Live Blogging on Regular Decision Release Day (Class of 2017)

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Hello again and welcome to Regular Decision Release Day 2013! Throughout the day, stop back here to read updates from Admissions_Shelly, Admissions_Shannon, and Admissions_Ardi as we give you a behind-the-scenes look at decision release day for the Class of 2017.

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Admissions_Shelly

8:40 a.m.

It’s a beautiful morning here in Baltimore as everyone starts to make their way into the office for one of our biggest days of the year. Of course, by the time I got here, our Operations staff was already doing one more check of the admit packets and starting to stuff them into their FedEx envelopes for final mailing.

Admit packets, almost ready to go...this is just one row of about 10!

This is a busy but exciting day for the whole staff. We know that our applicants have been eagerly waiting to hear from us, and we appreciate your patience. Over these past few months, our admissions counselors have spent many (many, many) hours reading your files, talking about the class, and figuring out who would be the best fit for JHU–and who JHU is the best fit for! It’s almost as exciting to the counselors who have gotten to know you through your application to see these packets all lined up as it will be for those students who get them in the mail.

For now, things are quiet in the office but that won’t last long. Soon there will be a flurry of activity as we make final checks and prepare for mailing and decision release.

Empty mail bins, ready to take those admit packets to their owners!

If you haven’t already, please read this blog about how the decision release will work to make sure you’re all ready to get your decision this evening: http://blogs.hopkins-interactive.com/blog/2013/03/an-update-on-regular-decision-notification-release/.

Thanks for tagging along with us today and talk to you soon!

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Admissions_Shannon

9:42 a.m.

I can’t believe this is my 8^th decision release! It’s crazy to think about how much things have changed since I first began at Hopkins – from stuffing and checking thousands of envelopes to an online system, our process has really developed with changing technology…not to mention we get to live blog now too.

In honor of Throwback Thursday, here is a shot of me during my first decision release.

my first decision release!

On top of releasing decisions today, our office is getting ready for our Admitted Student Events in the month of April. In just a few minutes I will be chatting with one of our students to coordinate all of the tour options we have to offer families.

Oh, we also have over 400 visitors here for our information session and tour this morning. You can definitely tell it is spring break for high school students!

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Admissions_Ardi

11:28 a.m.

In the same vein as Admissions_Shannon’s live blog post, I can’t believe I’ve reached my 1st decision release!  As a Hopkins alum, I remember exactly when I got my admit decision and packet (to this day, my packet and letter are still in my bedroom at my parent’s house).  In looking for a picture for this post, Admissions_Shelly and I were lucky enough to find an old copy of my 2008 envelope, and it’s exactly as I remember it (very eye-catching, but very sturdy…which is pretty important because your entire family will be grabbing, twisting, and bending it to see the news).  Here’s my admit packet in honor of Throwback Thursday (#TBT).

This envelope is a JHU tradition for admitted students and it's actually pretty similar to this year’s. Can you spot the differences?

It was quite a journey to get here.  As a first time counselor, the past three months have been a whirlwind of applications, student essays, and all the snacks that got me through them (Freshmen 15 anyone?).  It was quite a grueling process…which I’m so happy I went through.  Reading all these applications and seeing all the great things that the Class of 2017 has done already makes me proud to be a Hopkins Alum and makes me excited to meet the new additions to the Hopkins family.

Keep checking in on the blogs.  Admissions_Shelly, Admissions_Shannon, and I have plenty more in store for you all.

Signed,

One Proud Alum

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Admissions_Shelly

12:58 p.m.

An exciting update: the admit packets have left the building! The folders are now headed to their forever homes with the JHU Class of 2017! Here they are, starting their journey to admitted students in all 50 states and 51 different countries (well, the international envelopes are mailed separately, but you  get the idea):

The mail bins, all filled with admit packets and waiting for their ride on the elevator.

Carefully packed up and ready to go!

