True Life: Undergraduate Admissions

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Today’s guest author is Mandy Stein, a ’10.5 public health studies graduate of Johns Hopkins University and current intern in the Undergraduate Admissions Office. Mandy has been part of the Student Admissions Advisory Board and a Hopkins Interactive blogger since her arrival in Baltimore four years ago. Following her decision to graduate a semester early, Mandy applied for and was accepted as the Admissions intern for the 2010-2011 academic year. In this one year she has been witness to the ever-changing admissions cycle, and we have asked her to share her reflections. Mandy will be with our office until June 22 and then will head off to St. Louis to start law school. We have appreciated all of her hard work and creativity, and are sorely going to miss her.

Between daily information sessions (ranging from one to hundreds of visitors), reading applications, participating in my first-ever college fair down in Prince Georges County, and a recruiting trip to New England, it’s safe to say that my life these past few months has revolved around undergraduate admissions. Of course, my life has also revolved around law school admissions as well, as I was going through that process myself. In short, my life has been admissions.

Despite having volunteered/worked in the Admissions Office since my freshman year, I had no idea what it actually means to be a full-time employee in the office. Sure, I had seen Admissions_Daniel and the rest of the office get really stressed or tired or whatever else throughout the application cycle, but it was impossible to fully understand what it means to be an admissions counselor until I started working here full-time.

I want to dedicate this blog entry to shining a bit of light on the amazing job that college admissions counselors all over the country are doing each day. It’s impossible to truly understand this field without spending a significant amount of time immersed in it, but I’ll do my best to show you the other side of the admissions process.

November: it begins.
Early Decision applications pour in and begin flooding the counselors’ online queues as the files are completed by the operations team upstairs.  

December: pause.
As Hopkins students are wrapping up the semester and finishing their final exams, the counselors are also feeling the crunch to finish up their final decisions. Decisions are released on or around December 15 (finals this past year finished around December 17), at which point, the entire campus breathes a collective sigh of relief. The Admissions Office then has a couple of weeks that could be best described as “the calm before the storm.”

January: the deluge.
Our Regular Decision application deadline is January 1. Happy New Year, Office of Undergraduate Admissions! Immediately upon returning from a nice but short winter break (which usually involves some work with pre-deadline applications), those online queues I mentioned begin overflowing. Okay, not literally overflowing—they are online queues. At this point, part-time readers join the team (this is where I come in) and help prepare transcripts for review by counselors, in addition to reading some files on their own.

February: a false sense of security.
By February, the staff is buried up to their eyeballs in application work. Whether it’s processing (by our operations team) or reading (by our counselors and part-time readers), we’re busy. However, the official deadline is usually the end of the month or the first week in March—so there’s somewhat of a false sense of security. “Oh, we have a few more weeks, it’ll be fine,” or, “I can’t believe how many applications we have to get to, but at least we have a couple more weeks!”

March: crunch time.
First reads are finished—the work of part-time readers is done—and counselors move into their committee review. They have about two weeks to complete the class, a process that is constantly in flux. While this may sound like it’s arbitrary, I can assure you that it is nothing of the sort. Each day, there is a different task to help shape the class to be exactly what we’re looking for. The biggest challenge at this point is making sure we’re at the number that we want; during our first reads, we’re not thinking so much about the volume of each decision, we’re going with our first thought. March is the time to make sure we’re not going to end up with a class of 10,000. It’s unbelievably difficult. Our mailing process involves 4-5 checks per envelope to be beyond sure that we’re sending the right letters to the right applicants. Then: a sigh of relief. Throughout this process, however, we’re busy with visitors who have early spring breaks or are otherwise starting those weeks of college visits.

April: where did all of these people come from?
Decisions are released. More juniors start looking at colleges during their spring break. Seniors start visiting the schools to which they’ve been admitted. We run four different information sessions each day, two for prospective students and two for admitted students. We also run a lot of other programming for our visitors. The unique challenge during April is the combined effort to introduce juniors (and sophomores) to Hopkins and to convince our admitted seniors to choose Hopkins by their May 1 deposit deadline. In short, it’s exhausting. But it’s fun, too—I promise. Just for a bit of perspective, on Good Friday, we had at least 1,500 visitors to campus, and this wasn’t even our admitted student SOHOP event.

To complicate matters, April is time for spring travel, too. This year, while Admissions_Daniel was busy with our second SOHOP event, I went up to New England to kick off his spring travel.  He joined me in Rhode Island on Friday after SOHOP to finish off the weekend’s events. I arrived in New Hampshire, did two college fairs there and then headed to Providence, RI, for another two events. We moved on to Dedham, MA, as a convenient location for our Explore Hopkins presentation, followed by one more (gigantic) college fair on Sunday. What a week!

May: where did all of the people go?
It’s early May and there’s a calm that’s come over the office. Seniors have made their decisions. Juniors/sophomores aren’t on spring break anymore. Hopkins students are finishing up the semester, and some are looking ahead to commencement. Where did the time go? It’s not time to kick back and relax, though. It is crunch time for evaluating transfer applications, a process that started back in the aforementioned hectic April.

June-August: not-so-sleepy summer.
The campus is busy with summer programs for students and our office is busy with visitors who are working on their “apply” list. We do a lot with our incoming freshmen (primarily through a Facebook group) and work on bigger projects for prospective students through Hopkins Interactive.

September-October: on the road.
As students are back to classes, the admissions counselors are back on the road. It’s time to make sure we’re out and about telling the world everything there is to know about Johns Hopkins to help them decide if it’s a good fit and whether they should apply. It’s also time to brace ourselves; as soon as November comes, so does another crazy cycle.

