<p>Hi-</p>
<p>Do admissions officers view applications electronically or on paper?</p>
<p>An admissions officer at Princeton told us in an info session not to think we were saving a tree. They print out the applications there to read them.</p>
<p>they print it off from online (if you submitted electronically) and read it on paper, along with your rec's</p>
<p>i would think on paper cause they'd need to pass around for others to see.</p>
<p>we print them out y'all...my eyes are falling out!!!! too many of you applying!</p>
<p>Last year at Michigan they printed out everything on paper (even electronic apps) but this year Michigan is paperless. Admissions counselors and readers view everything online.</p>
<p>haha AdOfficer... I'm sorry...
but if it helps any, we suffered just as much to put together that app... pouring our hearts and souls into it... so we hope they will be read with just as much care :)</p>
<p>AdOfficer: the price of poor eyesight is terrific students...chill!</p>
<p>The University of Chicago is reading everything on line this year. Check out their admissions blog for photos of them scanning the paper submissions.</p>
<p>So AdOfficer you raise an issue that concerns me. I can only imagine how exhausting it is to review tens of applications during a twelve hour day every day for two months. How is it possible to maintain focus when you are on your 25th application? Are there formula you use to review the applications? Are they already vetted by the time you get the file placing a numeric ranking of the applicant? If you work for a small competitive school are you given proposed guidelines as to how many of certain cohorts need to be found eg socio-economic, gender, authors, Nevadans etc? What can you tell us to illuminate the process without giving away by whom you work for? When you get to my kid's application go take a coffee break and come back rested and in a great mood.</p>
<p>Dana's Dad</p>
<p>How do we maintain focus? Starbucks. </p>
<p>Just kidding...well, not entirely. I will be honest with you all - it is hard. I'm not saying this to be a martyr (because I'm not), but it is very, very difficult this time of year. Your friends stop calling you, your boyfriend dumps you, and even your cat doesn't want to sit on your lap anymore :( . But enough about my life LOL. Basically, you become a hermit - you eat a lot of take out, drink a ton of coffee and tea, don't shave (I look like the yeti right now). BUT, in April when you get all the happy phone calls, it makes it all worth it. It's worth the 10 pounds we all gain (yeah, you've heard of the Freshman 15? We have the Reading Season 10). </p>
<p>My personal strategy to maintaining focus and giving every student a fair read is to first get out of the house. Being in a neutral environment/not my own helps me maintain my focus. Thus, all the Starbucks in my area know who I am by now (I just moved) and I've got a lot of other places staked out. I also have to vary the applications I read - I have a lot of <em>large</em> "school groups" (high schools where a lot of kids apply to my school from). While every student is read as an individual, we do compare students who apply from the same high schools. While I currently have 25 kids from Exeter in my room at the moment (I mean their files!), I can't read them all at the same time...I can do a couple, but then I throw in some kids from Chicago and some from Florida or California just to vary things - otherwise, things get monotonous (academically speaking). More coffee. Go to the gym for a few hours, and then back to reading. </p>
<p>At my school, the process is completely holistic...we do not have any cut-offs for anything, nor do we have any lists of "priorities" or "hooks" - in general, we know what the priorities of the institution are before we read our first file. I first look at a students academic profile - high school attended, gpa, sat/act scores, what classes were taken, grades, rank. I then look at ECs and read the essays; I read the recs and any other materials at the end. Usually, the academic part is the toughest - we often times have to read the profile of the high school to understand it better, then we have to dissect the transcript and decipher a lot of abbreviations, etc...,. A lot of times I will read a student's file and make an initial evaluation of them but them come back to it and do a final evaluation. </p>
<p>but dana's dad, you raise an interesting point...my mood can sometimes affect my read on a kid. i tend to be a very harsh reader in general - my dean and colleagues all tell me that, although when we get into committee, they all agree with my recommendations (they all seem to forget we can only admit 1 out of every 7 kids who applies!) - but if i'm in a bad mood, oy vey. if that happens though, i make sure the application gets at least one more read, just to be fair.</p>
<p>
<p>Just kidding...well, not entirely. I will be honest with you all - it is hard. I'm not saying this to be a martyr (because I'm not), but it is very, very difficult this time of year. Your friends stop calling you, your boyfriend dumps you, and even your cat doesn't want to sit on your lap anymore . But enough about my life LOL. Basically, you become a hermit - you eat a lot of take out, drink a ton of coffee and tea, don't shave (I look like the yeti right now). BUT, in April when you get all the happy phone calls, it makes it all worth it. It's worth the 10 pounds we all gain (yeah, you've heard of the Freshman 15? We have the Reading Season 10). </p>
