Advice on Maximizing the Admissions Journey

Throughout high school and most especially during this time of year for senior students, high schoolers are asked the seemingly paramount question – where will you be attending college? From the academic advising office to the holiday dinner table to chatter among friends, this single question seems synonymous with high schoolers’ very own identity. For …

Visiting Hope College

I toured Hope in August 2021, right before I started my senior year of high school.  I had been on plenty of college tours before, and kept visiting schools after my trip to Hope.  Still, this certain visit stood out in my mind through my college decision process.  In fact, the nature of my visit …

Visiting Campus

When it came down to deciding what college to go to, I found visiting campus to be essential. It allowed me to truly imagine being a student here. There are many ways to visit campus, and Hope makes it easy to find a time that works for you.  The two most popular ways to visit …

My Top 5 at Hope!

Last spring, the end of my freshman year, I dedicated a page in my journal to all my favorite things about Hope College. I’d only been a part of this place for a number of months and yet I loved it deeply. Going home for the summer and catching up with high school friends, I found …

My Best Advice to an Incoming Freshman from a Hope College Senior

From a Hope College Senior writing to an incoming Freshman, this is my best advice for you:  Fight the urge to compare yourself to other freshmen. Every upperclassman I know can recall a moment when they called their mom on the phone and said or felt some version of, “It just feels like everyone else …

Why Hope College?

If you ask a Hope student why they chose to come here, you’ll hear different answers every time. There are countless reasons to come here. Personally, what drew me here is how Hope as an institution is often described, which is as a small, Christian, liberal arts school.  Small Hope has a little over 3000 …

The Reality of Campus Visits

I love Anchor Days–the sea of visiting students who can’t quite figure out the least awkward way to hold their bright orange folders and the parents buzzing with excitement, pride, and nostalgia, all while simultaneously feeling directionally challenged and overstimulated. I love visit days, not just because of the extra energy at chapel or the …

Transformed by Hope College

What does it mean to be ‘Transformed by Hope’? Being ‘Transformed by Hope’ is the idea that Hope itself can bring profound changes to an individual’s life and worldview. I find this definition to be very fitting for my time here at Hope College. When a student is transformed by Hope, they experience a shift in …

Living Away From Home

In my four years at Hope, I have met only a handful of people that are more obsessed with their hometown than I am. I’ve been more and more aware lately of how early in my first conversation with someone I tell them, “I’m from Petoskey!” The love I have for the little laketown I …

My Top 5 For Hope

Why did I chose Hope College? What lead me to making this final decision that would control where the next four years of my life would go? I have personally done some self-reflection and came up with 5 reasons as to why I chose Hope. Size As someone who loves meeting new people as well …