Hopkins Insider

Early Decision: Is It Right For You?

Over the last few days I have been answering a ton of questions on the Hopkins Forums, in my own email account, and primarily through our main Admissions email account (gotojhu@jhu.edu). One of the most commonly asked questions this time of year is about whether or not one should apply Early Decision. Some ask about their chances for admissions if they apply ED (aaarrrggghhh), others ask whether there is an admissions or financial aid advantage to applying ED (understandable question), and others just want us to make the decision for them (sorry can't really help there). With just a few days until the November 1 Early Decision deadline, I thought I'd provide some thoughts on this whole ED thing.

First, I refer you all to a blog entry I wrote three years ago that still holds up today: To ED or Not To ED ... I spent a lot of time composing that message and three years later I still share the same information with students asking about Early Decision at Hopkins. An excerpt:

Written November 2006
... Though that part of the staff meeting discussion may seem to be the most interesting, it is what we discussed afterward that really intrigued me and is the motivation behind this post. Collectively, the counseling team looked at how we speak with prospective students about our Early Decision program and specifically how we answer these two questions: (1) who should apply Early Decision? and (2) is there an advantage / benefit to applying ED to Hopkins? I took a lot of notes from what my colleagues and I discussed, and especially listened intently to the guidance that my boss, Director of Admissions John Latting, provided. So let's share some of that info...

Who Should Apply Early Decision?

Generally, when asked this question we answer, "If Hopkins is your definitive first choice and you are ready to make that commitment, then ED is definitely for you." This is a solid answer and is typically followed by a discussion that ED is truly for those students who are clear about their "love" of Hopkins and their desire to complete the process earlier if admitted. ED is for those students who just know -- those who dropped a pretty penny in the bookstore on Hopkins paraphernalia -- those who have the Hopkins web site as a favorite -- those who get angry when people forget the "S" in Johns. This is the right answer, but in all actuality it is not that simple.

To really answer the question about who should apply ED, you need to address both the PRACTICAL reasons to apply and the "supposed" TACTICAL reasons to apply. The practical reasons fall under the umbrella of what I mentioned above -- Hopkins is my clear first choice, I have done my research, and I want to apply ED. We all agree that this is the right way to make the decision.

It is the supposed TACTICAL reasons swaying a student's decision to apply ED that concerns us. By tactical, I mean someone whose main reason for applying ED is a focus on the "numbers" and the assumption that it is easier to get in ED. This focus on the "competitive advantage" and the tactics of "winning the game" of highly selective admissions is truly not the right way to approach the decision to apply ED. (Read below for more on this idea of "competitive advantage.")

ED should not be a strategic tool -- it should be about FIT. So back to the initial question, who should apply ED? Those who know for practical reasons (FIT!!! that Hopkins is their absolute first choice. Who should not apply ED? Well, those who are not sure Hopkins is that perfect fit, but think ED is the best way to "get in."

Is There a Competitive Advantage / Benefit to Applying ED?

The discussion on the tactical side of applying ED to Hopkins leads to this less frequently asked question, but an important one to ask. And also, it is the harder one to provide a definitive answer to, but I will give it a try.

When asked the question about a competitive advantage to applying ED to Hopkins, most counselors including myself do not provide a direct answer. The reason for this, is that a direct answer without an explanation leads to assumptions, and often will sway a person to thinking more about tactical reasons than practical ones.

The direct answer is YES, there is an advantage / benefit to applying early decision to Hopkins. As you can see I did not use the word "competitive" to describe the advantage, and that is where the explanation must follow.

There is clearly a benefit to applying ED, and that benefit is the fact that an ED application proceeds through the review process with a more careful evaluation. Why is this? Well simple numbers -- 1000+ applications read in a one month period of time versus 13000+ applications reviewed in less than 4 months of time. ED applications are read by the staff without a sense of pressure, without the time crunch of making sure to get all the reads done in time. We can spend more time on these files, and since the ED applicants are signing a contract of their commitment, there is a strong sense that they deserve a careful evaluation. (Please, RD applicants, do not read this as the staff will not read your applications carefully -- just understand the time frame and the numbers.)

Another of the benefits when reviewing ED applicants, is that the counselor knows in almost every situation that the student applying is clearly interested in attending Hopkins. The concept of interest is pertinent in the review process, because we want to enroll students who are eager to experience Hopkins. ED students bring an enthusiasm to the University, and tend to embrace all aspects of being a Bluejay. Though sincere interest is not a determining factor of our decisions, it definitely helps in the holistic approach we take in our reads. And yes, the holistic approach to the evaluation is as inherent in our reads for ED applicants as it will be for RD applicants.

The important final point about this discussion of advantage and benefit is to state clearly that the advantage is not an academic / competitive one. It is not "EASIER" to get into Hopkins ED -- we do not lower our standards for ED students. With all our reads, whether ED or RD, we do not work with a set profile, a set grid, a set percentage of who we must take. The approach we take in evaluating a candidate in academic terms is the same no matter if the student applies ED or RD. We benefit from the fact that our ED applicant pool is in academic terms, quite similar to our RD pool.

Second, I refer you to one of the best sources of information regarding Early Decision questions - the Hopkins Forums. Specifically, to the Early Decision Questions discussion thread, which has 8 pages of archived questions and answers. And as always, if you have questions, post them there.

Finally, don't forget to check out our Early Decision FAQs page on the main Admission site with a lot of helpful official answers.

Good luck to those applying Early Decision ... and enjoying completing those applications over the weekend.