<p>My personal strategy to maintaining focus and giving every student a fair read is to first get out of the house. Being in a neutral environment/not my own helps me maintain my focus. Thus, all the Starbucks in my area know who I am by now (I just moved) and I've got a lot of other places staked out. I also have to vary the applications I read - I have a lot of <em>large</em> "school groups" (high schools where a lot of kids apply to my school from). While every student is read as an individual, we do compare students who apply from the same high schools. While I currently have 25 kids from Exeter in my room at the moment (I mean their files!), I can't read them all at the same time...I can do a couple, but then I throw in some kids from Chicago and some from Florida or California just to vary things - otherwise, things get monotonous (academically speaking). More coffee. Go to the gym for a few hours, and then back to reading. </p>
<p>At my school, the process is completely holistic...we do not have any cut-offs for anything, nor do we have any lists of "priorities" or "hooks" - in general, we know what the priorities of the institution are before we read our first file. I first look at a students academic profile - high school attended, gpa, sat/act scores, what classes were taken, grades, rank. I then look at ECs and read the essays; I read the recs and any other materials at the end. Usually, the academic part is the toughest - we often times have to read the profile of the high school to understand it better, then we have to dissect the transcript and decipher a lot of abbreviations, etc...,. A lot of times I will read a student's file and make an initial evaluation of them but them come back to it and do a final evaluation. </p>
<p>but dana's dad, you raise an interesting point...my mood can sometimes affect my read on a kid. i tend to be a very harsh reader in general - my dean and colleagues all tell me that, although when we get into committee, they all agree with my recommendations (they all seem to forget we can only admit 1 out of every 7 kids who applies!) - but if i'm in a bad mood, oy vey. if that happens though, i make sure the application gets at least one more read, just to be fair.
</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for the long reply. </p>
<p><a href="they%20all%20seem%20to%20forget%20we%20can%20only%20admit%201%20out%20of%20every%207%20kids%20who%20applies!">quote</a>
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I salute you for having to make harsh decisions in your job</p>
<p>I'll never think the same way about my rejections again</p>
<p>AdOfficer, if you don't mind me asking, which college do you work for?</p>
<p>AdOfficer, I hope you don't reveal the school you work for because then the cc memmbers who applied there will hound you!</p>
<p>ah, ok..that's fine with me if you don't feel comfortable.</p>
<p>I think poor adofficer must be very sleepy during the day! He seems to be nocturnal...LOL. Don't try and 'out' adofficer - he contributes many worthwhile posts to CC, and knowing the identity of his school would ruin that!</p>
<p>I'll add my two cents, too, I suppose, for what it's worth... and by virtue of my login ID, I guess I can't escape queries from those who have applied to my institution...</p>
<p>We print off every application that we receive online, and I would prefer it this way--as many paper cuts as I earn, and calluses I build on my fingers, I imagine the eyestrain would be as if not more painful were I to squint at a computer screen for the reading of applications. Tons of paperwork, yes, and I recognize the hypocrisy of a school that claims to be very "green" and environmentally conscious, to generate such a volume of paper (we recycle, honest!). But this is the way we've chosen to work, and it seems to run relatively smoothly.</p>
<p>As for how we maintain our focus and sanity.... a colleague and I made three separate Starbucks runs into town this week, and another to Dairy Queen. I may not be known by name at either place, but I'm pretty sure the two of us are recognized by a few employees. Also, I try to take time to get around to other parts of campus when I can-- eat lunch in the dining hall, or go to the musical put on by our students ("The Fantasticks" is playing this weekend), or the hockey/basketball home games on the weekend. This breaks up the day nicely, and also affords me a chance to connect with my school in other ways; sometimes I even recognize and chat with students I know via my work in admission, and I have to say, I do feel rejuvenated after these "breaks". </p>
<p>That we are human, and subject to our own emotions, fatigue, and quirks--and inherent biases and opinions--is considered, I hope, with the knowledge that we're professionals, and we try to be fair with our assessments. Also, applications here are read at least three times, if not more, and often by very different people; this helps ensure (I hope) that a student gets a fair shake during this process, in the chance that one of us was having a bad day, or this was the last of 32 files read in an afternoon, or whatever. Again, this seems to work for us, somewhat smoothly. </p>
<p>I will say this, though: Remember the little things in your applications, and how they might affect our "moods"--nevermind how they make you look, when all we have to judge your accomplishments is on paper: when it appears that you've hastily scribbled or cobbled together your application/"Part 1"; if you haven't proofread your essays and there are glaring grammatical errors (especially if the errors change the message/intent of a phrase, eg. "A part of" vs. "Apart of"); if there are multiple pieces of information that now, seven weeks into our process, are still missing, and you've had the ability (and responsibility) to check the status of your application online.... none of these (or other "micro-annoyances") might seem significant alone, but when hundreds--or thousands, at a large university--come down the pipe, it certainly doesn't help. </p>
