Final Wait List Update: 2008

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A final wait list update for Fall 2008 has been posted to our Wait List Discussion Thread on the Hopkins Forums. Click here to access the post and the full discussion thread.

During this week the Admissions Committee has met and made final decisions regarding the wait list for the Class of 2012. For those students who sent back the blue postcard and decided to “remain on the wait list” you will be receiving correspondence through email and postal mail shortly. The emails were sent today (July 1st) and the letters will be in the mail tomorrow.

If you have been keeping up with this wait list discussion thread you will know that in May we admitted a small handful of students off the wait list (approximately 40 total students). Since then the Admissions teams has been very methodical and carefully tracking the size of the enrolling class. Though we had anticipated much more fluctuation this year then in years past due to the volume of wait list movement by our peers, in the end our class size has not dropped below our enrollment goals. Therefore the decision was made not to admit any more students off the wait list at this time.

The vast majority of you who remained on our wait list will be receiving correspondence that states we currently do not intend on admitting any additional students from the wait list this year and that we have now met our enrollment target for the fall. This is our wait list release letter and though a disappointment, it does end the waiting process. We wish you the best in your college career and appreciate the interest you showed in Hopkins.

A small handful of those students who remained on the wait list (~100+) will receive a slightly different correspondence. This group of students was selected by the Admissions Committee to receive an offer to remain on an extended summer wait list. This letter states that although we have met our enrollment targets, in the event that space might become available, we will consider the students on this extended wait list. For those selecting to remain on the extended summer wait list from this group, an official final decision will be rendered no later than July 31st.

Two important things to note about the extended summer wait list: (1) the chances for admission remain slim and only will occur in the rare cases that more spaces become available. And (2) the Admissions Committee selects the students to be offered a spot on the extended summer wait list, it is not something a wait listed student may request.

Regarding notification: As I stated above our notifications were sent via email and postal mail. If you did not receive an email on or around July 1st, then we ask that you wait for the postal mail. If by July 10th you have not received any notification, then you will need to call the Admissions Office at 410-516-8171 to check on your status. We are unable to confirm wait list status through email or these forums.

Finally, I hope all this makes sense. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to post them on this forum. We understand that this process can be frustrating and at times the waiting seems as if we were “stringing you along.” We appreciate your patience, and assure you that the time line was necessitated by our need to be careful and methodical in our decisions. Every year these decisions are quite difficult to make, and I hope you understand how much we agonize over these decisions. Best of luck to each and every one of you.

If you have any questions, please post them to the Wait List Discussion Thread.

Updates 2.0

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Lots been going on this week, so instead of being miserable watching my mediocre NY Mets lose to the Atlanta Braves once again, I have devoted this evening to providing you all with some important updates. It would be easy for me to start this blog entry with some traditional popular culture references … such as how I am not sure if I can wait any longer for the season finale of LOST next Thursday … or how I think my addiction to Grand Theft Auto 4 has become a full blown illness … or how I look forward to a double feature of summer movies over Memorial Day weekend (Iron Man and Indiana 4) … or how I really hope the NHL Stanley Cup series between Pittsburgh and Detroit is as amazing a series as it is set-up to be … but instead of elaborating on these topics I am going to go straight to the updates. So without further adieu…

TRANSFER DECISIONS UPDATE

As of late this afternoon (Wednesday, May 21), transfer admissions decisions have been released. In the morning, the Transfer Admissions Committee confirmed decisions on the just over 730 applications for Fall 2008 admissions, with just under 70 students being admitted. Decision letters were dropped off at the Baltimore post office at just around 4:00pm and a little while after that decision emails were sent to those applicants who provided a working email address with their application.

Congratulations to those admitted transfer students, and as mentioned in the last two Insider Blog updates, we hope you will use the new Transfer Exchange section of the Hopkins Forums to ask questions and obtain useful information. JHU_Tanya and the other JHU Transfer Buddies are a great source of information as you make the decision whether to “stay or go.”

To those not admitted, we understand your disappointment. Applying as a transfer student to Hopkins is quite competitive, especially since we have so little room in the class for transfer students. We wish you the best of luck with your continued college search.

Finally, for those who did not receive a decision email, please note that just like with the release of freshman decisions we are unable to re-send decision emails. You will need to wait for your decision to arrive via the postal mail. The Admissions Office will begin to receive phone calls starting next Tuesday (May 27) for those who would like decisions to be released over the phone. Note that the Admissions Office is closed on Thursday for Commencement and next Monday for Memorial Day, and on this Friday are unable to discuss transfer decisions over the phone.

WAIT LIST UPDATE

Not much new news to report from what I wrote on May 9th. The number of offers of admissions to wait list students this year stands at just about 30 students. We continue to be deliberate about our choices on whether or not we need to admit additional students from the wait list. All signs currently point to either a small handful of additional offers in the next week or no additional offers at this time. I wish I had more to report, but nothing has been finalized. Continue to check the Wait List Discussion Thread for any additional news.

What ever decisions we make in the next week or so, it is apparent that we will once again choose to release the majority of our wait list some time in early June. Additionally, we will most likely decide to hold a small percentage of students on an extended summer wait list. For details on how the summer wait list works, I suggest reading this update post from last year. Continued patience is much appreciated.

COMMENCEMENT 2008

In just about 7 hours from now I will be arriving at the Homewood campus to volunteer for Commencement 2008. I have the fantastic job of driving around campus in a golf cart to help people get from one place to another during the busy day of Commencement activities. This is actually my first ever Commencement day at Hopkins, because this time of year I am usually on vacation in the Bahamas. Come to think of it, this is actually the first graduation I will ever attend since entering the field of college admissions ten years ago. I am happy that I am able to attend this year, as the Class of 2008 is the first class at Hopkins that I was involved with the admissions selection process. There are some amazing students graduating tomorrow, ones that will truly be missed.

One of the cool things about the Hopkins Commencement ceremonies is that there is a live webcast. If interested, and have some free time on Thursday … check it out.

GO HOPKINS GO!!!

Besides Commencement ceremonies, the Memorial Day weekend is a huge one for Hopkins fans. Both the Men’s Lacrosse team and the Men’s Baseball team will be vying for National Championships this weekend.

The Men’s Baseball team has made it to their second Division III World Series in school history. On Friday in Appleton, WI the baseball team will take on Adrian with hopes in remaining in the winner’s bracket and having the chance to host the trophy on May 26th. Stay updated here.

