Doing the prep work

Even while Committees are still meeting and final applications are being read, we’re laying the necessary back-office groundwork.  We started by testing applicants’ email addresses.  If your application to Fletcher was complete as of yesterday (February 29), you should have received an email message from the Fletcher Admissions address.  Messages that bounced back told us that the applicant either discontinued use of the original email address or, perhaps, entered it incorrectly on the application form.  But if your application is complete, and you didn’t receive the email, please check your spam folder (and the settings for your spam filter).  If you think there was a problem with your email address, contact us as soon as possible.

The second purpose of yesterday’s email was to tell applicants that decisions will be released by close of business on Monday, March 19.  (We’ll do our best to release decisions for late deadline (March 1) applications, but we can’t guarantee the quick turn-around.)  We hope that being a little more forthcoming than in the past about our decision release schedule will ease some nerves.

I also want to tell blog readers about a change to our procedure that we hope will play out in a positive way.  This year, the email you receive by COB March 19 will provide your decision.  Admitted applicants will still need to log on to GAMS for the details, but applicants who have not been admitted will learn their decision by email.

We know that we may hear a few complaints that email is a harsh medium for providing bad news, but we believe it’s better than our previous procedure, which required the applicant to go to GAMS for the decision.  The result was that the system got jammed up, and some applicants were spending an hour trying to access GAMS, only to learn they were not granted admission.  Seeking to prevent the irritation applicants felt last year, we’re trying something new, and we hope that even applicants who are disappointed with their decision will be happy to avoid the hassle of dealing with a balky system.

So there it is.  We have just over two weeks to get everything together and out the door.  Next week, I’m going to describe the different decision options — more groundwork to help the decision phase go smoothly.