The Other Side of the Submit Button

This was an exciting week at USD.  We just mailed the first 1200 early action admit letters and hopefully these students will get the good news before the holiday.  We still have over 2300 early action decisions to still make and send out, but we are off to a great start.  For many families, especially the students, one of the most stressful times of the whole process is the waiting. From the time they hit that submit button from home until the time a decision arrives in the mail (or by email, depending on the school) seems like an eternity.  An awful lot happens on the other end during that time and depending on the size of the institution, it is an amazing process that to outsider might look like chaos.

At the University of San Diego, we receive over 11,000 applications for the freshman class.  When an application arrives at our office, usually electronically, it goes through an assembly-line like process that ensures that the information is recorded in our computer system, documents such as transcripts and letters of recommendation that might have come in separately are matched up, and a complete application is made available to the readers as soon as possible. Sounds pretty simple, but think about 11,000 applications and add to that at least 11,000 transcripts and test scores. Most students send at least two letters of recommendation and an essay. Many students use the Common Application and we have a one page supplement that goes with that. Add all that up and it means that almost 100,000 pieces of paper will pass through our office in approximately four months. While much of it is handled electronically, and at the University of San Diego we use scanning technology which creates an electronic image of all that paper, it still requires a lot of organization and time, not to mention an army of student workers to make it all happen. Imagine what that looks like at schools that get even more applications!

The reason I share that with you is to help you understand the realities behind the scenes and why it seems to take so long to make a decision.  Sometimes we can't always tell you whether the application is complete or not, and while we know that is frustrating, it is a very fluid process and a single piece of paper may take awhile to get where it belongs. Our staff and those of universities across the country, eventually get it all matched up and then we can start reviewing your student's credentials.

The evaluation process works differently at each school, but at USD, this is a very personal process. Each of our counselors has a specific territory and they read the applications from that area. If you want to find your counselor, visit http://www.sandiego.edu/admissions/undergraduate/counselor/staff.php. 

Because we are selective, the first thing we do is review the academic record by carefully evaluating the high school transcript. Because so many schools calculate grades differently, it is often necessary to recalculate a grade point average. We look at the type of classes the student took and whether they were able to take advantage of honors or advanced placement courses. Each high school also provides us with information about what courses are offered, the percentage of students that attend four-year colleges, and other background information that helps our staff provide a local context to the grade point average. Again, this is helpful because students come from such different high school environments.

In addition to the high school transcript, we are looking at the standardized test scores, the letters of recommendation and the writing sample, or essay the student submitted. At USD, we are also looking at the application and trying to determine what other personal qualities a student may be contributing to our campus. We try and measure those qualities by focusing on a students' involvement in activities, community service, leadership, and special talents. These are gleaned from the questions asked on the application, information provided by the student, and through comments made on the letters of recommendation. This is a thorough review that every applicant goes through and the counselors are spending many of their waking hours on this process. In order to get through the large number of applications we have, it is a common practice that our counselors often read at home during these peak months and are not in the office for three or four days a week. We began to review our early action applications in November and the staff will continue to review files until we are done - hopefully by the middle of March. It is a long process, but we try and ensure that everyone gets a fair and thorough evaluation.

Once that evaluation is complete, files are typically passed on for a final decision. Some students are what we would consider "clearly admissible" based on their academic record and the counselor review and are admitted. Others we find are not prepared to handle the work they can expect at USD and are denied admission. For the majority of our applicants, they fall somewhere in the middle, and applications are then reviewed by at least one other person and I am personally involved in many of these decisions.

Once all of that is done, and we are ready to send out our decisions, we have to manually enter those into our student data base and generate the letters.  We choose not to send these electronically but to convey this very important decision through the mail, and we take great care to make sure the correct letter ends up in the right envelope (admissions nightmare!).  This week, I personally hand-signed those 1200 Early Action letters and they are carefully brought to the mail room where they make their way to students all across the world.

So, as you anxiously wait for the mail each day, please know that at USD, and admission offices across the country, hard working staffs are busy pouring through documents, thoroughly reading all those pieces of paper you sent, and doing our best to make sure you get your decision in as timely a way as possible.

More on the decisions we make next time.  Until then, I hope the mail arrives with good news, and I wish all of you a very happy holiday.

Peace,
Steve

'Tis The Season...

Now that Thanksgiving is past and many are focused on the holiday season ahead, college admission offices are gearing up for a very different holiday experience, one that will last well into the new year.  It's the application reading season and it is a process that affects millions of young people across the country (and the world).  It also has a huge impact on college administrators, high school counselors, parents and many others associated with the college selection process.  The annual ritual can be largely misunderstood, even by those who are close to the process, and while I have no illusions about making sense of it all, I hope this written exchange helps answer at least some questions about how it all works. 

When I entered the admissions profession 23 years ago, I could never have imagined the concept of blogging. Even within the last two or three years, as I began reading blogs on ESPN.com and Baseball America.com, it never occurred to me that I might soon be writing one myself. But here I am, entering this new age of communications and with the help of my staff in the Admissions office, blogging.

My hope is that I can communicate with parents, counselors, students and others who are in the midst of this experience and perhaps shed some light on what is often a process cloaked in mystery.  The reality is that the process - at least at most private colleges and universities - is not that mysterious at all.  It is complicated by the fact that many schools do things differently and most are not very forthcoming about what they actually do.  The work done by admission offices across the country is hard work and done by very dedicated, caring individuals who are trying to balance their own sense of fairness with the realities of the institutions they work for.  It is complicated, tedious, stressful and often emotional. 

Over the next six months I hope to engage folks in a conversation about selecting a college - applying, being admitted or denied, and finally choosing.  In addition to coming at this wearing my professional admissions hat, I am also experiencing this as a parent of a high school senior (it's much easier as a Director of Admissions).  I have many topics in mind - testing, how applications are processed and readied for reading, the deliberations, identifying institutional priorities, paying for college - I also hope to talk a lot about finding the right fit and not worrying about all the wrong reasons to choose a college.  I also want to respond to questions and address concerns/topics that you might have as well.

If you're a parent and have never followed a blog before (join the club!), just check back every week and see where the conversation takes us.  Feel free to post a comment or email me with your questions.  Together we can make our way through file review season and come out the other side with a better understanding of what happened.  My holiday wish, as always this time of year, is that all our students find a good fit.

Next week, I'll take you inside our admissions processing area and let you know what happens when students hit that "submit" button.

Until then, enjoy the season.

Steve