Meet Your Admissions Counselor IV: Sarah Godwin

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Name: Sarah Godwin

Meet Admissions Counselor: Sarah Godwin

Region: Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York (Long Island), North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin

Educational Background: University of Vermont,  B.A., political science, The George Washington University,  M.A., Education and Human Development (higher ed. Leadership program)

JHU Start Date: 8/12/2008

Years in Admissions: This is my 8^th admissions cycle :)

Why did you choose to go into college admissions?
Once upon a time in a land far away, in a millennium that has passed, I wanted to be a lawyer.   I ended up working as a legal assistant and toiled in a gray cube.  I found the work just about as interesting as my gray cube.   When I was 23 – I switched to something that better fit my personality and who I am as a person.  Talking to students and their families and reading fascinating applications from all over the world is far more appealing to me than writing a legal contract.

What do you like best about working in admissions at Johns Hopkins University?
I manage a volunteer group, Engineering Ambassadors.  They give engineering tours, speak to prospective students, and staff our “lunch with an engineer” program.  It is great to know a group of such smart, interesting,  and funny engineering students.   It’s a huge perk.

What is your ideal set-up for reading applications?
While I don’t feel comfortable submitting a picture of the inside of my apartment – (hello creepy!) here is a picture of my view that I see from my desk at home.  Okay, so the double rainbow isn’t there every day – but on New Year’s day 2012, I looked up from reading files (yes, admissions officers read on holidays) and saw this amazing rainbow!  Even without the rainbow, it’s still a great view.  This view is from downtown, facing north towards Hopkins, I can see the Spring Fair fireworks at Hopkins from here.

What do you do when you need a break from application reading?
Either go for a walk, do some jumping jacks, do dishes, anything that will have me doing something totally different (i.e. nothing on the computer or anything that I have to read).

What is one of the quirkiest things an applicant ever did with their application?
I read an essay this week of a student who did his student government speech in the form of a rap song – he was nervous – but it worked! The school loved it and he is now president of the student body at his high school.

What makes an application essay really stand out for you?
When it is something only you could have written about. For example, being on a soccer team is a fairly common experience that many people can write about,  but growing your own organic garden or telling me about your elaborate take-out menu collection and how it defines who you are, well that is an “only you could write that” kind of essay.

What is the funniest thing you’ve overheard or seen while at Johns Hopkins?
In 2010, the entire Johns Hopkins campus played a joke on the world.  Our communications office issued a press release announcing we had officially dropped the “S” in Johns, and from here on out would be known as The John Hopkins University.  There was a quote from the president of JHU, staff, students, etc. as to why.  We made the evening news with Tom Brokaw and many people believed this, but quickly realized it was April 1^st.  HA HA! We love Uncle Johns way too much to ever drop that “S”.If you could take a class at Hopkins, which one and why?

If you could take a class at Hopkins, which one and why?
I really want to take one of the B’more intersession classes.  This year there are fourteen different courses, each allowing you to explore various aspects of Baltimore in depth.  Here are the top 2 I’d take:  History – Blue Collar Baltimore,   and/or Public Health – B’more Vaccines and Child Health .

What is your favorite place on the Homewood campus?
I know I’m incredibly biased, but Mason Hall. For 2 main reasons – first, if you’ve visited us on campus, you may have noticed it is one of the newer buildings on campus and it is beautiful.  The 2^nd (and more important) is that the people in this building are amazing; my fellow admissions counselors, our PR staff, our student volunteers, etc.  everyone (including our visitors!) makes this a great building to be in.

If you could teach an Intersession class, what would be the class name and description?
Impress your roommates: Easy cooking for the true beginner.  This is/was me!  2 years ago I decided I wanted to teach myself how to cook, and I did!  Well, to be honest I’m still a work in progress but I’ve perfected a few things I could probably teach.   We’d learn how to roast a chicken, make beef burgundy, a vegetable frittata and an apple tart.  Thankfully intersession is only a few weeks because I would run out of things I knew how to make if it were much longer.

What is the craziest question you’ve ever been asked while recruiting for Johns Hopkins?
Do you have pre-med?  Asked every day, multiple times.

If you could be a student at Hopkins for a day, what would you look forward to most?
Getting  juice from the fresh squeezed O.J. machine in the Fresh Food Café.

If you could join any Hopkins club or organizations, which one would you join?
One of our several female a capella groups.  What? You have to actually be able to sing? I thought this was a hypothetical question.

What song or book or movie makes you think of your college days and why?
Titanic – it came out when I was in college and my friends and I all saw it together and when it finally came out on VHS (it’s a tape that you use in a…nevermind) we watched and quoted it non-stop.  And to think, that was just the beginning of block busters for Leo!

If a movie was made about your life, who would play your part and why?
This one stumped me as I’m not great at remembering names and faces of celebrities.  Luckily, Admissions_Daniel knows everything about movies and said Nicole Kidman. Why? Because Admissions_Daniels said so!

Want to know even more about Sarah Godwin? Re-visit some of her past Admissions Staff Profiles:
February 6, 2009, February 24, 2010.

Meet Your Admissions Counselor III: Sherryl Fletcher

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Name: Sherryl A. Fletcher

Region:Illinois, Michigan and Ohio

Meet Admissions Counselor: Sherryl Fletcher

Educational Background:  MA The University of Michigan, BA Albion College

JHU Start Date: 1996

Years in Admissions: 29 years, 14 at the University of Michigan’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions and 15 at Johns Hopkins University’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions

Why did you choose to go into college admissions?
I was a tour guide as an undergraduate student for the President’s Office and for special campus visitors for the Bonta Office of Admissions and really enjoyed the experience. When I began my Masters degree in 1983 in Higher Education at the University of Michigan, the Office of Admissions needed a graduate assistant who had a bit of admissions experience.  I quickly found that the profession was a great fit for me! Many thanks to my first two Michigan administrators, Dr. Cliff Sjogren, Director of Admissions, and Dr. Lance Erickson, Senior Associate Director of Admissions, for believing in my potential.

What do you like best about working in admissions at Johns Hopkins University?
I really enjoy the balance of meeting exceptionally talented prospective students and currently enrolled undergraduates. The colleagues I work with on campus and nationally are also terrifically talented and have become wonderful friends.

What is your ideal set-up for reading applications?
My reading of applications is a unique and creative approach which is most often at my desk in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions or during the evening and weekends, at my dining room table at home. My office desk is my favorite place because I use an incentive system to set goals, with rewards, for my reading. If you look closely at this picture, you will see a chewy candy reward (Swedish fish are a favorite choice) as an incentive to read 5 applications, another reward for 10 and another reward for 15, and so on. I also reward myself with a quick walk after each 10 applications read!

What do you do when you need a break from application reading?
My breaks on campus are spent in meetings which remind me of the richly diverse sense of place here at Johns Hopkins which I need to keep in mind as I review applications.

What is one of the quirkiest things an applicant ever did with their application?
I will substitute quirky with creative. One of my favorite applications arrived with a box with a glass globe within in, picture a fortune teller’s globe! Around the globe were pennies with wishes attached to them. What was memorable was that all the wishes were for others and not one wish was for the applicant. The theme was one thousand pennies, one thousand wishes to change the world. Thank you, Carleigh.

What makes an application essay really stand out for you?
When a student is writing in an authentic voice, their own experiences stand out as unique views of who he/she is and the potential to contribute within the classroom and within the Johns Hopkins community.

What is the funniest thing you’ve overheard or seen while at Johns Hopkins?
I really enjoy watching our Johns Hopkins University video which we use during our admissions information sessions because it showcases one of many talents our President has, he is filmed as he manages a hula hoop extremely well!

If you could take a class at Hopkins, which one and why?
Any class in the History of Art department would be a top choice for me as one of my undergraduate degrees was in studio art, an early BFA program, and I did not have the chance to take as many art history courses as I would have hoped for.

