Behind the Scenes: Mailing Day 2011
Yesterday we officially mailed our Class of 2015 admission decisions! Every year Mailing Day is a celebration for us here at OUA as it represents an entire year’s worth of recruitment and evaluation. Today the office is officially closed to the public as OUA staff members take a much needed breather and prepare for a new phase of the admissions cycle. As you anxiously await decisions, I thought you might enjoy a behind-the-scenes peak at Mailing Day 2011.
First let me add a shout out. Admissions counselors receive the most recognition for the work that happens here at OUA because we’re on the front lines with prospective students and families. However, I also want to recognize the extraordinary amount of time and energy put in by other individuals including the Admissions Processing Center, OUA operational staff members, the Office of Financial Aid and Undergraduate Scholarships, the Vanderbilt Institutional Research Group, and the Registrar’s Office. Also a huge thank you to the many seasonal Admission Evaluators and Admission Analysts who help us put multiple pairs of eyes on 24,700+ applications. Finally, we greatly appreciate our campus partners who continually support the Vanderbilt and OUA mission.
Without further ado… the Mailing Day festivities…
OUA Leadership Team gets the group pumped for Mailing Day 2011:
Amy Smith, Associate Director, seals the first admit packet of 2011:
It’s a team effort to seal all of our admit packets:
Susie Archer, Director of Strategic Process Enhancement, enjoys her first OUA Mailing Day:
The USPS truck arrives to take the decisions away:
An assembly line forms through the building, handing off mail bins to the USPS:
Your humble blogger gives the letters one last thumbs up:
GO ‘DORES!
March 24th, 2011
You all have taken this mysterious process and made it accessible, and I thank you for that. If this is any indication of the respect and treatment of your students, I do hope my son will have the opportunity to attend Vandy.
March 24th, 2011
I agree! My son has also applied to Northwestern, ND, and Stanford and no other school has gone above and beyond to make these applicants feel special.
March 25th, 2011
My son applied early decision and we just received his Open ‘Dores packet in the mail, but I just read on the website that we should also be receiving a Road to Vanderbilt packet once the matriculation deposit is processed. Ours was processed a couple of months ago, so when should we expect to receive that?
March 25th, 2011
Hank: Road to Vanderbilt will go out in May (I believe), I’ll keep you updated through the blog. It will also go up on our website.
March 25th, 2011
Thank you, thank you, & thank you! After seeing the top 25% CR+M posted, hope faded. To see that beautiful, thick envelope made all the hard work well worth it! And by the way, thank you for having this blog.
March 26th, 2011
I got my admissions letter, but my friend has not yet. Do denial letters get mailed standard mail, meaning they arrive slower? :(
March 27th, 2011
Lyle: As I stated in my previous blogs, admit packets went out priority mail and all other letters went out first class mail.
March 28th, 2011
My son applied, but has not received any notification as of yet. I’m trying to stay positive for him, but since Admission packets were sent out priority mail last week, I’m thinking that he’ll be receiving a denial letter. I’m not looking forward to his reaction when he receives that letter. I may need to hide out for a few weeks. :(
March 28th, 2011
My son just got wait listed & he signed onto the list before I could text him back! We’re very excited&look forward to more posts about the wait list progress.
Thank y’all!
March 28th, 2011
My son was wait listed & claimed his place before I could text him too! Hoping to be a Vandy family!
Southern Mama in NJ
March 28th, 2011
My sister said I have something in the mail, I hope that its my Vandy letter. Crosses fingers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 28th, 2011
Could there still be hope if we have not heard anything in North Carolina?
March 28th, 2011
Kylie, I’m a current junior at Vanderbilt, and my little sister just got waitlisted here. Are you going to provide information, as this blog has done in past years, on how to remain relevant on the waitlist and what to do to bolster your chances, if only slightly?
I wish I could write a recommendation! One of the many, many things Vanderbilt has taught me is how to create a compelling, persuasive piece of writing. :)
March 28th, 2011
Jessica: Waitlist updates are absolutely forthcoming!
March 29th, 2011
Many other kids in our area of Northern California have already received their letters of non-admission or for the waitlist, but my daughter has not received anything yet. Does it take this many days for priority mail to arrive in California or is it possible that the regular letter got lost and she didn’t get in? When can we call to find out her admissions status so that we can end the suspense?
March 29th, 2011
Marcia: You can call starting tomorrow (3/30/11) at 9am.
March 30th, 2011
My daughter hasn’t heard yet. So I guess we’ll call tomorrow. We have an APO address in Venezuela which can take anywhere from 5 days to 2 weeks to get mail. Maybe in the future you could consider sending e-mails to the students with APO/DPO addresses, as we are international…?
March 31st, 2011
Nancy: We did send emails to students with mailing addresses outside of the US. Your daughter should check her junk box and spam filters. Also, feel free to call to get an update!
April 8th, 2011
Just got my offer letter on Tuesday for postgrad studies,yaaay!!