The Men’s Lacrosse team makes another appearance in the LAX Final Four, this year held at Gillette Stadium in New England. On Saturday, Hopkins faces nemesis Duke in one of the two semifinal games, with the hope that we can repeat our success from the 2005 and 2007 Final Fours by beating Duke once again. If so, then we face the UVA vs. Syracuse champion on Memorial Day. Can you say 3 championships in 4 years??? Fingers crossed. Watch all the excitement on ESPN2 or keep updated here.

I’ll be back next week with additional updates if available, and hopefully some great pictures from Commencement and maybe a couple of National Championships too.

Update Time: Wait List News / Transfer Happenings / and LOST Theories

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"It’s May … I am not supposed to be busy."

This is what I keep saying to myself. After the fury of February (finishing first reads), the mayhem of March (committee reviews), and the abundance of April (tons of visitors and events), — [you all like that alliteration, huh?] — the month of May is supposed to be my down time. However, this year it does not seem to be going that way. My spring travel was quite busy (details to follow soon) and now it is past 7:00pm on Friday evening and I am still at work.

Why is this you ask? Well, because after a busy day it is time to provide updates to some of my readers … namely (1) those on the wait list; (2) those who applied for transfer admissions; and (3) those who are fanatics for LOST like me. So without further adieu … it is update time:

WAIT LIST UPDATE

This afternoon (Friday, May 9), the Admissions Committee contacted approximately 30 students who had selected to remain on the Johns Hopkins wait list and offered them a spot in the JHU Class of 2012. Congratulations goes out to those students and we hope you all choose to attend. The Class of 2012 is shaping up to be one of our best ever, and we feel those selected today will make a great addition.

For the rest of you, please understand this is just step one in our process. Because you were not contacted today does not mean you will not be offered a spot in the class in the future. As always, we are quite deliberate in our process regarding the wait list. Everything is tied to the number of students in the enrolling class, and at this time we have slightly surpassed our 1235 enrollment target. Despite being slightly above our target, the Admissions Committee decided today to admit a handful of students off the wait list to increase our enrollment slightly and to protect against the "summer melt." (Don’t know what summer melt is click here.)

I said it last year and will said it again this year … we have not in the past, and will not this year make any rash decisions. Over the next few weeks, the staff will continue to monitor the numbers and discuss wait list issues. We may decide to admit another round of students off the wait list, or we may determine that the class is sealed. We could also choose to select some students for an extended summer wait list and release all the others. There are a number of options available to us, and we will continue to discuss all of them in relation to our enrollment figures over the coming days and weeks. We hope to have finalized all decisions about the wait list by mid-June. Once we have reached a decision, all students who selected to remain on the wait list will be notified by mail or email.

What we ask of you all now is PATIENCE. We respect and understand the frustration that comes with being asked to wait, and we are placing as much urgency on these wait list questions as possible. However, this takes time. In addition to your patience, we request that you refrain from contacting us to ask about your individual status on the wait list. As I have stated on the Wait List Discussion Thread, we do not rank our wait list. Therefore, we can not field questions from wait listed students requesting an individual assessment of one’s chances of being admitted off the wait list. Your patience and restraint will be appreciated, and once an update is available I will post again.

TRANSFER APPLICATION UPDATE

The transfer student is the forgotten student when it comes to the Hopkins Insider blog, but I hope that such impressions will change with a few of the initiatives we will launch in the coming weeks. Before we get to that announcement, let me provide you all with a brief update as to where we stand with regards to transfer applications.

The Transfer Review Committee is nearly completion of the first-read evaluations of the over 700 completed transfer applications we received this year. This is a consistent total of applications for the last few years, and based on reviews the quality is on par with the previous years as well. Over the next couple of weeks the committee will be continuing the evaluation process and the plan is to release decisions by the end of May. No official date has been selected yet, as the official number of transfer students we can admit is tied to a number of issues revolving around the overall enrollment of the school.

As always, at this stage in the transfer review process the discussion is as much about the quality of each individual applicant and the fit of each applicant to Hopkins, as it is about the overall number of admits we can offer. The enrolling freshmen class size, retention rates, housing spaces, academic distribution of programs, and a number of other factors all tie into our decision making process. So there are a lot of numbers that will be figured out in the coming weeks — but rest assured the Transfer Review Committee is hard at work.

Now for the exciting news …

Last year I began to outreach a bit to transfer students with my "Ode to the Transfer Applicant" blog entry. I confessed in that entry though that since I am not part of the Transfer Admissions Review Committee I have little information to supply to prospective transfer students and applicants. I do the best I can and reference my colleagues often, but my focus is elsewhere in the office. But through the extremely hard work of a current transfer student at Hopkins, Tanya Lukasik, we have number of initiatives through Hopkins Interactive for transfer students.

First, in the next few days I will posting a special Guest Author entry from Tanya discussing the transfer process through her experiences. I think you will all enjoy this entry and learn a lot from her. Stay tuned.

Second, we launched today the Transfer Exchange section of the Hopkins Forums. Now transfer students have their own discussion thread to ask questions of Admissions and more importantly connect with and get advice with current students at Hopkins who successfully navigated the transfer process. Check back over the next few days as we expand this new forum section and as the "Transfer Buddies" are introduced. As always, ask your questions there for quick responses … and if you have any feedback share it with us.

More to follow …

LOST FANS READ ON

For those of you who read the Insider blog just for the updates on Hopkins and Admissions you may want to stop reading and move on to something more of interest to you on the Internet. For the rest of you who enjoying the random ramblings of Admissions_Daniel at times … oh do I have a doozy of an update for you today. After last night’s episode of LOST I have figured out the central mystery behind the show and specifically the Island. Yes, yours truly has figured it out. Curious? Well read on …

The Island is … wait for it … wait for it … The Island is THE HOLY GRAIL. Huh? Yes, my theory (as of right now) is that the Island is some form of mythical holy grail tied to eternal life that must be protected at all costs and against all invaders. The "Others" supposedly led by the mysterious Jacob, the ageless Richard, and the African with the piercing eyes are the hereditary knights enslaved in all eternity to protect the grail and its powers. These "Others" recruit new followers such as Ben and now Locke to protect the mysteries of the Island and its amazing healing powers. There have been many threats to the Island like the Dharma Initiative and currently with Mr. Whitmore, those who hope to unlock the powers of the Island/Grail and use them for personal gain. Add to the theory the mystery of how the certain "dead" people — Jack/Claire’s Dad, Charlie, the Mathematician, etc. (maybe even Claire herself) — are also protecting the mysticism of the Island.