As Admissions_Shannon mentioned earlier, there are also many people visiting today. Just think–some of those people could be reading this blog next year! These are the times when being in college admissions gives you a really interesting perspective. It’s so fulfilling to wheel out bins of admit packets through a lobby filled with perspective students who might be getting a packet themselves in a year or two–and those students are being helped by our admissions student workers, who were perspective students themselves not too long ago. If you’re reading this now and are an applicant, it must seem crazy to think about yourself as a college student, living in a dorm and walking the same paths to class each day, hanging out with friends you haven’t met yet.  Whether it’s at JHU or another school, you’ll be in a totally different place (physically and probably mentally, as well!) in one short year. To our current student friends who are following along, do you remember being a senior and waiting anxiously for your decision? Do you remember wondering what it would be like to be a freshman? Were you nervous/excited/scared?

Looking for the Class of 2018 and beyond--our lobby is packed with visitors today!

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Admissions_Shannon

2:00 p.m.

Just got back from a late lunch – you have to squeeze things in whenever you can this time of year! Food trucks are out on campus, so students and employees are scattered everywhere, trying delicious treats from all around town. Admissions_Ardi made a quick stop at the Brazilian truck to get some Yucca Fries.

Admissions_Ardi fits in a quick lunch.

Now it is time to get back to planning for the coming month – with events for our admitted students, spring travel (yes, we are heading back out on the road with our Explore Hopkins programs!), and campus events like Spring Fair and Homecoming right around the corner, we are super excited for spring. At the end of this month, I will be making a stop in Los Angles to talk to prospective students about the university, and then joining admissions counselors from all over the country for a case studies event (a program where we meet with some schools and go through how the application process works). Hopefully it will be warmer in LA than it is here in Baltimore.

Only a few hours left to decision release…I can’t wait to welcome the new members of this year’s class!

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Admissions_Ardi

3:06 p.m.

As the old adage goes, “There is no rest for the weary,” and for us at Admissions, the show goes on after RD Decision Release.  As Shannon mentioned above, the Admissions staff is working hard with plans for the rest of the academic year.  While she works on plans for her travel in the spring, we all are meeting today for our first Transfer Reading Training for the season. Yes, there are more applications to read, and the admissions world is now entering the Transfer Reading Season. For all our readers interested in the transfer process for themselves or others, here is a good link on our website about our transfer process: http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/transfer.html.  As we continue with the transfer process, please keep up with our blogs and forums for all of your information and questions.

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Admissions_Shannon

3:57 p.m.

As we sit here and prep ourselves for the final hour before decision release, one of our student workers, Ian Han, was reminiscing about how he felt when decisions came out…

“I remember sitting by my computer refreshing my email, waiting for the email from JHU to pop up. It seemed like I was waiting forever, and then the news came. I found out I was accepted. I read, and reread the email…just to make sure that I was reading it correctly. I was so happy to find out that I was a Blue Jay and immediately shared the news with my family and friends. At first, I played a trick on them, by coming downstairs and looking really sad. Then, I told them I was accepted and they were super excited for me. It couldn’t have been a better day!”

We are so excited to welcome our new Blue Jays soon!

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Admissions_Shelly

4:46 p.m.

Greetings again from Admissions_Shelly. This will be our final post of the day, as we sign off to either head home or to man the phones and help any of you who may have technical difficulties accessing your decisions. (Note: Our extended phone hours today, until 7:00 p.m., are really geared towards helping applicants sign into the decision site; we’ll be happy to speak with everyone else tomorrow during normal business hours.)

Here’s what you can expect this evening:

–All RD applicants will get an e-mail from us with a link to the decision release site. Decisions will be released here: https://mydecision.jhu.edu. You can check it out now, but there won’t be anything to see until we officially release decisions.

–Once decisions have been released, you’ll see a log-in screen where you’ll use the ID that we sent you via e-mail earlier in the month and the password that you hopefully have set up by now to log in and view your decision.

–An important note: Because everyone will be logging in at the same time, there may be a bit of a lag time. Just be patient. Give it some time to load; if you get an error message, simply close all open browsers, reopen one browser, and try again.

