We’re not 100% done with our application reading, but there is unlikely to be enough to fuel any of us for a full day at home, so today was probably my last reading day until next winter.  While I admit that it’s getting harder to keep still when confronting a pile of files, I will definitely miss my reading days.  Just me, my Garfield pencil case, and a stack of applications, alone together.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve “met” talented people from around the world, all of whom hope to do interesting things when they complete their graduate studies.  I’ve read a lot of essays about challenges, family heritage, and travels.  I’ve read recommendation letters that are incredibly informative and deeply touching.  I know how much time and energy goes into the creation of each page of an application.

The next few weeks will be filled with last bits of reading, and with processing — assigning decisions and scholarship awards, and packing up the materials for admitted students.  I’ll try to post regularly to keep you aware of what’s going on.

Last week, we had visitors from England.  My five-year-old niece, Ella, accompanied by her eight-month-old sister, her mother, and her grandmother, joined us for the February school vacation that coincidentally fell in the same week on both sides of the Atlantic.

On Saturday, Ella and I took a walk to Porter Square Books (my favorite local bookstore) so that Ella could choose something to read while waiting for her flight home.  She enjoyed the store’s large post-inauguration display of books about our new president.  Pointing to each book in turn, as only a five-year-old can do, she identified the person on the cover in a conflation of the names of the country and its new leader:  AmericObama.  AmericObama.  AmericObama.  AmericObama.  AmericObama.  And so on, until she was sure I was aware of the subject of every book on the rack.

A couple of days earlier, she had bought herself a fridge magnet with a photo of AmericObama and his family.  The cashier asked if she knew who was featured in the picture.  “The prime minister,” said Ella.  Not bad, especially given that even many grown-ups may find it challenging to identify the British prime minister.  (Quickly now, my fellow Americans — anyone coming to mind?)  No Gordon Brown fridge magnets on U.S. refrigerators, I’m afraid, though Queen Elizabeth has a better chance.  On the other hand, I’ve been visiting England regularly since the Reagan administration, and I don’t remember any Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, or Bush 2 fridge magnets in the kitchens of friends or relatives.  This is an unusual time for Americans, to have elected a president who is (at least temporarily) so admired in other countries.  Even Tony Blair, in a parting comment when he spoke at Tufts earlier this month, congratulated the U.S. on the events of January.

On Monday, Kate wandered into my office and found me slumped in my chair.  “I really want to post something to the blog, but I can’t think of a thing to say,” I whined.  Kate wisely suggested some timely news about the final deadlines, which also led me, yesterday, to think that an overview of the process could be useful.

Before Kate’s useful suggestion, the other idea tossed out was to find a way to link Sunday’s Grammy Awards to Fletcher Admissions.  There’s a challenge!  I suppose there’s the international origins of the musicians.  (“Good year for the Brits,” says my British-born husband.   “Jazmine Sullivan should have won!” says my dual citizen daughter.)  In particular, there’s MIA, with her Sri Lankan roots.  I’ve mentioned before in the blog that all of us in Admissions have a special interest in Sri Lanka, thanks to our beloved former student staffers.  (You’ll always be part of Team Admissions, Nirmalan and Sudila!!).  But that’s about the limit of my ability to connect award shows to our community.

This fall, Kristen met with a few new MIB students who were talking about the blog.  One said that he found it useful, but “sometimes it wasn’t about admissions.”  That’s true, past and current readers.  Sometimes there’s just nothing new to say.  This is the time of year when we just slog through our work.  Each morning I pull on presentable but comfortable office clothing, knowing that I will be glued to my applications/desk/computer all day.  Few meetings or anything else that would draw us out.  Just slog away.  Creativity?  Out the window.  All in the name of a good cause, though — getting decisions out on time!  And it’s not like there’s no joy in the process.

Despite the creativity freeze, part of the original motivation to start an admissions blog was the knowledge that the period between January 15 and April 1 is nerve-wracking for many applicants.  You want to start making your plans, but you don’t know what to plan for.  Where will you be going?  When will you need to be there?  We understand, and though we can’t work any faster than we already are, we’ll do our best to reassure you that we’re working hard!

Schedule note:  The University will be closed on Monday for the President’s Day holiday.  (Admissions Committee student and staff members will be reading applications anyway!)

We’re approaching the midway point in this year’s admissions season, and it seems like a good time to run though the process with you.

As you know, application forms come into our office through the on-line system.  For a few weeks, our back office was the site of piles of paper and mountains of mail.  Today, though, all I see are boxes and boxes of files.  Some applications haven’t yet been read, some have been read once, and others have been read twice.  Roxana has been uploading new applications that arrived before our late deadline, and there are others that have been in the office for a while and are nearly complete but, well, not complete yet.  We work with the applicants to complete them, which often means advising them to chase a missing transcript or set of test scores.

Once a file has been reviewed twice (usually by a student first, and a staff member second), it receives the appropriate amount of discussion by the full Admissions Committee, and then sits for a while in a new box.  Its new box location depends on the final decision we believe is likely for that application.  Over time, Laurie gives all the applications a last review, and notes the final decision.  Along the way, if it seems necessary, one of us may read an application just one more time.

By the end of the first week in March, we will be done reviewing nearly every application.  At that point, we do some clean up (making final decisions on a few stragglers), and turn our attention to scholarship awards.  Then, it’s on to the final processing, including preparing decision letters and admissions packets.  This is the point when we know applicants are on pins and needles waiting for us, but we won’t send out the decisions until we have made sure that everything is perfect.  It’s a tense couple of weeks — we want you to receive your decisions as soon as possible, but errors just aren’t acceptable to us.  So…we’ll all sweat it out a little.

Every day of the work week, at least one member of the staff is at home reading applications.  The student members of the Admissions Committee rush in and out grabbing and returning files.  Each week, we add a big pile of applications to the workload of the professors on our Committee.  Everything is moving right along.  When I look at what we need to do, I feel tempted to worry that we’ll never finish it.  But I’ve been through this before and, somehow, it always gets done.

A reminder for those of you looking at our “late” deadlines:  Application materials for the MALD and MA programs are due Tuesday, February 10 (with no scholarship consideration).  For the LLM program, materials are due March 1 (with no scholarship consideration).  And for the MIB program, materials are due on March 1(with limited scholarship consideration).

Please keep in mind that the turnaround on these late applications is very quick.  You should already have arranged for us to receive your transcripts and test scores, and you should make double sure that your recommenders have submitted their letters.