What is your favorite place on the Homewood campus?
Gilman Hall is my favorite place on campus. It is a beautiful place to read applications on my laptop with a great cup of coffee or tea.

If you could teach an Intersession class, what would be the class name and description?
My Intersession class would focus on the role of positive thinking and visualization as a method for creating success as an athlete or a member of any team. I played tennis for some years at the competitive level.

What is the craziest question you’ve ever been asked while recruiting for Johns Hopkins?
The craziest, yet possibly predictable question I usually receive when representing Johns Hopkins is, do your sons attend Johns Hopkins? My response is that they would have loved to have been students here if I did not work here! Maybe I should not have mentioned that I could have had lunch with them each week.

If you could be a student at Hopkins for a day, what would you look forward to most?
I would have loved to have been a student here at Johns Hopkins because of the balance between engaged learning in the classroom and the leadership opportunities with organizations outside of the classroom. I would have loved to have played DIII field hockey and tennis for the Blue Jays.

If you could join any Hopkins club or organizations, which one would you join?
I would have joined a sorority as well as Blue Key, our admissions tour guide society, combined with being a two season athlete.

What song or book or movie makes you think of your college days and why?
Any song that was recorded by the Doobie Brothers brings back college memories, and I am certainly dating myself with this response.

If a movie was made about your life, who would play your part and why?
I think I would have my two sons, Christopher, age 22, and Cameron, age 19, narrate an independent film/ story of my life interspersed with pictures of my favorite places, because the central theme is the balance of family and dear friends with a professional career between my home state of Michigan and our family state of Maryland.

Want to know even more about Sherryl Fletcher? Re-visit some of her past Admissions Staff Profiles:
March 3, 2010; February 14, 2008; February 14, 2006

Meet Your Admissions Counselor II: Daniel Creasy

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Name: Daniel Creasy

Region: New England (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont)

Meet Admissions Counselor: Daniel Creasy

Educational Background: Brown University; BA in Political Science

JHU Start Date: August 25, 2003

Years in Admissions: 13 years

Why did you chose to go into college admissions?
Originally my plan post-college was to work in communications and specifically political journalism.  Following a stint working for CNN I realized that I was not cut out for working in the media. I decided to find a job that I would not have to commit a career to and would provide me time to re-evaluate my professional history. Since I had enjoyed giving campus tours and helping out in the Admissions Office I applied for entry-level college admissions jobs thinking I might enjoy the field for a few years. Thirteen years later I have discovered a career and a passion.

What do you like best about working in admissions at Johns Hopkins University?
This used to be a hard question to answer as I could think of so many responses, but now there is a clear cut answer that comes to mind: The Student Admissions Advisory Board (SAAB). Working on a regular basis with such creative, determined, engaging, and dedicated students has become the true joy of my job and why I love what I do and where I work.  SAAB is in many ways my pseudo-family and I care for each of the students greatly. Last year I wrote about my “love” for SAAB past and present in this blog entry: Featured Students: SAAB Legacy. And seriously, how could my answer be anything else … these students got Hopkins to be the #1 social media college in the country.

What is your ideal set-up for reading applications?
I need to be at home. I need water, a good iTunes playlist, warm socks, and Soze suntanning near me.

Admissions_Daniel's Home Office

Soze's normal position while I am reading applications.

What do you do when you need a break from application reading?
I am an early riser so my reading day is pretty unusual. I normally start reading around 5:30 a.m. after walking Soze and having a quick breakfast. I usually read until 11:00 a.m. with either VH1 music videos or Mike and Mike in the background. I then take a break, play with Soze, have lunch, and watch a favorite show I TiVo’ed from the night before. Then it is usually nap time. I am back up and reading around 3:00 p.m.  and will read straight until dinner time around 7:00 p.m. After dinner and a nice walk for Soze, it is back to reading until my eyes can’t stay open. So pretty much Soze, food, TV, and/or a nap are my go-to activities when not reading.

What is one of the quirkiest things an applicant ever did with their application?
My colleagues always get the quirky things from applicants, but I did get a unique “gift” when I was at a college fair a few years ago. It was at the Summer College Fair at Brown University. The event is held in the gym, in the summer, and for three hours I will typically have over a 1000 students visit my college fair table. Profuse sweating doesn’t even begin to describe what a college rep goes through while attending this event. So a few years ago a prospective student went around handing out pocket fans for each school he was interested in, and on the fans he had printed all of his contact information  to get on our mailing list. I still have the fan, but unfortunately the student didn’t apply.

What make an application essay really stand out for you?
It absolutely needs to be personal. I need to have a better sense of who the applicant is after reading the essay. In fact, I want applicants to think of it less as an essay and more as a personal statement. Being personal makes an essay effective, being original and creative makes an essay stand out.

What is the funniest thing you’ve overheard or seen while at Johns Hopkins?
This past summer I was giving an information session to a large crowd of visitors in the Auditorium of Mason Hall. I show a 9-minute video overview of Hopkins to start my session and then when the movie is complete I raise the video screen and shades to the large windows at the base of the auditorium. It is a pretty impressive use of technology, but as the shades and screen are rising, just outside on the patio of the Colonnade that surrounds Mason Hall there is a young man with his pants down tucking in his shirt and putting on a tie. There was an audible gasp from the crowd and then laughter. The laughter got out of control because the man had no idea we were watching him and he took more than a minute to finally raise his pants.

If you could take a class at Hopkins, which one and why?
Education Politics in Urban America – In college I never took a single Education class and now I guess after 13 years working in higher education I would be curious to take one. My student worker Miranda actually took the class last spring and when we chatted about the class it sounded like I would have really enjoyed it.

What is your favorite place on the Homewood campus?
I know it is not a creative answer but my office in Mason Hall. I have a great view overlooking the Decker Quad and I often have my students in my office which makes it a ton of fun.

If you could teach an Intersession class, what would be the class name and description?
Manage 3 TiVos: Tales from a Television Addict OR How to fix the Academy Awards - Anyone who has followed this blog or my Twitter account knows I have a serious addiction to television and movies. The first class would be a class on organizing one’s television addiction while maximizing the effectiveness of DVR recording space. The second class would be a survey and discussion class to determine how to get younger generations to connect with the Oscars.

What is the craziest question you’ve ever been asked while recruiting for Johns Hopkins?
Do you have hair? This was at a college fair in rural Maine and after a few awkward moments I realized the girl was asking if we had a program for cutting hair. After even more awkward remarks I referred her to the Barbizon website.

If you could be a student at Hopkins for a day, what would you look forward to most?
Eating at the FFC. My memories of college cafeteria food at Brown bring back nightmares. I have been to the FFC a number of times and the food is quite good, and even more impressive is the options. If I had just one day I would eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and make sure I get late night in as well.

If you could join any Hopkins club or organization, which one would you join?
I guess saying SAAB would be too easy, so I probably would choose either trying out for the Woodrow Wilson Debate team or writing for the News-Letter. Debate because I do love to argue intelligently, and the newspaper because I have some really good ideas on how to improve their content.

What song or book or movie makes you think of your college days and why?
Song would have to be anything by Sade. The French girl who lived next door to me my sophomore year used to play Sade on repeat all day and night. The walls were so thin, and I literally almost went crazy listening to the soft melodies 24/7. When I asked her to please play the music lower or have a bit of variety she cursed me out in French and blew smoke in my face. She was not a nice neighbor. So I started playing Nine Inch Nails and Ministry on repeat. Book would have to be Crime and Punishment and movie would have to be Priscilla Queen of the Desert but those stories will have to wait until another blog profile.

If a movie was made about your life, who would play your part and why?
John Belushi. Many people have told me this before and I can see it … big guy and very loud. Yeah, that’s me.