So you get the picture: it’s a rollercoaster of a job. Keep in mind, too, that this isn’t the exhaustive list of tasks. Every day, someone sends out tours. Someone gives information sessions. Someone responds to e-mails. Someone answers the phones. Someone coordinates interviews. Someone processes the materials coming through mail and fax. There are countless other tasks that are more behind-the-scenes, but are certainly no less important. This is a crazy job, but also a thrilling one.

Whether it’s serving as a family’s first impression of Hopkins or evaluating a student’s application for admission, this is a very people-centric job. It’s also very Hopkins-centric. I draw from my experience of three-and-a-half years as a student, but most of my job training has been picked up on-the-go. How many students are at Hopkins? 4,998. Can you tell me about your combined five-year bachelors/masters programs in engineering? Yes (I’ll spare you the details). What carries the most weight in the application process? Who is happiest at Hopkins? What are the professors like? How big are classes? What is the percentage of students admitted to medical school? Knowing the answers to these questions is part of my job, but it’s also second nature—the most wonderful thing about Admissions at Johns Hopkins is that we don’t have a handbook telling us what to say. We don’t have a script for our information sessions. We’re very honest and candid. We take questions and we want to share our experiences. At the end of each day, the most important thing that I do is to help students/applicants find their fit—that place where they’ll be happy for the next four years—whether it’s chatting with sophomores and juniors deciding where to apply or evaluating applications for admission.

Again: this is a crazy job, but also a thrilling one. I can’t think of a better way to have spent my “senior spring” semester.

Blogging Re-Cap: Posts for the Class of 2015 Applicants

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This has been a busy week for the Hopkins Insider blog, and yes I know that is an understatement. With all the new posts I thought it would be helpful to end the week with a re-cap post sharing the links to these entries dedicated to the Class of 2015 applicants.

Live Blogging on RD Notification Day (2011)

A Post for the Admits – Congratulations!

A Post for the Wait-Listed Applicant

A Post for the Denied Applicant

Proof of how busy this week has been was supplied to me by JHU_Joe as he reviewed some of the stats in our Google analytics. I am still amazed by these numbers:

- Number of visitors to the Hopkins Insider blog from Monday through mid-day Friday: 9,305 unique visitors – 16,128 overall page views

- Number of visitors to the Hopkins Interactive site from Monday through mid-day Friday: 2,463 unique visitors – 8,303 overall page views
* 813 pages were viewed a total of 8,331 times
* The average time spent on the site was 2:31
* 49.9% of visitors were first time visitors to the site

- Number of visitors to the student blogs through Hopkins Interactive (same time period): 10,183 unique visitors – 18,823 overall page views
* 901 pages were viewed a total of 21,060 times
* The average time spent on the blogs was 3:25
* 42.3% of visitors to the blogs were first times visitors

Simply amazing. THANK YOU!

Shannon and I will be back next week with new blog posts. We brainstormed yesterday and have some really interesting posts coming up for both our regular visitors (applicants to the Class of 2015) and our new visitors (prospective students/parents looking to apply for the Class of 2016 or beyond). Stay tuned.

A Post for the Class of 2015 Admits – Congratulations!

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Whew! To be honest, this is the only word that has been running through my mind the last few days. At the most random of times the last couple of days I have had to just sit back and catch my breath. The whirlwind of activity that takes place just before the release of decisions coupled with the hectic nature of the month of Admissions committee meetings and the prior three months of application review leads to absolute exhaustion. But then you get to drop the letters off at the post office and click send on the e-mail notifications and the exhaustion transforms into a state of reflection.

This year, more than any year before, this period of post-decision contemplation has been more calm and restrained. Maybe it just has to do with the weather, as winter is holding on a bit too long in Baltimore. Or maybe it has to do with how difficult decision making was this year. Or maybe it just has to do with my need to sleep straight for 48 hours. Whatever the reason, I do know one thing … starting next week my mood will be sheer excitement. There are a ton of April events on the horizon and the chance to meet admitted students over the next few weeks (and the hope for the trees to blossom) does make me smile from ear-to-ear.

As we said on Tuesday in your e-mail notification, CONGRATULATIONS. You have been admitted to the strongest class in Johns Hopkins history. Each and every one of you should feel a great sense of accomplishment and honor. You need to know that, by offering you a spot in the Johns Hopkins community, we are saying loud and clear that we think you fit. We think you will make a difference at Johns Hopkins and we can provide you with the challenge and excitement you are looking for. After months of getting to know you all through your applications, we eagerly wait until the time when you and the Early Decision admitted students arrive on campus this coming fall. Great things are going to be expected from the JHU Class of 2015.

There will be much time to celebrate over the coming weeks, but for many of you a tough decision lies ahead. Let me give you the best advice I can … CHOOSE HOPKINS. Make it simple. You can’t go wrong. For some of you it will be that simple; but I also know that many of you will need to weigh your options and determine which of your admitted schools will make the best fit for you.

For those of you who are undecided, the question is how you will make this big decision. What is the right choice? These questions are justified, but in the end it is you and you alone who has to make the choice. Choosing which college or university to attend is one of those life-altering decisions where you must weigh all the factors, big and small. This choice not only impacts the next four years—it will leave an eternal mark on you as the school becomes your alma mater and an important line on your resume.