–If you haven’t yet set up your ISIS account, you should do that. Like, now-ish, because you won’t be able to access your decision until you set up your account. Instructions were included in an e-mail from us earlier in the month. If you never received that, first check any and all e-mail addresses that you may have used during the admissions process. Check your spam folder, also. If you still don’t see it, give us a call at (410) 516-8171 or e-mail gotojhu@jhu.edu and we’ll talk you through it.

–If you applied for Financial Aid, awards will be available to see around 8:30 p.m. EST. You can log into ISIS, isis.jhu.edu, and check under “Financial Aid”> “Summary” to see your award.

–As I mentioned, we’ll be available by phone or e-mail until 7:00 p.m. tonight to help anyone who has problems logging in.

Finally, I’ll end with some sound advice that my former colleague Admissions_Daniel used to give applicants each year, and that we gave to Early Decision applicants also—and he says it so well that I’ll just quote rather than trying to reword it:

“After you receive your decision, my 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 not an online community. Your family is not Facebook. Your family is 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.”

A truly heartfelt thank you to all of our applicants for considering Johns Hopkins, and many more thanks to those of you who have been following us today and every day. From all of us here at the Hopkins Insider and the entire Office of Undergraduate Admissions, best wishes to you!

An Update on Early Decision Notifications

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This is a quick update for all of our Early Decision applicants who have been eagerly waiting since submitting their applications. Here’s what you need to know:

• Early Decision notifications will be released around 6:00 p.m. EST on Friday, December 14, 2012.
• You will access your decision through a decision release site. In order to get the log-in information for that, you’ll need to set up your account through the Johns Hopkins University Integrated Student Information System (ISIS). Never heard of that? Don’t panic. We’re sending out an e-mail to ALL applicants on December 7 that will include detailed instructions for accessing ISIS (or, if you have already attended CTY or a summer program here, you’ll be directed to re-activate your JHED ID.) You should log in now for two reasons: one, to make sure you’re all ready to access your decision once they’re released on the 14th; and two, by logging into ISIS, you’ll be able to check the status of your financial aid application and see any outstanding items. (Note: We don’t currently have a way to check your admissions application status online. At this point, we have already contacted those students who were missing any items from their applications. If you haven’t heard from us, your application is complete and you’re good to go!)
• Follow the instructions in the log-in e-mail carefully. If you get stuck or run into problems, call our office at (410) 516-8171 and we’ll talk you through it.
• We’ll send out an e-mail on December 14th letting everyone know when the decisions are ready. That e-mail will contain a link to the decision release site. Once you get there, use your ISIS (or, for some students, your JHED) ID and password.
• On December 14th, our office will have extended hours until 7:00 p.m. EST to assist students who are having problems accessing their decisions. Any other questions will be addressed during normal business hours the following week.
• If you don’t receive the e-mail on December 7 with your log-in information, try these things before calling us:
  • Check all e-mail accounts, including your parents’ and any others you might’ve used throughout your college application process. We’ll send all official communications to the e-mail you supplied on your application.
  • Check your spam/junk folders. Sometimes (rarely, but sometimes) our e-mails get caught up in spam filters.
  • If you still don’t have the e-mail, call or e-mail us at gotojhu@jhu.edu and we’ll get it figured out.

Good luck to all of our applicants!

Blogging Re-Cap: Posts for the Class of 2016 Applicants

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This has been a busy month 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 month with a re-cap post sharing the links to the entries dedicated to the Class of 2016 applicants.

Live Blogging on RD Notification Day (Class of 2016)

A Post for the Class of 2016 Admits – Congratulations!

A Post for the Wait-Listed Applicant (2012)

A Post for the Denied Applicant (2012)

I have proof of how busy the past week has been as I reviewed some of the stats in our Google analytics. I am still amazed by these numbers:

- Number of visitors to the Hopkins Insider blog for the past five days (Monday, March 26 through Friday, March 30) = 10,307 unique visitors – 26,798 page views (almost 10,000 more page views than for this same time period last year).

- For just decision release day, March 29, 2012:
7,339 visits from 5,309 unique visitors for 12,927 page views

Simply amazing. THANK YOU!

Shannon and I will be back in April with new blog posts. We brainstormed last week on some topics and have some really interesting posts coming up. Stay tuned.