Want to know even more about Daniel Creasy (me!)? Re-visit some of my past Admissions Staff Profiles:
February 21, 2010; February 21, 2008; February 7, 2006

Meet Your Admissions Counselor I: John Birney

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Editor’s Note: This entry begins a multi-part blog series where members of the Johns Hopkins Admissions Committee respond to a a series of questions to help applicants and other prospective audiences “get to know us” better. Check back every Monday and Thursday for the next six weeks to read a new profile. We will be following the order of our Meet the Staff page: http://apply.jhu.edu/contact/staff.html. Enjoy!

Name: John Birney

Meet Admissions Counselor: John Birney

Region: Connecticut and New York (except Long Island)

Educational Background: Lynchburg College; BA in History and MEd in Curriculum and Instruction

JHU Start Date: August 21, 2000

Years in Admissions: 17 years

Why did you choose to go into college admissions?
As I was completing my graduate degree, I was unhappy with what I was doing – teaching high school history.  So I went to my graduate adviser who had a friend in the admissions office.  She made a call on my behalf to see if admissions could use an intern for a semester.  They did, I went, and I was hit with the bug of enrolling college students.  The rest, as they say, is history.

What do you like best about working in admissions at Johns Hopkins University?
I’d like to think that many staff have distinct and favorite parts of working in admissions.  My two favorite areas, as my colleagues would agree, are my work with the Hodson Trust Scholars group, and my involvement with Hopkins Athletics.  I have responsibility for the selection of the Hodson Scholars – clearly some of the finest and most involved students on campus – and we’ve now designed that group as a student organization.  My work with JHU Athletics is both extremely fun and rewarding.  Recruiting athletes who have the both the intellectual stamina and athletic prowess to continue our longstanding tradition of winning is something to which I’ll never tire.  A quick look at our national ranking of 13 in the Learfield Cup is a testament to our success.  To read more about Hopkins sports, please see: www.hopkinssports.com.

What is your ideal set-up for reading applications?
The picture included is of my office set up.  I only need a couple things to make reading a success: the second monitor, cold drink, comfortable clothes, music, closed door, and a minimum of interruptions.

What do you do when you need a break from application reading?
I have a few shows I like on TLC or Discovery that I try and catch up on.  You’d think that reading is the last thing I’d do, but I like to catch up on the newest books of my favorite authors: Patterson, Grisham, Cornwell, Evanovich, and Kellerman.

What is one of the quirkiest things an applicant ever did with their application?
An applicant wrote an essay on the inside of a fishing lure box, which included the actual lure.  The lure happens to be a plastic spot with dual treble hooks.  I use this lure every year when I fish for stripers in the fall.  It’s caught two fish so far.

What makes an application essay really stand out for you?
The topic needs to be unusual and interesting.  I love to find out those characteristics of students which are rarely known.

What is the funniest thing you’ve overheard or seen while at Johns Hopkins?
In my first year, I witnessed a tour guide, walking backwards, fall down a flight of steps while on tour.  She was not injured in the fall.

If you could take a class at Hopkins, which one and why?
Beer History and Appreciation. To many, beer is an acquired taste.  I enjoy the many nuances between varietal types of beer; it’s pairings with food and the complexity of how they are produced.  This course provides the introduction and sampling to broaden my knowledge and palate.

What is your favorite place on the Homewood campus?
Standing on Homewood Field – especially during home lacrosse games.

If you could teach an Intersession class, what would be the class name and description?
Auctions: Unexpected Treasures. Learn the auction business from an experienced auction house bidder.  Participants will go behind the scenes working with an auction house as it writes contracts with sellers, appraises items, and writes marketing campaigns.  Students will complete the class by working on the auction floor as items are sold to the highest bidder.

What is the craziest question you’ve ever been asked while recruiting for Johns Hopkins?
Do we have a medical school?  OK, not the funniest, but that question is more common than you’d think.  More funny is the student who asked about a mortuary science degree.  Sorry, we’re not in the business of creating future funeral directors.

If you could be a student at Hopkins for a day, what would you look forward to most?
I’d look forward to my time after class.  The social time, club and organization meeting, intramural sports, fraternity life, etc., would be the highlight of my day.

If you could join any Hopkins club or organizations, which one would you join?
I’d join The Allnighters, our only all male a capella group.  One of my college minors was vocal performance (I even went to college on a music scholarship) and tight harmonies are my favorite to perform.

What song or book or movie makes you think of your college days and why?
“Lay Your Hands on Me”, Bon Jovi, New Jersey.  This was the first song I queued up on my new stereo – and I played it LOUD.  I was trying to impress the guys on the hall that I had monster speakers – I can’t tell you if they were impressed.

If a movie was made about your life, who would play your part and why?
Chris O’Donnell.  We’re the same age and height, plus I’m a big fan of Scent of a Woman.

Want to know even more about John Birney? Re-visit some of his past Admissions Staff Profiles:
March 1, 2010; March 3, 2008; January 4, 2006.

2012: Post-Application Deadline Survival Guide

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As the calendar turned to 2012 a few weeks ago, most of the news stories referenced in some manner the impending doomsday mythology associated with the year 2012. For me the turning of the calendar meant three things: (1) an increase of frantic messages being sent to the main Admissions e-mail account; (2) an increase in my stress level as I adjust to the fact that I am now in the throes of application reading season; and (3) an increase in the need of reminders I have to send myself about not writing the date as 1/11/11 but rather 1/11/12 . Pretty much, this new year represents not an apocalypse for me, but rather business as usual.

Outside of some leadership changes, 2012 feels pretty much like 2011 in the world of Johns Hopkins Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the same as previous years as well. It may be a new year but the team inside Mason Hall is focused on what we always focus on in January: the third floor is inundated with application mail and the processing of online submissions and the counseling staff on the second floor are logging on and reading Regular Decision applications. This same scenario will repeat daily for the next twoplus months. While my colleagues and I press forward through application processing and review, those of you who completed Regular Decision applications now must test the limits of your patience and just wait.

One thing I have learned in my many years of working in Admissions is that waiting is not something high school seniors do well, and this lack of patience often leads to many (MANY!) frequently asked questions. So at the end of this post, I will be providing answers to the most frequently asked questions this time of year. But before that I thought it would be helpful to share some important upcoming deadlines as well as what you can expect from this blog in the coming weeks.

• Financial Aid: If you plan to apply for financial aid (need-based grants, loans, work study) then be aware that you must submit both the CSS Profile and the FAFSA by March 1, 2012. Extremely helpful information about applying for financial aid can be found here: http://www.jhu.edu/finaid/prosp_stud.html. (International students applying for financial assistance, please review this website: http://www.jhu.edu/finaid/international.html.)

• Fellowship opportunity: For applicants interested in a major in the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences and also interested in conducting your own independent research, you should strongly consider applying for the Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program. We have extended the deadline for applications until March 1, 2012. Further information can be found here: http://apply.jhu.edu/story/wilsonfellowship.html?slide and you can apply online here: http://apply.jhu.edu/wilson/wilson_form_2011.html.

• Meet the Admissions Staff: Starting next week, the Hopkins Insider blog will continue an annual winter tradition where you get to know the members of the Johns Hopkins Undergraduate Admissions Committee. (If you click on the Admissions Staff Profiles category on the left-side menu, you can see past entries.) This winter we return to the format of questionnaire profiles. Working with my colleagues Shannon and Shelly, and with a few suggestions from current SAAB members, we have compiled a list of questions we feel will help you all get to know a little bit about the people actually reviewing your application.

• Regular Decision Notification Day: All we can tell you right now is decision notifications will be released during the last days of March. No official date has been set and we tend not to select an official release date until the middle of March at the earliest. We guarantee that decisions will be released by April 1st. Once a notification date has been selected, it will be announced via this blog.

So stay tuned … be patient … and now on to the FAQS:

(The pictures throughout the post are what our Operations space looks like as we process the thousands of pieces of mail we have received in the last few months — the process might be “paperless” but that doesn’t mean there is no paper.)

