it will get funded.”

Initially Tiedrich set a goal to raise about $8,000 to cover the costs of printing the books and mailing them out to readers. But her campaign turned out to be hugely popular. With just a few days left until the close, Tiedrich has pre-sold more than 1,000 copies, and the more than $75,000 in pledges she has raised will allow her to also publish hard-cover editions, create specialized copies with personalized cartoons for her largest donors, and include other special features. She plans to complete the project in the fall with the help of Stevens students and friends who have signed on as software developers, programmers, print consultants and distributors.

Tiedrich is blown away by the success of Awkward Zombie, but at this point she doesn’t see it as a career.

“Awkward Zombie was really created without a future in mind, and it’s hard to think about a time when I’d stop producing it,” Tiedrich said. “But I’m also looking forward to beginning my career as an engineer.”

Along with her cousework and Co-op internships, Tiedrich said her experience with Awkward Zombie is a huge asset as she enters the workforce.

“As essentially the owner of a small business, I’ve learned a lot about marketing, planning, finance, operations, etc.,” she said. “Creating Awkward Zombie has also given me a lot of practice in engineering design and I know for sure that it’s something I enjoy doing.

Learn more about Awkward Zombie at www.awkwardzombie.com and Tiedrich’s Kickstarter campaign at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/802102307/awkward-zombie-volume-one.

Check out the video of a recent conversation with Katie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNxnIQ-YAYI&feature=relmfu

 

 

 

How to Choose a College

The college application process is complex and demands juggling a lot of details, tasks and research.

Make sure that you don’t overlook the most important goal: Choosing a college that is right for you.

Establish what aspects are most important to you so that you can make the right choice. Some things you might consider:

• What size college do you want to attend? Are you looking for a very large school or one with a more close-knit environment?
• What kind of location are you most comfortable in? Do you thrive in an urban environment, or prefer a quieter setting? Are there campuses that offer both?
• What major(s) are you interested in?
• Will you need financial aid?
• Are extracurricular activities important to you, and what are they?
• How close or far away from home do you want to be?
• What kind of campus life do you want to experience?
• What career services are offered? Are you thinking about your return on investment?

Ranking these needs in order of importance will allow you to investigate your top choices in a way that best matches you! Each institution is so different, and it’s easy to get lost in all the information you glean from your research. Many online college search engines can also help you get some ideas about how to organize and better target your search.

Of course the best way to know about a school is to experience it up close and personally. Campus visits will certainly answer a lot of your questions, give you a “feel” for a college, and help you prioritize the aspects you’re truly looking for. You may even discover qualities that are important to you that you hadn’t considered earlier.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Stevens wishes you the best in this decision-making process. Don’t hesitate to contact us at admissions@stevens.edu or 1-800-STEVENS. We’d be delighted to help you!