What happens to the app after it arrives at the college?

Applying to College
1

<p>Does anyone know the step-by-step process once an application is received by a college?</p>

<p>I am assuming the first step is to assemble all pertinent materials--letters of rec, test scores, essay, etc--and put them into a single file folder, one for each student. </p>

<p>What happens next? Does the AdCom meet and go over a slew of folders? Do they separate the yes, no, and maybe folders? Or is there an initial screening person who weeds out the definite no applicants even before they hit the AdCom? Or do the folders, once put together by a flunkey/clerk, go directly to the Dean of Enrollment for a signature BEFORE they go to the AdCom for sorting into yes, no, and maybe piles? Or do the folders go to the Dean of Enrollment AFTER the AdCom has approved an applicant? Do the no folders even make it to the Dean of Enrollment? </p>

<p>The reason I ask is that I received a call from the Asst Dean of Enrollment asking for a particular document: an official, sealed transcript from a high school I attended when I was a freshman [The high school sent the college an UNofficial transcript]. The Asst Dean said he needed this document to "complete the file before it goes up to the Dean of Enrollment." </p>

<p>I applied to a school back in Thanksgiving and I was notified by the Admissions Officer in mid-January that my application had been turned over to an Admissions Officer. Then came the call from the Asst Dean of Enrollment a week ago, asking for this document.</p>

<p>Basically, I am trying to figure out if this means my application was already reviewed or not. Do outright rejections take this long, and would the Asst Dean go through the bother of making a 'phone call to obtain an official transcript if the unofficial one showed I was an academic loser? If it goes to the Dean AFTER being reviewed by an AdCom, then I will know it has been looked at. If it goes to the Dean for a signature/review BEFORE going to the AdCom, then I'm stuck, I have to make a decision on a 2nd school (not my choice) by March 1.</p>

2

<p>I depends on where you applied. At large mildly selective universities, adcoms are assigned files, and they review it and admit/reject people on their own (maybe a quota/cap, no one is for sure but the individual colleges).</p>

<p>At selective LAC’s (I don’t know about highly selective universities with many apps), they assemble the file, and have a conference meetings, spending a little time on an applicant before admitting them or rejecting them, reviewing the file holistically as a team. (</p>

<p>There was a NYT video about this very recently.</p>

3

<p>To complement wilmiester, here’s the video: [Snapshot</a> of One College’s Admissions Process - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/today-grinnell/]Snapshot”>Snapshot of One College's Admissions Process - The New York Times)</p>

4

<p>Let me re-phrase the question: When in the process does the application folder hit the actual Dean of Enrollment’s desk, awaiting his/her signature?</p>

5

<p>This is kind of an old article from 1999 about the admissions process at the University of Chicago. It’s worth a read and should give you a good idea what goes on, at least at UChicago.</p>

<p>[Inside</a> The Admissions Game - Newsweek](<a href=“http://www.newsweek.com/1999/04/04/inside-the-admissions-game.html]Inside”>Inside The Admissions Game)</p>

6

<p>Here’s a news article from 2004 describing admission process for Florida state universities; things probably operate pretty much the same today, but with more automation and more competition for fewer seats with higher selectivity criteria.</p>

<p>[State:</a> Admit, deny, done.](<a href=“http://www.sptimes.com/2004/02/08/State/Admit__deny__done.shtml]State:”>http://www.sptimes.com/2004/02/08/State/Admit__deny__done.shtml)</p>