Office of Admissions gains new director

The recent departure of Daniel Creasy, former Associate Director of Admissions, ushered in a batch of sweeping changes in Admissions, with an influx of new, young officers.

Ellen Kim joined the Office of Undergraduate Admissions as the new director after Creasy, who spent nine years at Hopkins’ admissions office, resigned from his position. He will assume his new position as Director of Communications for the Office of Admissions at Emory University.

Creasy declined to comment on his departure.

Hopkins also gained three new admissions counselors: Laurin Wolf, Monique Hyppolite and Ardi Mendoza. All three new counselors are recent college graduates, planning to bring perspective as recent students. Wolf and Mendoza are alumni of Hopkins. Both graduated last spring.

bring perspective as recent students. Wolf and Mendoza are alumni of Hopkins. Both graduated last spring.

Hyppolite graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Allied Health Services and a minor in Psychology. Instead of pursuing a physical therapy doctoral program, she decided to continue working in admissions, like she did throughout her years as an undergraduate.

“My goals as a counselor is to help bring in a class of well-rounded students that want to come to Johns Hopkins and that will lend to the greater Hopkins community beyond their academics,” Hyppolite said.

Wolf and Mendoza are recent graduates of Hopkins, and excitedly assume their new roles in admissions, embedded with an authentic love of the University and imbuing their work with a personal spark.

“I think that being an alumna of Hopkins allows me to talk about JHU in a really genuine way. I share my own experiences and anecdotes with prospective students all the time, and I think that this allows them to get a strong picture of what life can be like here,” Wolf said.

Admissions is not a field that one can be specifically schooled for, but the new counselors have extensive experience as undergraduates. The alumni both volunteered and worked in Admissions as undergraduates in myriad capacities.

Mendoza, who served as Executive President of the Student Government Association last year, has undergraduate experience ranging from volunteering as a tour guide and acting as a prospective student host, to being a student interviewer and working as a member of the Public Relations department, as well as a position as a spring intern in the office.

After he rose in position in admissions, he did not want to leave the field, despite it being a field that, as he said, “people sort of stumble into.”

“A lot of people growing up aren’t really exposed to this sort of profession and think to themselves, When I grow up, I’m going to be a college admissions officer,’” Mendoza said. “I knew I wanted to continue working for the Hopkins Undergraduate Admissions Office and still wanted that connection to Hopkins as a whole. I felt that working here was the best way to accomplish both.”