<p>I'm guessing that few RD applicants are concerned about this now, but I'm wondering what the EA applicant experience has been.</p>
<p>Of all the schools my son has applied to, Stanford has the least "user-friendly" status check & update. You enter the email address, they send you an email response with an update. Ok, but I'd expect a top tier school with a reputation for technology to do a whole lot better.</p>
<p>Then there's what they say. I'm a bit astounded to see this:
IMPORTANT: If you are checking your application status before January 1, you may
see required items that you have sent listed as "Not Yet Processed." This is
normal because we are processing Early Application materials. We recommend
returning to <a href="https://axess.stanford.edu%5B/url%5D">https://axess.stanford.edu</a> after January 1 to check your
application status again.</p>
<p>And there's a lot of "don't bother us, we're not going to respond" stuff as well.</p>
<p>So if your app is incomplete, you don't get to find out until later, and then you scramble to send in missing docs (by fax only!). What if the missing doc is your SAT scores or your HS transcript, because they lost it? Too bad?</p>
<p>I hope I'm misreading all this, I'd sure expected a lot better from Stanford.</p>
<p>I'd be delighted to hear from others, saying "don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks".</p>
<p>If it is regular, they don’t actually care to respond to queries at this point because they truly don’t care about it until after they release the SCEA results. Most colleges are receiving app paperwork until January 25th or so for regular. So in a lot of cases, they start evaluating the apps once they start having the full file after the beginning of the year. If the file is not complete, then it is upto you to ensure it is complete.</p>
<p>My kid had a problem only with Yale. They would not provide any status until around 15th or so and at that point we found out one of the mailed recs had not reached. If they kept it available through out the process, we could have followed it up earlier.</p>
<p>RD application. Yes it’s early – it should be encouraged IMO. Other schools have no trouble saying “we have everything, you’re done, now wait until Apr”. </p>
<p>The candidate is of course responsible for making sure everything is in, but if there isn’t a way to get confirmation from Stanford that it’s all in their hands, there’s no way to detect any glitches until very late in the process.</p>
<p>Your Yale experience is exactly what everyone wants to avoid!</p>
<p>Well I applied Early… Before the deadline and some of my materials were still shown as incomplete because apparently it takes 2 weeks to process applications in the first place. It seems to me, instead of sending an email showing I have missing credentials, they should say my app hasn’t been sent through the system… I guess not.</p>
<p>There are some schools that don’t accept the commonapp until the supplement is complete. My kid filed several of them in the very last minute (December 31st?). I forget whether Stanford was one of those schools but Yale was one. Most opened up a logon once the filing was complete and started displaying a status. By about 7th or 8th most applications were shown as complete without any issues. We could see the status changing on a daily basis while additional materials were being uploaded starting on 1st or whenever they gave a logon. The main problem is that without the actual app, they have no way to match the materials they have already received by mail.</p>
<p>Yale said due to overwhelming number of documents in the system, people can’t see a status until 15th or so (might have been even later) and when they finally provided access, the rec was missing. If the access was available right away, the missing paperwork could have been resent. </p>
<p>I do agree getting things done early and getting that access before the onrush of applications is a good thing. Harvard for example accepted the commonapp on October 31st even though it was regular without the supplement, they opened a file and triggered an interview in late November/early december while the early interviews were still happening.</p>
<p>I think that it’s reasonable for a school to say it will take them a couple of weeks to get everything verified (these days just about everything is online, so there’s no data entry going on).</p>
<p>I don’t buy the argument about not being able to file something properly because it arrived before the application: this is not a new thing, it’s been happening for a long time, and is quite normal. For instance, SAT scores, transcripts, and recommendations often arrive before the applications do. And it’s a lot easier now because of online submissions and computer databases.</p>
<p>It’s interesting that every other school my son applied to was able to confirm completeness within about 3 working days. Some were especially courteous.</p>
<p>Not Stanford. Their messages seem to have been composed by someone trained at the IRS to communicate with delinquent taxpayers. :-)</p>
<p>Funny thought: a business selling a $250k product wouldn’t behave this way. Even Ferrari has competition.</p>
<p>If you have specific concerns or questions, try picking up the phone. I’ve called Admissions twice in the past week with specific questions about the International School supplement. I know they’re busy, so I expected to wait on hold forever. Not only did they pick up on the first ring, they patiently & courteously answered my questions, and made sure everything was clear before hanging up (“Is there anything else I can help you with?”). Very friendly & helpful, and didn’t seem the least put out by the call.</p>