ED Wrap-up & Looking Forward

Whew! What a day. It has been more than 30 hours since I posted my last "tweet" on Monday's Early Decision Notification day and I finally have a chance to reflect. You would think that after 10+ years in this profession, the hoopla that surrounds a notification day would be lost on me -- but nope, I am not that grizzled, old veteran just yet. Anyone who followed my frequent updates to the blog on Monday can see how passionately I still feel about what I do for a living, and also how much I care about all the applicants. Monday was not just about the admits, but once again congratulations. To those who did not receive the news they were hoping for, don't be defeated. You will have options and things will work out -- you just have to go down another path.

As a related aside, I have actually received some hate mail in the past related specifically to the blogs I write on decision notification days. I have been called arrogant, callous, inappropriate, and unprofessional. It has been said that I mock the process and minimize the emotion of applying to college, and that I have an attitude that casts a shadow on the prestige of Johns Hopkins University. Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I must say that I strongly disagree with such assessments, and not just since they are personal attacks.

I cherish what I do, especially with this blog, and anyone who knows me knows that I put way too much of my life into my profession. I have the utmost respect for all students applying to college, and wholeheartedly understand all the emotions and especially the anxiety they face. That is the point of writing this blog -- to provide transparency to a hidden process, and alleviate some of the unnecessary stresses students today face when going through the application process. I spend much of my spare time answering questions of prospective students in a multitude of forums, as well as posting as much advice as I can (such as the discussion thread I posted for deferred students). Yes, I do add humor and personal anecdotes throughout the blog, but the purpose there is to reveal that there are human beings behind the gates. This is a very personal process on both ends, and by writing about my dog, my niece, and my favorite TV shows, I want those reading my blog to get to know the human side of an admissions evaluator.

I could continue to rant and defend what I do, but there are more pressing updates to get to. Let me finish by saying I hope you all who follow the blog appreciate the time and energy I put into this project. Not every day is an 18 hour work day for me like Monday was, but I do have an undying commitment to my role as an admissions counselor and hope my efforts do help break the negativity universally felt about the college admissions process.

O.K., on to the updates:

Early Decision Statistical Breakdown
As promised, here is what many of you have been waiting for...

Second largest Early Decision applicant pool ever = 1,049. Down just 0.6% from last year.

The 1,049 applicants is a 68% increase from 5 years ago and a 127% increase from 1998. WOW!

The acceptance rate rose a bit this year = 48%. (See why below.)

502 applicants received good news that they are the first members of the Johns Hopkins Class of 2013.

Of the admits, 44% are female, 48 are underrepresented minority students -- both great totals.

Also, as far as academic interest, 30% have stated a major in Engineering, 11% Humanities, 38% Natural Science, 17% Social and Behavioral Studies, and 5% Undecided.

Almost all the academic markers continue to be quite high. The Mean SAT I (Critical Reasoning + Math) = 1370.

New Jersey regained the top state for ED admits like in 2007 and 2006 with 66 students. New York is second with 60, and last year's number one, Maryland is in third with 55. The top 5 is rounded out with Pennsylvania in fourth with 45, and California in fifth with 40.  

Finally, geographic diversity continues to be way up. In 2007, the ED admit pool came from 28 states ... this year 37 states are represented. Plus, 26 admits are international students from 9 different countries.

One of the questions when people analyze these statistics will be why did the admit rate go up? Well, there are two simple answers. First, the quality of the applicants was strong and that is always a compelling reason to take strong students who really want to attend your university. Second, there is a great uncertainty facing colleges this year with the state of economy, and since we had really qualified applicants in our Early Decision pool we decided to take a few more. Regular decision applicants may be concerned with a larger ED admit group that there are less spaces for them and hence more competition.  Yes, there will be fewer spaces but as part of that uncertainty I mentioned above, there are a number of reasons why we are confident that we will be able to admit the RD applicants we want and not be hindered by a larger ED class. (I could go into a lot of hypothetical and predictive questions we are debating on a daily basis, but that would be premature.) Simply put, we are ecstatic with our ED class and also know that we will be looking at the RD class just like we have over the past few years.  

For the Early Decision Defers
As I referred to in Monday's blog and then once again above, I have posted on the Hopkins Forums a discussion thread for you all with advice and answers to frequently asked questions. Here is the link:

Early Decision Defers - Read This!

I hope you find the information on that discussion thread helpful, and feel free to post your questions if they are not already answered.

What's on Tap
Now that the Early Decision is complete, it is time for me and the rest of the Admissions staff to relax a bit. We will be enjoying our holiday party today and many of us will be taking considerable time off over the next few weeks. For me, I am headed down south to be with my family for two weeks to celebrate the holidays and the new year. (Don't worry, I will still be online and posting to the blog and answering questions on the Forums.)

For the Hopkins Insider blog, I will be posting my traditional post for Regular Decision applicants later next week. For a preview, check out last year's entry.Prior to that post though, my colleague Jameel Freeman has written a guest author entry that will be posted later this week. Check back as it is a great entry.

And as I sign off, I typically would include a picture of Regular Decision applications being processed, and stacks of application folders piling up on my desk. Then I would say something like "no rest for the weary" referring to the start of reading RD applications. And though we have moved to reviewing RD applications, there is no picture to share -- one of the few downsides of the new online review system. So I leave you with a picture that constantly puts a smile on my face...

Early Decision Notification Day (2008) - Tweet, Tweet, Tweet, ...

For the last few years (2007& 2006 & 2005) I have chosen to journal through out the Early Decision Notification day (micro-blogging). My plan is to continue that tradition, but in a new format. Today my updates will rather be "tweets," in honor of our new Hopkins Insider Twitter system(which I discussed in an earlier blog this month). This is going to be a bit of a challenge for me as I am a man of many words, and tweets need to be short updates. We'll see how well this goes. So check back throughout the day to follow the process of the release of our Early Decision notifications.

