On the Road Again

Posted by Thom on Thursday, April 10, 2008

Newman’s character from Seinfeld famously quipped, “The mail never stops Jerry.” And so goes admissions work. Less than two weeks have passed since our decision letters have left the office and we’re all out on the road simultaneously talking to admitted students and families, and introducing ourselves to interested students for the incoming class of 2009. For both groups, it’s amazing to hear the high level of buzz that our new freshman Commons is creating (http://commons.vanderbilt.edu).

I’m reporting from a Panera in the suburbs of Chicago. Ah Panera, an all too familiar haven of the on-the-road admissions officer. Free wi-fi squatting in coffee shops to fill the time between visits to high schools and college fair programs is a tradition of necessity, and one that I carry forward on this cold and rainy Illinois day.

The admissions shoe is certainly on the other foot now. We get regular email reports of the daily response cards that our office receives from our admitted students. We see who has accepted our offers of admissions and who will be attending elsewhere. So while you waited patiently to get our decisions, so now do we wait to hear what you are planning to do. It’s all a part of some karmic balance, a ying and yang I suppose (I will leave it up to my philosophic colleague James to weigh in on this one). Over the speakers of my Panera, Elton John is singing the Circle of Life. Time to log off.

Posted in College Fairs and VU Visiting Your High School, Freshman Commons