OK, clearly this is a far-fetched theory, but last night I thought I had solved the puzzle and was so excited. My theory has more holes than a pound of swiss cheese, but that is why I love this show. After every episode you are more LOST than ever and more ADDICTED than ever. I actually thought today over lunch that maybe the reason I came up with those whole Holy Grail theory is because I have been watching too much old Indiana Jones films (and the Young Indiana Jones series) and also just recently saw the Da Vinici code again. Whatever the reason, throw my theory in the mix … who knows I could be right.

And finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t somehow tie this discussion of LOST back to Hopkins. In the shower today I actually had an epiphany … LOST = Hopkins. See one of the underlying themes of the LOST mythology is a battle of faith/theology (present in Locke) versus science/reason (present in Jack). These two ideologies are constantly in battle on the Island, and it seems that one of the end conclusions is that no one theory is correct but rather science and faith must co-exist. This being true, where else does science and faith co-exist … well simple … at Hopkins.

See at Hopkins we have our Natural Science and Engineering students who base their conclusions on facts and proofs. On the same campus, in the same classrooms, and in the same housing and dining facilities are the Humanities and Social Sciences students who believe in a more philosophical and theoretical approach to understanding. And what makes Hopkins great is that they co-exist and intermingle.

OK, that was even cheesier than my LOST = Holy Grail theory … but you know this is my blog … this is my "bully pulpit" … and I can share on occasion some of the crazy ideas that run threw my simple mind. I hope you enjoyed these ramblings, and if you have your own theories or just want to crush and ridicule my thoughts … use the comments section.

I am off to enjoy my weekend finally … HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY. And go Hopkins Lacrosse … beat Hofstra (PLEASE!!!).

The Waiting Process

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I find myself in a very similar place as I was this past Monday when I last posted. Except for now I am in Greenfield, M.A. not Portsmouth, N.H. … I just finished a lackluster college fair not a successful one … and the weather is sunny yet cold, not very cold / very windy / and very rainy as it was earlier this week. (Speaking of weather, they still have SNOW up here in New England and it is May.) Despite these exceptions, there are similarities to my current situation and that of a few days ago.

Mainly, I sit here with an hour or so of free contemplation time (a true rarity for me) and I am also eagerly anticipating getting lost into a television show which will be on at 10pm. (Get it … lost in a TV show … yes LOST is on in less than 60 minutes.) So with this small window of opportunity, I thought I would provide an update addressing the second audience I spoke of in my last post … The Wait Listed.

Today is May 1st. In the world of college admissions that is one of those milestone dates. This is the day when all the admitted students must have made their decision of where they will be attending school in the fall. It is also a big date for students who are on a wait list, because now questions about enrollment, class size, and space availability can be addressed. In speaking with a few colleagues over dinner last night it seems that some schools have actually decided to start admitting students off their wait list even before May 1st. With all that in mind, I thought I would dedicate my first Hopkins Insider entry to the Wait Listed Students of the 2008 application cycle.

As far as an update, there really is not much to say. As of right now (the evening of May 1st), the Johns Hopkins Admissions Committee has made no decision about whether we will need to admit students off our wait list. Some may ask why is that, especially since other schools have made wait list decisions already. The simple answer is that we are very DELIBERATE in any decisions that we make about the enrollment of our class. We are not swayed by decisions made by other colleges and universities, as we focus solely on our own admissions numbers.

At this time it is too early for us to determine the current enrolling size of our class. May 1st is a postmark date for candidate reply forms, and since many students this year waited until the last minute to send out their responses, it will take a few days (even possibly a few weeks) for all the decisions reply forms to be received and processed. So for that reason alone we need to wait as we just don’t know the accurate number of enrolling students we have received for the Class of 2012.

Many questions about the wait list and our process abound this time of year, and to help answer those question, I created earlier in April a Wait List Discussion Thread on the Hopkins Forums.

Click here to access the Wait List Discussion Thread

I hope that the information on that FAQ list is helpful, and please ask additional questions if you have them.

So basically, my message to the wait listed right now is to … just wait. Hang in there. Be patient. I know that is not the news you want to hear at this moment, but unfortunately that is all I can share right now. As soon as I can, I will update the blog again with any wait list news. Also, remember to bookmark the Wait List Discussion Thread on the Hopkins Forums, as any useful information will always be posted there first.

Live Blogging on RD Notification Day (2008)

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Good morning all. I’ve been up for about 15 minutes and I am refreshed. I didn’t think I would be able to write that after the mayhem of the last two weeks, but I actually got 8 hours of sleep last night. I don’t think my bed has ever felt more comfortable.

This is the start of my live blogging of the Regular Decision notification release day. There is a lot of tasks on my “to do” list today, but I will try to update frequently throughout the day to let you know how everything is going. I need to go SHAVE (!!!), shower, and then head in to the office. For the mean time, I recommend you go back and read (or re-read) my post from yesterday detailing the entire process for the release of decisions (I’ve added photos):

Breaking News: Decisions to be Released March 28

Be back later!

Posted at 6:30am, March 28, 2008

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Quick update time. I got in to the office at around 7:30am and I must say I was suprised by one thing — the sun was out! If you have read previous decision release “live blogging” entries, it seems each morning has always been a bit gloomy and a bit foggy. Today, though it is partially cloudy (or partially sunny) and a bit chilly, there was still spring sunshine and buds on the trees.

I dropped my stuff at my desk and then headed up to the third floor in Mason Hall where the other “early birds” were finishing stuffing folders. For the next three hours we have been busy stuffing the final financial aid packets, pulling international decisions so that we can affix special mailing information, and STAMPING. Yes it takes close to three hours with about 10 people to stamp everything.

With that being said, I need to get back to work. I thought I would leave you all with something that always makes me smile. Enjoy:

Posted at 10:35am, March 28, 2008

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Hey all … I am not neglecting the updates. I have just been busy the last few hours … O.K., honestly I have been procrastinating and chatting with two amazing freshmen students, JHU_Jessica and JHU_Lauren. I will be updating in a while, I promise. Enjoy the pictures for now.