6:13 AM - December 15th
I've been up for about 35 minutes. My waffles are in the toaster, Mike and Mike is on in the background, and I am finishing up my to do list for the day.

6:21 AM - December 15th
Breakfast is done. Shower and shave time. Then in the office for a long day. My to do list has 17 items on it ... ouch!

7:15 AM - December 15th
It feels good to be clean shaven again. About to head in to the office, but have to walk Soze first. Actually, I have to wake him up again ... look what I have to deal with every morning --> lazy dog.

7:46 AM - December 15th
In the office. The 15th of December is significant to me not just for the completion of the ED process, but it is also PAY DAY. Got some bills to pay. 

7:56 AM - December 15th
There is just something so right about a balanced checkbook. Or maybe that is just a feeling someone overly organized like me feels. Oh well ... moving on.

8:02 AM - December 15th
Just made my playlist for the day -- it includes all of my Killers songs, as well as the complete "Hey Ma" album by James, the complete "Viva la Vida" album by Coldplay, and a few of my current favorite songs - "Shattered" by O.A.R., "Chasing Pavements" by ADELE, and "Let it Rock" by Kevin Rudolf.

8:10 AM - December 15th
Correspondence time. That is what I call my daily routine of clearing out the main JHU email account (gotojhu@jhu.edu), checking the Hopkins Forumsfor new questions, checking our Facebook groups, and a number of other tasks of responding to inquiries. This takes a bit of time.

8:24 AM - December 15th
Just took a look upstairs and everything has progressed quite smoothly with generating decision letters and stuffing the admit packets. Dean Latting is also in the process of finishing the signing of all the admit letters.

8:43 AM - December 15th
BME decision letters have arrived ... need to confirm those decisions and then go stuff those letters. Way ahead of schedule so far ... I hope that lasts throughout the day.

10:11 AM - December 15th
Stuffing complete. Back to answering emails. By the way ... did you know? Penguins have an organ above their eyes that converts seawater to fresh water. Well that is what the cap of my Snapple says. You learn something everyday.

10:46 AM - December 15th
Still going through email. I did notice that there were a number of application withdrawal requests that we received over the weekend. So I guess some of our peer institutions released their early decisions earlier than the traditional 12/15 date. Good for them, and congrats to those who got into their first choice schools. (Wait, would those students be reading this blog then -- hmmm.... probably not.

11:13 AM - December 15th
Needed to take a break from all this email so I read our most recent Guest Blogentry. Take a break and read a great entry about Cafe Q by Rena. While there, spend some time reading all the great guest blog entries from this past fall, including two of my favorites: Allison's Paris, Je t'aime and Evelyn's Pre-Med to PhD.

11:37 AM - December 15th
So every Monday we have an 11am counseling team meeting with Dean Latting. No meeting yet ... wonder what is going on. Probably just last minute confirming of decisions and that everything looks perfect.

11:57 AM - December 15th
Based on the blog comments, it seems I need to explain my mention of withdrawals in my 10:46 AM update. The application withdrawal requests were from applicants who were applying REGULAR DECISION to Johns Hopkins. They were accepted early to another school and are required to withdraw their complete or in progress RD application to Hopkins as well as all other schools. These withdrawals do not impact the ED review process.

1:07 PM - December 15th
Quick lunch break. Confession time -- I am addicted to Cranberry Splash Sierra Mist. Soooooo good. No news yet. Still waiting for Dean Latting to seal the class.

1:15 PM - December 15th
O.K. once again time to respond to the comments. There seems to be some confusion about how the release of decisions works. Well then, you all should go back and read the Give Thanks for an ED Updateblog entry on 11.26.08. And since some of you won't go back and read, hear the important notes:

• Early Decision notifications will be mailed on Monday, December 15. This includes all admit packages, as well as defer and deny letters.
• We will also email decision notifications to those applicants who indicated an email address on their application.
• We will begin sending emails at 6:00 p.m. EST on Monday, December 15.
• If an applicant does not receive an email it is because either there was no email provided with the application, the email address provided no longer works, or a data entry error. Unfortunately, we do not re-send emails, so in such situations the student must wait for the mail to arrive.
• Admissions decisions can be released over the phone starting Thursday, December 18. We will only release decisions to the applicant, a parent or guardian of the applicant, or the applicant's high school guidance counselor. Decisions will be released only if the identity of the caller can be reasonably assured.
• Decisions about acceptance into the BME major are departmental decisions and therefore we do not release such information over the phone or through email. All Early Decision applicants who applied to the Biomedical Engineering major will learn of their BME decision in their acceptance packets.

1:44 PM - December 15th
Still responding to email messages, now focusing on my own work email account. And still waiting for the go ahead to seal decision letters. This is what you call a holding pattern.

2:13 PM - December 15th
THE EARLY DECISION CLASS OF 2013 IS SEALED. The staff now will do one last confirm of all decision letters, stuff and seal, and then it is on to the post office

Attention: For those of you who are going to start requesting statistics on this year's Early Decision class -- please don't. I will post stats when they become available. And that is when Dean Latting provides me with the stats and approves that they can be released to the public. That may be today, or it may not be today. PATIENCE PLEASE.

3:01 PM - December 15th
My colleague Jameel Freeman and I are about to depart to the Johns Hopkins Mail Services Office at our Mt. Washington campus. The Deny and Defer letters are in our possession and are on their way.

3:43 PM - December 15th
Just got back to campus. All letters have left the building. My colleagues John Birney and Shannon Miller headed downtown with a slew of mail bins carrying our admit packets. They should be entering the Baltimore Postal stream any minute now. Tons of work still to get done.