If I can provide any advice it would be to first do your own self-analysis and decide what it is you want and need in the college you attend. Then you need to do your own research on each school you have been admitted to and consider the big questions of fit. I am a big fan of creating pro / con lists and using a weighted system to help determine what it is you are searching for and where you will be most comfortable. I strongly encourage you to avoid focusing on statistics and rankings, as these are quite superficial and do not help get down to the personal decision level. I also warn you of weighting other opinions more than your own. And finally, in my experience, the gut decision is typically the right one. For more advice I recommend this blog I wrote last year: Time to Make the Big Decision.

I am going to sign off now and let you celebrate some more. Don’t forget to utilize the ample resources we have put together for our admitted students, all referenced in your admit notification e-mails and admit packets. The Admitted Student Web site has tons of information and we strongly encourage you to visit for one of our SOHOP programs. (Maybe you can even ride the SOHOP express) Also, the Hopkins Interactive students are using all the social media tools they can to connect with you—check out the Facebook group, the #whyhopkins tweets, the YouTube videos, and obviously all the blogs. Don’t let your questions go unanswered.

The theme of April will be WHY HOPKINS and we hope we can help you all answer that question and you will join the JHU Class of 2015.

A Post for the Wait-Listed Applicant

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College admissions wait lists have been compared by many as a state of purgatory—not yet admitted and not denied. I often feel that a wait list decision is harder to deal with than a deny decision because there is no closure yet, no definitive answer. The college admissions process is defined by waiting, and now some students must wait for another month or two for their final decision. I have written previously that this wait list process is one of the most discussed topics in my field. Just do a quick Google search and you will find countless articles about the subject and also “supposed” services or advice columns on how a wait list works. Personally, since I find the media so far off-base when they report on college admissions, and I have an overwhelming fear of students buying into “how to get off college wait list” schemes, I sit down and compose this post for those on the Johns Hopkins wait list every year.

Wait list decisions exist because of the sheer competition to get into college these days, and they work as a form of protection for schools to make sure they yield their class each year. It would be wonderful to exist in a world with definitive decisions and no wait lists, but unfortunately that ideal just doesn’t exist.

So what to do? Well first it is important to know that being placed on the Johns Hopkins wait list is NOT a rejection of you and your abilities. It is a statement about the exceptional quality of our applicant pool and the limited number of spots we can offer to make our class. We respect the frustration and apprehension that exists with being placed in a state of limbo, so to assist we try to provide as much information as we can along the way.

Over the years, I have composed an extensive list of frequently asked questions and answers about how the Johns Hopkins wait list works. I have posted the complete list to the Hopkins Forums in an attempt to assist you along the way:

WAIT LIST DISCUSSION THREAD (2011)

A selection of the questions posted on the discussion thread:

How does the wait list work?
Our enrollment target is 1,245 new freshmen. Based on our estimates we have admitted a percentage of our applicant pool that we expect will yield a class that size. However, it is quite hard to exactly predict the number of students who will accept our offer of admission, hence the existence of the wait list. If we miss our target, then we will admit students off of our wait list to assure that we enroll a complete class.

I still really want to go to Hopkins. What should I do if I want to remain on the wait list?
Instructions on how to remain on the wait list are included in the decision notification e-mail you received. Follow the personalized link in your e-mail to make the decision to remain (or be removed from) the Johns Hopkins wait list. You need to respond by May 1 at the latest.

Should I do anything else besides selecting to remain on the wait list? I heard we can update our applications. Is that true, and what kind of updates can we submit?
You may certainly send updates that you would like added to your application. Such information can assist the Admissions committee if we do review wait list candidates for admission. We suggest the following if updating your application:

– A Letter of Interest: A one or two page letter to the Admissions Committee that states why you are interested in Hopkins, why you feel it is the right school for you, and why you should be admitted from the wait list.
– Updated resume: Let us know what you have gotten involved with during your senior year. This should include updated information not in your original application.
– Recommendations: One or two additional or updated letters.
– Updated transcript: Your most recent grades, even beyond the mid-year report, can be helpful. Ask your guidance counselor to submit them if possible. In addition, a final transcript when it becomes available is requested. (If you are admitted from the wait list, a final transcript will be required.)

Please DO NOT send the following:
(1) additional writing samples
(2) supplemental materials such as CDs, slides, portfolios, etc.
(3) research or term papers.
Just stick to the list above.

Do note that you are not required to submit any additional materials, only to respond online using the personalized link in your e-mail. Also, if you choose to submit updates to your file, it is important that you make sure that they will contribute in a substantive way or provide new information. All updates should be sent to the Admissions Office either via postal mail or fax (410-516-6025). We cannot process application updates submitted through e-mail. When mailing or faxing, include your full name, birth date, school name, and a note that the materials are to be used as a wait list update.

Why was I wait-listed? Was this just a way to break the bad news more gently?
Admissions decisions are comprehensive decisions that take into account many factors included in each individual application within the context of the overall applicant pool. In every application we are searching for the ideal fit with the university based on the information in the applicant files. The Admissions Committee is unable to discuss with applicants why we were not able to offer admission, but it is important to know that offering a student a spot on our wait list is not done out of a courtesy or to lessen the impact of our decision. Any student on the wait list who chooses to remain on the wait list will have a chance for admission if spaces in the class become available.

When will I hear if I’ve been accepted off the wait list? The other schools I was admitted to require a deposit by May 1—should I wait until I hear from Hopkins?
Once again, this all depends on the response from our admitted students. Our decision of whether we will admit students off the wait list will not be made prior to May 1 and it is more likely we will make that determination closer to June 1. We strongly recommend that you submit your deposit to a school where you have been accepted. If you are later admitted to Hopkins from the wait list and choose to attend, you will withdraw your enrollment from the other school and forfeit the previous deposit.

