Admissions The Admissions Office

Every year, the admissions staff travels the country for college fairs, high school visits and receptions for prospective students. Contact your counselor to find out when we'll be in your area.

Meet the Staff

Nicole Curvin, Dean of Admissions

Email: ncurvin@marlboro.edu
Direct phone #: 802-258-9261
Education: BA, Wesleyan University; EdM Harvard Graduate School of Education
Home State: New Jersey
Key responsibilities: strategic planning, counselor and parent relations

• Marlboro College is: flexible and adaptable and here for students.
• Advice for prospective students: Know thyself and understand that college is your experience so find a place where you can be yourself but push past your comfort zone.
• Just for fun: I love to travel to outdoor music festivals. I've camped out in a sweaty tent, stood in heavy downpours, hiked miles across fields to a stage and slogged through ankle deep mud all to catch the best live music (Bonnaroo, All Points West, and others).
• Favorite thing about Vermont: There is no pretense here. The people are authentic and the quality of life is wonderful - low key, family centered and free spirited.
• TV shows that I like right now: Mad Men, 30 Rock, Dexter, United States of Tara, Curious George
• Favorite music: Spoon, Florence and the Machine, The Police, Daft Punk, Prince, Jenny Lewis and more …
• Magical superpower: The ability to see the future ...and identify students who will make Marlboro a better place.

Shannon Coco, Admissions Counselor

Email: scoco@marlboro.edu
Direct phone #: 802-251-7618
Education: BA, Wheaton College
Home State: Connecticut
Territory: CT, DE, MA (Essex County, Boston, Cambridge, Quincy, Plymouth County, Lowell, Concord, Wellesley, Norfolk, Bristol County, Milton, Lexington and Waltham), NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT

• Hobbies: Singing, violin, theatre, reading ethnographies, shopping and trying new things (like skiing this winter).
• Favorite thing about Marlboro: The support that students provide for each other throughout the college experience. Our students are driven, mature and independent, and our small campus is buzzing with enthusiasm, creativity and new ideas.
• Advice for prospective students: Visit schools when there are students and faculty on campus. The people make a difference, so see if they fit the learning style, values and priorities that would make your college experience the best it can be!
• Favorite Vermont experience (restaurant, food, etc): I love Sweeties Market which is just a short eight minute drive from campus. Also, I was told on my first day of work about a "secret" pond that students, faculty and staff like to go to in the summer months. I made it my mission to find it this summer; I did, and it's great. The Outdoor Program also lends kayaks, canoes and more that students and staff can use on their own outdoor excursions.
• Your magical superpower: Teleportation - That would be ideal for this job and for visiting the many amazing countries that I hope to one day see.
• Favorite band: I'm a huge fan of everything by Wilco, Matt Nathanson, and Adele.
• Three possessions you'd grab if your house was on fire: My work bag (which conveniently contains my phone, laptop and a good book), my violin because it means a lot to me and I feel very attached to it, and my memory box full of pictures and souvenirs.

Bill Mortimer, Admissions Counselor

Email: bmortimer@marlboro.edu
Direct phone #: 802-258-9230
Education: BA, Bates College
Home state: Illinois
Territory: Homeschooled Students, Non-Degree Students, Veterans, AR, AL, DC, FL, GA, LA, ME, MD, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV

• Hobbies: Boating, Fishing, Skiing, Hiking, Photography, and Reading
• Favorite thing about Marlboro: The student directed and faculty supported nature of the academic program.
• Advice for prospective students: The college search is one of your first opportunities to define yourself. What are your values and priorities? How do they fit with the schools you are looking at?
• Favorite restaurant in town: Thai Bamboo and Three Stones
• Favorite band: Counting Crows
• Three possessions you'd grab if your house was on fire: Family photos, camera, and laptop.

Jessica Nelson, Assistant Director of Admissions

Email: jnelson@marlboro.edu
Direct phone #: 802-258-9231
Education: BA, Miami University (OH); MA, University of Iowa
Home state: Ohio
Territory: International Students, Transfer Students, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA (Berkshire County, Franklin County, Springfield, Hampshire County, Fitchburg, North Worcester County, Cape Cod and Islands, Worcester), MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI

• Hobbies: jewelry making, visiting thrift stores, theater (I've seen Rent 16..17 times?), yoga, pilates, hiking, watching bad TV
• Favorite thing about Marlboro: "Intro classes" are such a great idea. Every semester professors preview their classes and students get to shop around and see what will best suit their needs before finalizing their schedule. It's just such a neat concept. Oh! and I love the "cookie drawer"! In the dining hall there is a drawer that is always stocked with cookies available whenever. I mean, how cool is that!?
• Advice for prospective students: Don't get caught up in the "name" of a school or where your friends are going to school. Having worked with transfer students in the past I have too many times heard from students who chose a school because they were allured by the "name" and the idea of it, but the school was actually not a great fit for their learning style and ambitions.
  Also, visiting campus if you can is always a good idea. It will give you the best idea if this is where you want to make your home for the next few years. Take advantage of the visit experience too--ask questions, go to class, eat on campus, people watch, and stop and chat with community members. Never leave your visit saying "I wish I would have..."
• Favorite Vermont experience (restaurant, food, etc): My first weekend here was "Strolling of the Heifers"--a festival in Brattleboro where they, well, stroll cows down Main Street! They had maple-flavored cotton candy, cheese, a bread baking contest...it was all very....Vermont! With the exception that they also had someone teaching Bollywood style dance in the streets, circus performers from the local circus school and all the art galleries were open...which made it very eclectically Brattleboro.
• A hidden talent or surprising factoid about me: I was voted most likely to "lead a revolution in a developing country" in high school. Guess that's better than "Best Dressed," right?
• Favorite band or song (or film): Right now, "You Don't know Me" by Ben Folds and Ingrid Michaelson's "The Chain"
• Favorite films: Anything Pixar makes, Wizard of Oz, Movies I secretly love and won't admit to: Mean Girls, Bring it On, The Sweetest Thing
• Three possessions you'd grab if your house was on fire: My cat (Milano), my purse, and my phone so I can call the fire department? Guess I'm pretty practical....

Nahum Ochoa '11, Regional Representative - West Coast

Email: nochoa@marlboro.edu
Direct Phone: 802-579-7968
Education: BA, Marlboro College
Home State: California
Territory: AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY

• Hobbies: Cooking, taking photos, traveling, reading.
• Favorite thing about Marlboro: I really loved working closely with professors. Before transferring to Marlboro I attended three colleges where students and professors never interacted outside of the classroom. The difference between the experience I had at those schools and Marlboro was astonishing. Because I had a working relationship with my professors I felt more accountable and took ownership for my work.
• Advice for prospective students: Take time before beginning your college search to figure out what you want your life to be filled with. Go somewhere quiet and give serious thought to your future and how you want to shape it. Here’s the most important part: write it down. Writing down your goals and dreams will help solidify them in your mind. They might change over time but that first list will provide a framework for you to direct your life.
• Favorite Vermont experience: Driving around on dirt roads during the Spring and Summer. Swimming at Indian Love Call and going to the drive in theater.
• Your magical superpower: Teleportation. I would go everywhere.
• Favorite band:The Cramps.
• Three possessions you'd grab if your house was on fire: I have an emergency bag with clothes and general emergency stuff so I’d grab that. I would also grab my camera and my journals.