3:44 PM - December 15th
A piece of advice ... go do something fun for the next two hours. Go be with your family or friends ... read a good book ... play a game ... get some fresh air. Do something other than refreshing your computer screens.

3:57 PM - December 15th
Just put the finishing touches on our Johns Hopkins University -- Class of 2013 Facebook group. On to updating the Forums now ... no rest for the weary.

4:25 PM - December 15th
Finishing touches on the updates to the Hopkins Forums is now also complete. We launched our newClass of 2013 Sub-Forum. I also made sure everything is working on our Admitted Student Web site too. Back to work.

4:31 PM - December 15th
I was curious to see how active the Insider blog has been today ... WOW! In just 16.5 hours today this blog has received 3,874 hits from 1,443 unique visitors.  That's just cool.

4:44 PM - December 15th
Added some pictures above.

4:54 PM - December 15th
One of the harder things I do today ... just posted my advice for deferred applicants on the Hopkins Forums -- Early Decision Defers - Read This!

5:08 PM - December 15th
Just sent email messages to the Hopkins Interactive current students reminding them that today is ED Notification day and that the Forums, Blogs, and Facebook group will probably see a lot of activity this week. Though this is finals week here, the current students will be ready to answer questions. Time for me to head home ...

5:53 PM - December 15th
One important reminder about the emails ... they all don't arrive in your in-boxes at 6:00 P.M. It can take up to an hour for all of our emails to be sent, so please once again be patient.

5:56 PM - December 15th
A piece of advice: I wish you all the best as you receive your email decisions. My suggestion is that you read your decision and then go spend some time with your family. This is a major moment in your young life, and family is who you should share your initial thoughts with. Your family has been there since the first moment of life, and they will be there FOREVER. Afterward you can log-on and share with others. Let everything sink in first. React in the real world before entering the cyber world. OK, I am stepping off my soap box.

7:35 PM - December 15th
Busy, busy, busy. I have been monitoring our e-mail accounts, forums, and approving people into the Facebook group for the last 90 minutes. I am going to take a break and have some dinner.

8:03 PM - December 15th
I am going to continue my break and watch a little TV ... my mind is fried. Chuck is on and that is always a great way to rest one's mind and laugh a bit.

9:o6 PM - December 15th
I forgot that tonight were mid-season finales for Prison Break and Heroes. So I am going to enjoy two of my favorite shows while confirming people into the Facebook group.

11:53 PM - December 15th
I just spent the last 90 minutes answering questions on the Hopkins Forums, in the Facebook group, and through the main JHU email account. I also stopped by College Confidential (aaaahhhh).

11:58 PM - December 15th
Some cool stats to share:
--> 7,303 page loads of the Hopkins Insider blog today
--> 2,778 unique visitors to the Hopkins Insider blog today
--> 961 returning visitors to the Hopkins Insider blog today
--> 3,778 pages loads of the Hopkins Forums today
--> 818 unique visitors to the Hopkins Forums today
--> 159 admitted students already part of the Class of 2013 Facebook group (it took over two months to get that many members added to the Class of '12 group).

12:09 AM - December 16th
Whew. What a day. It is actually tomorrow already so it is time for bed. First, I need to walk Soze. And oh look, just as the day began it ends with a lazy dog too.

Give Thanks for an ED Update

Happy Thanksgiving eve. As I prepare for the big turkey-day tomorrow, that will   feature just Soze and I enjoying good food, blue-ray disc movies, and football, I thought I would provide you all with an update on the Early Decision process. This is the perfect time for such an update, since I spent most of November reflecting on my extremely busy months of September and October (check out the my travel re-cap series here), and I will spend the first week of December blogging about all the "new stuff" that has hit Hopkins in the last few months. So stay tuned to those entries next week, but for now let's get to all the information you need to know about this year's Early Decision applicant pool and decision-making process.

Just like last year (Giving Thanks for the 4 Fs), this year my post-Thanksgiving festivities will be filled with reviewing application files. Many things are the same this go around with Early Decision, but there is one huge difference. I won't reveal this "new thing" until next week but suffice it to say it is changing in a huge way the review process for Early Decision. (Wow, two teasers in just the first two paragraphs - I guess I am really trying to hook you all in to checking this blog regularly.) With that being said, what can I reveal of Early Decision 2008-09?

First, I can officially reveal the applicant size = 1049 applications. That is a less than one percent decrease from last year's 1055 ED applicant pool, which was the largest ED applicant pool in Johns Hopkins history. In a year with such economic uncertainty, we are all pleasantly happy that our ED applicant pool remains pretty much the same as it was last year. Nothing to reveal yet about the quality of the applicant pool nor how many we will admit, since we are still in the first read stage. The overall quality assessment and final decisions will be made in just a few weeks.

Second, since it is probably the most frequently asked question this time of year, I can also reveal how and when Early Decision notifications will be released. Our plan is to release notifications to all ED applicants on December 15th. Just as in previous years, we will release decision letters by mail during the day and then decision emails will be sent at 6:00pm EST. I have written previously about the notification process for ED, so I suggest you read either "Down to the Wire" or "Notes on the Release of Early Decision Notifications" for further details. (Also remember that you can always use the Categories function of the blog to read all my previous entries on Early Decision.)

Third, if when will decisions be released is really the most frequently asked question, a close second is whether one's Early Decision application is complete. I have written the following many, many, many times before, but it never hurts to post it once again:

As you can imagine, it gets busy in the Admissions Office as we process application materials. Because of the volume of records being handled, we regret that it is not possible to confirm personally whether application files are complete or to identify which individual items have been received. Johns Hopkins does not have an online system for checking application status.