Do you have any historical data of how many students were admitted from the wait list in previous years?
Though every year is different and the numbers vary, here is what happened the past few years:

2010 – Approximately 30 students were admitted from the wait list.
2009 – No offers of admission from the wait list.
2008 – Approximately 40 students were admitted from the wait list.
2007 – Approximately 80 offers.
2006 – No offers.
2005 – No offers.
2004 – Approximately 150 offers.
2003 – Approximately 100 offers.
2002 – No offers.
2001 – Approximately 50 offers.
2000 – No offers.

As I said, there is much more information over at the Hopkins Forums. Do make sure to visit the Wait List Discussion Thread (2011) for the complete list of questions and answers. As well, when updates become available they will be posted to that thread first. It may be a good idea for you to bookmark the page.

If you have any questions about the Johns Hopkins Wait List, post them to the discussion thread as I am sure others are wondering the same thing. I will be as prompt as can be with responses and provide as much detail as possible. I hope this helps.

A Post for the Denied Applicant

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Every year I hesitate whether I should post a specific entry for denied applicants. I assume that after a student receives a deny decision from Johns Hopkins that they would not choose to return to the blog. I also feel that my comments will not be welcomed by a student after receiving negative news from the University. Lastly, I fear that my words will fail me in expressing the compassion I and my colleagues feel for the students were are unable to admit.

However, I have been surprised to find out over the last two years that many who read my post for denied applicants actually appreciate it. Every year that I have been part of the Admissions Committee at Johns Hopkins University, rendering final decisions has become more difficult. You all know from the media this week that acceptance rates at the most selective colleges are dropping significantly as applicants pools continue to grow rapidly. And this is true at Hopkins this year too as we witnessed the largest applicant pool in our history (19,388) and our lowest acceptance rate (18.3%) ever. No matter what you may think at this time, admissions counselors loathe the process of denying applicants. We all universally agree this is the hardest part of our jobs.

Every year my colleagues and I are faced with the daunting task of selecting very few students from a truly outstanding pool of applicants. As I have written many times before, each applicant is considered thoroughly and holistically by a team of highly committed professionals. Unfortunately, the number of applicants far exceeds the number of positions we can offer (our freshman class is just under 1,250 students). Selecting students is never an easy process and I know my colleagues join me in saying that we sincerely understand your frustration and anger and respect your disappointment when hearing the unfavorable news.

Many deal with being denied by trying to determine where they fell short. They ask questions about what were they missing or what they did wrong. As I complete my 12th year in college admissions, I can attest to the fact that there is never just one reason that leads to our decisions. When reviewing a student’s application, we take into consideration a vast array of factors including academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, leadership, commitment to community, and promise of future contribution.

It is said often, and it is quite true, that the college admission review process is about fit. Our applicant pool is filled with extremely qualified applicants, but unfortunately being qualified is not the only consideration. Our freshman class is quite small and we are unable to admit everyone that 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.

Others will deal with being denied by expressing anger, and levying accusations based on tons of speculation. The days after the release of decision are some of the hardest for me as I tend to take the brunt of many of the attacks, being that my online “Admissions_Daniel” presence is an easy and accessible target. I understand where these accusations of unfairness stem from, but I am also aware of how much time, effort, and passion my colleagues put in the admissions selection process. I could defend vigorously and respond back aggressively at every negative comment but there is no value in that. Venting is pretty much human nature when receiving unfavorable news, and though some will take it too far, I choose to remain above the fray and allow people to deal with the news as they deem appropriate.

I was rejected from my first and second choice schools when I applied to college. I was angry, I vented, and I felt that all my hard work was wasted. But then with the support of my friends and family, I realized I had wonderful other options to choose from. And once I made my selection from the schools that admitted me I forgot all about my “love” for the other schools. I committed myself completely to my new college and never looked back. Even today, after realizing I made the wrong choice in the college I attended (no I am not a JHU alum), I do not look back and wonder “what if.” I made the best of every day of my collegiate experience and still cherish all the memories, even though I did not attend my first choice school.

My advice for now is to forget about Johns Hopkins and any other schools that may not have admitted you for your undergraduate years. 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, the right college for you is the one that you select to attend and the one you commit yourself to fully.

It is with the deepest sincerity that I wish you the best in your future endeavors.

Answers to a few frequently asked questions:

Can I appeal my decision?
Johns Hopkins University does not accept appeals of our decisions nor will we re-evaluate applications with new information. Our decisions are final and are based on the information provided to the Admissions Committee at the time of decision.

Can I find out why I was denied?
While we as a committee do not address specific components of a student’s admission decision, we always note that each year we have an outstanding pool of applicants and there are more qualified applicants than we can admit. It is our practice though not to discuss the factors that go into our final decisions nor provide students with a detailed analysis of their specific application evaluation.

Can I apply again and when?
Yes you may apply again, but must wait for our next admissions cycle which will be the fall 2012 term. We would strongly encourage you to enroll at another university, and if after two semesters you still feel that Hopkins is the right place for you, you may apply for transfer admission. Transfer admissions information can be found here: http://apply.jhu.edu/faqs/transfer.html.

