March Break Open House, here we come!

Just a quick note to say that we’re very excited to welcome student and their families to campus tomorrow for our annual March Break Open House! We have a very, very busy day planned and we encourage everyone to come out and take advantage of the opportunity to see what their Queen’s experience could really be like!

For more information about the event, please visit our website!

See you tomorrow!

Danyal Martin – Admission Coordinator

Sick and tired of sick and tired?

I’ll start by introducing myself: my name is Katie and I am a fourth year undergraduate student wrapping up a medial degree in psychology and environmental studies. When I first started writing this blog, I wanted to find a topic that both touches the lives of current students and relates to potential students. What I came up with was the importance of personal health and well-being. The reason why this jumped to mind is that it’s the time of year where every student seems to be overly phlegmy, sleepy, sneezy, and stressed (stress-y?), perhaps unfortunately neglecting their general health.

Good health is a factor in productivity and happiness – things that I think everyone aspires to have if they don’t already or to maintain if they do! Of course, for students, productivity and happiness are closely related: we feel healthier and happier when we are successful, and we are more successful when we are healthy and happy. Health was a major consideration in my university assessment because I have been living (mostly harmoniously!) with diabetes since the age of four. To my relief, health can be quite compatible with university life if you choose to set it as a priority.

My first year at Queen’s was a transition between pediatric and adult care. If you will be in a similar position, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario has a great search tool to find local family doctors or specialists. It may also be good to note that Kingston General Hospital is located on campus and Hotel Dieu Hospital is within walking distance.

Whether or not you choose a local doctor, many of you will find Queen’s Health, Counselling and Disability Services a valuable resource. Health Services provides flu shots, vaccinations for travel abroad, and urgent care. Counselling Services supports students who are having difficulties with addiction, culture, self-esteem, and relationships. Disability Services helps students with different abilities (including students who have physical, medical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities) gain exam accommodations, one-on-one assistance, and peer mentoring. Of course, these lists are not exhaustive. In four years, I have visited HCDS for illness, blood work, and advice on personal matters, just to name a few! What is important is that though individual students vary greatly, HCDS is broad enough to meet the needs of the vast majority and you will likely encounter at least one of their branches in your time at Queen’s.

Be Well, Do Well is another resource that has outreach and drop-in sessions on topics concerning healthy lifestyles and learning strategies. Peer Health Educators and Peer Learning Assistants provide programs to address healthy eating, physical activity, stress, sleep, memory, and creative problem solving. (The study skills and writing multiple choice exam sessions are especially useful around midterms!) Queen’s Learning Commons even offers a handy dandy Assignment Calculator to help students personalize an attack plan for upcoming projects, alleviating academic stress.

In addition, lots of students join intramural sports, take yoga classes, or schedule a regular board game night with friends (my personal favourite) to enhance their health. It’s a busy life as a Queen’s student… but all of these components work nicely together to support personal health and well-being.

Wishing you a healthy, happy, and productive time at Queen’s!

Cha gheill,

Katie Phillips

Artsci ’09

Queen’s alumna, staff member, and a current student (me, in the blue) at the Ontario Universities’ Fair 2008. We’re wearing the Queen’s colours!

Where do we go from here?

Hello everybody,

Whew, I bet you’re all glad to be done with your Personal Statements of Experience.  Today’s post is to let you know exactly what we in the Undergraduate Admission Office will be up to for the next few months.

Over the next little bit, we will be reviewing your grades and the information provided on your PSE’s.  Those PSE’s are being read by members of the faculty or faculties you have applied to.  Once we have had a chance to look things over, we will begin to make offers of admission.  Typically, most of our offers are sent out anywhere from later in March up to mid-May.  It is quite possible that some of your friends may hear back from us before you do, and that’s totally fine. We don’t have a first round/second round/third round type of mentality here.  We are constantly evaluating your status and making offers as appropriate.

One final thing – we are aiming to let every single applicant know where they stand with us no later than mid-May.  By that point, you should hopefully know whether we were a) able to make an offer of admission, b) unable to make an offer or c) unable to offer you right now, but may be able to after the May 28th response deadline.

So, for the next little bit, hunker down on your schoolwork and get ready for what is hopefully a very exciting few months!

Kevin du Manoir
Admission Coordinator