Applicants will be mailed an acknowledgment postcard after your application is received and processed. This postcard confirms your application status, but it does not reveal if your application is complete. Rest assured that files are checked carefully for completeness. Starting next week (December 1) we will contact students whose ED applications remain incomplete. Those students will be given an opportunity to provide us with any missing items before we complete the evaluation of their application.

Early Decision applicants who have not received the mailed confirmation postcard may call the Admissions Office at (410) 516-8171 after November 30 to check if their application has been received and processed. Also, applicants who are contacted about missing items can use the above phone number of fax missing materials to (410) 516-6025. If you received a postcard and were not contacted about missing items then there is nothing to worry about. Do know that if you call the Admissions Office we can confirm the receipt of your application and confirm if it is complete -- we will not confirm whether individual parts of your application and supplemental materials have been processed.

Fourth, often I am asked about what the Admissions Committee is looking for in an Early Decision application or what factors determines who gets admitted. Those are complicated questions to answer, but I have attempted to write about the admissions evaluation process before. Since pretty much what I said then still holds true today, I refer you all to those previous entries for a discussion about how we evaluate:

• "The Approach ..." -- posted December 6, 2006
• "Ready, Set, READ!!!" -- posted November 30, 2006
• "Three Months ..." -- posted January 9, 2006
• Questions About Getting In? -- Hopkins Forums discussion thread

Fifth and finally, the last thing I will reveal is that I AM COLD!!! I know this has nothing to do with Admissions or the Early Decision process, but I thought I would just share how cold I have been the last week and a half. Yes, I know I really can't complain because I did get to vacation in the Bahamas in the middle of November. But still, winter doesn't typical start this early in Baltimore. Just last week we had a crazy day where it snowed on three separate occasions, and the sky looked ominous as well. It seems like we had one month of fall-like weather and then boom winter hit. Not fair, especially since I am a huge fan of autumn. There is a reason I live in the Middle-Atlantic and that is because I love my seasons. But some odd reason (global warming or Al Gore), Mother Nature has decided to just make two seasons -- really warm and really cold. I know, I know ... I just have to deal with it.

I hope this post helps all of you Early Decision applicants patiently waiting for decisions. If you have questions, I recommend reading through our Early Decision Questions thread on the Hopkins Forums and posting any questions for me there.

Happy Thanksgiving all!!!

Micro-Blogging on ED Notification Day (2007)

It has been tradition over the last few years that on the momentous decision notification days for Early Decision and Regular Decision that the Hopkins Insider features a daily log of the process. After reading JHU_Laura's most recent blog entry, I thought I would also attempt to experiment with "micro-blogging" throughout the day. I sort-of attempted this last year on ED Notification day, however I compiled a summary report and then technical difficulties led to the blog being posted late. My attempts worked better for RD notification day, thankfully. So check back frequently today, and I hope you enjoy the tales of Admissions Daniel on Early Decision Notification day for the JHU Class of 2012 ...

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December 14, 2007

5:45am  - Beep, Beep, Beep, BEEP, BEEP ... The alarm clock blares. I've got time for one Snooze.

5:55am - Beep, Beep ... O.K. one more Snooze.

5:57am - Lick, Lick, Lick ... stop Soze, I'm tired. Alright, I'm up. Time to walk the dog. Where's that leash?

6:01am - Wow, the dreary weather this week in Baltimore continues. The fog is really thick, there is a slick coat of freezing rain on everything, and it is a mix of bitter cold and humid at the same time. Is that possible? Wow, shorts and slippers for the morning walk was not a good idea. Thankfully, Soze does his business quick. (Oddly last year there was a thick fog for ED notification day too.)

6:07am - The tradition continues. For the last four years on the first day of ED reading I stop shaving and grow a beard. And then on notification day the beard comes off. I start again once I commence reading RD applications and shave again on RD notification day. I know it is a bit strange, but you have to keep with traditions, like professional sports players wearing the same socks. The shaving of the beard is actually a lot of fun ... and when I am done my cheeks feel like a baby's bottom.

6:13am - Shaving complete. Time for the breakfast of champions (Cheerios - yeah!) and some early morning reading (the George Mitchell report on Steroids in Baseball - boo!). As well, in the background on all three TVs in my house each morning is the Mike and Mike in the Morning radio show on ESPN2. My day can not start with out the opinions of the best sports radio hosts in the country.

6:35am - Shower, get dressed and the rest of the morning routine.

6:50am - One last walk for Soze and time to head into the office.

Be Back Later!

Picture Guide: (1) The eerie morning ... looks like something out of Poltergeist. (2) The beard is gone. (3) Yes I did clean my sink afterward. (4) My morning set-up ... Cheerios, the Mitchell Report, and Mike&Mike.

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7:15am - Arrive at the office, traffic was a bit rough because of black ice and the fog. I have to say I love the campus in early morning, especially with the mysteriousness (is that a word?) of the fog.

7:20am - Just got back from the third floor where I was filling my jug of water for the day. There was a nice calm to the new file room. It was clean and well organized. Much different than the cramped spaces we used to work in. I love Mason Hall!!!

7:25am - The daily "CORRESPONDENCE" routine begins for me. Every morning I spent the first hour answering questions. First, it is the main gotojhu@jhu.edu email account. 37 messages this morning. Then it is the Hopkins Forums. Nothing new. Then the various Facebook groups. The JHU prospective Facebook group has a countdown to 6:00pm. College Confidential. More countdowns, and a lot of stress. My own email account .. which surprisingly is pretty empty.

8:01am - I head upstairs to help Susan, the Queen of our decision mailing process, with stuffing financial aid packets.

I'll be back soon ...

Picture Guide: (1) See what I mean about how cool the campus looks with fog. (2) Mason Hall especially. (3) The file room ready for the arrival of the staff. (4) All the ED files lined-up. (5) Admit packets waiting to be stuffed and sealed.