<p>On the other end, please don't send gifts, even cookies. Admittedly, we don't get 'em very often, but every great once in a while.... and it doesn't affect students' candidacy in any way--in fact, it creates an awkward situation, really. We have enough food (both healthy and junk) squirreled away in our offices anyway. The local Girl Scout troop makes a <em>killing</em> here. :) </p>
<p>Hope something in the above effectively addresses the discussion....</p>
<p>Since at least two AdCom reps are present, I want to ask the following:
With experience do you feel that you can review the apps faster and form a more definite impression in a shorter time than when you just got into this position? After the decisions are handed out, do you follow the progress of students you rooted for (that is, if they matriculate or not, or if they show the expected performance - academics & ECs - once matriculated, etc.)? Do you get such feedback in the following years so that you can hone your skills in recognizing the value in applications?</p>
<p>Those were two fantastic thought-provoking replies for which I thank the two of you. I also appreciated the honesty in the responses. I wonder if the applications from students at the nation's top- flight private schools seem more polished by dint of the professional guidance staff that have created "relationships" with some highly ranked universities and colleges versus kids from public schools. To be able to mine the differences among thousands of similar applications takes monumental effort. I still would love to be given high security clearance to sit in on the final round where the thumbs up or down is given to really know the basis of the process. This is especially true of the smaller colleges and universities where a class is molded to pre-conceived models.</p>
<p>Thanks again for your posts. We parents of the high school seniors await your decisions with almost as much excitement as our kids.</p>
<p>Dana's Dad</p>
<p>Perhaps you get to know where to look for certain pieces of information on a transcript, or in an application, after you do it a few hundred times, nevermind a few thousand. Keep in mind, though, that there are many times more secondary schools out there that many of us are unfamiliar with, and legions of students who do things I've never heard of (my newfound knowledge of "parkour", for instance, is thanks to an applicant from Atlanta). As long as you have feedback from colleagues (eg. committee), and you can determine that you're doing it "right", I suppose it's safe to say that you get quicker (if not better) the more you do, the longer you do it. An old basketball coach used to sum it up this way: "Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes <em>permanent</em>." I'd like to think our practice, however imperfect, is at least sound and as fair as possible. </p>
<p>I think, also, that new staff members (especially recent alums) can and often do bring new perspectives to this whole process, and beyond being refreshing, they can point out -isms that could be tweaked, processes to be changed. As much as I'm a creature of habit, I'm always open to building a better admissions-trap.... </p>
<p>And I do try to follow the paths of memorable students through this process, and beyond, even if it doesn't sometimes continue at Colby. In fact, this came up yesterday with a current senior, who mentioned one of her friends who helps our admission efforts from time to time-- the latter's brother was not admitted recently and <em>loves</em> his time at another institution, as does the younger brother of another student here who we were not able to accept the year before. I was both disappointed that neither sibling ended up here, but relieved that they were (as many of us trust) thoroughly involved and happy at another college. In fact, some of my favorite applicants, whose candidacies I went to the wall to defend, were not accepted or did not enroll. That's just the way things are, especially when students apply to more schools now than ever. (I'll let that discussion alone, more than enough people have commented already). On my relatively-small campus, for those who did end up here, it's not uncommon to recognize a student as someone I interviewed, or whose candidacy one of my colleagues championed, walking near the library, or eating lunch, or on stage with an a cappella ensemble. </p>
<p>I will say that few students make their way back to our office after enrollment, either to work for us or serve as tour guides, etc. It's a reflection, perhaps, of the demands on students' time and attention nowadays, which seems much more crushing than it ever was when I was a college student. Marilee Jones, Dean of undergraduate admission at MIT, has interesting thoughts on this and related subjects, which I think you can find on that institution's website. Besides, if we're as active and vibrant a community as we admission folk claim, it's not surprising that students <em>are</em> as busy as they seem to be, and thus don't have time to remember us or visit. It's all part of the process.</p>
<p>Interesting discussions on this thread.... Please forgive me, however, as I go "dark" for a time, as there are files to be read.... and an important women's hockey game to attend. -the goalie for our team, by the way, <em>does</em> work for us, and she's wonderful; a colleague wrote a blog about her, which can be found on our admission homepage.....</p>