Posted at 5:35pm, March 28, 2008

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So I know that the live blogging wasn’t as frequent as in the past, but I needed to take some time off this afternoon after we mailed all the decisions. It has been a crazy couple of weeks, and my brain and body needed to relax for a while. I have returned home and have gotten confirmation that the emails are being sent. Before I provide a re-cap of the days events, I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU ALL TO RE-READ MY POST FROM YESTERDAY REGARDING THE RELEASE OF REGULAR DECISION NOTIFICATIONS:

Breaking News: Decisions to be Released March 28

Answers to the majority of your questions are posted there, including details about what happens if you do not receive a decision email.

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So beginning after my last significant update (10:35 am this morning), here is what transpired — and yes I will reference the photos above.

10:35 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – After updating I decided to step outside for a fresh breathe of air and I had the camera so I took a nice shot of Mason Hall (pic1). It has been a much easier process this year in the new building … much more space leads to a better flow to the process. After some air it was back to stamping (pic2). It costs more than $4 per priority mail envelope.

12:00 – 1:00 p.m. – The sealing commences. Everything is stuffed, everything is stamped, and Dean of Admissions Dr. John Latting (background of pic5) confirms that all decisions are final. The sealing of the envelopes (pics 4 & 5) will take about an hour. As the sealing moves along all the packets are stuffed into mail bins (pic 6). Time to load the cars!!!

1:00 – 1:15 p.m. - I head to my office to get my car keys and look out my window to see 7 tours of prospective students (pic 3). The circle of Admissions … high school juniors beginning the process as high school seniors are finishing up.

It takes four SUVs (including my brand new Chevy Trailblazer (pic7)) to hold all 16,001 decisions. It is a tight squeeze (pics 8 & 9 & 11). Uh oh, don’t forget one (pic 10).

1:15 – 1:25 p.m. – The drive down I-83 to the main Baltimore postal center. Nice artistic side mirror photos thanks to Shannon (pics 12 & 13).

1:25 – 1:35 p.m. - The unloading of tons of bins of mail at the Baltimore postal center. It is a work-out but we get it done quickly, and turn everything over to the U.S. Postal Service. At 1:35 p.m. … WE ARE DONE. The decisions are out of our hands.

1:37 p.m. - Uh oh!!! The caravan of three SUVs are pulled over by the U.S. Postal Service police (pic 14). We are a bit nervous, but it turns out that we were just using the wrong exit. Whew … that was a close one.

1:50 p.m. – Back in the office. The majority of the staff heads home to rest and enjoy the rest of the day off. I bunker down with Jessica and Lauren working on updating the Hopkins Forums and our Facebook groups. We procrastinate a bit (the three of us need it). Thanks to both of them for keeping me going today.

5:35 p.m. – I update the blog quickly … end the procrastinating … confirm that the Admitted Student Web site is launched … and confirm that the email process will begin sometime in the 6 to 7 o’clock hour. I pack up and head home for the evening.

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Breaking News: Decisions to Be Released March 28

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As promised here is the most up-to-date news regarding the release of Regular Decision notifications …

Johns Hopkins University will release regular decision notifications
on Friday, March 28.

Please check back later tonight for full details on the process of releasing decisions. I need to go assist with the confirming of decisions and the stuffing and sealing process. But I will return with a list of FAQs and answers, plus some pictures.

Posted at 6:08pm, Thursday, March 27

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Our hard work these last couple of weeks and especially these past 24 hours has paid off, and as the introduction to this blog states, we will be releasing regular decision notifications tomorrow. There is still a lot to be done tonight (LATE tonight) and throughout tomorrow, but the class is set, decisions are sealed, and the end process has begun in earnest. As has become tradition, the majority of the Admissions staff is staying late and we have recruited a cadre of amazing students to help with all the final steps before the packets and decision letters are ready to be dropped off at the post office. I am taking a break from the mayhem, since I know so many of you have been refreshing the Hopkins Insider blog for the most up-to-date information.

This process typically leads to a ton of questions, so I have compiled the following Frequently Asked Questions (with answers obviously) to cut down on any confusion. PLEASE READ THIS BLOG CAREFULLY.

Decisions are complete, so can I call now and get my decision?
NO!!! Please do not call us tomorrow (Friday) regarding your decision or anything related to the release of decision notifications. The entire Admissions staff will be extremely busy preparing the mailing, that we will not be able to field any questions regarding the release of decisions, and we will absolutely not release any decisions over the phone tomorrow.

How will decisions be released?
By mail: We will release decisions the same way we have done for the past three years. First thing tomorrow morning the staff will finish stuffing packets, sealing the last decision letters, and then stuff everything in mail bins. All decision letters (admits, wait lists, and denies) will be taken to the main Baltimore postal center. All decisions will enter the postal system by the close of business on Friday.

By email: As we have done in the past, in the evening we will also be releasing decision notifications via email. NO OFFICIAL TIME HAS BEEN SET YET. In the past we have sent decisions at 6:00 p.m. EDT and we hope to be able to do the same this Friday. The emails are released later in the day because we feel that receiving your college admissions decision should be a personal experience that you share with yourself and your family. We prefer students not receive decisions during the middle of the school day, so we wait until the majority of our applicants are out of school.

Can I check my decision online?
Johns Hopkins University does not have an online system for the release of admissions decisions.

Can I call the Admissions Office to receive my decision over the phone?
Decisions will not be released over the phone until Tuesday, April 1st. At that time, if you have not received your admissions notification you can call the Admissions Office. Please be aware, when we do begin to release decisions over the phone, 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 identify of the caller can be reasonably assured.

Regarding the emailed decisions, what will be the subject line?
We do not release the “subject lines” of our email decisions in advance. The content of these emails will change year-to-year.

What happens if I do not receive an email decision on Friday?
If an applicant does not receive an email there a couple of 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 emails 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 after April 1st. Every year some email notifications just don’t work. The reasons for an applicant not receiving an email notification include that there was no email provided on the student’s application, the email provided on the application is no longer active, there was a SPAM filter blocking the message, or some error occurred that caused a bounce-back. WE ARE UNABLE TO RE-SEND EMAILS. Once again, in such situations the applicant must wait and we do appreciate your patience.