<p>@texaspg: The “one less won’t hurt them attitude” from a school is the one I find offensive. You seem to find it appropriate, so we’ll just disagree. From a student’s perspective, there are (let’s say) about 30-40 schools that are roughly comparable, so Stanford isn’t by any means essential to his/her life either. It’s either a win-win, or it’s not a good fit.</p>
<p>@KSAMom: That’s good to hear, that they were helpful & responsive on the phone. (You could have left off the unnecessarily provocative “try picking up the phone”.)</p>
<p>^That attitude is texas’, not necessarily Stanford’s. I’ve visited all the Ivies, Stanford, and a number of other elite schools (eg. top LAC’s) with my children. Having visited each school 2-4 times, I can honestly say Stanford ranked at the top for friendliness of the students and staff. (Colgate’s admissions office was the best, though.) I never saw so many happy people in one place as at Stanford. </p>
<p>While your complaint sounds legitimate, please don’t let it affect your attitude toward the school. For one thing, Stanford works on a quarter system. Their academic year starts quite a bit later than most other schools (I think classes started Sept. 24 this year), so it’s possible their admissions calendar is right on time from their perspective, but a little slow from yours.</p>
<p>I take it back. I don’t think that Stanford really intends to express arrogance or unfriendliness, any more than other peer schools do, although they all get many more highly qualified applicants than they can admit. As I said in the original post, it’s just that they come across in a way that compares poorly with the communications from other schools.</p>
<p>Also, I know that some folks are quite passionate about Stanford, I don’t mean to offend anyone. I think it’s a great school too, just not the only one. (We’re perhaps spoiled, we’re within 250 miles of many top tier schools, large and small.)</p>
<p>Take this merely as some grumping about an aspect that I personally find a bit disappointing (and therefore annoying).</p>
<p>This is a CC forum and any opinions expressed are people’s own and nothing to do with a college unless it is a college rep answering questions. I have a kid at Stanford but that does not make me their rep.</p>
<p>At a 6+% admit rate, thumbing your nose at a college for not being responsive is irrelevant. There are enough great kids out there and so one less applicant won’t matter if they are put off by the college’s attitude. It is upto the applicant to decide whether they want to apply to a college despite what they perceive as issues with a college and if they are put off from applying, I don’t see it as a big deal. I think too many people applying makes the selection process much harder and eliminates some great kids from getting in who might otherwise be a better fit.</p>
<p>I am not at all offended, exstudent. We had some experiences at other schools which irritated us too. However, there are plenty of students at those very schools who are super happy there and who are getting a fantastic education. See the tour guide thread for a comparable discussion of this sort of situation. Personally, I was turned off to some tip top schools because of their tours and/or info. sessions. If we uncovered additional reasons not to like them (and in several cases we did), then they were taken off the list. But if we had cut off every school for just one annoying thing we noticed, there’d have been none left. And if any had survived the first round, once the student started attending, I’m sure we’d have found a few things to tick us off.</p>
<p>With respect, not only are there not “30–40” schools that are “roughly comparable” to Stanford, but there really are none. Only Stanford offers <em>all</em> of these: absolutely top-notch academics across the entire spectrum of studies, great year-round weather, ultra-dynamic/future-oriented focus, 18 consecutive years (and counting) of Director’s Cup–winning Div I athletics, and location in one of the most thriving, opportunity-filled areas of the country. There are obviously lots of great colleges in the US, but only one Stanford. : )</p>
<p>The only thing I wish were different with respect to application status is that it would be really nice if Stanford would formally acknowledge receipt of the completed Arts Supplement package. Kids put a lot of work into preparing and shipping the materials, but there’s no way to verify that they are received.</p>
<p>Also, S sent some late test scores to several schools (including Oxford, which is also slightly selective ;)), and Stanford was the only one that didn’t formally note that they were added to his file.</p>
<p>That said, we were put off by Admissions at D’s selective school, and she is VERY happy there so I know Stanford will be amazing for those lucky few who pass the gatekeepers.</p>
<p>@exstudent: Sorry, it wasn’t meant to be provocative… Reading my post again I can see how it would come across that way, though.</p>
<p>Calling on the phone was something that I hesitated about, with this inner argument: “Will I annoy them? The email said to be patient, the email said to check the FAQ on the website… They’re really busy at this time of year… Is this a stupid question? Will I have to wait on hold forever? (calling from overseas…) etc.” At the end of the day, I decided: Our question is specific to the International School Supplement and not addressed in the FAQ, so what the heck, they’re not likely to hold it against my daughter if I act like the annoying parent just this once. So I was pleasantly surprised (and relieved) that they were so friendly when I called. So in case anyone else is in that same dilemma (wondering - should I call or not?), I share my experience.</p>