Live Blogging on RD Notification Day (Class of 2015)

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The tradition continues. As I have done for the past six admissions cycles, I will be live blogging throughout Regular Decision Notification Day for applicants to the Johns Hopkins Class of 2015. I will be providing you all with a first-hand look into what takes place in Mason Hall (home to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions) on the day we release 18,000+ RD notifications. Through my frequent updates I will detail how this long admissions review process comes to an end, and I hope I can provide context and helpful information as you prepare to learn your decision. I also will try to keep up with my Twitter account -- @AdmissionDaniel - for those who prefer their updates in 140 characters or less. If you are looking for details on how the process will work today, please return to the decision release explained blog entry I posted last week. Check back often, and as always feel free to use the comments section.

12:01 a.m. - For the first time in the history of my decision release blog entries I decided to begin the updates at the stroke of midnight, just as decision release day commences in the eastern time zone of the United States. And just as I head off to bed. As I have said in the past few blog entries, the last weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and this past evening was no exception. Throughout the day the Admissions Counseling team coordinated with the Operations team to put the finishing touches on all the decision letters and admit packets. We have diligently worked together the past few days to finalize decisions and prepare for the release of the mailed decisions as well as e-mail decision and Web updates later tonight. Check out this slide show for some peeks into the work we did tonight.

After getting as much work done as possible (thanks in large part to an amazing cadre of current student volunteers), the staff is getting a good night sleep before the mayhem of final decision checks, sealing of decisions, visits to the post offices, a fun taco fiesta to celebrate, and then final preparations for our decisions to hit. For me, I got home around 9:00 p.m., played with my dog Soze for about 30 minutes and spent the last two and half hours marking off multiple items on my to do list. My eyelids are getting heavy and Soze’s snoring is making me even more sleepy, so it is time for me to check out and get some sleep.

6:15 a.m. - The snooze button -- what a wonderful, yet cruel invention. Normally I have a mental alarm clock that wakes me before my alarm clock begins to blare its annoying sound but not today. I have been averaging 4-5 hours of sleep the last few weeks and I guess my body just wanted a few extra minutes this morning. After hitting snooze I fell right back into a deep sleep so when the alarm went off again nine minutes later, I was once again prodded from my dream state. But it is time to start an exciting day.

As I update down right now I am thinking of a lot of words that start with “ex.” Exhausted. Excited. But most of all, exhilarated. For those in the world of college admissions as long as I have been, if you don’t get pumped for a decision release day then it is time to look for a new career. These days are a culmination of hard work and deep thought, as much as they are the start of a whole new cycle of tasks -- April yield events. But I am getting ahead of myself. Need to walk the dog, and I have decided on listening to a bit of Mumford & Sons as Soze and I brave the frigid morning.

8:09 a.m. - Just arrived at the office and everything is pretty quiet. The Operations staff has begun one final check of wait list and deny letters against our master decision roster. As Admissions staff members begin to arrive they will head upstairs to assist in that process as it takes time to make sure the right decision letters will be going to the right applicants. For me I will be going through my morning routine of answering e-mails and any questions posted to our various Hopkins Interactive sites. It is a beautiful (yet chilly) morning at Homewood and I am looking forward to see how the day progresses. The next big moment is the arrival of Dean Latting and his confirmation that the class is complete. Stay tuned.

9:36 a.m. - Drawer checks continue. Yes, we are well aware that we are not checking drawers for decision folders but rather printed rosters of decisions against the letters. However, as we moved to a paper-less environment a few years ago we have not updated our vocabulary of mail day terms. Still waiting for Dean Latting to seal the class.

2:00 p.m. - Apologies for the lack of updates. It has been a whirlwind of activity in the office for the last four hours. I need to take a breath and download some photos. I will have a re-cap of everything posted in the next half hour. But … YES … decisions have been mailed.

2:17 p.m. - As I know many of you are curious, I am going to reflect back over the last few hours. Here is how everything transpired in order:

1) Drawer checks for deny and wait list completed as the entire Admissions staff chipped in.
2) Rosters were run to check admit decisions, but we all waited to get the go ahead from Dean Latting.
3) Dean Latting appears on the third floor of Mason Hall and confirms that the Class of 2015 is sealed and decisions can begin to go out.
4) One last check of admit decisions is matched to our two databases and no errors are found.
5) The sealing of admit packets commences.
6) The heavy lifters — Zak and JB — move all sealed admit packets from their bins to U.S. mail bins. I help by collapsing the bins and cleaning up.
7) In record time all packets are sealed, loaded into mail bins, and ready to move downstairs.
8) Three SUVs appear in the semi-circular driveway in front of Mason Hall just as all the mailed decisions arrive.
9) The loading of the cars commences with many, many hands. It is freezing out but the excitement for the release of decisions keeps us all warm.
10) The cars are loaded. Susan and Missy head up to the main Johns Hopkins post office in Mount Washington with all deny, wait list, and international mailings. JB, Shannon, Zak, Sarah, and I head to the downtown Baltimore Post Office with two cars and close to 40 bins of admit packets.
11) The unloading of the cars takes place simultaneously in two different locations and just around 11:45 a.m. all regular decision notifications are out of the hands of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
12) Sarah and I proceed to the front of the Baltimore Post Office to purchase over $700 of stamps to be used for special reception invites over the next week. Shout out to Melissa at the Baltimore Post Office who made us laugh.
13) Back to Homewood and Mason for a huge TACO FIESTA with the Financial Aid Office to celebrate the release of decisions.
14) Brief meeting with the Admissions staff to say congratulations and discuss how the e-mail release of decisions will work tonight.
15) Me typing up this re-cap.

