Happy 2008! It’s great to be back on the blogroll. I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday season. Teachers College closed for a much-needed rest and now we are back and ready to rock!
January is the busiest month in the Office of Admission. Along with new students enrolling this month, our early application deadlines have arrived. We’re been opening bins and bags of mail daily, not to mention all of the mail we recieved during our break. We have a lot of applications to process and we’re very excited to help bring in new students for the Summer and Fall!
Many of you have phoned our office already to ask if your transcripts or recommendations have arrived or if your application is complete. Although I wish I could give up-to-the-minute status checks on each application, it simply isn’t possible at this time. Every single application item is processed and entered into our computer system by hand. Even the online applications. With thousands of pieces of mail to go through, it takes up to four weeks (15-20 business days) to completely match an application form with its supplemental materials.
Won’t this make my application late?
In short, no. We date-stamp all application materials once they arrive in the office to ensure that they have met the deadlines prescribed by the academic departments and the Office of Admission. This processing time is built into the deadline we set. So if you submitted your application on January 15th, do not worry if your application isn’t processed and ready for review on January 16th (Or 17th…). As long as you submitted your complete application to our office to arrive by the early deadline, then you will be all set.
You will receive email confirmation from the Office of Admission once your application is complete. If you feel that an item may not have arrived to our office, you are more than welcome to contact us. As I mentioned before, all applications are processed and completed by hand. This will not happen overnight. But please know our office values each and every one of your applications and their components. We’re working double-time to get all of these applications prepared for review.
We understand that this is the next chapter of your life that you’re trying to write. We’re just as excited about this possibility as you. We just ask for your patience at this time.
I will write more on applications periodically. If you have any questions you want answered specifically, please email me: rs2672@columbia.edu. I’ll try to answer them as fast as I can.
Happy New Year!
