Application Process Category
Super Mega Hella-Blizzard 2009
Jan. 20, 2009—A blizzard of another kind is winding down at 2305 West End Ave at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. During the height of the days surrounding our January 3rd application deadline, our operations staff was handling an avalanche of mail. On January 5th we received 30 bins of mail. That following week, each day brought an additional 10 bins of materials to our office.
Admitted at ED?: advice for approaching the rest of your senior year
Jan. 16, 2009—All admitted students to Vanderbilt will be asked to submit a final transcript once it comes available and it never fails that we see a very small handful of students who packed up the intellectual circus a little early that last semester. At that point our office has a decision to make, and it is a no-one-size-fits-all determination. My general advice is succinct, if not completely predictable, don't risk it.
Of Prom Dates and "Demonstrated" Interest
Jan. 14, 2009—Don’t judge me but I love Family Guy. I’m not like overly zealous Simpsons-guy or anything like that, I mean I don’t own any of the DVD’s (although I do have all seasons of Entourage and Arrested Development). Peter Griffin has a short stint on the local news doing stand-in op-ed pieces called “What Really Grinds My Gears” which involved nonsensical rants about lindsay Lohan and Starwars. Demonstrated interest, in its current incantation in college admissons, is one of mine.
What's in a name? – post-ED1 musings
Dec. 19, 2008—Q&A Time: Q – How do I check the completeness of my application (i.e., do you have my stuff)? A – Call 800-288-0432 between 8am-5pm CST or email us at admissions@vanderbilt.edu. We started running double shifts with our processing staff a couple weeks ago to be able to handle the mountain of paper (remember last...
ED 1 Letters for Class of 2013 are in the Mail
Dec. 13, 2008—Happy December, The Early Decision letters have officially left 2305 West End Avenue as of noon today. I speak for our whole office when I say that this was a very impressive pool both academically and personally. Overall, the ED 1 pool was larger (albeit slightly) than in years past and while we were excited to see...
Giving Thanks
Nov. 26, 2008—This morning I found a very close parking spot. And for that, I am thankful. Thanksgiving week is upon us and campus has emptied out. It is strange and a bit unnerving to work on a college campus during holiday seasons. With no students around, it’s just not as fun. Still, it’s nice to know...
And Then There Were Files: ED I and Front Yard Football
Nov. 18, 2008—It was a moment a couple Sundays ago. On the couch, my 2.5 year old playing quietly on the floor in front of me, the Titans game on in front of him. Nothing too remarkable about the exact moment really when I realized this would be last weekend without file reading. The clicking of Matchbox...
Vandy Admissions Deadlines: Your to-do list for this weekend
Oct. 31, 2008—There’s a great line from an Arrested Development episode, spoken as a teaser by a TV news anchor, “Packs of wolves loose on the streets of Orange County – we’ll tell you what it means for your weekend when we come back.” Just thought of it when I was writing the title for this post. ...
The ED & Financial Aid Quandary
Oct. 16, 2008—We got a really good question about Early Decision & fin aid from Talha and I thought I would answer it here instead of replying over email. “Hey bloggers, I was wondering wheather (sic) applying early decision to Vander-awsome-bilt would affect at all the financial need of a student/family. I know that once you are accepted...
Expanded Aid program: make it plain
Oct. 7, 2008—Sometimes it’s hard to get your brain around financial aid. You may have seen this, but my friend Amy Wolf and the folks with the VUcast have really done a nice job with this video that puts this new aid program into simple terms. Go ‘Dores! 5-0 baby!
Three Promises
Oct. 3, 2008—I might have the greatest job in the world. I get to travel. I get to meet intelligent, interesting young people. When not traveling, I go to work on a beautiful campus in the middle of Nashville. I even have a season baseball ticket. Still, the best part is that I can make some...
The College Admissions Essay Part II: Beyond gimmicks and hooks
Sep. 12, 2008—We talked yesterday about the importance of voice in your college application essay. Today let’s discuss the second insight your college application gives our admission officers, specifically, how you put your thoughts together to convey a point. In college a buddy of mine introduced me to a friend of his at a party like this, “Hey...