Whew. A busy few hours indeed, but one of excitement and joy in our office. Slideshow to come very soon.

2:52 p.m. - Slideshow time.

 

3:30 p.m. -- Hot of the presses. Here is our press release that discusses the release of Regular Decision notifications:

Press Release
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Johns Hopkins University
March 29, 2011

Tuesday, March 29, 2011—The Office of Undergraduate Admissions officially “sealed” the Class of 2015 today, sending admit packets and e-mails to 3,032 accepted Regular Decision applicants. These talented students will join 518 students who were admitted Early Decision in December for a total of 3,550 admitted students.

A snapshot of the admitted members of the Class of 2015:

• Total applications received: 19,388
• Total students admitted: 3,550
• Overall acceptance rate: 18.3%
• Males/females: 51/49
• Preliminary areas of academic interest:

o   Whiting School of Engineering: 40%

o   Krieger School of Arts and Sciences: 60%

§  Humanities: 24% (of admitted KSAS students)

§  Natural sciences: 47%

§  Social and behavioral sciences: 25%

• 50 states represented, plus 302 international students from 67 different countries

Regular Decision admitted students have until May 1, 2010, to reply to the university’s offer of admissions.

Congratulations to the Class of 2015!

5:15 p.m. - I left the office around 4:30 p.m. and just got back from a long and refreshing walk with Soze. He is having an early dinner as I prepare for the release of notification e-mails tonight. Just some organizing to do, but I will return soon to post some important updates before the release of e-mail notifications.

5:28 p.m. -- As my colleague on the IT Team (Hi Chris!) prepares to begin the release of e-mail notifications starting around 6:00 p.m., there are a few important things I want to all to review and I hope you heed this advice.

FIRST, we will start sending e-mails after 6:00 p.m. ET. Please note the bold, italic, underlined emphasis on the key words start and after. This means that not everyone will receive an e-mail in their in-box immediately at 6:00 p.m. It will take a while for all the e-mails to be sent out (probably over an hour) 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, … and there is no message — DO NOT PANIC and do not assume anything. Be patient and allow the process to work properly. (Also, there is no specific order to how we send e-mails.)

SECOND, here is some sound advice that I hope you follow. For the next hour (if not two hours) step away from your e-mail. Stop reading this blog. Stop checking your in-box. Stop checking College Confidential (in fact I suggest stopping that altogether). Relax. Take a nap. Get a snack. Watch an episode of 30 Rock on Hulu. Go do something that will calm you and distract you. Take your mind off the ticking clock.

THIRD, and most importantly, after you receive your e-mail decision my strong suggestion is that you log-off and go spend some time with your family. No matter what decision you receive, let the news sink in and do it off-line. This is a major milestone in your 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 no an online community. Your family is not Facebook. Your family in not some anonymous screenname. Your family is not this blog. Please follow this advice. Receive your decision and sign off. Don’t update your Facebook status immediately. Don’t post a blog comment. Don’t go post your emotions on some Web forums. 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.

Best wishes to all of you. This is my last update until we release the e-mail notifications. I will have a few further updates for later on tonight.

6:43 p.m. - All our e-mails have now been sent. Please continue to have patience because e-mail servers all have different delivery times. The process seems to have gone quite smooth this year (fingers crossed). I will monitor things throughout the evening. Please remember a few things I posted in the decision release explained blog last week:

- DO NOT share your decision e-mail with other people nor post the message on any public form or Web site. The e-mails contain personalized information.

- If you do not receive an e-mail tonight, I suggest:
1) Check SPAM folders.
2) Check ANY and all e-mail accounts you have ever used during the college search process. We send the e-mail to the account you listed on your application. However, our database system does track all e-mail accounts that have ever been matched to your record, so on occasion the notification e-mail may be sent to an old e-mail address. (So check e-mails that you may have used when registering for the SAT/ACT for example, such as your parents e-mail accounts.)

I got a bunch of work to take care of, but I will have one final update a bit later on.

9:19 p.m. - Whew. The last three hours have been hectic for me with a lot of behind-the-scenes work. I started the day excited and exhausted and as I wrap-up my live blogging for another decision release day I must say I remain excited and exhausted. There will be time over the next few days to reflect on all the decisions, and I plan to post before week’s end new blog entries for the admits, the wait listed, and the denies. The work continues but for me it is closing in on bed time. I wish I had something more poignant to say at the end of this long day of blogging, but unfortunately the words are failing me and mind is basically mush now. I am going to catch the last five minutes of the Capitals game against the Hurricanes, take Soze for a chilly walk, and then head to bed and hope for a good eight hours of sleep.

I end with something of a bit of a tradition. After such a long day, it is always nice to smile and the Muppets do that for me and I hope you too.

Good night and Best wishes.

Breaking News: RD Notification Release Explained

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For the past few months, the Admissions staff has been hard at work processing, reviewing, and discussing the over 18,000 Regular Decision applications for freshman admission. We spent the end of December, January, February, and the first week in March doing what we call “first reads”—where each admissions counselor thoroughly reads through each application in his or her region and provides in-depth decision write-ups. Since March 7, each and every day (including weekends), the various admissions committees have been going back over all the first reads, discussing and debating, and ultimately shaping our class. To say this is an arduous process is an understatement, but we are excessively diligent in what we do and truly believe our process will create the best Johns Hopkins Class of 2015 possible. Thankfully, the light at the end of the long tunnel is shining a bit brighter each and every day.