I applied to the biomedical engineering program, will I receive that decision via email as well?
Decisions about acceptance into the biomedical engineering (BME) major are departmental decisions and therefore we do not release such information through email or over the phone. All applicants who applied to the BME program will learn of their decision when they receive their acceptance packages.

I applied Early Decision, was admitted, but my decision about the biomedical engineering program was deferred. How will I receive my final BME decision?
Those decision letters will be mailed tomorrow. We can not release those decisions through email or over the phone.

How do I learn about my financial aid package?
Financial aid awards for those who completed their financial aid application will be included in the acceptance packet. You will also be able to check your award by logging into your ISIS account. If you have any questions or need access to ISIS, please contact the Office of Student Financial Services.

What about scholarship notifications and notifications about the Woodrow Wilson research fellowship?
These decisions are included in acceptance packets only. We do not release that information through email or over the phone.

I hope this update and FAQ list helps clear up any confusion. I will upload pictures later this evening when I have a chance to locate my camera cord. While you wait for tomorrow, if you want to procrastinate a bit more read the past decision release blog entries:

December 14, 2007: Class of 2012 Decision Release (ED)

March 28, 2007: Class of 2011 Decision Release (RD)

December 15, 2006: Class of 2011 Decision Release (ED)

March 30, 2006: Class of 2010 Decision Release (RD)

December 15, 2005: Class of 2010 Decision Release (ED)

Live blogging tomorrow … now I am off to finish helping my colleagues, head home, prepare the shaving kit, and get a good night sleep.

Photo Captions (top –> down):

1. The Start of the day: the bins wait all the stuffing to come.
2. Middle of the day: lots of hands doing lots of work. The process of dropping the correct letters and financial aid packages.
3. Another Stage of Confirming: this is the third and final check that the right letters will go to the right people.
4. Late in the Evening: everyone is still going strong.
5. Students are Amazing: With out the help of our great students we probably wouldn’t mail until the middle of April.
6. Done for the Night: the bins are stuffed and now wait for the morning to be stuffed and sealed.

Update: Where We At Now?

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It’s just past 10:00pm on Wednesday evening (March 26) and I am still in the office. I am actually here catching up on a number of non-admissions decision related projects. As well, there are a number of the great students from Hopkins Interactive throughout Mason Hall working with me to complete a few special “surprise” projects for the coming month. I thought before I head home for the night (and what has become the traditional 3-4 hour nap before a shower and return to the office) I’d provide a quick update on the status of regular decision notifications.

Status Update: We are close to being finished, but we are not yet done. More importantly, I unfortunately have no new update on the decision mail date. I hope to be able to post tomorrow with that information, but we just are not there yet. I appreciate all of your patience, and as I have said over and over again … when the decision release date becomes official I will update you all.

Since my last post, so much has been going on that I thought I would share some new pictures from the past 24 hours, and once again provide descriptive captions.

Photo #1: SO MUCH MAIL. The letters have continued to pile up … there is a lot that goes into 16,001 decisions.

Photo #2: DRAWER CHECKS. This is the most crucial step. Here teams of 3 work to confirm each and every decision. We need to check the letters with each file.

Photo #3: MORE DRAWER CHECKS. It takes an entire day with everyone on board to go through all the files. While this is going on the Director is meeting with certain members of the Admissions Committee finalizing those last decisions. Even though the drawer checks are going on, the class is still not complete.

Photo #4: THE MAIL ROOM SLEEPS. All action has ceased for the evening as the staff went home to rest. (Maybe I should do that too). An eerie site to behold.

Photo #5: THE ACTION WILL RESUME SOON. The file room awaits the mayhem to commence again on Thursday morning. So much to do, so little time.

I am off to finish up my work, head home, see who got kicked off of American Idol and Big Brother, listen to the “Once” soundtrack and try to get a good night sleep – until the alarm clock goes off at 4:45am.

Check back tomorrow for the best update I will be able to provide …

Update: Where We At?

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N.B. Just to let you all know I posted a blog entry over the weekend, but due to a dumb mistake on my part it never posted (I “saved as draft” instead of “posted”). That is fixed right now, and I encourage you all to scroll down to read the March 22 entry, or just click here: REBOOT: H.I. Version 3.0 Arrives.
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O.K., let’s get this out of the way right away … many (yes, many many many) of you are asking in every forum available when will regular decision notifications be mailed??? Here is the up-to-the-minute update … WHEN WE ARE DONE.

As of the early morning of Tuesday, March 25th we are still thoroughly working. Therefore our answer to the above question is that the release of decisions will occur prior to April 1st. We have been working endless hours these past few weeks to finish the class. Some of you have insinuated that we are dragging our feet … in no way is that true. This process needs to be PERFECT, and the finishing touches to the class are always thought over and discussed in the most meticulous fashion.

I miss my bed … Soze is on vacation with my family right now so the ASPCA does not come and take him away from me for neglect … I celebrated my birthday this past weekend for a grand total of 4 hours … I haven’t watched a new movie in three weeks (Ahhh!) … My eyes hurt … My brain hurts … I am close to running on empty, just as all my colleagues are. But it is all worth it. This year is a record year for us and one of the most impressive applicant pools any of us have ever seen. Just another reason for us to be as deliberate as we are being right now.

As soon as I have an update on the release of RD notifications I will update this blog, so check back over the next few days. If you are interested, check the blog entries from this time last year for a pseudo-preview of what is to come: March 2007 Hopkins Insider Blog entries. (For a more recent decision release entry, check out the entry from December 14, 2007 regarding ED Notification Day.)

Below I have added some pictures of the state of affairs in Mason Hall as of Tuesday morning, but before checking them out please read this caveat … DECISIONS ARE NOT DONE YET!!! Yes, we are generating letters galore as you can see, but that does not mean the class is sealed and all decisions are finalized. Due to the volume of letters we need to mail on decision release day, our Operations team must begin the process as early as possible. So these pictures are of our staging areas. Not sure I can say this any clearer … do not read anything in to these pictures. We are not mailing today … we are not mailing tomorrow … etc. etc. etc.

PICTURE CAPTIONS (from left to right, top row to bottom row):

(1) The main file room has become a massive staging area for our admit packets. (2) Another angle of the massive collection of collapsible bins with application packets ready to get stuffed. (3) Letters galore. (4) More letters. (5) Even more letters and mail bins. (6) Yes, there is a lot of paper involved in this process. (7) The state of my desk … a slight improvement from last week, but still a mess. (8) A box of discarded rosters … a lot of work took place to get that box filled. (9) My dream button … I wish I could just push it and we’d be done … but there are no easy roads.