A Post for the Wait-Listed Applicant (2012)

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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. Go to YouTube and you can find an endless collection of wait list “plea” videos. Personally, I can tell you that video pleas do not work and that vast majority of articles by the media are way off-base when they report on college admissions. Since at this time of year I have an overwhelming fear of students buying into these “how to get off college wait list” schemes, I sit down and compose this post for those on the Johns Hopkins wait list.

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 (2012)

A selection of the questions posted on the discussion thread:

How does the wait list work?
Our enrollment target is 1,275 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:

2011 – Approximately 20 students were admitted from the wait list.
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 (2012) 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 I can be with responses and provide as much detail as possible. I hope this helps.

A Post for the Denied Applicant (2012)

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Now that the dust has settled after the release of Regular Decision notifications this past Thursday, I know that many of our applicants did not receive the news they were hoping for. 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 few 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 (20,496) and our lowest acceptance rate (17.7%) 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 will be just 1275 students this year). 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 13th 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 2013 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 2016)

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Six years ago on March 30, decision release day for the Johns Hopkins Class of 2010, I decided to post a new blog entry to our then just four month old Hopkins Insider Admissions Blog. That blog entry provided a run-down of how decision release day had gone and shared a few pictures. I remember posting the entry late in the evening when I got home from work and not thinking anyone would read it. A year later when we prepared to release regular decision notifications for the Johns Hopkins Class of 2011, readership of the Hopkins Insider blog was up so I decided to try something new … live blogging throughout the day. And a tradition was born.

Blue skies over Gilman - what a stunningly beautiful campus we have.

As I write this I embark on my 6th RD notification day live blogging experiment (#12 if you count ED releases as well) and I am excited to announce that I am going to have some help this year. Not only will you be able to follow along my thoughts and views on how the day rolls out, but my colleague and co-author of the Hopkins Insider, Admissions_Shannon, has also agreed to write periodic updates throughout the day. We will provide you a first-hand look at what takes place in Mason Hall (home to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions) on the day we release 19,000+ notifications to our Regular Decision applicants. Through frequent updates we will detail how this long admissions review season comes to a fulfilling end, and we hope we will provide context and helpful information as you prepare to learn of your decision. I will also attempt to keep up with my Twitter account – @AdmissionDaniel – throughout the day, for those who prefer updates in 140 characters or less.

And for those looking for details on how the process will work today, please return to the decision release explained blog entry I posted earlier this week. Check back often, and as always feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.

5:30am – Admissions_Daniel

My alarm clock goes off, which today is not a buzzing sound, but the rough tongue of my dog Soze on my forehead telling me he needs an early morning walk. Out we go into a chilly and dark morning and as Soze does his business I checked the weather report and see that it is going to be a lovely, mostly sunny spring day in Baltimore today. Back inside I turn on some music - I’ve been on a serious streak of listening way too much to a playlist of just three songs – “We Are Young” by Fun., “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye and “Charlie Brown” by Coldplay. This will hold me over until I turn on ESPN’s Mike and Mike in the Morning and get my “back and better than ever” fix from Greenie and Golic. Though the last week has been exhausting – scratch that, the last month has been exhausting – scratch that too, the last FOUR MONTHS have been exhausting, I feel I sense of energy and exhilaration that at the end of the day the hard work of all in Mason Hall will come to fruition and the Johns Hopkins Class of 2016 will continue to form. Decision release days have truly become one of the special days every year like my birthday or a big holiday.

He may be sleeping in this picture, but in just a few minutes Soze will be waking me up and getting Decision Release Day underway.

6:30am – Admissions_Shannon 

Is it Christmas? No. Are we going to Disneyworld? No. Is it Decision Release Day? YES! They all feel the same when you wake up in the morning – you’re super excited to start your day, but exhausted because you couldn’t sleep the night before. After months of reading applications and holding committee, decision release day has finally arrived! While tonight seems so far away, the day will be a busy one … there are still plenty of packets that need to be sealed and lists to be double checked. For now though, it’s time to get ready for work …

Admissions_Shannon wake-up call delivered by Jack the Cat.