As I posted late last night, Dean Latting announced yesterday that Regular Decision notifications will be released to all freshman applicants on Tuesday, March 29. The committees will continue to work throughout the week, the weekend, and even late through Monday evening but we will ensure that decisions are released next Tuesday. There are always a ton of questions about how the release of decision notifications will work, so let me attempt to explain how everything will operate next Tuesday. (As always, things change from year-to-year so if you have read how we have released decisions in the past I still suggest you read through the FAQs and answers below.)

JHU CLASS OF 2015, REGULAR DECISION NOTIFICATION DAY =
TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2011

How will decisions be released?
By mail: On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 29, all decision letters (admits, wait lists, and denies) will be taken to the main Baltimore postal center or the Johns Hopkins postal center in Mt. Washington. All decisions will enter the postal system by the close of business on Tuesday. Admit packets are sent priority mail, whereas deny and wait list letters are sent first-class mail. We hope that admit packets sent within the U.S. will arrive within three days, and other decision letters can take 4-7 days to arrive. International mail is sent a variety of ways depending on the country and will take longer to arrive.

By e-mail: In the evening of March 29, we will also be releasing decision notifications via e-mail. E-mails will start going out AROUND 6:00 p.m. ET. lease see that I have emphasized the word AROUND. It can take up to two hours for all decision e-mails to be sent. E-mails are sent in batches and will take time to arrive. They are also sent in random order so there is no way to deduce the order that decisions will be released. I can guarantee that you all will not get your decision e-mail exactly at 6:00 p.m. Please have patience. In fact, I suggest you find something to distract you for an hour, then check your e-mail account.

Can I check my decision online?
No, Johns Hopkins University does not have an online system for the release of admissions decisions. We do not post our decisions online or through a portal.

Can I call the Admissions Office to receive my decision over the phone?
We prefer not to release decisions over the phone. Decisions will only be released over the phone starting Friday, April 1. At that time, if you have not received your admissions notification you may call the Admissions Office (410-516-8171). Please be aware, when we do begin to release decisions over the phone, we will only release the decision to the applicant or a parent or guardian of the applicant. Decisions will be released only if the identity of the caller can be reasonably assured. As well, 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.

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

Do not share your decision e-mail!
Each decision e-mail is personalized. Acceptance e-mails have a personalized URL in the message and therefore should not be shared, especially on any public forum or Web site. To protect your privacy and the accuracy of information, do not share or post your decision e-mail.

What happens if I do not receive an e-mail decision on Tuesday evening?
If an applicant does not receive an e-mail there a few things he or she can do: 

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

If none of those methods work, then unfortunately the student will need to wait to receive the decision in the postal mail, or can call on April 1. Every year some e-mail notifications just don’t work. The reasons for an applicant not receiving an e-mail notification include that there was no e-mail provided on the student’s application, the e-mail 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 E-MAIL NOTIFICATIONS. Once again, in such situations the applicant must wait. We understand how frustrating that can be, but unfortunately mistakes can happen when processing over 18,000 applications.

I applied to the biomedical engineering (BME) program; will I receive that decision via e-mail as well?
BME decision e-mails will come as a second e-mail to all admitted students who selected BME as their first-choice major. Those e-mail notifications will also be sent Tuesday evening, following the release of all other decision notification e-mails. Further details about one’s BME decision will be included in the admit packet.

What about scholarship notifications and notifications about program such as the Woodrow Wilson research fellowship or Dean’s Innovation Group?
Those decisions will be included in acceptance packets only.  

I applied to Johns Hopkins and also the Peabody Double Degree program. How will I be notified of my decisions?
Homewood / Peabody Double Degree applicants will receive their admissions decision notification about their Hopkins (Homewood) application in the same fashion as been discussed above. Decisions about admission to Peabody and the Double Degree program will be released as a second e-mail on Tuesday evening, following the release of all other decision notification e-mails.

****************************************************************************

So I think that covers everything for right now. If you have further questions, please feel free to post a comment and I will try to respond when I have the chance.

Breaking News: RD Notification Release Date 2011

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Good evening blog readers. There is just about 10 minutes left on March 22, 2011 and I am heading to bed after another very long day of committee work. The day has been noteworthy for me as it was my birthday and my colleagues and family made it a truly special day for me. Though I am exhausted after three hectic weeks of committee work, it was wonderful to celebrate with people I have been spending nearly every waking hour with lately.

The BIG news of the day as it pertains to many of you reading the blog right now is that Dean Latting confirmed that we will release regular decision notifications on Tuesday, March 29. That means less than one week from today. As I am now a  year older I need to head to bed and get some sleep before returning to the office early tomorrow morning for another round of committee and BME selection. I will post a full update tomorrow with details on the process for releasing regular decision notifications, so please stay tuned.

Are You Ready For Some Updates?

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Posted by Admissions_Daniel

With more than half of January already gone, I thought I’d take a short break from reviewing applications and update the blog. I am going to quickly touch on a few frequently asked questions this time of year and also provide a road map for future Hopkins Insider blog posts over the next two months. But before that, the priority for this update entry is to provide some details on this year’s freshman applicant pool. Once again our communication specialist, Shelly Placek, worked with Dean of Admissions John Latting to produce the following official press release:

Press Release
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Johns Hopkins University
January 20, 2011
—————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Thursday, January 20, 2011—For the ninth consecutive year, the Johns Hopkins University Office of Undergraduate Admissions has received a record number of applications for undergraduate admission.

As of January 18, 2011, 19,201 applications for the Class of 2015 had been received, representing an increase of 742 applications, or 4 percent, from last year’s pool.

