Your college application is in the hands of the admissions office, and you feel helpless – or maybe you haven't sent it yet, and you're wondering what's in store for it. What steps will your application go through? Who will see it? What will they look for? What time frame should you anticipate for finding out whether you're admitted?
Have no fear: answers are here. Three college admissions professionals -- John Gaines of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, Marc Williar of Flagler College in St. Augustine, FL and Lynn Gurganus of the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, AL -- agreed to walk us through the steps an application goes through when it arrives in their offices.
The first step, common to all colleges, is processing. Here, the college receives your application, and an admissions employee enters your information into a database. This person then creates a file to contain all the information the college has received or will receive about you. Within a few days to a few weeks of this time, depending on the school's size and the number of applications that are pouring in, you'll receive a letter or some other notification telling you that this has happened.
If you've sent an online application, the process that happens inside the office shouldn't be any different, they said. You may still have to mail some pieces of the application, such as transcripts and recommendations, but you would have had to do that anyway.
If there are any pieces missing from your application – say, your transcript, an essay, test scores or a recommendation – the admissions office will let you know at this point, so that you can work on getting those sent. Then they'll contact you again when your file is complete.
When it is complete, the application is assigned to a reader. This person is usually an admissions counselor for the school, but sometimes may be another academic or professional hired and trained to read applications -- again, depending on the school's size and number of applicants. He or she has the job of looking through your application. This first look is often simply a matter of discovering whether your grades and test scores fall within the school's acceptable ranges.
At Montevallo and many public institutions, the admissions decision is nearly that simple, Gurganus said. Admission is offered if the grades and scores are up to snuff and there are no obvious reasons to the contrary. In borderline cases, admission is either denied or withheld for further examination. In the case of withholding, the student is usually asked for more information -- for example, a mid-senior-year transcript -- to help admissions officers finalize their decision.
Flagler represents the less competitive type of selective school. After identifying every applicant who can be admitted on the basis of grades and test scores, Flagler's admissions office picks from among these. Three readers are involved with each application that reaches this point, and each reader will vote based on qualitative standards: community service, personal maturity, demonstrated desire and preparedness for a college education.
