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Application Process Category

The College Application Essay Part I: Answers from the wizard in aisle 9c

Sep. 11, 2008—My two year old son likes to ask me to tell him stories right before bedtime.  I weakly protest but ultimately acquiesce in the effort to get him off to dreamland.  Quite candidly though, I suck at it.  He is a tough, but forgiving audience, mostly finding a matchbox car more entertaining after about two...

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Answer: Jalapeno Poppers, Kentuckiana, and Existentialism

Aug. 27, 2008—Question: What are you left with after 12 hours of driving across the Greater Midwest with OUAer Brad Weiner? The Midwest Road Show last week was a blast, if nothing else because of the wonderful new friends we made in the cities we visited.  The programs we attended were full of bright & interested students and families and...

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Letters Are Out…

Mar. 28, 2008—Decisions are officially out the door. We have an annual tradition where we dress down on mailing day, load the mail truck, and clean the office from top to bottom. The letters are on their way to your doorstep as we speak. Just a reminder, we will not release decisions over the phone until Thursday,...

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Decision Checks and Sealing Party…

Mar. 27, 2008—I know. I know. We said we were mailing today. Still, we always want to guarantee that the correct student is receiving the correct letter with the correct decision. Therefore, we match every application one by one. This involved late nights, lots of pizza from across the street, ice cream and coffee runs, and the...

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Check Check 1 2 3

Mar. 24, 2008—Mailing week has officially begun at 2305 West End. At this stage it’s a lot of checking and proofreading. We check to make sure that your name is spelled correctly and your street address is correct to make sure that your letter doesn’t find its way into the postal version of the Bermuda triangle. We...

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Feist Spoon Lil John? . . . Yeeeaaah!

Mar. 18, 2008—Sorry for the crickets chirping there. Got a little hectic and wasn’t able to check in. If Haley Joel Osment saw dead people, I see manila folders . . . everywhere. Literally as I write this dispatch to you I am sitting amongst piles of folders with rainbow hued end-labels – like you see on...

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MOSAIC Multicultural Student Weekend: March 13-16, 2008

Feb. 28, 2008—It’s back… From March 13th to 16th – possibly the most celebrated multicultural campus visit event in the nation – will reign over campus. MOSAIC Weekend! MOSAIC is a multicultural campus visit weekend for selected students of color who have been admitted to Vanderbilt. An early notice of admission is included in the MOSAIC Invitation...

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ED2 Letters Have Left the Building

Feb. 14, 2008—Thanks for your patience everyone, but our early decision II letters left 2305 West End first thing this morning. A couple of notes: -As is customary with Vanderbilt early decision, expect all letters to come in small envelopes.-As we’ve discussed before, we very rarely defer from early decision to regular. -If you have not yet...

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ED2 Mailing Day Update

Feb. 13, 2008—The word of the day is caesura. Caesura: noun, plural; a short pause typically found in the middle of a verse of poetry. Often symbolized by a double vertical line (II). Like a pause in the middle of a great work II so too are we in the building of this historic Vanderbilt class. We’ve...

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“Waiting is the hardest part”

Feb. 9, 2008—Was on the road this week on Vandy business to South Carolina . . .ok, it was a conference in Hilton Head . . . you know, Harbortown, lots of golf courses, retirees . . . beach. Rough gig, I know. Traveling is a solitary act, cavernous airports, winding and swift moving streams of people,...

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When Is a Deadline Not a Deadline?

Feb. 5, 2008—Good Afternoon, It is super-Tuesday and I have yet to vote. It was a choice between arising early and stand in line or sleep later and vote on the way home from work and stand in line. Obviously, I took the latter. In this case for me, waiting does not have a real consequence. I...

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reading files and philosophy books

Feb. 1, 2008—Yes, I am one of those gentlemen who views philosophy as a way of life. I incorporate as much of the intellectual musings of philosophers – as well as my own thoughts into just about everything I do. I have been reading student applications for most of the day. I take breaks. Listen to some...

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