-Today was admission committee for transfer students. We still have to get faculty approval for our selected candidates, but we should be on track to mail decisions on time, hurree hurrah.
-We have not taken any action on the alternate list yet. Please stay patient; we hope to give all students on the alternate list an update by the end of the week.
-Graduation is on Sunday. I may make an appearance this year, if there's enough seating. I'm still sad about missing David Rolfe's speech last year, but hopefully Bill Nye will provide some small compensation.
-If graduation is coming up, that means it's finals week! Campus is eerily quiet, but that might be because I'm long gone by Noisy Minutes, featuring these exciting events:
Yes, tonight's program includes puppies and pillow fights. Oh my goodness.
How many students enrolled? And how many alternates do you think will be asked?
ReplyDeleteSo....if some of the admissions staff aren't going to be in town, how are you going to convene the committee to review the alternates?
ReplyDeleteGood questions. I promise more information about how we'll be using the alternate list will be in our update this week. The first step is determining who, among the students who indicated they wanted to remain on the alternate list, is seriously interested. Some say yes in late March, but by early May are totally committed to a college, so there tends to be some attrition. If there are students on the alternate list reading this who haven't had follow up contact with us -- usually in the form of a letter or an e-mail -- since hitting the "alternate list yes" button on our web response form, now is a good time. Students on the alternate list should also make sure their financial aid documents are totally up to date, since that helps speed the process along.
ReplyDeleteRE convening the admission committee for alternate lists: well, we won't have Peter. We'll still have committee. Peter left extremely detailed notes for us, and don't forget that every application is read twice (so we're familiar with all "his" students too). It might surprise you that more committees than not are missing a staff member -- that's just how it works with our zany schedules. Luckily we all trust each other to make good decisions. Hope that helps!
How can we check our financial aid documents are up to date?
DeleteThanks for the information, Colleen. You do a great job keeping us informed. And at least Mudd *has* some spots for its alternates - I read that MIT is admitting no one from its waitlist this year, because of its 70+% yield. Other schools have ridiculously high waitlist numbers, in the thousands, giving kids false hope.
ReplyDeleteRE Financial Aid: if you've followed the steps outlined on this page http://www.hmc.edu/admission1/costsandaid1/stepsinapplyingforfinancialaid1/aidapplicationforregulardecision.html (sorry for the crazy long link!) and your family's finances are relatively straightforward (things can get complicated with investment properties, business ownership, etc.), then you're probably set. If you're unsure, you can call the financial aid office at 909.621.8055. However, they usually contact families in the event more financial aid information is required.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - Thanks! It's always fun to be able to use the alternate list (and sadly, it's been a pretty rare event in my career). The biggest frustration, on both sides, is the pace -- by the time we wrapped up the alternate list last year, it was nearly July. Eesh. Hopefully things will go more quickly this year!