LISTED ANd UNLISTED
College Pleased to Land on one set of Rankings — and Miss Another
 
• College Consensus, a new online aggregator of college-review guides, has ranked Thomas Aquinas College No. 18 on its list of 50 ‘Underrated’ Colleges Doing Great Things, schools whose methods “are worth imitating, emulating, and spreading far and wide.” The College is the only Catholic institution to be included on the list. “While other schools seek recognition as the most innovative colleges in America, Thomas Aquinas innovates by looking to tradition,” the guide observes. “A fully integrated approach makes Thomas Aquinas one of the best hands-on learning colleges in the U.S.; there are no lectures, only discussion, laboratory study, and engaged, experiential learning in everything from mathematics to translation.”
 
• There is, however, one list on which Thomas Aquinas College is glad not to be found: “The 25 Colleges that Make the Most Money from Students’ Application Fees,” compiled by Insider. Whereas some colleges charge students as much as $150 for the privilege of filling out an application, Insider notes that Thomas Aquinas College does not charge its applicants at all. “Many schools employ admissions fees as a way to deter unserious applicants from filing frivolous applications,” says Jon Daly, Thomas Aquinas College’s director of admissions. “We have no such need. If a student is giving our rigorous application the time and attention it demands, that is a pretty good sign that his or her interest is real.”
 
Rankings in other college guides  

REAL EXPERIENCE FOR WORK
Investment Banking Veteran Offers Career Advice to College’s Students

Thomas Aquinas College’s new vice president for finance, Dennis McCarthy, met with members of the student business club in mid-November to offer advice on career discernment, graduate school, and the post-graduation job search.

“Why does a guy who spends 40 years in investment banking change to become a CFO of a college?” asked Mr. McCarthy, who has previously held executive positions at such firms as EF Hutton, Drexel Burnham Lambert, and Boustead Securities. “The answer is because this is not your typical college. … Think of the things you have done in the classroom, the things that you may take for granted. Your experience is so different from so many of the other students who are out there. You read tough material. You come to class prepared. You express yourself. You agree, you disagree — that experience is so valuable. That’s the real experience for work.”

Over the course of a one-hour presentation in St. Cecilia Hall’s Dillon Seminar Room, Mr. McCarthy covered how students can determine their strengths and skills, demonstrate them to potential employers, and make the most of them in the marketplace. He also answered questions on topics ranging from graduate school, to internships, to corporate jargon.

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FAITH IN ACTION
Highlights from the College’s Alumni Blog

• Five years ago Dr. Caroline Johnson (’97) left her position as a traveling internist to become a clinical instructor at the Midwestern University’s Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, while at the same time continuing her work as a hospitalist. Then in 2015, she undertook a two-year nephrology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, after which she relocated to Texas. “I am now working as a Transplant Nephrologist in the Baylor system,” she writes. “I am Board-certified in three specialties: internal medicine, pediatrics, and nephrology, with a special area of focus in transplant.”

• One of the College’s newest alumni priests, Rev. Miguel Batres, O.Praem. (’08), is now featured on The Abbot’s Circle, a digital library of spiritual resources from the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, California. In a four-minute video, he considers the question, “What is the Mass?” offering an insightful response for his viewers. “The Mass is the most perfect prayer anyone can offer,” says Fr. Miguel. “There is a great, great, infinite distance between man and God, and we ourselves do not have the means to give God the perfect worship, to give God the perfect praise. And so it is Christ Himself who gives us that means through that sacrifice.”

• Olivia Cobb (’16) reports from Washington University in St. Louis, where she is “studying biostatistics and loving every minute of it” in one of the field’s top academic programs. She is learning various statistical and computational methodologies, particularly as they pertain to biomedical data analysis and genomics research. “The faculty is constantly checking in with me, as it turns out that I am their guinea pig for accepting students with a background in humanities,” she says. She adds that her liberal education “has obviously been very helpful,” and that her “philosophical training has turned out to be quite applicable to this scientific field.”

Faith in Action blog 

PRAYERS FOR CHRISTMAS & ADVENT
Chaplains to Offer Novena of Masses

Beginning on December 16, and ending on Christmas Eve, the chaplains of Thomas Aquinas College will offer the College’s Annual Christmas Novena of Masses in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel. “We first came up with the idea for the Christmas Novena three years ago, as a way for the College’s friends to pray for their loved ones and their intentions,” says President Michael F. McLean. “The idea was so well-received that the Novena has become an annual tradition.”
 
During Advent each person enrolled in the Novena will receive a beautiful, personalized card from the College. On the front, the card features a nighttime photo of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, framed by a seasonal green border. Inside, it informs recipients of their inclusion in the Novena, as well as the name of their sponsors. The cost for each card, which includes shipping and handling, is $5.
 
More than just a Christmas greeting, the Novena card brings the promises of nine Holy Masses and the prayers of the students, faculty, chaplains, and staff of Thomas Aquinas College. “This is a wonderful way for our friends to include their loved ones in the spiritual life of the College,” says Dr. McLean. “We invite everyone to enroll, and hope all of our friends will join us in praying for the entire College community this Advent.”

Enroll now!