iPhone for College Life - Updates

At the beginning of the year, I posted a list of useful iPhone apps for college students. Here are some additions that I've picked up throughout the year:

DerManDar - Allows you to take panoramic photos on your iPhone. My fellow blogger, classmate and floormate Sarah Murray used this app to show you guys her dorm room.


QuickVoice - Voice recorder for lectures, interviews, concerts, etc. I was able to use it to record interviews with reporters and Burlington mayoral candidate Jason Lorber at a labor day event a few months ago (here's a blog post that has a clip of one of the event speeches).


MyVerizon - Very useful if Verizon is your service provider. You can check how many minutes/texts/downloads you have left on your plan and pay your bills through your iPhone.

Interviewing for Colleges

Since the interviewing season is rapidly approaching, I've dedicated this week's post to the often feared admissions interview. The best advice I can offer for this process is to research the school so that you can provide in-depth answers as to why you'd be a good fit and also come up with questions to ask the interviewer. 

Before my SMC interview, I had done extensive research on the school through their website by contacting current students and various departments, browsing through their activities list, reading through the school's online publications and reading faculty profiles. I think that it's important to do this so that you're really able to go into detail about why you want to attend the college (I want to take a class with Professor X and get involved with X activity. I like X about this college because...), but more importantly, so you know whether you actually want to spend 4 years at such a school in the first place. 

Here are some things you can do to research Saint Michael's:

• Browse the student clubs
• Have a look at the department pages
• Check out the fantastic community service program (MOVE)
• Read some student blogs ;) 
• See what courses you can take 
• Questions? Hit up admissions - you can do so anonymously
• Play a sport? 
• Get on the athletics page
• Contact a coach
• Read the online student publication: The Defender

Visit the school before the interview if you can! You really get a feel for the campus, you can sit down and talk to some of the students to get (usually) uncensored commentary on housing, activities, what stinks, what's great, what the social scene is like, etc. If you're too shy, you'll still get to know what at least one of the students is like through the tour guide, who will be happy to have a chat with you after the tour if you stick around for a couple of minutes. During my SMC visit, I was even able to arrange chats with five of the professors and sit in on some classes! That was actually the deciding factor in my decision to enroll, because on the top of my must-have list for college was passionate and accessible faculty.  

Be prepared to answer these questions:

1. Why do you want to come to our college?

2. What courses are you taking?

3. What activities are you involved in? 

I think that the interview is really an opportunity for both you and the interviewer to figure out if you're a good fit for the school, so remember that it's not a one-way process: you're encouraged to ask questions as well. During my interviews, I had a couple sheets of paper with me to jog my memory: my resume, (very short) bullet point reasons for why I like the college and my questions for the interviewer. It's really not necessary to have all this with you, but it can help you remember things you want to touch on during the interview! 

Video Clips from Whistle Week

O-leaders entertaining us during the Class of 2015 photo

Student flag bearers at convocation

Welcome dance party - sorry, you can't see much, but here you go

First day of class: I discovered a cool study cabin and left the library at half past midnight - it's open 'til one! 

SMC's very own radio station! Tune in here

Here are some other posts on orientation:

Day 1 at SMC! by Juliana 

Packing for College II and Orientation by Ben

A Glimpse of Orientation by Lauren

National Whistle Weekend by Sarah

Why SMC?

Hello ! My name is Tarah Srethwatanakul (hence the title of this blog) and this is my very first post as a blogger for Saint Michael’s College ! You can click here to find out more about me or dive straight into the story of why I decided to join the community of Knights at SMC !


Part I. Europe or America ?

Being from Switzerland and Thailand, my decision to enroll at Saint Mike’s has always attracted two questions ; many of the students, faculty and even admissions staff ask me "How did you find us?" and the most frequent response I face from my friends is "Why are you leaving Europe?".

Since the beginning of the college search, I was very determined to find a vibrant and supportive learning environment – my top requirements were : engaging professors, a high level of student-professor interaction, a diverse array of student-initiated activities and - since moods are highly contagious – a happy student body. I also realised that I longed to participate in many (if not only) seminar-style classes, which led me to nix Europe off my list of possibilities (with a great deal of sadness, of course). The reason for this is because European universities are generally characterised by large lectures, and quite honestly – and perhaps selfishly ;) – I wasn’t prepared to share my professor with three hundred other students.

After reviewing the requirements of my "dream college", my college counselor suggested that I add Saint Mike’s to my growing list of considered universities. Her advice compounded with my subsequent research on SMC (which revealed that it made the Princeton Review's list of happiest students and best student lifestyle) convinced me to fly out for a quick campus visit in October – a visit that essentially became the deciding factor in my choice of college.

Part II. The Campus Visit

Since I was staying for a few days, I really had the time to get a full Saint Mike’s experience by sitting in on various classes (Cognitive Psychology, Media Law & Ethics, Honors Freshman Seminar: The Examined Life, Literature for Children and Adolescents), chatting with professors and students, touring the campus and of course, enjoying the Skinny Pancake's wonderful crêpes! During the visit, I was particularly impressed by the professors’ generosity in dedicating such large amounts of time to chat with students and also by their honesty, as I never felt like they were simply selling the school but actually putting my best interests first.

In the end, my decision to attend SMC was very sudden as although I had a significant interest in the college, I knew that I hadn’t intended on attending a university outside of a metropolis or one affiliated with a religion. It was in fact my experience sitting in on Professor Griffith's "Media Law & Ethics" class that made me decide to apply early decision to SMC, since I knew from that moment that I wanted to study Media, Journalism and Digital Arts under her tutelage - and I'm very lucky, as I recently found out that I'm actually enrolled in her Media Revolutions class this fall!