This entry is the best update I can provide at this time. So please just be patient, and stop asking when decisions will be released. We will let you know, as soon as we set the date. Thank you for your patience.

Swamped … Overwhelmed … Engrossed

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Take a look at these pictures:

‘

That is the state of the Admissions Office right now. Actually it is our Committee Room as of Saturday morning (March 15). It may not look like much, but this is just one of many scenes of the hard work going on right now. We are swamped … we are overwhelmed … we are engrossed … we are any other descriptive word that symbolizes a state of busyness at the highest level. Oh yeah, and we are inundated with files, rosters, and extremely difficult decisions.

Committee time is upon us, and as I mentioned last week this process is more daunting and difficult than it ever has been. From now until the end of the month, my colleagues and I are spending 7 days a week in the office, working way past the normal 8 hours a day, and are feeling all the weight of this incredibly difficult process. Thankfully, there is the slightest light at the end of the tunnel … or is that just the glare of my alarm clock red light telling me it is time to wake up and get back to the office.

Here are some more pictures that I think display the mayhem:

Anyone who knows me, or has read this blog for a while, knows that I am a very, very, very organized person and keep a very tidy office. Well that was the state of my office on Friday. Files, papers, rosters … EVERYWHERE. I actually walked in after a staff meeting and almost fainted. Having an office this messy is not conducive to my mental health … so after taking the pictures I attempted to organize as best as possible and then move on to my next project.

Speaking of my mental health, I am really not sure how I am still standing after the weak I have had. As I right this blog at 1:00am on Saturday evening / Sunday morning, I just looked back at my daily to do lists for the past week.

Monday: In the office at 6:45am … Responding to emails, work on planning some Engineering events, meet with some students about communicating with admitted students in April, Counseling Team meeting, Meet with Dean of Admissions John Latting to discuss Engineering numbers and BME selection, Web site work … home by 7:00pm … in bed at 12:15am.

Tuesday: In the office at 5:30am … Responding to emails, some more Engineering work, some video work, Committee work for 5 hours, Senior Staff meeting, 7 phone calls with New England college counselors, meeting with students interested in helping with Engineering projects, more Committee work for a couple of hours … home by 8:00pm … in bed at 11:45pm.

Wednesday: In the office at 6:00am … Committee work throughout the whole morning / early afternoon, Westgate scholarship selection until 5pm, weekly meeting with Student Advisory Board … home by 8:00pm … in bed at 1:15am.

Thursday: In the office at 7:00am … More Westgate scholarship selection and even more Committee work, lots of emails to respond to, 14 more phone calls with New England college counselors, some spring travel planning, more Web site design work, endless roster work … home by 7:00pm … LOST at 9:00pm … in bed at 10:30pm. (Easy day???)

Friday: In the office at 3:30am (NO JOKE) … emails, phone calls, rosters, committee work, Web site work, Engineering work, meetings with the Director, final scholarship selections, etc. etc. etc. Honestly, the day was one of the most difficult in my time in Admissions and I think I have blocked it out of my mind … home by 8:15pm … bed at 9:30pm (actually I feel asleep on the couch).

So in the end I hope this entry reveals that we are working hard, and we do not take our jobs lightly. In fact, this afternoon I was able to step away from the Committee Room for a couple of hours to watch the Hopkins Men’s Lacrosse team play Syracuse:

Unfortunately, the team lost in OT, our second straight OT loss. The weather was beautiful though and it was nice to get some fresh air.

It is now 1:30am and I plan to be in the office around 7:00am on Sunday morning. So it is bed time for me … and hopefully some pleasant dreams that have nothing to do with college admissions.

Micro-Blogging on ED Notification Day (2007)

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It has been tradition over the last few years that on the momentous decision notification days for Early Decision and Regular Decision that the Hopkins Insider features a daily log of the process. After reading JHU_Laura’s most recent blog entry, I thought I would also attempt to experiment with “micro-blogging” throughout the day. I sort-of attempted this last year on ED Notification day, however I compiled a summary report and then technical difficulties led to the blog being posted late. My attempts worked better for RD notification day, thankfully. So check back frequently today, and I hope you enjoy the tales of Admissions Daniel on Early Decision Notification day for the JHU Class of 2012 …

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December 14, 2007

5:45am – Beep, Beep, Beep, BEEP, BEEP … The alarm clock blares. I’ve got time for one Snooze.

5:55am – Beep, Beep … O.K. one more Snooze.

5:57am - Lick, Lick, Lick … stop Soze, I’m tired. Alright, I’m up. Time to walk the dog. Where’s that leash?

6:01am – Wow, the dreary weather this week in Baltimore continues. The fog is really thick, there is a slick coat of freezing rain on everything, and it is a mix of bitter cold and humid at the same time. Is that possible? Wow, shorts and slippers for the morning walk was not a good idea. Thankfully, Soze does his business quick. (Oddly last year there was a thick fog for ED notification day too.)

6:07am – The tradition continues. For the last four years on the first day of ED reading I stop shaving and grow a beard. And then on notification day the beard comes off. I start again once I commence reading RD applications and shave again on RD notification day. I know it is a bit strange, but you have to keep with traditions, like professional sports players wearing the same socks. The shaving of the beard is actually a lot of fun … and when I am done my cheeks feel like a baby’s bottom.

6:13am – Shaving complete. Time for the breakfast of champions (Cheerios – yeah!) and some early morning reading (the George Mitchell report on Steroids in Baseball – boo!). As well, in the background on all three TVs in my house each morning is the Mike and Mike in the Morning radio show on ESPN2. My day can not start with out the opinions of the best sports radio hosts in the country.

6:35am - Shower, get dressed and the rest of the morning routine.

6:50am - One last walk for Soze and time to head into the office.

Be Back Later!

Picture Guide: (1) The eerie morning … looks like something out of Poltergeist. (2) The beard is gone. (3) Yes I did clean my sink afterward. (4) My morning set-up … Cheerios, the Mitchell Report, and Mike&Mike.

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7:15am - Arrive at the office, traffic was a bit rough because of black ice and the fog. I have to say I love the campus in early morning, especially with the mysteriousness (is that a word?) of the fog.

