The Vandy Admissions Blog

Thom November 24th, 2009

You know how people talk about made up Hallmark holidays?  You know like Sweetest Day or Talk Like a Pirate Day, and who can forget the parades during NoSHAVEmber (i.e., national beard month).  If this admissions thing doesn’t pan out and I become Chief Holiday Maker and Thanksgiving doesn’t already exist in said parallel universe, that will be my first act on the job.  An autumn day devoted to hanging out with family, eating, and football.  Perfection defined.

If you’re a college applying senior though the gathering of uncle Sid and aunt Colleen over the holiday means one thing, you better have an answer for those inevitable two questions you’ll be getting:  “Where do you want to go to school next year?”  and “What do you want to major in?”  My advice: make something up and make it awkwardly funny, if for no one else but for you.  Things like “I plan to attend carnie school to learn the ancient art of weight guessing.”  Or “Currently I’m searching for a school with a very lenient dorm pet policy as I have recently taken to indoor alpaca herding.”

In Vandy OUA, we have a security policy that an applicant’s file cannot leave the greater Nashville area (no taking files on the road, etc).  A nice by-product of this policy is some mandated down-time over the Thanksgiving break since most of our staff fan out across the country for some homemade pumpkin pie.  The Vandy students are already gone for break as Dean Wcislo mentioned but the University officially closes on Thursday and Friday.  When we all return, we will have one more week of reading before ED I admissions committee starts a week from this Friday.

By the way, today is Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day.  Thanks Hallmark, you’re the awesomeist.

New Voices on the Admissions Blog

As you have already noticed, we’ve added some additional perspectives to the blog.  Kylie’s made her first post - you’ll be hearing more from her as the year goes on.  Plus, we’ll be having many more guest blogs from across the University.  If there is a topic or a particular person you’d like to hear from, post a comment or send us an email.

• Admissions Committee , Early Decision
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Thom November 3rd, 2009

We’re still processing the some 900 ED applications submitted over the weekend, and the 10+ buckets of mail we received yesterday.  It will take a few days to get everything opened/imported/tracked/filed.  We will be performing an incomplete check of all ED1 files on Friday of this week, with an email to go out on Monday the 9th to all students who are still missing items in their application. If your application is complete, you will get an email as well, but it could be earlier than Monday (it will be sent whenever all your pieces are pulled together).

For your Autumnal enjoyment, I snapped a few shots of the Vanderbilt grounds ablaze in color while walking to the office this morning.  Such a wonderful time of year . . .

Vanderbilt Walkways Along Alumni Lawn in Fall

Vanderbilt's Fall Colors on Curry Field

• Application Process , Early Decision
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Thom October 31st, 2009

Happy Halloween!  For those of you applying for early decision round 1 you know that November 1st is the application deadline.  Here are a couple of quick reminders:

• Yes we are aware that 11/1 falls on a Sunday, which means that the following business day will be the de facto deadline.  In this case, Monday November 2nd is the deadline.
• It is a postmarked deadline for your application.  Not all of your materials need to be sent together, nor do they all have the be received by Monday.  Your application needs to be submitted on the Common App’s website or postmarked in the mail by Monday.
• Remember that once you submit your common application online to Vanderbilt, your app for Vanderbilt is locked and cannot be changed.  Take your time and make sure everything is correct.  My advice - print the sucker out and proof it.  You read words on paper slower than you read on a computer screen.  Which is why someone once turned in an essay that mentioned that the applicant was “the writting editor for the school newspaper.”  Slow down there speedy.

Our officers are already off and reading applications this weekend, and we’re collectively excited to get off the road.  Good luck to everybody! 

P.S. Be sure to check out our Admissions website’s brand new look to be unveiled later this coming week!

• Early Decision
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