Is my application complete? Do you have all my stuff?
With the volume of application materials we need to process right now, we are not able to confirm whether application files are complete or to identity which individual items have been received. It takes time, so we ask patience of all of our applicants. Once your application is downloaded and processed, you are sent an e-mail acknowledgment. This indicates that our Operations staff has begun to process your application (not necessarily that it is complete). Please remember, with thousands of applications to process, this e-mail acknowledgment is not automatic and may take a few weeks to be sent.

In early February, once we have processed all received application materials, we will contact via e-mail students whose applications remain incomplete. Applicants receiving a missing items correspondence will be given an opportunity to provide us with any missing items before we complete the evaluation of their applications. Rest assured that application files are checked carefully, multiple times, for completeness.

Most importantly, please do not call right now to check on the status of your application or see if we have received a specific part of your application. We will not be able to answer such questions until February at the earliest. Please be patient and know that we will confirm the receipt of your application once it is processed and we do not review incomplete applications.

Can I check my status online? Why haven’t I gotten a user name and password to check my status through the application portal?
Unlike many schools, Johns Hopkins does not have an online system for checking application status. We do things the old-fashioned way. You will not receive a log-in and password where you can track your application materials. Additionally, be aware that our system does not directly connect with the Common Application system to update the status of all processed materials. Because the Common Application site says something has not been received / processed, that does not mean that is the status of those materials in our office. This is especially true of any mailed materials. (Do note, those who apply for financial aid will get access to the ISIS system that tracks financial aid application materials. This system has nothing to do with applications for admission.)

Can I add items to my application even though the deadline has passed? Uh oh, I made a mistake in my application, how can I correct it?
Yes, we will still accept application updates and we do have a process for error corrections. It is simple. To provide an update or error correction, you must compose a cover letter and submit these materials by fax (410-516-6025) or mail to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. In the cover letter, you should include your full name, birth date, and school name (SS# is optional but can help), so that we can merge this new information with your application folder. Also, all updates should be sent in by February 15. Finally, DO NOT SEND UPDATES VIA E-MAIL, as we do not process application materials received through e-mail.

My e-mail address / mailing address / contact information has changed … what do I do?
All changes to personal contact information including updates to email, phone numbers, and mailing addresses need to be sent to apphelp@jhu.edu. Please include in the e-mail, your full name, birth date, high school name as well as the general time frame when you submitted your application.

May I submit January standardized test scores (SAT Reasoning, SAT Subject exams, or TOEFL) with my regular decision application?
Though Regular Decision candidates should have completed required tests no later than December of their senior year, students may submit January examinations if they are re-taking the SAT Reasoning exam, are taking SAT II subject exams, or are submitting TOEFL exams. Although we cannot guarantee that January scores will arrive before the Admissions Committee evaluation, past experience suggests that scores taken on these dates usually arrive in time. If the scores arrive before the evaluation then they will be considered with one’s application. There is no need to rush scores from the testing agencies, as our office will not process them any quicker. We cannot guarantee that scores sent after our application deadline will be processed in time to be reviewed with one’s application and we do not delay the review of an application to wait for scores sent after the application deadline.

Do I have to submit a mid-year report and updated transcript?
Yes, that is a clearly stated application requirement. All applicants must submit a mid-year report and updated transcript by the deadline of February 15th. The mid-year report must be submitted directly by one’s school and must include an updated senior year transcript. We do not accept any of these materials submitted directly by the applicant.

I have received a number of requests for more pictures of my dog Soze. Here is one I took a few days ago. Soze doing what he loves to do ... relaxing and sun tanning.

Remember, if you have any further questions you can:

-      Send an e-mail to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions: gotojhu@jhu.edu.

-      Post a comment to this blog and I will respond back in a few days.

-      Use the Ask Admissions section of the Hopkins Forums: Hopkins Forums – Ask Admissions.

2011 Coming to a Close, Regular Decision Deadline is Here!

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With just a few days remaining in 2011, I am taking a short break from my holiday vacation in Florida with my family to post an update to the blog for those of you working on your Regular Decision application to Johns Hopkins University. For those of you who have waited until the last days and may wait until the last moments to click submit on your application, this blog is for you. As the Janaury 1 Regular Decision deadline looms, many of you will have last minute questions. How do I know? Because of vast experience. Every year during my holiday vacation I take an hour or two out of my relaxation time each day to respond to the questions coming through any number of means.

Happy Holidays from the Johns Hopkins University Office of Undergraduate Admissions

So in an effort to diminish the time I will spend the next few days responding to questions, I present these answers to the most frequently asked questions by the application procrastinators. I hope these answers assist you in your last-minute haze of forms and looming deadlines. Just remember, next time when you have over three plus months to complete something, waiting until the last minute is never the best policy.

THE DEADLINE QUESTIONS
So what is the exact deadline for submitting one’s application? Before the days of online applications this used to be such an easy question to answer — you need to have a postmark date prior to January 1. Now there tends to be so much confusion over such a simple concept.

The regular decision deadline is January 1, 2012. This is our online submission deadline and our postmark deadline. Applicants should submit their online application materials no later than 11:59 p.m. on January 1st. Since January 1 is a Sunday this year, any mailed materials should have been sent before the weekend. But since we are nice, we will accept application materials that are postmarked by January 3, 2012, as January 2 is a national holiday.

What subsequently follows are two issues – time zone questions and Common Application / Universal College Application technical difficulties. This is why I strongly urge you all to finish your applications prior to January 1 and submit it. This gives you a window in case anything goes wrong, and it rules out any confusion about time zones. There will be a ton of traffic on the Common Application / Universal College Application servers throughout January 1, and we all know that computer servers are sometimes not the most reliable devices. We are understanding of such issues, but once again, why risk it.

SUBMISSION OF SCHOOL MATERIALS
Is it a problem if you have yet to submit your application, but some of your application materials (school forms, tests, etc.) have already been submitted? Not a problem at all. Applicants to Johns Hopkins University may submit application materials such as test scores, letters of recommendation, and school reports along with transcripts in advance of their submission of their application. These documents will be processed and placed in a pending folder until one’s application is submitted, received, and processed. Then we will merge all documents and determine whether one’s application is complete. To assist with the proper processing of documents we request that all materials include the applicant’s full name, birth date, and school.

What if your school materials have yet to be submitted and because of the holiday week or inclement weather, they won’t be submitted until after the deadline? First, this should not be a problem since you should request this information before your school goes on holiday break. However, we understand though at times school-related application materials such as the secondary school report, transcript, fee waiver forms and letters of recommendation cannot be sent by that date. We will be flexible with the application deadline for those parts of the application; however the student portions of the application must be submitted online or postmarked by the January 1st deadline. The school materials of the application may be sent after the January 1 deadline, but not later than January 15th. If your school materials are going to be delayed longer than that, your guidance counselor needs to call the admissions office to request an extension.

SENDING SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS
Can I submit supplemental materials (such as an arts supplement) to support my application? Applicants to Johns Hopkins University may submit supplemental information such as CDs, DVDs, slides, art portfolios, research abstracts and other such items. There are no additional forms that need to be completed nor do we have a preference regarding format. We accept Arts Supplement forms but do not require them. We do request that you include your full name, birth date, and high school on any supplement materials you send in. All information needs to be mailed to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions; we do not process materials submitted through e-mail. Supplemental materials should be submitted by the application deadline.

Please note that supplemental information will not be sent to academic departments for official reviews, but will remain in the Admissions Office with your application. There is no guarantee that supplemental information will be reviewed, but in most cases the Admissions committee will have some time to evaluate such additional information. Finally, it is important that original items not be sent, as the Admissions office is not able to return submitted application materials.