7:30 a.m. – Admissions_Daniel

What an amazingly beautiful spring day it is in Baltimore. I had my sunroof open on my short commute into work and as I arrived, I continued a tradition of snapping a photo of Mason Hall. Now to get my day started in the office.

Dawn over Mason Hall on Decision Release Day

8:15 a.m. – Admissions_Daniel

Just finished composing my To Do list for the day. Seven important items to complete before the release of e-mail decisions tonight. Decided to go witha  Foo Fighters playlist for the morning. Going to tackle some e-mail, post a message on College Confidential (ugh!), and check out all of our social media sites. My colleagues are beginning to trickle in.

Yesterday's To Do List on the left (Accomplished!); Today's To Do List on the right (Get to Work!)

8:33 a.m. – Admissions_Shannon

Just got in the office and I am going to start my day now. I might not be as organized as Daniel is with competing To Do lists, but I have a lot on my desk too. First is to share some pictures with you all. Last night, much of the Admissions staff and some great student volunteers stayed late to get as much work done as possible so we could get decisions out today. We worked until about 8:00pm and Daniel and I snapped the following pictures.

Our award-winning admit packets. YES!

Decision bins waiting to be checked again and packets stuffed into envelopes.

The stuffing begins. DON'T SEAL YET.

Some important minds discussing next steps.

The long line of letters waiting to be checked one last time.

All Boxed Up

Admit Packets cost a lot to mail priority. $5.30 each!

10:03 a.m. – Admissions_Daniel

Nothing new to report. We are in a holding pattern as Financial Aid finishes stuffing some award letters and we do some database reviews. I have been getting through a variety of my to do list items and also had a compelling conversation with a colleague about Hopkins Lacrosse and how excited we are that they are ranked #1 in the nation. I wish I could head up to NYC this weekend to watch the team take on UNC in the Konica Minolta Big City Classic. It does though conflict with Wrestlemania 28 … Rock v. Cena in the “Once in a Lifetime Match” and Tripe H v. Undertaker in the “End of an Era” Hell-in-the-Cell match. Yeah, I may be 37 but I still watch wrestling. Got a problem with that?

10:45 a.m - We have begun the last round of checks of all decision letters. This will take some time. This is the third full check of letters against our applicant database and is proof of how meticulous our process is at every stage. Thorough doesn’t even begin to describe how much we put into each stage of our application processing, application review, decision making, and even production of decision letters. Best head upstairs to help my colleagues.

11:12 a.m. - OK, I need to clear something up. One of our admissions student volunteers questioned whether I am truly still a WWE fan (ugh, it was WWF back in my day) or whether I was just writing it to seem hip in this blog. Well, take a look at this photo. Yeah, that’s right … I have mini Rock and Cena figures on my desk at work. And even better, they were a birthday gift from Shannon. #YouCantSeeMe #TeamBringIt

Proof I am still in a fan of wrestling.

11:51 a.m. - Just got the call that the class is sealed, all checks are complete, and we can now seal and stack all of our decision letters and packets. Then off to the post office we will go. There will be a bit of silence for the next few hours as Shannon and I work with our colleagues to get all of this done. Stay tuned for more updates later in the afternoon.

11:45 am – Admissions_Shannon

Today has been a crazy one…a day full of double tasking! While we are preparing for the big mail, we are also getting ready for our Admitted Student events in April. In fact, just finished chatting with some of our current tour guides about our Lunch with a Student Program. Thank goodness for Bryan Nance … I missed out on breakfast so he brought me some potatoes to snack on. Yum. Now I am going to head upstairs and help everyone.

Yum, Potatoes. Thanks Admissions_Bryan.

3:00 p.m. – Admissions_Daniel

Apologies for the lack of updates. It has been a whirlwind of activity in the office for the last few 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.

