Author: jterhune

Jim Terhune is an educator with over 30 years of experience as a senior administrator and dean at top colleges. Jim is founder and principal at James Terhune Consulting, LLC (JTC) - an educational consulting firm that provides counsel, strategic management assistance, and practical advice to colleges, schools, and students aimed at enhancing and enriching the student experience. Before launching JTC, Jim spent 11 years at Colby College as vice president for strategic initiatives (2016-2017) and vice president for student affairs and dean of students (2006–2016). Prior to Colby, he worked for 15 years at Colgate University in a number of leadership roles including director of student activities, dean of first-year students, associate dean of the college, and dean of student affairs. Jim began his career in higher education at Middlebury College in student activities and the dean of students office. He has an A.B. in English from Middlebury College and an Ed.M. in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard University.

Road Trip: Everything You Need to Know About Campus Visits – Part 1

(Note: This is the first of two posts regarding prospective visit campus visits. The second installment will follow later this week.)

Let’s talk about summer vacation. For students ranging from kindergarten through college, and their parents and families, summer vacation is that simultaneously blessed and cursed stretch of time between the last day of school in the spring – Whoooo! – and the first day back in the fall – Really? Do I have to? (It’s worth acknowledging that many parents do their whooping in the fall and their whining in the spring, but that is a topic for another day.) And for students heading into their final year of high school, and their parents and families, summer vacation is the time to visit colleges.

Awesome!

Traveling to and from campus visits will provide a wonderful opportunity for family bonding while blissfully critiquing the tour guides and engaging in thoughtful, pithy conversation about the range of course offerings, internships, and study abroad opportunities at each of the institutions you see. For students, it’s an important step on the path to independence as you take responsibility for planning each visit, scheduling interviews, and mapping out rest stops and places to eat. For parents, it’s a chance to spend large chunks of uninterrupted quality time with your burgeoning scholars, and to bask in the pride of watching them dazzle student interviewers and admissions officers with their charm and effortless repartee. And, if you are so fortunate as to make multiple college visits strung together over two or more consecutive days, the experience can be even more enriching as you will be together in confined spaces 24/7 over the entire duration of the trip. Continue reading “Road Trip: Everything You Need to Know About Campus Visits – Part 1”

Thinking About Thinking

So you’re getting ready to start college. The seemingly endless onslaught of shiny view-books and postcards and pseudo-personalized emails from colleges is behind you. You’re done with campus visits and college fairs and application essays. You’ve received your fat envelopes and chummy congratulations from admissions deans and made your choice. Senior spring, prom, graduation – check, check, and check. The roommate questionnaire, health forms, and course pre-registration process are done, or soon will be, and now you’re pretty much monitoring your class Facebook page and hanging out with your friends until it’s time to start packing the car.

It’s July. Aside from the odd inquiry from the housing office or the people planning orientation there really isn’t anything else you should be doing to get ready for college, right?

Well, maybe. But then again, maybe not. Continue reading “Thinking About Thinking”

Welcome to My College Wisdom

Greetings and welcome to My College Wisdom – a blog devoted to providing advice, guidance, and insights into the college experience for students, parents and families, and anyone else who might be interested. The purpose of MCW is simple: to help students identify, apply and be admitted to, and succeed in college.

Okay, so that’s fine and all, but you may be wondering just exactly what qualifies me to be doling out wisdom about college. Fair enough.

For starters, though it should probably go without saying, I did go to college. And I graduated – in four years, no less. I also went to graduate school and have a master’s degree in higher education. So to the extent that being the rightful owner of framed diplomas lends credibility to my entering the blogosphere I suppose I can check that box and move on. Continue reading “Welcome to My College Wisdom”