Big Shoulders Fund’s Viellieu-Studdert-NES Scholarship

An educational professional in the Chicago area, Amy Kennelly Viellieu most recently served as an auxiliary application reader with the Office of College Admissions at the University of Chicago. Earlier in her career, Amy Kennelly Viellieu was a scholarship committee founder and patron for the Big Shoulders Fund.

Created to enrich the academic experience of underrepresented students, the Big Shoulders Fund serves low-income elementary and middle school students from Catholic schools in Chicago through a robust scholarship program. The organization sponsors more than 60 different scholarships to serve students who are 82 percent minority and 66 percent low-income.

For example, the Viellieu-Studdert-NES Scholarship was created to start with 4th and 5th graders and has helped several students. Big Shoulders Fund students gain access to high-quality Catholic education since 1994. Along with financial aid, students were engaged in service projects to support students both in the US and Haiti as outlined by scholarship founder(s) Viellieus and Studderts.

 

Most US Colleges Accept the Majority of Applicants, Pew Reports

An experienced education professional, Amy Kennelly Viellieu recently concluded a 7-year tenure with the University of Chicago as an auxiliary application reader in the office of college admissions. Amy Kennelly Viellieu expanded her college admissions knowledge by completing an Academy for College Admission Counseling program in 2019.

A 2019 study conducted by the Pew Research Center revealed that most American colleges admit the majority of students that submit applications. Out of 1,364 four-year colleges surveyed for the study in 2017, only 17 had an acceptance rate of 10 percent or lower. These schools included the nation’s most prestigious academic institutions, such as Stanford and Harvard, which had acceptance rates of 4.7 and 5.2 percent, respectively.

That said, only 3.4 percent of surveyed schools, or about 4.1 percent of the national enrollment, were described as “extremely competitive.” On the other hand, approximately 53.5 percent of schools admitted at least 66 percent of applicants. A number of notable schools fell into this group, such as Virginia Tech’s 70.1 percent acceptance rate and Quinnipiac University’s 73.9 percent rate.

It should be noted that overall admissions rates have decreased in recent years. Nearly half of the schools featured in this study had lowered admissions rates by 10 percent or more when compared to 2002 enrollment. A good deal of this change, however, can be attributed to the fact that more students are applying to more schools: 4.9 million college applications were submitted in 2002, compared to 10.2 million in 2017.

Lewis & Clark Is Newest College Program Partner

Based in Chicago, Amy Kenelly Viellieu has extensive experience with education, volunteering with schools as well as youth leadership development programs. In her most recent position with the Posse Foundation, Amy Viellieu serves as scholarship evaluator, interviewing candidates and assessing their applications as they apply for scholarship grants.

The Posse Foundation's central purpose is to train leaders of tomorrow while keeping inclusion and diversity in mind, as it believes that the leaders of the 21st century should reflect the country’s rich demographic mix. It carefully selects and trains small groups of talented students who can then serve as catalysts for individual and community development.

In the fall of 2020, the Posse Foundation announced that Lewis & Clark College would be added to the list of institutions that are involved in the Posse Scholars program. Top-ranked Lewis & Clark has an impressive interdisciplinary course of study and community engagement platform. The college believes the partnership is one that will advance equity and opportunity among diverse populations because the college has already established a program for getting students motivated to become involved in the college community.

Other schools in the Posse Foundation network include Bucknell University, Sewanee: University of the South, Lafayette College, University of Rochester, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. Partnering with these schools not only promotes diversity, it also provides students from underrepresented backgrounds with the needed support. The first class of Posse Foundation scholars that choose Lewis & Clark College will enroll in 2021.

Posse Foundation’s Service to Veterans

Amy Kennelly Viellieu, a scholarship evaluator at Posse Foundation, interviews potential award recipients for the leadership development program. Among the participants she assists, Amy Viellieu guides veterans through the Posse Veterans program.

