<p>My niece has applied ED to Vanderbilt. This past Friday she received a letter saying that they had never received her 3 essays. The essays were sent as an attachment with the rest of her application on 10/9. (She is not a procrastinator ;)) She called the "reader" for her area and faxed the essays to her and my brother also overnighted a copy. The reader assured my niece that this would not affect the application, but of course there is mild hysteria in my brother's household, notwithstanding my attempts to reassure them that it takes time for all the folders to be sorted, read, etc. Can you give me any words of wisdom to pass along?</p>
<p>In my experience/observation, the Vandy admissions dept. is very professional and well-run. The individual reps are bright and focused. If your niece spoke with the reader for her area, she can feel confident that her essays will be tracked down and treated appropriately. A suggestion: your niece might want to wait a day or two, then email the rep just to confirm that everything has been received. It wouldn't surprise me if the rep emailed your niece first. Good luck to her - Vandy is a wonderful university!</p>
<p>If your brother's family got reassurances directly from Vandy that there is no problem and they are still in a state of mild hysteria there is nothing you can do about it.</p>
<p>Like in any office, paper gets detached and misfiled. That is also why it is a good idea to have a header line on anything you generate. You may notice that forms a U sends you include a line for your name at the top of every loose page? There is a reason for it.</p>
<p>So yes, colleges know that "stuff happens". That's why she heard from them. If it were really critical, she would have gotten a call, so you know time pressure is not too bad (meaning the app will be read in early december, no doubt, if the essays are in by then.)</p>
<p>S's transfer app to Vandy had some mishaps as well. I can't remember just what. Due to mailing issues into and out of New Orleans while he was at Tulane. Vandy rep was wonderful, on the ball and just worked with us through the re-submittal process. He was accepted :). So maybe that will help your brother relax.</p>
<p>Thanks all, especially to frazzled1 and jmmom for relating personal stories of dealings with Vandy. I'll pass them along!</p>
<p>If they believe you, take a deep breath and don't worry. Even Regular Decision kids apps are not even looked at for a while after New Years and some of my S's references didn't bother sending the references in till January we could clearly see at one of his schools where his application status was all online..teachers sometimes asked for little "delay permissions"..which made our stomachs hurt but you are AOK. crossing fingers for you...</p>