What's keeping us busy.

Last week flew by in a blur.  I had meant to write at least one more blog post, but that never happened.  To catch up, the first order of business is to fill you in on what’s been going on here in Admissions.

We’re about midway through the long void of silence, that period between when most applicants submit their applications and when we finally release most decisions.  We still have applications at just about every stage of review.

◊ Last week, we received applications for our February 10 “late” deadline, and we’re pulling together those files.  (We have also been discussing the meaning of “late deadline.”  Is the application late?  Or did it come in before the deadline?  I think we’ll have new terminology in place by next year.)

◊ We have applications that arrived by January 15, but are still missing a piece.  It’s almost always the recommendations that arrive last. We’ll hold off to the absolute last minute, because we don’t like to read incomplete files, but ultimately we need to review them with the recommendations that are in place.

◊ On Friday, we sent the students on the Admissions Committee home with about 30 files each, and staff members also each took a batch.  Our boxes of files ready for student or staff readers are nearly empty!  So the reading process will be slowing to a trickle very soon.

◊ The PhD Admissions Committee is now reviewing all of the complete applications and will be making their decisions in the next few weeks.  (A lot of eyes look at PhD applications!)

◊ I think that we’ll be done with nearly all the reading in about two weeks.  Then the next phase will begin — making sure the right applicants are headed in the “admit” direction.

As ever, we can assure you that you’ll have your decision in hand before the end of March.  The exact date is still to be determined.  Still, I hope it’s helpful to know that we’re moving the process along!