The Posse Veterans program helps former U.S. military service members gain entrance into some of the country’s top colleges. Similar to its platform that provides students leadership training in small groups, the Veterans Posse program involves training and mentoring this group of students before they actually begin classes.

Once submitting to the program’s three-stage interview process, finalists participate in a group interview and also talk to representatives from participating colleges. The next steps prepare the students for college life at one of these institutions. The students attend a pre-college training session in New York City that centers on team building, cross-cultural communication, leadership development, and academic achievement.

While enrolled at the program, student-veterans meet with faculty once a week for the first two years (freshman and sophomore year), and in the spring, join others from the general student body at the Posse Plus Retreat, an event that focuses on sociopolitical events.

Finally, the career program prepares student-veterans for life after college. Here, students receive assistance with resume writing, personal and professional network development, and interview strategies. 

Three Tips to Make College Applications Stand Out

Higher education professional Amy Kennelly Viellieu possesses nearly a decade of experience in scholarship and college admissions evaluation. In addition to completing a program at the Academy for College Admission Counseling, Amy Kennelly Viellieu reviewed thousands of applications during her seven years in the Office of College Admissions for the University of Chicago.

Due to the volume of applications that college admissions officers must read, it is essential for applicants to make themselves memorable. Below are three tips for creating a stand-out college application.

1. Write unique essays: Every college has its own criteria for the essay portion. While some portions of an essay may be useful for several applications, applicants should expect to write separate versions for each school.

2. Choose referrals wisely: Letters of recommendation are one of the most important aspects of an application as it gives reviewers insight into the applicant’s character. The most impactful recommendations come from someone who has witnessed the applicant’s strengths firsthand, such as a teacher, coach or counselor.

3. Diversify perspectives: Applicants should be mindful of presenting themselves as a well-rounded scholar. For example, if a student’s extracurricular activities are mostly sports-related, the recommendation should be written by a teacher rather than a coach. This will give the reviewers a better understanding of the applicant.

PossePlus Retreat Captures Youth Views on Current Events

Former college admissions administrator for the University of Chicago Amy Kennelly Viellieu leverages her experience with application evaluation in her work with the Posse Foundation. Amy Kennelly Viellieu has held volunteer and paid roles with the foundation, which selects promising high school seniors and prepares them to enroll and excel at one of its partner institutions. These include highly-selective schools such as the University of Michigan and the Cornell University.

Every year, Posse Scholars host PossePlus, a weekend retreat held on their respective campuses to encourage conversations amongst the student body and faculty. The tradition was first proposed by Posse Scholars at Vanderbilt University to include a wider segment of the student population in important dialogue. Every retreat focuses on a topic selected by Posse Scholars.

In 2019, the PossePlus retreat centered on political issues affecting the country. A survey capturing participant opinions found that more than 95 percent of students were dissatisfied with the current state of affairs in US politics. More than 5,000 participants also shared their views on healthcare, the economy, higher education costs, and immigration. 

The NACAC’s Work to Promote Cultural Fluency

Experienced educational professional Amy Kennelly Viellieu earned a bachelor of science from Purdue University, where she served on the council of the Krannert School of Management. A volunteer for the Posse Foundation, Amy Kennelly Viellieu most recently served as an auxiliary reader at the University of Chicago. She supplements her professional work with membership in professional organizations such as the Academy for College Admission Counseling (NACAC).

Since its founding in 1937, the NACAC has supported educational professionals and students as they pursue postsecondary education. The organization currently represents 15,000 members, and also strives to promote high professional standards and cultural fluency.

Cultural fluency efforts at the NACAC target three core levels: the individual level, the institutional level, and the structural level. The individual level fosters individual fluency through tools such as a bias test, self-assessments, reading resources, and implementation strategies. The institutional level, on the other hand, provides cultural fluency resources to larger organizations, such as racial equity tools and reflection questions. The final cultural fluency area targets the structural level, and seeks to affect transformational change through diversity self-assessments, accessibility resources, and transformative agendas for campuses.