SUBMITTING STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES
Always a ton of questions about how to submit your test scores, can scores be sent via transcript, what is the deadline to submit scores, and can I confirm you have received my scores? The Admissions Office requires that prospective applicants send their standardized test scores (SAT, ACT, or TOEFL) to Johns Hopkins University directly from the testing agencies. Our school codes are:

SAT: 5332
ACT: 1704
TOEFL: 5332

The Admissions Office will accept standardized test scores submitted with an official high school transcript only if all test scores are displayed and that the scores appear officially on the transcript, not hand-written in by the student or counselor.

Test scores need to be requested from the testing agencies prior to our stated application deadlines but may arrive after the deadline. Though the scores will arrive past the deadline they will still be considered if requested in advance of the deadline. There is no need to rush score reports as they do not arrive any earlier.

The Admissions Office does not send confirmation of test scores received. You will need to contact the College Board and ACT directly to confirm that your scores were sent to Johns Hopkins University. If they confirm your scores were sent than that means they are in our database.

May I submit January standardized test scores (SAT, SAT Subject exams, or TOEFL) with my regular decision application? Though regular decision candidates should have completed required tests no later than December of their senior year, students may take the January examinations if they are re-taking the SAT exam, are taking SAT II subject exams, or are submitting TOEFL exams. Although we cannot guarantee that January scores will arrive before the Admissions Committee evaluation, past experience suggests that scores taken on these dates usually arrive in time. If the tests arrive before the application review then they will be considered, but we will not delay the review of an application to wait for January test scores.

Should I rush my test scores? There is no need to rush test score reports as they do not get processed by our office any sooner.

POST-SUBMISSION QUESTIONS
After you submit your application, immediately you start asking questions like did they receive my application; did my school materials arrive correctly; is my application complete? As you can imagine, this becomes a very busy time in the Admissions Office as we process all the application materials. Because of the volume of records we handle, it is not possible to automatically confirm whether application files are complete or to identity which individual items have been received. Unlike many school, Johns Hopkins does not have an online system for checking application status.

Once your application is download and processed, you will be sent an e-mail acknowledgment. This indicates your application file has been opened (not necessarily that it is complete). Please remember, with thousands of applications to process this e-mail acknowledgment is not automatic and may take a few weeks to be sent. In late February, once we have processed all received application materials, we will contact students whose applications remain incomplete. Those students will be given an opportunity to provide us with any missing items before we complete the evaluation of their applications. Rest assured that application files are checked carefully for completeness.  Please do not call to check on the status of your application as we will not be able to answer such questions until the beginning of February at the earliest. Please be patient and know that we will confirm the receipt of your application once it is processed.

Some additional post-submission questions include:

When is the Financial Aid deadline and where can I learn more about applying for Financial Aid? The Financial aid deadline for the submission of the FAFSA and CSS Profile is March 1, 2012. Please review this web site for full details: http://www.jhu.edu/finaid/prosp_stud.html.

Can I add items to my application even though the deadline has passed? Uh oh, I made a mistake in my application, how can I correct it? Yes, we will still accept application updates and we do have a process for error corrections. It is simple. To provide an update or error correction, you must compose a cover letter and submit these materials by fax (410-516-6025) or mail to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Please note that we do request in the cover letter you include your full name, birth date, and school name (SS# is optional but can help), so that we can merge this new information with your application folder. Also note, that all updates should be sent in by February 1st. Finally, DO NOT SEND UPDATES VIA E-MAIL, as we do not process application materials received through e-mail.

Even more questions asked after post-submission. These are all legitimate questions, but all too early to ask. Once we have updated information, it will be posted on the blog.

When will decisions be released?
— Last week in March. No official date has been set yet.

How many applications have been received?
— Not sure yet. We will reveal a total sometime in February.

How many will be admitted?
— No clue. We have to review applications first.

What will the acceptance rate be?
— Also, no clue. We will rely on our formulas when the time comes.

EVEN MORE QUESTIONS

Here are additional sources to obtain answers to your questions:

Admissions Site: Frequently asked questions: http://apply.jhu.edu/faqs/all.html

Hopkins Forums: Ask Admissions section: http://www.hopkins-interactive.com/forums/ask-admissions/

I hope these answers help, and that in some way they minimize the number of e-mails we will receive the rest of the week (probably not going to happen, oh well). Best wishes and we will see you in the new year.

Reflecting on 12/15/2011

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Yesterday was my last day in the office for 2011. It wasn’t my last day of work for 2011, as I will be doing work tasks over the next couple of weeks such as answering e-mails, keeping our social media sites updated, and reading some Regular Decision applications. But basically my vacation has begun. Later today, Soze and I will begin a two-day drive down to Florida to spend the holidays with my family. I am excited to have this time off and even more excited to see my niece Lilly and nephew Cooper. I haven’t seen them and my family since late August, nor have I had an actual day off since then. So yes, this is clearly a much needed vacation and break.

Lilly and Cooper getting excited for Uncle Admissions_Daniel and Uncle Soze to arrive in Florida to celebrate the holidays.

While in the office yesterday there was a much different vibe than the previous few weeks. The proverbial dust has settled and we all are feeling much more relaxed. The pace leading up to the release of decision notifications is always hectic, and the aftermath is always a mix of relief and a feeling of accomplishment. The vibe yesterday was a bit different than previous years though, as I think it has finally begun to sink in that we are no longer an office under the vision and guidance of Dean John Latting. Dean Latting’s last day was Friday as he joined the staff at our annual holiday party where teams compete in duck pin bowling and best holiday costumes. But now Dean Latting is at Emory and we move-on to the Regular Decision application phase.

Admissions Holiday Party Team Bad Holiday Sweaters and Sunglasses.

Admissions Holiday Party Team "Save the Bow"

Before fully turning the page to RD, I thought I would provide some interesting and hopefully helpful follow-up information and reflections on the release of Class of 2016 Early Decision notifications. December 15, 2011 was a record-breaking day for the Johns Hopkins Office of Undergraduate Admissions and especially when it relates to this blog. The traffic to the Hopkins Insider blog on December 15 are staggering:

• 4,641 visits to the blog for the 24 hours period of 12/15/11 (up from 3,951 last year).
• 2,464 unique visitors (up from 1,970 last year).
• 10,422 page views (up from 7,597 last year). WOW!
• 31.59% of visits were new visitors and average time on the site was 7:39.
• Live-blogging totaled 2,939 words; 13 pictures; over 50 comments.

The analytics could actually have been even higher, if not for our servers being sluggish between the peak hour of 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Still, in every category records were broken.

As I briefly mentioned near the end of the live-blog on Thursday evening there are three different groups to address follow-up thoughts to: denied students, deferred students, and admitted students. As I prefer to do in these “look back” entries, I want to share some additional thoughts I have for each group.

To the Denied Students: Please know that I and all of my colleagues understand how difficult receiving such a decision from your first-choice school can be. We respect the frustration and anger you feel, but hope that you can understand the daunting task we are faced with selecting very few students from a truly outstanding pool of applicants. Many will deal with rejection by trying to determine where they fell short or focusing on statistics. That is understandable but it is short-sighted.

Our decisions are decisions of preference and fit, and not a rejection of an individual. I can attest to the fact that we extensively deliberate about the candidates for admission, especially during the ED review process. When reviewing a student’s application, we take into consideration a vast array of factors including academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, leadership, commitment to community, promise of future contribution, and fit. This may seem to be just rhetoric, and I can probably not persuade you that it’s not true, but honestly there is never one reason that leads to our decisions and the words holistic and comprehensive have true value to us. Our applicant pool is filled with qualified applicants, but unfortunately being qualified is not the only consideration. Our freshman class is small and we are unable to admit everyone who is capable of doing the work. Please do not receive this news as a judgment of your value and your ability, but rather understand the competitive nature of applying to a highly selective institution like Johns Hopkins.

My advice now is to forget about Johns Hopkins. Know that there is a college that is going to be uniquely enriched by your presence on their campus and that you will have an amazing undergraduate experience. If there is one thing I have learned over the years, it’s that the right college for you is the one that you select to attend and the one you commit yourself to fully from freshman to senior year.