7:20am – Just got back from the third floor where I was filling my jug of water for the day. There was a nice calm to the new file room. It was clean and well organized. Much different than the cramped spaces we used to work in. I love Mason Hall!!!

7:25am - The daily “CORRESPONDENCE” routine begins for me. Every morning I spent the first hour answering questions. First, it is the main gotojhu@jhu.edu email account. 37 messages this morning. Then it is the Hopkins Forums. Nothing new. Then the various Facebook groups. The JHU prospective Facebook group has a countdown to 6:00pm. College Confidential. More countdowns, and a lot of stress. My own email account .. which surprisingly is pretty empty.

8:01am - I head upstairs to help Susan, the Queen of our decision mailing process, with stuffing financial aid packets.

I’ll be back soon …

Picture Guide: (1) See what I mean about how cool the campus looks with fog. (2) Mason Hall especially. (3) The file room ready for the arrival of the staff. (4) All the ED files lined-up. (5) Admit packets waiting to be stuffed and sealed.

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8:20am - Done stuffing the financial aid packets, and now we are just waiting for the O.K. from Director of Admissions, Dr. John Latting. John likes to do one last check of our applicant database to make sure everything is set.

8:25am – I mention to Susan and others in the file room, how smooth everything has gone for this year’s ED process. I hope this stress-free system continues for RD … but in all honesty there is no chance. Mayhem always ensues with the RD process because of the sheer volume of everything. But we are all so used to it that there is a true method to our madness.

8:45am – The stuffing, sealing, and stamping commences. Everyone takes a bin and gets to work. Some hooting and hollering. We also tease Mark because he literally knows all of his NJ applicants and cheers for each one. I personally don’t like the stuffing part because the folders are hard to get in to the priority envelopes. I like affixing the stamps … I always liked playing with stickers.

9:30am – John has given the O.K. so we can mail.

9:41am - One last roster of admits, defers, and denies is run. The staff splits into groups and confirms the right decision letters are going to the right people.

10:32am – Mail bins are here. Time to move everything from our blue and black crates into the mail bins. All decisions have been confirmed.

10:40am – The bins are stacked onto the hand carts, pushed to the elevator, and travel down to the parking garage where they will be loaded into a car and driven to the main Johns Hopkins mail center in Mount Washington.

I have a 10:30am meeting so I was not there to photograph and document this last stage of the process, but I have heard it on good authority that all went perfectly.

More to follow …

Picture Guide: (1) The staff commences the stuff, seal, stamp process. (2) Susan (center), Ted, and Celeste in control of their bins. (3) Nicole, one of our student workers, uses the floor as her workspace. (4) The confirming of admits by John and Ann. (5) The confirming of other decisions by Mark and Chloe. (6) Stacking of the bins. (7) Two hand-trucks for 1055 decisions.

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10:30am – The decisions are leaving the building yet I am in my office as I have a meeting with JHU_Jessica and JHU_Lauren. This is an important meeting as we are putting the finishing touches on two Hopkins Interactive related initiatives that directly relates to the release of ED notifications.

The first initiative which Lauren is overseeing is the opening of a new discussion thread on the Hopkins Forums. This “Congratulations JHU Class of 2012″ thread is a place for the newly admitted Early Decision students to ask questions and converse with current students. Starting after 6pm today, this forum will exist through late August of 2008, assisting the new members of the Class of 2012 in getting ready for their arrival and commencement as actual Hopkins students. The students and I will answer questions about housing, dining, what to bring, classes, and so much more.

Our other initiative is also a forum, but a much more social one. That is why we will be using Facebook. This is the brain-child of Jessica who last year was admitted Early Decision and decided to create a Facebook group for her future classmates. Since she was a great administrator for the Class of 2011, we thought who better to run this year’s group. The Johns Hopkins University – Class of 2012 Facebook group is a closed group only for enrolling students, but will act as a great way for our future freshmen to interact and get to know one another.

11:30am – Jessica, Lauren, and I have been working but also sharing stories. Things are so different nowadays for college applicants. Emailed decisions, blogs, message boards, cool admit packets, social networking groups, immediate responses … much different then back in my day when I had to become friends with the mailman.

12:05pm – Lunch time … SUBWAY!!! Thanks Jameel.

12:15pm – I got confirmation that the mail has been delivered to the post office.

12:22pm - I spun around in my chair and just noticed that the fog has lifted and it is turning out to be a beautiful and sunny day. If I was more of an eloquent writer, I must make a parallel to the release of decision notifications to the fog and then sunlight … but yeah I’d rather write about shaving my beard, walking my dog, and baseball reports.

12:57pm – Paul, the Mason Hall building manager, just interrupted me and said I need to post that in the blog. So I did.

The day continues …

Picture Guide: (1) Loading the car … ok, I cheated this picture is from RD last year. (2) Lauren (on the left) and Jessica … so happy I took a picture of them. (3) Blue sky over Homewood. (4) Lunch!!!

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1:15pm – I’ve been procrastinating a bit … I just needed a break. What do I do when I procrastinate? Well I posted a whole long list on our message boards a while back if you are curious. Today, my form of wasting time was checking out movie trailers online. I am so looking forward to 01.18.08 — Cloverfield!!!. Also, looking forward to I Am Legend this weekend and Sweeney Todd later this month.

1:25pm - JHU_Michelle is in the office now and I have her helping out with some video documenting and editing. We will be launching our Video Blog very soon and I’ve got a bit more work to do for our first official videos.

1:27pm – Back to work for me. Not much to do … I am putting some finishing touches on the Facebook group. And yes, I am checking out all the countdowns until 6:00pm. 4 hours and 33 minutes!!!

2:26pm - Just finished looking over the special Admitted Student Web site. Everything looks great. This is the first time we have the special site ready for Early Decision.

A few more updates to come…

Photo Guide: (1) The file room is clean and empty. (2) Movie trailers are fun … Cloverfield! (3) Michelle hard at work. (4) GiGGiDi GiGGiDi GiGGiDi!

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2:45pm – I was just thinking how fast today has been going … and then I realized that just thinking that is cruel. I completely respect and understand how slow today must be feeling for many of you.

2:48pm – Wow, my desk is so full of dust. Time to clean a bit. I love disinfectant wipes.