3:17 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) Last check of letters is completed as the entire Admissions staff chipped in.
2) The sealing of admit packets commences.
3) The heavy lifters — Daniel and JB — move all sealed admit packets from their bins to U.S. mail bins.
4) In record time all packets are sealed, loaded into mail bins, and ready to move downstairs.
5) Three SUVs appear in the semi-circular driveway in front of Mason Hall just as all the mailed decisions arrive.
6) The loading of the cars commences with many, many hands.
7) The cars are loaded. Susan heads up to the main Johns Hopkins post office in Mount Washington with all deny, wait list, and international mailings. JB, Shannon, Calvin, Sarah, and Daniel head to the downtown Baltimore Post Office with two cars and close to 40 bins of admit packets.
8) The unloading of the cars takes place simultaneously in two different locations and just around 1:45 p.m. all regular decision notifications are out of the hands of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
9) Back to Homewood and Mason for some lunch and to reflect.
10) Time to blog.

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

3:31 p.m. – Slideshow time. Enjoy.

3:35 p.m. – Admissions_Shannon

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to the post office we went! With the final seal of approval from the president’s office, it was time to seal the mail. All hands on deck, the entire admissions staff – PR, operations, IT, communications, and counselors – got the priority mail envelopes ready for shipment. We then caravanned down to the Baltimore City post office where we unloaded two cars filled to the brim with acceptance packets.

When we returned to Mason Hall the first thing we noted was how empty the main room on the third floor felt. See!

What's missing?

Then it was time to play. Calvin decided that I needed to be pushed in one of the large mail bins. Thankfully no one was injured, but Daniel snapped some good pictures.

Ready ...

Set ...

Go ...

OK, I needed that.

Now that everything is in the mail, we have had a bit of fun, it is time to prepare the emails to be sent!

5:05 p.m. - After a LONG day at the office, things have really quieted down. People are once again busy, but this time, preparing for April. I had one last meeting with current students, and now I am out the door to head to Kickball – yes, I play adult kickball with some co-workers and friends! It will be great to relax and take a break after a super busy week.

Time for Kickball

5:15 p.m. – Admissions_Daniel

Here is our press release that discusses the release of Regular Decision notifications:

Press Release
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Johns Hopkins University
March 29, 2012

Thursday March 29, 2012—The Office of Undergraduate Admissions officially “sealed” the Class of 2016 today, sending admit packets and e-mails to 3,071 accepted Regular Decision applicants. These talented students will join 557 students who were admitted Early Decision in December.

A snapshot of the admitted members of the Class of 2016:

Total applications received: 20,496 – record applicant total for 11th straight year
Total students admitted: 3,628
Overall acceptance rate: 17.7% – an all-time low
Males/females: 50.4% / 49.6%

Preliminary areas of academic interest:

• Whiting School of Engineering: 38%
• Krieger School of Arts and Sciences: 62%
  - Humanities: 27% (of admitted KSAS students)
  - Natural sciences: 45%
  - Social and behavioral sciences: 26%
• Undecided: 3%

All 50 states represented, plus D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are represented. New York continues to lead state representation in both applications received and offers of admission.

293 international students have been admitted, residing in 65 nations. Of particular note, 18 European countries are represented with offers made to 83 students. 123 students represent 11 East Asian countries. There are also 34 Canadian students, 20 students from South America, 18 students from South Asia, and 12 students from Central America and the Caribbean.

Regular Decision admitted students have until May 1, 2012, to reply to the university’s offer of admissions.

Congratulations to the Class of 2016!

5:38 p.m. – Admissions_Daniel

As my colleagues on our IT team working diligently to prepare to begin the release of e-mail notifications starting after 6:00 p.m., there are a few important things I want 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 you will not receive an e-mail in your 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 will 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. Read a magazine. Eat an orange. 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 not 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 our last update until after we release the e-mail notifications. We will have a few final thoughts later on tonight.

8:15 a.m. – Admissions_Daniel

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 blog earlier in the 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 did not receive an e-mail tonight, I suggest:

1. Check SPAM folders.
2. If your e-mail address is associated with a private school, your school’s server may block our decision e-mails and you should check with your school’s network administrator to have the e-mail released.
3. 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. (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.