A snapshot of this year’s applicants:

• Increased percentage of applications from the South (up 14 percent), New England (up 11 percent), and the West (up 11 percent)
• Areas of academic interest of applicants
  • Social sciences are up 6 percent
  • Engineering is up 4 percent
  • Natural sciences are up 4 percent
  • Top five countries (other than US) represented: China, Republic of Korea, Canada, India, Singapore

The Admissions Committee is currently in the process of reading applicant files and decisions will be mailed by April 1. Earlier in December, 518 students were offered admission under the Early Decision Plan.

With 19,000-plus applications to review, my colleagues and I will have very little free time between now and the end of March. Before I get back to my applications for the day, I wanted to remind our Regular Decision applicants of the answers to the two most frequently asked questions post-admissions deadline:

Is my application complete? Do you have all my stuff? Can I check my status online?
We understand that you all are anxious to make sure every last piece of your application has been received and processed correctly, but we must request that you be patient. Our Operations staff is working diligently every day (with a lot of overtime as well) to process the volume of application materials we receive around the deadline day. If you e-mail or call us at this time of year, we are not able to confirm whether application files are complete or to identity which individual items have been received.

The process is as follows: once your application is downloaded and processed, you will be sent an e-mail acknowledgment. This indicates that your application file has been started (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 e-mail 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, multiple times, for completeness.

Do note, 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. We do confirm applications and have an extensive process for making sure missing materials are collected.

Can I add items to my application even though the deadline has passed? How can I correct a mistake in my application?
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 so that we can merge this new information with your application folder. Also, all updates should be sent in by February 1. Finally, DO NOT SEND UPDATES VIA E-MAIL, as we do not process application materials received through e-mail.

And let me answer one last question before I return to looking over transcripts, essays, recommendations, etc.: What can we expect from the Hopkins Insider blog over the next couple of months?

I hope by the end of the week to post a blog I have been working on for the past few months. I have been asked often why I stopped posting responses on College Confidential and if I will ever return. At the end of the week I plan to answer those questions and post my entry “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of College Confidential.”

Starting next week, we will continue an annual winter tradition for the Hopkins Insider blog. Over the last few years during the waiting phase (post RD deadline, pre-RD decision release) we have posted a series of blog entries that introduce the members of the Johns Hopkins Undergraduate Admissions Committee. (If you click on the Admissions Staff Profiles category on the left-side menu you see these entries.) This winter we will be taking a bit of a different approach. Shannon and I with the help of the amazing Shelly Placek again, compiled a list of 10 questions and had each of the members of the Admissions Counseling team respond. We hope that the collective responses to these questions will provide applicants a chance find out a little bit more about the people who actually are reading the applications.

Stay tuned.

It is 2011, and that means more FAQs

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Posted by Admissions_Daniel

Happy New Year and welcome to 2011. Five days into the new year and I already broke all of my resolutions. Just kidding. For me, and I assume many of you, 2011 seems just like 2010. The weather is still cold in Baltimore, there is little if any good television on these days, and most of the water cooler discussion is about being optimistic for a new year or how disturbing a movie Black Swan is.

It may be a new year but I am pretty much doing exactly the same tasks as I was doing at the end of December—answering e-mails and reading applications. Though there are more Admissions staff members in Mason Hall on a daily basis this week than there were during the holiday weeks, the same actions are going on: 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 be repeated daily for the next two plus months, except many of the counselors will choose to read from the comforts of their own homes.

One of the things I am most thankful for at the end of each year and into the start of each new year are my e-mail answer templates. For the past five years I have managed our main Admissions e-mail account: gotojhu@jhu.edu and during that time I have amassed close to 300 answer template responses. As you can imagine during this time of year, our e-mail inbox is overflowing, and it is these trusted templates that help me process through over 100 e-mails each day. From December 15 to the end of 2010, close to 1,500 responses were sent out and within a maximum of 48 hours of receipt. And since the start of 2011 we are already nearing 900 responses and the first week is not even complete.

The funny thing about responding to so many e-mails in such a short window of time is that close to 90% of the project is cutting and pasting. Basically this time of year the vast majority of questions can be labeled as frequently asked. And since I have this amazing blog as a vehicle of information, I thought the best topic for the first entry of 2011 would be a patented FAQ post with my patented template responses. Hopefully some of you reading this were planning to e-mail the gotojhu@jhu.edu e-mail account but now you don’t have to because the answer is posted here. Enjoy:

(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 “paper-less” 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 will be sent an e-mail acknowledgment. This indicates your application file has been started (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 students whose applications remain incomplete via e-mail. 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, 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 the 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.)

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, 2011. 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. 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 1. 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 take the 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.

When will decisions be released?
This tends to be the second most popular question asked this time of your and the only answer we can provide is … last week in 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. All we guarantee is that decisions will be released by April 1st.

How many applications have been received?
I am unable to officially reveal an application total for fall 2011 freshman admission until Dean Latting officially determines the count and officially releases that information. (Yes I did mean to use the word “officially” three times in that last sentence.) Typically we don’t have a complete application count until the end of January when we are sure that all mailed applications are received. There are not many mailed applications anymore, but some do come from abroad and take a few weeks to arrive after the January 1 postmark deadline.

I can provide a sneak preview: this will be the largest applicant pool in Johns Hopkins history and we have seen an increase for the ninth straight year. Make sure to vote in the poll on the right of this blog, and stay tuned for a future blog update with the final count.