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8:20am - Done stuffing the financial aid packets, and now we are just waiting for the O.K. from Director of Admissions, Dr. John Latting. John likes to do one last check of our applicant database to make sure everything is set.

8:25am - I mention to Susan and others in the file room, how smooth everything has gone for this year's ED process. I hope this stress-free system continues for RD ... but in all honesty there is no chance. Mayhem always ensues with the RD process because of the sheer volume of everything. But we are all so used to it that there is a true method to our madness.

8:45am - The stuffing, sealing, and stamping commences. Everyone takes a bin and gets to work. Some hooting and hollering. We also tease Mark because he literally knows all of his NJ applicants and cheers for each one. I personally don't like the stuffing part because the folders are hard to get in to the priority envelopes. I like affixing the stamps ... I always liked playing with stickers.

9:30am - John has given the O.K. so we can mail.

9:41am - One last roster of admits, defers, and denies is run. The staff splits into groups and confirms the right decision letters are going to the right people.

10:32am - Mail bins are here. Time to move everything from our blue and black crates into the mail bins. All decisions have been confirmed.

10:40am - The bins are stacked onto the hand carts, pushed to the elevator, and travel down to the parking garage where they will be loaded into a car and driven to the main Johns Hopkins mail center in Mount Washington.

I have a 10:30am meeting so I was not there to photograph and document this last stage of the process, but I have heard it on good authority that all went perfectly.

More to follow ...

Picture Guide: (1) The staff commences the stuff, seal, stamp process. (2) Susan (center), Ted, and Celeste in control of their bins. (3) Nicole, one of our student workers, uses the floor as her workspace. (4) The confirming of admits by John and Ann. (5) The confirming of other decisions by Mark and Chloe. (6) Stacking of the bins. (7) Two hand-trucks for 1055 decisions.

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10:30am - The decisions are leaving the building yet I am in my office as I have a meeting with JHU_Jessica and JHU_Lauren. This is an important meeting as we are putting the finishing touches on two Hopkins Interactive related initiatives that directly relates to the release of ED notifications.

The first initiative which Lauren is overseeing is the opening of a new discussion thread on the Hopkins Forums. This "Congratulations JHU Class of 2012" thread is a place for the newly admitted Early Decision students to ask questions and converse with current students. Starting after 6pm today, this forum will exist through late August of 2008, assisting the new members of the Class of 2012 in getting ready for their arrival and commencement as actual Hopkins students. The students and I will answer questions about housing, dining, what to bring, classes, and so much more.

Our other initiative is also a forum, but a much more social one. That is why we will be using Facebook. This is the brain-child of Jessica who last year was admitted Early Decision and decided to create a Facebook group for her future classmates. Since she was a great administrator for the Class of 2011, we thought who better to run this year's group. The Johns Hopkins University - Class of 2012 Facebook group is a closed group only for enrolling students, but will act as a great way for our future freshmen to interact and get to know one another.

11:30am - Jessica, Lauren, and I have been working but also sharing stories. Things are so different nowadays for college applicants. Emailed decisions, blogs, message boards, cool admit packets, social networking groups, immediate responses ... much different then back in my day when I had to become friends with the mailman.

12:05pm - Lunch time ... SUBWAY!!! Thanks Jameel.

12:15pm - I got confirmation that the mail has been delivered to the post office.

12:22pm - I spun around in my chair and just noticed that the fog has lifted and it is turning out to be a beautiful and sunny day. If I was more of an eloquent writer, I must make a parallel to the release of decision notifications to the fog and then sunlight ... but yeah I'd rather write about shaving my beard, walking my dog, and baseball reports.

12:57pm - Paul, the Mason Hall building manager, just interrupted me and said I need to post that in the blog. So I did.

The day continues ... 

Picture Guide: (1) Loading the car ... ok, I cheated this picture is from RD last year. (2) Lauren (on the left) and Jessica ... so happy I took a picture of them. (3) Blue sky over Homewood. (4) Lunch!!!

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1:15pm - I've been procrastinating a bit ... I just needed a break. What do I do when I procrastinate? Well I posted a whole long list on our message boards a while back if you are curious. Today, my form of wasting time was checking out movie trailers online. I am so looking forward to 01.18.08 -- Cloverfield!!!. Also, looking forward to I Am Legend this weekend and Sweeney Todd later this month.

1:25pm - JHU_Michelle is in the office now and I have her helping out with some video documenting and editing. We will be launching our Video Blog very soon and I've got a bit more work to do for our first official videos.

1:27pm - Back to work for me. Not much to do ... I am putting some finishing touches on the Facebook group. And yes, I am checking out all the countdowns until 6:00pm. 4 hours and 33 minutes!!!

2:26pm - Just finished looking over the special Admitted Student Web site. Everything looks great. This is the first time we have the special site ready for Early Decision.

A few more updates to come...

Photo Guide: (1) The file room is clean and empty. (2) Movie trailers are fun ... Cloverfield! (3) Michelle hard at work. (4) GiGGiDi GiGGiDi GiGGiDi!

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2:45pm - I was just thinking how fast today has been going ... and then I realized that just thinking that is cruel. I completely respect and understand how slow today must be feeling for many of you.

2:48pm - Wow, my desk is so full of dust. Time to clean a bit. I love disinfectant wipes.

2:49pm - So I am cleaning my desk and complaining about the dust. Michelle, who is updating the Admissions Advisory Board just outside my door yells to me that dust is mostly dead human skin. EWWWWWW! I truly enjoy Michelle's company and she is a great student worker, but when she shares biological stuff like that with me I just get skeezed out. She should just keep those remarks for her Neuroscience friends.

