Upcoming Travel Season by Mark Butt
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Posted by: Undergraduate_Admissions | 
September 2 2010 | 
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Editor’s Note: For this entry, Admissions_Daniel and Admissions_Shannon have asked their Admissions colleague Mark Butt to discuss his upcoming (and quite hectic) fall travel schedule. If you are in New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, Germany, or Southern France you may get the chance to meet Mark.
Travel season is always an exciting time of year. It takes a lot of preparation and time to create a new schedule that is conducive to as many university goals and initiatives as possible. Of course, this is not a free-for-all, as there are two serious constraints placed on us admissions officers – time and money. In fact, I would assume for almost any industry, those are the most popular constraints placed on people.
Each admissions officer has a region that he or she manages and nurtures. For me, I have New Jersey and Delaware domestically and I am one of three admissions officers who have an international region as well. Traditionally, I spend a full week in New Jersey and I conduct a combination of high school visits and evening programs. Many of our Hopkins alumni attend local college fairs in my region throughout the year. Our alumni serve as an incredible resource for meeting and speaking with prospective students and families. They attend college fairs nationally and internationally for us.
Johns Hopkins University
My travel season this year is a little different than in the past but still has some consistency with previous years. I will be conducting 10 Explore Hopkins programs nation-wide. These programs are regional presentations open to students, families and guidance counselors and can serve as a great introduction for the university. I speak for about an hour on Johns Hopkins University, who we are as an institution, and then about the admissions process and financial aid. This year, I have five in the state of New Jersey, and all are happening the week of September 19. I also have one in Delaware the following week in New Castle County. These programs can attract anywhere from 80 to 200 people (including parents). I try to plan them at convenient times (avoiding PSAT dates, Giants games in NJ on Monday nights) so that people can attend at a time that works best for their families.
During travel season my days are very long; I get up early in the morning and often have four or five high school visits a day and often an Explore Hopkins program from 7-9 p.m. Email is usually on triage mode and emergency only situations during my travel seasons. My school visits are are planned in advance so that I can be at the school at a convenient time for the students to meet with me. I also try to plan the visits such that they make sense geographically – meaning that I “don’t drive in circles”. I try to make sure that I can follow a route that makes sense and is the most efficient time-wise for me. I remember when I first started in admissions, I had literally driven by one high school FOUR times and never had it on my visit schedule for some reason – total n00b move! I kept passing the school over and over and in fact it was taunting me! I did a visit the next year.
Florida Travel
New this year are a few things. I have a guidance counselor breakfast in Delaware which is where I do a mini-presentation for guidance counselors over breakfast. I talk about updates about the university and our most recent facts and figures and answer questions from the guidance counselors. I have never done one of these before but some other members of our admissions officers do these programs. I can meet many guidance counselors in a short amount of time and I think that’s great – it’s important that they stay up-to-date on what’s happening at Hopkins so that they can properly advise their students. This is a great venue to do so. Secondly, I will be conducting the travel in Florida this year. I have four Explore Hopkins programs happening there in Tampa, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Miami/Dade County. These will all be happening the week of October 10. I will also be doing some college fairs there and also school visits. I will spend about eight days total in Florida, seven days in New Jersey and three days in Delaware. I’m very excited about my travel to Florida, as there are some amazing students. I also have friends that work in Florida that I haven’t seen in a long time so I am looking forward to reconnecting with them.
International Travel
So, it’s going to be a very busy fall but man I am excited. When people say “I don’t ever want a desk job,” I know exactly how they feel. I love the excitement of going new places and trying new things – learning cultures, languages, foods, schooling systems, etc. I love being a life-long learner and I feel the admissions profession is very conducive to those with inquisitive minds. I love representing Hopkins and, more than ever, I love meeting prospective high school students who are eager to pursue higher education. Hopefully, I will see some of you on the road if you’re in Germany, New Jersey, Delaware or Florida. Wish me luck!
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