Hopkins Insider

Best of the Blogs

Now that J.K. Rowling has broken her silence about the final installment in the Harry Potter Series, I thought it a good time for me to also return from seclusion. See summertime in Admission can be described as a state of relaxation, reflection, and preparation. Continuing with the "tion" theme, I'd also add vacation and procrastination to the mix, the main reasons why I did not update the blog the last few weeks (sorry). During this time, we Admissions people catch up on our reading (some read books other gossip/entertainment websites); we actually take our lunch breaks (often more than just one hour); we enjoy deep philosophical conversations (about admissions practices or the World Cup); and all in all, we slow down and relax just a bit.

See the ride is a thrilling one, but after all the climbs and falls, curves and loops, twists and turns, we need to get off the ride and collectively catch our breathes. (((Hope you like the roller coaster metaphor, I thought it appropriate for summertime and plus I am huge roller coaster aficionado. If you are too you must visit Cedar Point Park in Sandusky, Ohio.))) From September until May, Admissions is not a full-time, 9 to 5, 40 hour/week job but rather it becomes a lifestyle. It consumes you, especially the passionate ones like myself, and in the end you are left physically and mentally drained. But see there is that light at the end of the tunnel that is the summer months. A perfect span of time that is just long enough to help re-charge those batteries and get ready for another whirlwind admissions cycle.

OK, enough with the excuses for why I didn't post. Let's get to the important stuff, what have I been up to. Besides vacation which I have been enjoying a lot of, I have been spending my working hours organizing, planning, and brainstorming. I have cleaned my desk, organized my files, arranged my email folders and hard drive files, and created a new filing system. For most that is a couple of days work; for an extremely anal retentive person like myself those projects took about a month and I am still fine-tooling my new organization system. My label maker (a joke Christmas gift my sister gave me about six years ago) and I have been very active.

More related to my assigned responsibilities, I have been working on my fall travel schedule which will include a couple of trips to New England in September and October, as well as a jaunt through Pittsburgh for our National Conference. I am looking forward to this travel as one of the weeks in New England will be a series of group travel programs, and while at the conference I will actually be presenting with colleagues from a couple of other well known institutions about the growing trend of Admissions blog.

In addition to travel planning, I have also been very active brainstorming new and improved ideas for Hopkins Interactive (H.I.). The members of my Student Admissions Advisory Board (SAAB), who you know as the various bloggers and message board responders, have passed along some fantastic ideas about how to upgrade H.I. as well as some really innovative recruitment ideas that I hope we will be able to move forth with this coming year. Much more to follow on those initiatives later in the summer.

For one of my numerous summer projects, I need your assistance. As a way to continue to promote the H.I. blogs, Esther suggested back in the winter an idea for a "Best of the Blogs" book that could be displayed in the Admissions lobby. The idea is to put together a collection of the best blog entries from the past year, bind them together in a pseudo-book form, and put a few copies on display for visitors to flip through while waiting in the Admissions lobby. Currently we provide various Johns Hopkins brochures and also a selection of magazines to keep our visitors entertained before a tour departs or information session begins. But wouldn't it be more enjoyable to read about real experiences from real JHU students while waiting. We all think so!

So how can you be of assistance you ask? Well, we need suggestions for which entries of the past year should be included in a Best of the Blogs book. Listed below are links to our 8 student blogs and our Guest Blog. (I've also provided links to the student profiles if you want to learn a bit about the blogger before reading through their entries). The H.I. blogs began in October 2005, and each has been updated quite recently.

Your task is to read through the entries and pick your favorites. Nominate your favorites by adding a comment to this blog or emailing me directly at daniel.creasy@jhu.edu. To nominate a blog, please include the blog's main title or its author, the title of the specific entry you are nominating, and the date it was published. Remember you are nominating specific entries, not selecting your favorite overall blog -- so don't forget to use the Archive menu along the right side of each blog.

We are all quite excited about this Best of the Blogs project, and are really curious to receive your nominations and read your comments. And for the prospective students out there, this mission will not only be fun but quite informative as you learn about what life is really like as a Hopkins undergraduate. Happy searching!!!