3:01pm - Cleaning done. Went to take some more pictures and realized my camera battery is done. (Great planning Daniel!) So no more pictures until maybe tonight when I can re-charge the battery at home.

3:10pm - Posted a message for ED Defers on the Message Boards. I hope this information will be helpful, and that the discussion thread that was started will act as a helpful forum. Such decisions are never easy, but the most important thing to remember is deferred applicants have a second chance. The road does not end here and you shouldn't lose all hope. Read through my thoughts and suggestions, and post questions.

3:15pm - The ED stats sheet was just handed to me. Let me look it over and I will post the details soon.

Well this is a long entry ... and will only get longer ...

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3:20pm - Decided to go outside for a fresh breathe of air and to take a look at the ED stats. From the fog in the morning it actually has turned out to be a beautiful day. No more sweater needed. I also got to see people walking around on the Decker Quad and I didn't get angry. (See my Pet Peeves post to understand.) The two students were actually playing with a remote-controlled airplane. Though it crashed a lot, it was just fun to watch people actually using the Quad for a true purpose, not as a short-cut.

4:00pm - OK, drum roll ... here is what many of you have been waiting for:

• Largest Early Decision applicant pool ever = 1,055. Up 6% from last year.
• The 1,055 applicants is a 72% increase from 5 years ago and a 128% increase from 1998. WOW!
• The acceptance rate dropped again, the fifth straight year. It stands at the lowest level in the past ten years = 43%.
• 439 applicants will be receiving the good news that they are the first members of the Johns Hopkins Class of 2012. CONGRATULATIONS!
• Of the admits, 45% are female, 40 are underrepresented minority students -- both great totals.
• Also, as far as academic interest, 32% have stated a major in Engineering, 12% Humanities, 32% Natural Science, 19% Social and Behavioral Studies, and 4% Undecided.
• Almost all the academic markers are at all-time highs as well. The Mean SAT I (Critical Reasoning + Math) = 1373. That is 11 points higher than last year and 21 points higher than 2006.
• New Jersey is not the top state for ED admits like the last two years. MARYLAND has actually taken the top spot with 69 students. New Jersey is second with 57, New York third with 54, Pennsylvania fourth with 40, and California in fifth with 34.
• Finally, geographic diversity is way up. Last year the ED admit pool came from 28 states ... this year 38 states are represented. Plus, 21 admits are international students from 9 different countries.

OK, I am packing up and heading home. Less than 2 hours left until the emails are sent.

I'll be back ...

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5:10pm - Just arrived home. More traffic. Baltimore really should do a study on time between red lights at major intersections during rush hour. I bet a Civil Engineer at Hopkins could help. Going to walk Soze.

5:21pm - Paying bills while my steak cooks in my Rotisserie. Yes it is a Ronco Showtime Rotisserie. Just set-it and forget it. If you watch late night infomercials you know what I am talking about.

5:30pm - Thirty minutes left. The College Confidential servers keep going down. Oh no!!! Have to go put the finishing touches on a few things. But I do want to say one thing ...

Advice: I wish you all the best as you receive your email decisions. My suggestion is that you read your decision and then go spend some time with your family. This is a major moment in your young life, and family is who you should share your initial thoughts with. Your family has been there since the first moment of life, and they will be there FOREVER. Afterward you can log-on and share with others. Let everything sink in first. React in the real world before entering the cyber world. OK, I am stepping off my soap box.

Two more updates left ...

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6:37pm - All the emails are out. For those of you who have not gotten email, I can let you know that I am monitoring our main email account and at this time we only have 15 messages that have "bounced-back" as undeliverable. So here are my suggestions:

(1) Check your SPAM folders.

(2) Check ANY email account you have ever used. We send to the email account you listed on your application, but it never hurts to check other accounts if you have multiple ones.

(3) Have your parents check their email accounts. Not sure how that happens, but it has happened in the past.

(4) If none of those methods work, you may send an email to gotojhu@jhu.edu stating that you have not received your decision email. You need to include your full official name (the one you used on your application), your social security # if applicable, your birth date, your full address, and your high school. Also include the email address you listed on your application. We will check to see if there was an error with the email that was sent, and if so we can re-send your decision.

(5) Please know that every year a few students do not receive email notifications. Unfortunately you will need to have patience for your decision to arrive in the mail. You may call on Tuesday, December 18 - 410-516-8171 to receive your decision over the phone.

Hope that helps.

One last update coming before I head to bed ...

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~10:00pm - So I have spent the last four hours attempting to take care of a handful of problems with the email notifications. It seems that yahoo.com email addresses took a lot longer to send then most other email domains. Who knows. In the end though, I keep my fingers crossed that all went well.

It is now time for my long day to come to an end. I'll be around over the weekend commenting on the JHU Forums and Facebook groups. However, now that the Early Decision process is complete, I need to start some Christmas shopping and write my Dear Santa list. One of the worst parts of being a college admissions professional is that you are so busy with the ED process that you lose a lot of the quality Christmas preparation time.

As I sign off, I first hope you all found the micro-blogging today helpful and somewhat enjoyable. I am all about transparency in the college admissions process, and I suspect that you all enjoy my honesty, frankness, and my humour. (OK, maybe I am stretching it a bit on that last one.)

Second, since you all love stats, here are some more:

• 25 pictures in one blog (that's an Insider record).
• 80 comments by 10pm (I think that's a record too). I love comments!
• 3,236 words make up this entry. Wow, I like to write.
• 16,301 characters without spaces make up this entry. Cool.
• 10 different updates. Woo hoo, I accomplished my goal.
• 16 hours and 15 minutes of blogging time. Snore....zzzzzz.