2:49pm – So I am cleaning my desk and complaining about the dust. Michelle, who is updating the Admissions Advisory Board just outside my door yells to me that dust is mostly dead human skin. EWWWWWW! I truly enjoy Michelle’s company and she is a great student worker, but when she shares biological stuff like that with me I just get skeezed out. She should just keep those remarks for her Neuroscience friends.

3:01pm - Cleaning done. Went to take some more pictures and realized my camera battery is done. (Great planning Daniel!) So no more pictures until maybe tonight when I can re-charge the battery at home.

3:10pm – Posted a message for ED Defers on the Message Boards. I hope this information will be helpful, and that the discussion thread that was started will act as a helpful forum. Such decisions are never easy, but the most important thing to remember is deferred applicants have a second chance. The road does not end here and you shouldn’t lose all hope. Read through my thoughts and suggestions, and post questions.

3:15pm - The ED stats sheet was just handed to me. Let me look it over and I will post the details soon.

Well this is a long entry … and will only get longer …

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3:20pm – Decided to go outside for a fresh breathe of air and to take a look at the ED stats. From the fog in the morning it actually has turned out to be a beautiful day. No more sweater needed. I also got to see people walking around on the Decker Quad and I didn’t get angry. (See my Pet Peeves post to understand.) The two students were actually playing with a remote-controlled airplane. Though it crashed a lot, it was just fun to watch people actually using the Quad for a true purpose, not as a short-cut.

4:00pm – OK, drum roll … here is what many of you have been waiting for:

• Largest Early Decision applicant pool ever = 1,055. Up 6% from last year.
• The 1,055 applicants is a 72% increase from 5 years ago and a 128% increase from 1998. WOW!
• The acceptance rate dropped again, the fifth straight year. It stands at the lowest level in the past ten years = 43%.
• 439 applicants will be receiving the good news that they are the first members of the Johns Hopkins Class of 2012. CONGRATULATIONS!
• Of the admits, 45% are female, 40 are underrepresented minority students — both great totals.
• Also, as far as academic interest, 32% have stated a major in Engineering, 12% Humanities, 32% Natural Science, 19% Social and Behavioral Studies, and 4% Undecided.
• Almost all the academic markers are at all-time highs as well. The Mean SAT I (Critical Reasoning + Math) = 1373. That is 11 points higher than last year and 21 points higher than 2006.
• New Jersey is not the top state for ED admits like the last two years. MARYLAND has actually taken the top spot with 69 students. New Jersey is second with 57, New York third with 54, Pennsylvania fourth with 40, and California in fifth with 34.
• Finally, geographic diversity is way up. Last year the ED admit pool came from 28 states … this year 38 states are represented. Plus, 21 admits are international students from 9 different countries.

OK, I am packing up and heading home. Less than 2 hours left until the emails are sent.

I’ll be back …

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5:10pm – Just arrived home. More traffic. Baltimore really should do a study on time between red lights at major intersections during rush hour. I bet a Civil Engineer at Hopkins could help. Going to walk Soze.

5:21pm – Paying bills while my steak cooks in my Rotisserie. Yes it is a Ronco Showtime Rotisserie. Just set-it and forget it. If you watch late night infomercials you know what I am talking about.

5:30pm - Thirty minutes left. The College Confidential servers keep going down. Oh no!!! Have to go put the finishing touches on a few things. But I do want to say one thing …

Advice: I wish you all the best as you receive your email decisions. My suggestion is that you read your decision and then go spend some time with your family. This is a major moment in your young life, and family is who you should share your initial thoughts with. Your family has been there since the first moment of life, and they will be there FOREVER. Afterward you can log-on and share with others. Let everything sink in first. React in the real world before entering the cyber world. OK, I am stepping off my soap box.

Two more updates left …

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6:37pm - All the emails are out. For those of you who have not gotten email, I can let you know that I am monitoring our main email account and at this time we only have 15 messages that have “bounced-back” as undeliverable. So here are my suggestions:

(1) Check your SPAM folders.

(2) Check ANY email account you have ever used. We send to the email account you listed on your application, but it never hurts to check other accounts if you have multiple ones.

(3) Have your parents check their email accounts. Not sure how that happens, but it has happened in the past.

(4) If none of those methods work, you may send an email to gotojhu@jhu.edu stating that you have not received your decision email. You need to include your full official name (the one you used on your application), your social security # if applicable, your birth date, your full address, and your high school. Also include the email address you listed on your application. We will check to see if there was an error with the email that was sent, and if so we can re-send your decision.

(5) Please know that every year a few students do not receive email notifications. Unfortunately you will need to have patience for your decision to arrive in the mail. You may call on Tuesday, December 18 – 410-516-8171 to receive your decision over the phone.

Hope that helps.

One last update coming before I head to bed …

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~10:00pm – So I have spent the last four hours attempting to take care of a handful of problems with the email notifications. It seems that yahoo.com email addresses took a lot longer to send then most other email domains. Who knows. In the end though, I keep my fingers crossed that all went well.

It is now time for my long day to come to an end. I’ll be around over the weekend commenting on the JHU Forums and Facebook groups. However, now that the Early Decision process is complete, I need to start some Christmas shopping and write my Dear Santa list. One of the worst parts of being a college admissions professional is that you are so busy with the ED process that you lose a lot of the quality Christmas preparation time.

As I sign off, I first hope you all found the micro-blogging today helpful and somewhat enjoyable. I am all about transparency in the college admissions process, and I suspect that you all enjoy my honesty, frankness, and my humour. (OK, maybe I am stretching it a bit on that last one.)

Second, since you all love stats, here are some more:

• 25 pictures in one blog (that’s an Insider record).
• 80 comments by 10pm (I think that’s a record too). I love comments!
• 3,236 words make up this entry. Wow, I like to write.
• 16,301 characters without spaces make up this entry. Cool.
• 10 different updates. Woo hoo, I accomplished my goal.
• 16 hours and 15 minutes of blogging time. Snore….zzzzzz.

Plus, based on my stat-counter:

• 1702 unique visitors to the blog between midnight and 10pm today.
• 5845 page loads in the same time frame (you all like to refresh).
• Both stats are records. For comparison, last week the blog had 384 visitors and 859 page loads. One month ago, 79 visitors and 219 page loads.

And finally, one last picture … yes, Regular Decision files are ready to be distributed next week. NO REST FOR THE WEARY!!!

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