<p>March 1st has come and gone, and as February departs it does more than just break</a> Playstation 3 consoles for a day. The flipping of the calendar page from Dumbledore</a> back to Harry signals warming temperatures the the final month before decisions come out. It has the potential to be a month of great stress for applicants and admissions officers alike. </p>
<p>For me, and the other admissions officers, the stress comes from the encroaching deadline. We must finish reading all our files, head to committee, and make decisions that will define our community for the next four years. Often, these are exciting decisions, as applicants we've loved since December finally and officially become admits. Occasionally, these are difficult decisions, as applicants we've loved since December don't make the class. It's hard work; we spend weeks essentially locked up with our coworkers for far more than 40 hours a week. True, committee is often fraught with clashes and disagreement, but it's immensely rewarding. </p>
<p>For you, the stress comes from the encroaching deadline as well. This process, which some of you began more than a year ago (my god!), will come to an end. Admissions offices will release their decisions without an explanation one way or the other. These boards especially will get jumpy with (likely) dozens of posts speculating about when, exactly, to the minute, decisions will be released. I understand your anticipation. But, in the end, you'll be faced with the choice of where you will happily call your home for the next 4 years of your life. Maybe longer; hell, I'm <em>still</em> at Tufts after 8. </p>
<p>With committee about to kick into high gear, my availability will wax and wane on these boards during March, but I wanted to pause and thank the CC community for another year of healthy conversation. The Tufts boards are a bastion of informed folk who work hard to sift through the tremendous volume of BS that floats out there. Much like committee, we don't always agree, but it's a real delight being a part of that. And should you need a space to ask a random question or vent about the frustrations of college admissions (or even specifically Tufts), feel free to let loose in the space below.</p>
<p>For most ‘Legacy’ students, the role of having a Tufts parent tends to be an informal one in our admissions process. Those applicants tend to know Tufts better as well as feel connected to the university; they understand campus culture as well as the values of the school and that understanding has a way of coming through in the course of an application. </p>
<p>Anytime a student has a strong understanding of Tufts, I think it’s to their benefit in their application. As those of you who have visited (hopefully) know, we’re a distinctive place; our admissions process works to keep Tufts distinctive and keep the student body focused on the cultural and educational values that Tufts prides.</p>
<p>Thanks DanAdmiss. Your helpful posts and common sense are greatly appreciated during this stressful time, and it’s obviously stressful for everyone involved. Take your vitamins!</p>
<p>For the decision release, will Tufts post it online, or will we only get postal mails? I’m an international applicant, so I tend to prefer online posts, since it’s much faster.</p>
<p>Your admissions people led my daughter to believe, admitted for ED1, that the April 1st Open house was really for the RD admits so that they could make a final decision about acceptances upon visiting/revisiting Tufts. I hope that that is true and that my daughter will not be missing out on anything essential. She is doing a Gap year, anyway, and will be joining the class of 2015, so is it problematic not to attend the April Open House? She would be flying in from a distance to do so, as well.</p>
<p>Please let us know if you know the foregoing to be inaccurate. Thank you!</p>
<p>What you heard was correct. There are ED students who will make the trek to campus to participate, and we would certainly never turn them away, but the program is designed for those with a decision still ahead of them.</p>
<p>Dan, how would one go about requesting a student to room with in April if one can’t make it to the Accepted Student program? What kind of lead time is needed? Thanks!!</p>
<p>To our applicants (particularly the lucky few from my own territories in Maryland, New Jersey, Idaho, Montana, and Asia), I want to say thanks. </p>
<p>As we roll through committee and I have the opportunity to advocate for the applicants I’ve gotten to know (albeit through paper) over the last several months; it’s been a blast. I love that moment when I’m presenting and I can recall a Common App essay and what it said, or a supplemental essay and what it meant. Many times, I’ve had that flash midway through my presentation and gotten so excited to remember that I stop to gush about the nuance of an idea. These are regular applicants - smart, good, clever people - who take tired ideas and find new ways to approach them and inspire me in the process. </p>
<p>I’ve become a better writer, and a better thinker, because of how you push me. </p>
<p>Dan, when we visited Tufts I fell in love with your school, of all the schools we visited, and we saw alot Tufts was in my top 2. S liked it enormously as well He did not apply to the other school, too remote. We are waiting hopefully and anxiously for admissions decisions! My S is in your territory. Here’s to hoping he inspired you!</p>