To the Deferred Students: Most say that this is the hardest of the decisions one can receive during the ED round of review because it feels like a state of limbo. And that is true. There is confusion about how to react. The news is not good, but it is also not a final decision. We understand that being asked to wait three more months is not the decision you were hoping for, but unfortunately defer decisions are part of the ED process.

The best message I can share with you all is that there is still hope. Every year ED defers are admitted during RD, and defers are provided the same chance of admissions as applicants who apply Regular Decision. Yes the competition remains tough, and yes we are going to focus on your progress in your senior year, but a defer decision is the admissions committee stating that there are still factors that are of interest once the context of the entire applicant pool is known.

It is important to note that we do not just politely defer ED applicants into our RD applicant pool to delay bad news, and the amount of denied applicants significantly outweighs those deferred.  Those who are deferred still have a chance for admission; otherwise we would not have deferred the decision. However, your hopes need to be tempered. Being deferred does mean there were weaknesses in your application that raised concerns with the admissions committee.

So the question is what can you do? Well read this: Early Decision Defers. We have compiled an extensive list of advice and answers to frequently asked questions for the deferred applicant which we know will be helpful.

To the Admits: Congratulations! You are the first members of the Johns Hopkins Class of 2016 and we look forward to welcoming you to campus in about nine months. There will be a lot of things you will need to do between now and move-in dates at the end of August, but there is time to get to those items. Now is a time to celebrate, start wearing your JHU clothing, put the bumper sticker on the car, and get to know you future classmates via the special Facebook group. For right now the only date of importance is January 15 – you need to submit your candidate reply form (CRF) and enrollment and housing deposit before that date.

In late March you will be contacted about the next steps. You will get your JHED-ID, set-up your @jhu.edu e-mail account, and gain access to the New Student Portal and your enrolling freshman to-do list. In the meantime, enjoy the holidays, continue to enjoy your senior year, and let January 1 pass without any stress.

One favor though … do not become infected with senioritis. Do not allow your admission to become in jeopardy by letting your focus in school lapse. Yes we admitted you now, but we will review your mid-year and final transcripts and please do not make our jobs difficult.

I am off to pack and get on the road. I-95 South here I come. Happy Holidays to all and Regular Decision applicants check back soon for an update tailored just for you.

Live Blogging on ED Notification Day (Class of 2016)

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Greetings Early Decision applicants for the Johns Hopkins University Class of 2016. The tradition once again continues. Now for the seventh straight year I will be live blogging throughout the day. Why today? Well, it is December 15, 2011 and throughout the day the Johns Hopkins Admissions Committee will be finalizing our decisions and releasing notifications to our 1459 Early Decision applicants. (For a reminder on how the release of notifications will work please review the blog post from this past Monday: Release of ED Notifications Approaches.) Back in 2005 at the dawn of this Hopkins Insider blog I got the idea of “micro-blogging” our decision notification days to provide insight to our applicants and other audiences about how the process works as seen through the eyes and experiences of an admissions counselor. I hope visitors to the blog will appreciate this first-hand look at what takes place in Mason Hall (the home to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions on the Homewood Campus) as well as respect the transparency we hope to project about how our process works. Check back throughout the day and also follow me on Twitter – @AdmissionDaniel – for continual updates.

5:54 a.m.  - Rise and shine. Time to start the day. Normally the first part of my routine would be to walk my dog Soze, but he doesn’t appear to want to be woken up yet. So instead I’ll start with the first update to the blog. Unlike in previous years I got a full night of sleep as I was able to leave the office at a decent hour after making some final decision changes and confirmations in our Engineering Committee. Though the process of selecting the Early Decision Class of 2016 has been as arduous as in years past, this year seems to have run a lot smoother (*knock on wood*) than in previous years (*knock on wood again*), and my hope is when I arrive at work later this morning we will be sealing the class without too much adjustments (*fingers crossed*). Well it seems that Soze is finally stirring so I am going to bundle up and take him on his morning walk. Stay tuned.

A sleepy Soze on ED Notification Day for the JHU Class of 2016

6:41 a.m. - I’m a hat guy. Anyone who knows me knows that I love hats. Ever since high school I have had an addiction to hats. I wore the same hat every day in college (yes … every day for all four years) and when I graduated I sealed the hat away in a glass box. I want’ lying when I said I have an addiction. Currently I have about 40 hats and about 5 of them are in my regular rotation. Each day I bring a hat to work and by 4 p.m. (earlier if it is a rough day) that hat is on. Some say this hat addiction has led to the lack of hair on my head, I just say I am old and my genes from my maternal grandfather has made it impossible to fight that baldness pattern. Nevertheless I had to choose which hat I was bringing to work today … no to the “Panthers Football” Friday Night Lights hat as the show is no longer on … no to the Washington Nationals cap as it is not baseball season … no to the New York Mets hat – well I don’t want to talk about them … no to the Brown University hockey hat as today is not for my alma mater … YES to the Johns Hopkins Men’s Lacrosse 2005 National Champs hat. That is the appropriate one for today. Morning routine almost done. Shower time and then off to work. Oh yeah … plus it is time to SHAVE. Stay tuned.

Hat selection time ... there is an obvious choice.

7:15 a.m. - I am a sports fanatic. I am not good at any sports but I love being a fan of all sports. Why do I tell you this? Well in many sports during playoff season there is a tradition not to shave. Hockey players do it the best. I have always found this to be one of the greatest sports tradition and a few years ago I began to incorporate the concept of playoff beards into my profession. By that I mean I grow a beard during reading season and don’t shave or trim it until decision release day. So this year I began to not shave starting on the day after Thanksgiving when I evaluated my first ED application and just a few minutes ago I removed the beard. It may be a strange tradition, but it is one I enjoy, especially since I hate shaving. So it is both a ode to my sports fanaticism as well as an ode to my laziness. In the past I have had requests to reveal photos of the beard but I have hesitated since I rarely post pictures of myself on this blog. However, since the requests are coming in from my Mom and my niece Lilly, I thought it was time to post some before and after pictures. Enjoy. I am off to work so … stay tuned.

Before

After

8:27 a.m. - Arrived at the office and things are already moving along. The Operations team is upstairs doing some last checks and my colleagues are arriving to as I like to say “hurry up and wait.” We will be waiting for Dean Latting to announce whether we need one last Admissions Committee meeting or whether the work we did yesterday is it and the ED class is sealed. I have a “to do” list of 9 items for today so I am going to get working on that. Stay tuned.

My desk. Ready to tackle my "to do" list.

9:00 a.m. - Just about 30 minutes have passed and three items on my to do list are already done. Listening to The Killers always makes me productive. No news yet as Dean Latting has yet to arrive. I am going to do some of my daily social media “work” and then walk around the office to see how things are progressing. Next update won’t be for a bit of time. Stay tuned.

10:04 a.m. - I have accomplished a lot over the last hour. I put the final touches on our Facebook group for the Johns Hopkins Class of 2016 and sent an e-mail to all my student volunteers (the Student Admissions Advisory Board) about the launch of the group tonight after decision e-mails are released. I did one last check of our web updates related to decision release and our Admitted Student website and informed my colleagues that everything looks great. Then the whole office got a really exciting e-mail:

Celebratory Danish!!!

MAIL DAY DANISH HAS ARRIVED. Our former colleague Lester Su, who was a Mechanical Engineering faculty member and member of the Admissions Committee, sent the office an authentic Danish kringle to congratulate us on the completion of the ED process. We all miss Lester (and not just because of gestures like this) but we know he is doing wonderful at Stanford.

While getting my piece of the Danish I saw Dean Latting with a number of data sheets so I think the finalizing of the class is in progress. An interesting note related to how I am not the only traditionalist in our office (i.e. shaving of the beard). Dean Latting has this mustard colored shirt that he wears very sparingly (I don’t think he is a fan of it), but always on important days. I can confirm he is wearing the shirt today. Stay tuned.

