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Currently viewing the tag: "deadlines"
My son Josh, to whose college application process I occasionally referred last year, is home from school. It’s great to have him around, and it’s also great to see his friends, who tend to show up whenever he’s in the house. There were fourteen 18-year-old boys hanging around my living room on Saturday, playing poker and video games, eating pizza, and generally enjoying their reunion.
I had a chance to ask a number of the boys how they enjoyed their first semester of college, and the early reviews are pretty positive. But nearly all of them described a challenge they faced — first-year chemistry; a busy class schedule; keeping up with reading throughout the semester, rather than just before exams; dormitory living; uninspiring teachers for entry-level courses; etc. Clearly, they’re all hoping that the fall was their stepping stone to greater success in the later years of their education.
And how about you, blog reader? Do you cringe just a bit when you look at the grades from your first semester or two? Depending on how much you cringe, you may want to provide a little explanation in your application. A sentence or two (no whining, please!) in the “additional information” section of the application (not in one of the required essays) could be just what you need. Acknowledge your challenge, and, if possible, point us toward information that redirects our focus away from the lower grades. For example: “Although I did not do well in calculus in my first semester at XYZ University, I would like to point to the A’s I received in micro and macro economics, as well as the strong score I received on the quantitative portion of the GRE.” Or: “I found the transition to university life to be difficult and my first-year grades were disappointing to me. I hope the Committee on Admissions will note the strong grades I received in my last three years of study.”
With two simple sentences, you help the Committee to understand a shortcoming in your application, and move on. Sometimes I have the feeling that the applicant is thinking, “If I just bury my head in the sand, no one will notice that I have a low GPA.” Sorry…we notice. That’s our job. So help us out, and don’t make us guess what was going on.
Schedule notes: PhD applications are due January 1. The regular deadline for all other programs is January 15. Please note that the University (including our office) will be closed on December 24, December 25, December 26, January 1, and January 2.
I know I said this last year, but I’m going to say it again for this year’s applicants: you don’t need to wait until the application deadline to submit your materials. The deadline, after all, refers to the final date on which you can submit your application. Waiting until the last minute means that any problems you encounter may not be solvable in time.
I certainly encourage you to take the time you need to write your essays, but I suggest that you aim to press the submit button a reasonable period in front of the deadline. And, you should already have nagged your recommenders, taken your standardized tests, etc.
The first of the upcoming deadlines is January 1 for PhD applicants. If you’re one of these prospective students, you should also take into consideration the time it will take for your thesis to reach us by mail. Please don’t hold those supporting materials until the last minute — you’ll want to give us the time we need to review your application carefully.
Everyone else has at least until January 15 but, as I’ll say each year, don’t wait until the last minute!
I want to put in a quick plug for getting work done ahead of a deadline. On January 15, Roxana will turn on the computer and dump hundreds of applications into the printer queue. Hours (or even days) later, with the help of many admissions elves, we will have complete files for those applicants whose test scores and transcripts have already arrived.
But when we write that the deadline for applications to enroll at Fletcher in September 2008 is January 15, we don’t mean that you need to wait until that day to send the application. In fact, you can send it today! Or tomorrow. Or whenever it’s ready before January 15.
You may ask, “If the deadline isn’t until January 15, why would I send my application early?” That’s a valid question. And the answer is that submitting your part of the application enables you to identify problems, should there be any. Once you submit the application, you can track your on-line recommendations through Embark. Once all the on-line recommendations are in place, we’ll upload and print your application, and compile the file, along with test scores and paper recommendations. Then you’ll be able to follow the progress through a Tufts account. (Keep track of all your passwords.)
Should there be a problem, you’ll be able to solve it before the actual deadline. Won’t that peace of mind make it worth a little extra pressure to complete the application a few weeks early?
I’m going to be out of the office for most of next week, so I thought I’d better post some more Admissions Tips for those of you currently planning applications to meet our October 15 (January enrollment) or November 15 (Early Notification for September enrollment) deadlines.
The first tip for today is: Be aware of the application deadlines! It’s your responsibility to meet the deadlines, and you should not expect deadline extensions. Of course, if there’s a problem with the reporting of your test scores, you should let us know. We will work with you under those circumstances. Similarly, it’s your job to pester your recommenders so that they will meet the deadline, but we know that sometimes they don’t. We’ll accommodate you as best we’re able, but eventually we need to make a decision!
And speaking of recommendations, the second tip for today is: Remember that all recommendations need to be in English! You’re really gambling if you take a chance that a member of the Admissions Committee will understand the particular language in which the recommendation is written.
I hope blog readers find these tips useful. Remember that each time Committee members read applications, we’re taking on a tall stack! You do yourself a favor when you make sure that all information is in the format we expect.
A special note to New Yorkers – I’ll be at the APSIA fair next Wednesday. Hope to see you there!