Best of the Blogs

Laura P.: "A Day in the Life" -- Profile link -- Blog link

Esther B.: "Adventures at Hopkins" -- Profile link -- Blog link

Hopkins Guest Blog -- Blog link

Julia P.: "Julia's Journal" -- Profile link -- Blog link

Michelle B.: "Michelle's Musings" -- Profile link -- Blog link

Stefanie B.: "My Life is My Personal Movie" -- Profile link -- Blog link

Michelle T.: "Not-Quite-Daily-Ramblings" -- Profile link -- Blog link

Rachel B.: "Sprachen, Idiomas, e Lingue..." -- Profile link -- Blog link

Phil C.: "The Castrovinci Chronicles" -- Profile link -- Blog link

P.S. Just a note on the pictures from the last two entries. See, I got a new camera. My first digital camera, an Olympus Stylus 710 (is that any good?) and I have gradually been learning how to use it. This picture is the wall adjacent to my desk, which contains many wonderful distractions for me - from pictures of Soze and my family, to some of my favorite cards of all time, and my talking Yoda who answers hard questions for me (such as whether I should admit students - j/k). Sorry it is blurry, I am still learning. What this does mean is future blogs will have more fun photos, I hope.

Stay tuned...

Hey all!

No, I have not forgotten about you all. Got side-tracked a bit the last few weeks, but I guarantee a new post on Monday - June 26.

Have a great weekend.

Admissions_Daniel

 

We're Back and Better Than Ever...

Greetings once again. It has been a while since my last entry and I know many of you have been clamoring for updates. My apologies but I have been on a well deserved vacation from both my physical and virtual offices. This was a simple vacation for me as I enjoyed the 3 Rs: rest, relaxation, and reading. I also enjoyed some great TV season finales (LOST -- WOW!), caught up on the film industry, and spent some quality time with Sozë, Lilly, and the NY Mets.

It is nearly ten years for me now as a member of the work force, the official "real world," and I have truly grown to love my vacation days. The worst part though has to be the day you return, as you then have to tackle the piles of work that you have missed (phone messages, tons of emails, etc.).

As I sift through my to do list, I made an update to Hopkins Insider one of my top priorities, because I know there are some eager audiences out there. This will be a short entry though, just updating you all on what has transpired in the world of Hopkins Admissions these past few weeks. I'll return hopefully early next week with a new and much more interesting / compelling entry.

Now on to the updates...

Update For Wait List Students

This past Friday (June 2) the Counseling Team finalized our work with the wait list. Though a few days later than anticipated, we needed to make sure we were comfortable and confident with these final decisions. On Friday we mailed decision letters to all applicants who informed us they wanted to remain on the wait list.

The enrolled class of 2010, as it stands currently, is right where we want it to be. We have covered our enrollment target of 1160 freshmen and have just about an additional 100 students who have enrolled -- more than covering any "summer melt" we may experience. What all that pretty much means is that we successfully made our class.

With that in mind, the vast majority of letters mailed on Friday will notify students that since we have met our enrollment targets we are releasing them from our wait list. A small group of students (a little over 100) will receive a different letter (and email) offering them a place on our small, extended summer wait list. Those selected to be on the summer wait list are also notified that we have met our enrollment targets and the reason for this extended wait list is in the event space becomes available.

For those accepting a place on this extended wait list it is important to note that chances for admission are slim and only will occur in the rare case that more spaces become available than the number we are currently over-enrolled. This scenario resembles what we decided to do with our wait list last year, and no students were admitted from this smaller, extended wait list then. Final decisions about the extended summer wait list will be released by July 31.

To all of you wait list students we extend our appreciation for your patience throughout this past month and wish you all the best of luck at the institution you will attend this fall. Every year these decisions are quite difficult to make, and I hope you understand the blood, sweat, and tears we put in as we agonize over these decisions. Having personally been wait listed from one of my top choice schools, I can relate. But I also assure you that after your first week in college you will forget all about wait lists. (If not, you can always transfer....)

Update For Transfer Applicants

Speaking of transfers, starting around May 26 and ending late last week the Transfer Admissions committee finalized and released (by email and mail) our Fall 2006 transfer decisions. As I mentioned in my previous post, this was quite a large transfer applicant pool so the Committee was very keen on reviewing each application thoroughly. Since I do not work closely with the transfer review process, I am not privy to many statistics, aside from letting you know the acceptance rate was close to 14%. As always, questions about transfer admissions are addressed quite well here, and for those admitted - CONGRATULATIONS, and enjoy the accepted student website.

Update For Prospective Students (Class of 2011)

I know that more and more prospective students have begun to read this blog and that excites me. Much of the information to date has not been tailored to you specifically, but that will change soon. Keep checking back regularly as we close the book on 2010 and look towards 2011. And remember, use the comments section of this blog to make suggestions about future Hopkins Insider topics -- I am looking for big ideas here!!!

Cheers!

P.S. Credit for the title of this entry must go to my favorite radio show, Mike and Mike in the Morning, on ESPN radio. I have been a big fan of talk radio for a long time, and no show has ever grabbed my attention as much as these guys - and it is not just for sports fans. Check it out.