‘Freshman Commons’
Behind the Scenes: Mailing Day 2011
Mar. 24, 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...
February Wrap-Up
Feb. 22, 2011—We’ve finally dug out from the snow this winter and the first signs of spring are in the air here in Nashville! Believe it or not, there’s only about one month standing between us and mailing day. I know if you’re a Regular Decision applicant waiting for that April 1st admissions decision, you feel as...
Meet John Gaines, Director of OUA
Feb. 21, 2011—My hometown is Owensboro, KY. I am the admissions counselor responsible for “the islands”: Manhattan, Hawaii, and England (really, all of Europe).
MOSAIC Weekend 2011
Feb. 15, 2011—This past week was an exciting week for many Vanderbilt applicants! Last Friday we welcomed our newest ‘Dores to the Class of 2015, those who received admission through Early Decision II. Further, we sent out MOSAIC Weekend invitations to a limited number of our wonderful multicultural applicants.
On-Campus Housing at Vanderbilt
Jan. 27, 2011—I’m not one to prop up U.S. News & World Report rankings, as I’m sure you know if you’ve read my previous posts on the topic. However, I saw this bit today and thought it was an appropriate time to discuss campus housing. According to the news organization, Vanderbilt is one of the top ten...
Greek Life at Vanderbilt
Jan. 26, 2011—Outside of admission-related questions, the two most frequent questions I receive are 1) how Southern is Vanderbilt? and 2) how Greek is Vanderbilt? In past posts I addressed the Southern question (answer: as Southern as you want it to be). The Greek life question is particularly timely as we just completed formal rush on Vanderbilt’s...
How We Read a File
Nov. 19, 2010—In a previous post I walked readers through how all of our mail makes it into a complete application file. I ended with the file landing in the “Read me!” bin of my office. The question begs, then what? How does an admissions counselor actually read a file, what are we looking for, and where...
Application Status UPDATE
Nov. 3, 2010—You hit submit. Whew. Take a breather, you’ve earned it. I understand that now you want to follow up and confirm we’ve received materials. However, give us some time. We have HUNDREDS of applications and pieces of applications pouring into our office every day. It takes time to process all of that snail mail and...
Wrapping Up Travel Season – What Comes Next?
Oct. 11, 2010—Hopefully, you’ve had the chance to meet an admissions representative from our office in the past few months. Officers (including myself) from Vanderbilt traveled extensively this fall in order to meet prospective students in their hometowns. If you didn’t get to meet one of us in your region, come visit us! OUA is open six...
Meet Thom Golden
Oct. 8, 2010—My hometown is Snellville, GA by way of Nashville, TN. I am the admissions counselor responsible for the areas of Chicago, Mexico & the Caribbean.
IDK
Oct. 4, 2010—What type of grass is on the soccer field? How many declared majors are in the philosophy department? Is a double major in biology and chemistry the same thing as a biochemistry degree? What percentage of incoming freshmen preference a roommate versus those that go potluck? Of your African American students, what is the gender...
Meet Harper Haynes
Oct. 1, 2010—Anderson, South Carolina is my hometown. I am the admissions counselor responsible for Northern and Central Florida and South Carolina.