Wednesday, December 3, 2014

What happens AFTER we receive your application???

Today, I’d like to take you INSIDE the admission office at Millsaps College. 

You and your student have done your part – dutifully completed your application, spell-checked their essay, diligently followed up to ensure that ACT or SAT scores have been sent from the testing agency, and asked the high school counselor to send us a transcript – so then what happens?

Ten years ago, you would have seen a photo of endless shelves of manila folders, sorted and stacked alphabetically, containing all the pieces of paper pertaining to a given applicant.  These days, colleges receive most application materials electronically, and we use database management software to collate, organize, and review those materials.  Think of it – if each applicant sent only ten pages of documents, that’s nearly 30,000 pieces of paper for one year’s worth of applications to Millsaps.  With electronic records, we’re saving a LOT of trees!

Besides the application forms your student filled out online, and the scores sent from ACT or SAT, we also ask high school guidance counselors to submit their documents electronically.  Services like SendEDU provide fast, free and secure upload of school transcripts directly into our database, dramatically shortening processing time, and reducing errors and misplaced information.

A dedicated team of professional staff members – Peggy, Christian, Abbey, and Tammy –  sort and catalogue your materials, scan any documents received on paper, and work to ensure that all your stuff is matched with your correct files.  We also use the software to allow you to check your status and review which materials we received.  We also send regular reminders to applicants who’ve started but not yet finished their application process.

Once the operations team has catalogued all your documents and your application file is complete, our counseling team can view the complete records in a virtual file bin, ready for their review.  Our counselors work with students from specific geographic territories so they can get to know the high schools, their grading scales, and their staff and students. (Click HERE to see which counselor covers your area)  The counselors review the transcripts with a fine-toothed comb, plus all the materials provided in an applicant file, to look holistically at an applicant’s likelihood to succeed academically and contribute positively to our community. 
 
Just as there are no bad colleges, there are no bad applicants, just better fits between students and institutions.  The application and admission process is about assessing the match for a particular student at a particular school.  When the counselor makes his or her recommendation, some students are admitted and others reviewed by the full admission committee, or deferred until additional information is received.  Sometimes, waiting until a student can submit senior year fall term grades can be very helpful in tipping the scales in their favor.

Remember, we’re the office of admission, NOT the office of rejection, so we’re trying to give you every possible consideration to offer you a place at Millsaps College.