11:33 a.m. - Nothing new to really report. I only three more items on my to do list to complete but can’t do them until the class is sealed. Basically, we are all just waiting on Dean Latting to emerge from his office and confirm that the ED class is finalized. All packets have been sealed and are waiting to be moved into mail bins. All of our checks have been done, and barring any other last minute changes we are ready to roll when Dean Latting gives us the word. Stay tuned.

Admits packets: Signed, sealed, and waiting to be mailed.

11:39 a.m. - IT IS OFFICIAL … THE JOHNS HOPKINS EARLY DECISION CLASS OF 2016 IS SEALED. I will have more updates this afternoon but now have to go assist my colleagues in getting the decisions in the mail. (Please do not call our office to ask for your decision as we will not release it.) Stay tuned.

1:08 p.m. - All Early Decision notifications are now in the mail. Just returned from the post office and all decision packets and letters are now out of our hands. Time for some lunch with my colleagues. I’ll have a more thorough update with more pictures after lunch. Stay tuned.

2:34 p.m. - Back from a good Italian lunch at Maxie’s. Hat is on. Not because I am having a bad day but rather it is raining outside and I got a bit soaked walking back from lunch. Working on some more updates for the blog. Stay tuned.

3:05 p.m. - Time for a number of updates as I am finally back at my desk and have some time to reflect on the last few hours. Once Dean Latting confirmed that our ED class was complete, the message reached the third floor of Mason Hall and the Operations team got to work with the final stages of preparing our decision packets and letters. Within minutes all packets were sealed and stamped and transferred into mail bins. One final check was done and it was time to depart.

Class of 2016 Early Decision notifications ready to depart Mason Hall

Next step was to transfer the mail bins into one of the Admissions staff vehicles (my Trailblazer won the lottery this year) and depart for the post offices.

A full car of important decisions.

My Trailblazer is pretty full, especially since I am still carrying around my recent flat tire.

First stop was the main University postal office at our Mount Washington campus and then downtown to the main Baltimore branch of the U.S. Postal Service. Within 30 minutes and only minor traffic on I-83, my colleague John Birney and I were done with the mailing of notifications. As we returned to Mason Hall it was interesting to see that new mail bins had arrived, this time with Regular Decision application materials.

As ED ends, RD begins.

3:22 p.m. - Every year the most anticipated live-blog update is always when I reveal the “results” of our Early Decision process. Hot off the presses they were just delivered to me so without further delay:

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions officially admitted the first members of the Class of 2016 today, sending admit packets and e-mails to 561 accepted Early Decision applicants. These talented students were chosen from a record applicant pool of 1,459, a nearly 10% percent increase in Early Decision applications from last year. 

* Early Decision applications received: 1,459
* Early Decision applicants admitted: 561
* Early Decision acceptance rate: 38%
* Male / Female ratio of admits: 52 / 48

*Preliminary areas of academic interests for admits:
– Whiting School of Engineering: 31%
     – Krieger School of Arts and Science: 69%
               – Humanities = 14%, Natural Sciences = 29%, Social and behavioral sciences = 21%
     – Undecided: 5%

* Top five home states for admits:
     (1) New York; (2) New Jersey; (3) Maryland; (4) California; (5) Pennsylvania
     – 42 states represented in admitted class (3 more than last year)
     – 45 international students from 13 different countries

An impressive class to say the least.

I am going to take another break from blogging as I complete the final few items on my to do list and then head home to prepare for the second major part of the day … the release of e-mail notifications. Stay tuned.

All done ... woo hoo.

Yup, ALL DONE. Everything crossed out. So far this has been a very productive day, but in no way is it over.

As my colleagues on the IT team prepare to release the e-mail notifications there are a few important notes I need to share with you all who have been following this blog all day.

FIRST, we will START sending e-mails AFTER 6:00 p.m. EST. Please note the STRONG EMPHASIS on the words START and AFTER. This means that not everyone will get an e-mail in their in-box immediately at 6:00 p.m. It will take a while for all the e-mails to go out and there is a good chance we don’t start sending exactly at 6:00 p.m. If you keep refreshing your e-mail in-box at 6:00, 6:01, 6:04, 6:10, 6:11, and there is no message – DO NOT PANIC and do not assume anything. Be patient and allow the process to work properly. All e-mails will be sent by 7:00 p.m.

SECOND, for the next hour (if not two hours) step away from the computer. Stop reading this blog. Stop refreshing your e-mail. Stop checking College Confidential (in fact you should stop that altogether for the future). Relax. Take a nap. Go do something that will calm you and distract you. Take your mind off of the clock.

THIRD, and most importantly, after you receive your e-mail decision my strong suggestion is that you log-off of your computer and go spend some time with your family. No matter what decision you receive, get off the computer after you receive your e-mail. This is a major milestone in your young life, and you should share your initial reactions and emotions with your family and those closest to you. These people have been there since the first moment of your life, and they will be there FOREVER. Your family is not some online community. Your family is not Facebook. Your family is not some anonymous screen name. Your family is not this blog. Please heed this advice. Receive your decision and sign off. Don’t update your Facebook status. Don’t post a comment on this blog. Share your thoughts and emotions in the REAL WORLD first. The virtual world will be there later for you to provide a social media spin on your news.  I say it every year … let the news sink in first. React in the real world before entering the cyber world. 

Stay tuned.

5:45 p.m. - O.K. Final checks complete. I am going to take a break now to have some dinner (Chinese food … woo hoo) and play with Soze a bit. As you can see in this picture, Soze is a bit upset with me that I got home and went right to work. I’ll be back once all the e-mail notifications have been sent. Best wishes and Stay Tuned.

Soze wants to play, not work.

7:52 p.m. - Well this has been a busy two hours. I can confirm that all of our e-mails have been sent and any bounce-back error messages that we could correct have been. If you didn’t get your e-mail then please refer to what I wrote in my blog post this past Monday: Release of ED Notifications.

Now that  decisions have gone out I wanted to share some thoughts to each group:

TO THE ADMITS: Congratulations! I hope you are all so excited and will put aside some time tonight to jump around and celebrate with your family and friends. You will get your admit packet soon and there will be a ton of information for you to review, including a list of resources just for admitted students. But also pace yourself – August is still 9 months away. I will have more to say to you all in the coming days and weeks. Time to put that bumper sticker on the car!!!

TO THE DEFERS: The main message is that this was not a “no.” Instead it was a delay of your decision for another three months. I strongly suggest that you all read the discussion thread that I have set-up for deferred applicants: Early Decision Defers.

TO THE DENIES: Please know that I understand how difficult receiving such news can be. My colleagues and I do not take pleasure in not offering admission to students, especially those where Hopkins is their first choice. A few years ago I wrote a post to denied applicants, and I recommend you all read it: A Post for the Denied Applicant. I do wish you all the best of luck.

I’ll be back with some final thoughts in a little while. Stay tuned.

8:35 p.m. - As it gets close to 15 hours of live-blogging I think it is time to sign-0ff. I am going to relax with Soze while watching the Washington Capitals play against the Winnipeg Jets (C-A-P-S, C-A-P-S, Let’s Go Caps!!!). I also need to get some rest as it will be a big day in the office tomorrow as we have our holiday party and it will be Dean Latting’s final day. :(

Thanks to everyone who commented and I hope this trek through the day was helpful. I will return early next week with a new blog entry with reflections on notification day and what’s next. Cheers!  Not stay tuned … but turn off.

Release of ED Notifications Approaches

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As we begin a new week there are always a lot of questions streaming into our office about how the release of Early Decision notifications will work. I thought it important to step away from our final admissions committee deliberations to share the following with all of our anxious Early Decision applicants:

Early Decision notifications will be released on
Thursday, December 15.