9:15 p.m. – Admissions_Shannon

By this point, decisions have been released. Now, I’ll be curling up with my book (currently reading the Hunger Games) and heading to bed. I am looking forward to meeting the admitted members of the Class of 2016 in the coming month, and, believe it or not, beginning to work with the potential members of the Class of 2017. This was fun sharing the live blogging duties with Daniel. I’ll let him finish it off later tonight.

10:10 a.m. – Admissions_Daniel

Wow, what a day. I’ve been going non-stop for nearly 17 straight hours, but it has been totally worth it. I started the day excited and exhausted and as we wrap-up 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 very soon new blog entries for the admits, the wait listed, and the denies. The work will continue tomorrow but I need to get some shut eye. I always wish I would have something more poignant to say at the end of this long day of blogging, but unfortunately the words are failing me. I will leave you with one of my favorite shots of the Homewood campus take by current Johns Hopkins junior Greco Song:

Sun sets over Homewood.

Good night.

Breaking News: Regular Decisions Notifications To Be Released Thursday, March 29

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I have exciting news to share. Regular Decision notifications for applicants to the Johns Hopkins University Class of 2016 will be released this Thursday, March 29. After nearly four months of processing, reviewing, discussing, and deliberating, the Admissions staff has reached the final stage and is just a few days away from sharing the news with our over 19,000 Regular Decision applicants for freshman admission. Read on for all of the details on how the release of RD notifications will work on Thursday.

JHU CLASS OF 2016, REGULAR DECISION NOTIFICATION DAY =
THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2012

The printing of decision letters has begun.

How will decisions be released?
By mail: On the afternoon of Thursday, 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 Thursday. 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 AFTER 6:00 p.m. ET. Please see that I have emphasized the word AFTER. 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 decision e-mail will not arrive exactly at 6:00 p.m. Please have patience. In fact, I suggest you find something to distract yourself for an hour, and 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.

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 and wait list e-mails have a personalized URL in the message and therefore should not be shared, especially on any public forum or website. To protect your privacy and the accuracy of information, do not share or post your decision e-mail.

The mailing bins have arrived.

What happens if I do not receive an e-mail decision on Thursday evening?
If you do not receive an e-mail, there are few things you can do:

1. Check SPAM folders.
2. If your e-mail address is associated with a private school, your school’s server may block our decision e-mails and you should check with your school’s network administrator to have the e-mail released.
3. 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. (Check e-mails that you may have used when registering for the SAT/ACT for example, such as your parents e-mail accounts.)

What if none of those methods work, and I have still not received my e-mail decision by Friday?
In such rare occurrences, you may call the Office of Undergraduate Admissions on Friday at 410-516-8171 to request your decision e-mail be re-sent to an alternate e-mail address. We ask that only the applicant or parent/guardian of the applicant calls. We will only be able to re-send a decision e-mail if the identity of the caller can be reasonably assured. Please also be prepared to share an alternate e-mail address. We will only process requests to re-send decision e-mails via phone, not e-mail.

Can I call the Admissions Office to discuss my decision with an admissions representative?
We do not discuss the reasons behind decisions over the phone. Additionally, the only phone calls we will receive on Friday will be from applicants who did not receive their decision via e-mail. Starting Monday, April 2, Admissions staff will receive phone calls with questions about decisions. Once again, 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.

The bins of admit packets are eagerly waiting.

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 Thursday 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?
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 Thursday evening, following the release of all other decision notification e-mails.

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.

Reflecting on 12/15/2011

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

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

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

Admissions Holiday Party Team Bad Holiday Sweaters and Sunglasses.

Admissions Holiday Party Team "Save the Bow"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Live Blogging on ED Notification Day (Class of 2016)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Before

After

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

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

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

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

Celebratory Danish!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Class of 2016 Early Decision notifications ready to depart Mason Hall

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

A full car of important decisions.

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

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

As ED ends, RD begins.

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

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

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

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

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

An impressive class to say the least.

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

All done ... woo hoo.

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

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

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

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

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

Stay tuned.

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

Soze wants to play, not work.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Release of ED Notifications Approaches

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Admit packets waiting to be stuffed.

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

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

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

(1.) Check your SPAM folders.

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

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

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

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

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

Stacks of rosters used during committee stages are piling up.