Here is the plan for how everything will operate on Thursday:

* Class is confirmed: In the morning the Admissions staff will arrive at work and wait for Dean Latting to confirm that the Early Decision class is complete. This will be a momentous occasion for all of us in Mason Hall as it will be the last official act of Dean Latting.

One of Dean Latting's going-away gifts: a framed and signed picture of the entire Admissions team

* Decisions are checked: Once the class has been confirmed, the Operations staff, along with assistance from the rest of the Admissions staff, will do one final check of all of our decision letters. Our office has a detailed triple-check process we take seriously.

* Decisions are mailed: Upon the completion of these checks, all admit packets and decision letters (defer and deny) are loaded into mail bins and taken directly to either the main Hopkins Mail Services station located in Mt. Washington, or the downtown Baltimore City Postal Office depending on the time of day. All the mail will enter the postal system by late afternoon on Thursday, December 15. Admit packets are sent priority mail so they arrive typically within three days. Our decision letters are mailed first-class and can take 4-7 days to arrive. Please note international addresses will always take longer for both types of mail, and due to the holiday season the U.S. Postal Service does not guarantee any of these delivery estimates.

* Decisions are emailed: Sometime after 6:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, December 15, we will begin sending Early Decision notification emails. No decisions will be emailed prior to this time, and there is no exact time set when emails will begin being sent. Please do not ask for an exact time or how long it will take all the emails to be sent, as we cannot provide that information.

It can take up to an hour for all of our decision emails to be sent so don’t expect a new message in your inbox right at 6:00 p.m. Have patience. Email notifications are released in random order so there is no way to deduce the order that decisions will be released. Decision emails are sent only to those who included an active email address with their application. (If an applicant does not receive an email it is because either there was no email provided with the application, the email address provided no longer works, or a data entry error. Unfortunately, we do not re-send emails, so in such situations the student must wait for the mail to arrive.) We do not have a system of posting our decisions online or through a portal.

* No phone calls: We will not accept phone calls on Thursday requesting the release of a decision over the phone. It is our preference to not release decisions over the phone. If an applicant has not received their decision by next Monday then he or she may call the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. We will only release the decision to the applicant, a parent or guardian of the applicant, or the applicant’s high school guidance counselor. Decisions will be released only if the identity of the caller can be reasonably assured. Please do not call asking why a certain decision was rendered as admissions committee decisions are confidential and we are unable to discuss the factors behind our decisions.

Admit packets waiting to be stuffed.

As I have been writing about our decision releases for a number of years now, I can always anticipate some of the most frequently asked questions:

Why are emails sent after 6:00 p.m.? 
The reason we wait to release decision notification emails until the evening is we feel that receiving your college admissions decision should be a personal experience that you share with your family. We do not believe students should be receiving this news in the middle of the school day. So we will wait until the majority of our applicants are out of school to send our email notifications. (Yes we understand that this system does not work neatly for international applicants.)

What happens if I do not receive an email decision on Thursday?
If an applicant does not receive an email there a few things he or she can do:

(1.) Check your SPAM folders.

(2.) Check ANY and all email accounts you have ever used during the college search process. We send the email to the account you listed on your application. However, our database system does track all email accounts that have ever been matched to your record, so on occasion the notification email may be sent to old email address. (So check email addresses that you may have used when registering for the SAT/ACT for example.)

(3.) Have your parents check their email accounts too. Not sure how that happens, but it has happened in the past. If none of those methods work, then unfortunately the student will need to wait to receive the decision in the mail, or can call on Monday.

I applied to the biomedical engineering (BME) program; how will I learn of my decision?
BME decision emails will come as a second email to all admitted students who selected BME as their first-choice major. Those notifications will also be sent on Thursday following the release of all other decisions. Further details about your BME decision will be included in your decision packet/letter.

I was deferred. What does that mean?
Stay tuned. I will post information for deferred applicants a couple of days after the release of decisions.

I hope you all find his information helpful. Back to committee for me. Check back on Thursday as I once again live blog ED Notification Day.

Stacks of rosters used during committee stages are piling up.

Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum – We Dig It!

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When I first arrived at Hopkins about six and a half years ago, one of the first “fun facts” I heard about was of an Egyptian mummy on campus, who had been given the nickname “Boris.” The mummy is in fact on long-term loan to the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum from Goucher College, and has been since the 1980s.  In 1988, Dr. Betsy Bryan, the museum’s director and an eminent Egyptologist, oversaw the CT-scanning of “Boris,” which resulted in the re-discovery that “he” was in fact a “she. “ For my first year, this was all I knew of our archaeological collection.

Then, I heard that there was more than an Egyptian mummy in our archaeological collection—we had thousands of objects. But where were they? Why had I never seen them? I had been to Gilman Hall where they were kept, but no one had ever pointed them out to me, nor did I notice any glass cases with these pieces. I soon learned that the reason I had never seen them was because they were not on display all the time. What a shame!

After my second year here, the news came that Gilman was to undergo a three-year, $73 million renovation which would include an archaeological museum! I saw mock drawings, building plans, and articles in the Gazette that talked about what was in store for the building.

A year and a half ago, it was time to reopen Gilman Hall. I couldn’t have been more excited to check out the new museum, and FINALLY meet the mysterious mummy that I had heard so much about. My first trip to the archaeological museum was fantastic! Sanchita Balachandran, Curator/Conservator of the museum and lecturer in Near Eastern Studies, took us on a tour and told us about the vast collection. She talked about hands-on work she had been doing with current students, and told us about Director Dr. Bryan’s work with specific artifacts.

With pieces from ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, the Near East, and the ancient Americas, the installation showcases almost 700 objects. These pieces, in addition to those still being sorted and cataloged, have come from a variety of different places—some have been purchased by the university, some gifted by prominent Baltimoreans, others donated by alumni, and others put on loan for us to identify, study, research, and display.  The museum also has an extraordinary loan of over 2,000 ancient Egyptian objects from Eton College in Windsor, England, as well as objects from the Baltimore Museum of Art, in addition to the Egyptian mummy from Goucher College.

The museum has not only done an excellent job of making the pieces in the museum accessible, but it has also done phenomenal work in conservation (just take a look at http://archaeologicalmuseum.jhu.edu/the-collection/conservation/ to see items restored or cleaned…it’s amazing!)

Here are a few highlights on what type of pieces are currently being studied:

• A Roman Lead Curse Tablet – We currently have a collection of lead tablets, all written by the same person, which curses five other individuals. One of the curses recently placed on view at the museum calls on the gods to destroy a man named Plotius with debilitating fevers, promising gifts in return if the curse is successful.
• Attic Red-Figure Vases – In the spring of 2011, Hopkins professor Alan Shapiro of the Classics Department conducted a course on these vases. It gave students the opportunity to examine the pieces, dive into their history, and create informational texts to be displayed along with them, allowing the public to more fully understand their purpose.
• An Unpublished Magic Spell from Late Antiquity – One of our Johns Hopkins professors, Theodore Lewis who teaches Aramaic at Johns Hopkins, and his graduate students were able to translate the text from a piece of an incantation bowl. They found that it was asking to ward off evil spirits from a person’s home!
• Archaeology of Daily Life - Hérica Valladares, a professor in the Classics Department at Johns Hopkins, created an undergraduate research seminar to “stimulate innovative research through the close study of objects.” In this seminar, students studied pieces that were used in the daily lives of people, as well as those that depict what daily life was like.

When Daniel Coit Gilman created Johns Hopkins University, his main goal was advancing knowledge through research and scholarship, so that this knowledge could then be spread to the world. (Click here to learn more about his vision.) As you can see, the new archaeological museum on campus has done just this! It has provided great opportunities for students at both the graduated and undergraduate level to learn through hands on experiences and share their findings.

When you visit campus next, be sure to stop by our archaeological museum (http://archaeologicalmuseum.jhu.edu/)— it is open Monday-Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and the outside cases can be viewed anytime the building is open. There’s no excuse not to visit!