Plus, based on my stat-counter:

• 1702 unique visitors to the blog between midnight and 10pm today.
• 5845 page loads in the same time frame (you all like to refresh).
• Both stats are records. For comparison, last week the blog had 384 visitors and 859 page loads. One month ago, 79 visitors and 219 page loads.

And finally, one last picture ... yes, Regular Decision files are ready to be distributed next week. NO REST FOR THE WEARY!!!

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Equal Time for the Regular Decision Applicants

Despite the title of this entry, I must start with some updates on the Early Decision notification process. Good news everyone. We've moved forward at a good pace over the last couple of weeks and therefore we have met our internal goal of releasing decisions one day earlier this year. So unless something tragic occurs over the next 48 hours (knock on wood ... over and over again), Early Decision notifications for the Fall 2008 applicant pool will be released on Friday, December 14, 2007.

Just like last year, the process will work the same way:

• All Early Decision notifications will be mailed on Friday, December 14. This includes all admit packages, as well as defer and deny letters.
• We will also email decision notifications to those applicants who indicated an email address on their application.
• We will begin sending emails at 6:00 p.m. EST on Friday, December 14. The reason for this is that we feel that receiving your college admissions decision should be a personal experience that you share with yourself and your family. We prefer students not receive decisions during the middle of the school day, so we wait until the majority of our applicants are out of school.
• If an applicant does not receive an email it is because either there was no email provided with the application, the email address provided no longer works, or a data entry error. Unfortunately, we do not re-send emails, so in such situations the student must wait for the mail to arrive.
• We will not release the "subject lines" of our email decisions in advance. The content of these emails does change from year-to-year.
  Admissions decisions can be released over the phone starting Tuesday, December 18. We will only release decisions to the applicant, a parent or guardian of the applicant, or the applicant's high school guidance counselor. Decisions will be released only if the identity of the caller can be reasonably assured.
• Decisions about acceptance into the BME major are departmental decisions and therefore we do not release such information over the phone or through email. All Early Decision applicants who applied to the Biomedical Engineering major will learn of their BME decision in their acceptance packets.

Good luck!!!

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OK, regular decision applicants, the rest of the post is dedicated to you. For the last two years as the January 1st regular decision deadline approaches, I have dedicated a Hopkins Insider entry to responses to frequently asked questions. (Don't believe me? Well check out the FAQs from December 2006 and December 2005.) As always, I hope you find this information helpful and if you have questions not answered here that is why we have the Johns Hopkins Message Boards.

When is the deadline, really?

The regular decision deadline is January 1, 2008. This is our online submission deadline and our postmark deadline. Applicants should submit their online application materials no later than 11:59 p.m. EST on January 1st. Since January 1 is a national holiday, we will accept application materials that are postmarked January 2, 2008. (Remember though, this is one of my pet peeves, so you shouldn't even be thinking about procrastinating to that last minute.)

Have you received my application? OR I submitted my application online have you received it? OR My school sent my transcript and letters of recommendation have you received them? OR Any other question asking about the status of your application and whether it has been received and/or processed, or if anything is missing?

As you can imagine, it’s a busy time in the Admissions Office as we process application materials. Because of the volume of records being handled, we regret that it is not possible to confirm whether application files are complete or to identity which individual items have been received. Johns Hopkins does not have an online system for checking application status, nor do we confirm application materials through email.

You will be mailed an acknowledgment postcard after your application is received. This indicates your application file has been opened (not necessarily that it is complete). In late February, once we have processed all received application materials, we will contact students whose applications remain incomplete. Those students will be given an opportunity to provide us with any missing items before we complete the evaluation of their applications. Rest assured that application files are checked carefully for completeness.  You may call (410) 516-8171 after February 18 to check on your application, but we do ask that you call only if you have been previously contacted by us about missing materials.

Can I mix forms from the Common Application, the Universal Application, and/or the Johns Hopkins application? Can I mix online application materials with “snail mail” materials?

To apply to Johns Hopkins University you must submit either the Johns Hopkins University application Part I and Part II OR the Common Application and Johns Hopkins Common Application supplement OR the Universal Application and the Johns Hopkins Universal Application supplement. Please be sure that you apply with both the Part I and Part II of the JHU application or the Common/Universal Application and Hopkins supplement – do not mix these forms.

Also do not mix online and paper application materials. If you are applying with the JHU Online application, then complete the whole online application and there is no need to submit the paper application. If you are applying with the Common/Universal Application online then you must submit the Hopkins supplement online as well - there is no need to mail the supplement.

Finally, though we do not encourage this practive, you are able to use Common Application school report and teacher recommendation forms with the Johns Hopkins application, and vice versa.

My school is closed for the holidays so I can't submit the transcript and/or  letters of recommendation until after January 1st. May I send supplemental materials for my application after the January 1st deadline?

First, this should not be a problem since you should request this information before your school goes on holiday break. However, the application deadline is a postmark / online submission of January 1st for the student's part of the application -- either the Part I and Part II of the JHU Application or the Common Application and Common Application supplement. Supporting materials (school materials) such as transcripts, test scores, and recommendations can be sent separately after the January 1st deadline. However, we recommend all required documents be postmarked no longer than two weeks after the deadline -- no later than January 15th.

I have yet to submit my application, but some of my application materials (school forms, tests, etc.) have already been sent. Will this be a problem?

Not a problem. Applicants to Johns Hopkins University may submit application materials such as test scores, letters of recommendation, and school reports along with transcripts in advance of their submission of their application. These documents will be processed and placed in a pending folder until one's application is submitted, received, and processed. Then we will merge all documents and determine whether one's application is complete. To assist with the proper processing of documents we request that all materials include the applicant's full name, birth date, and school.

When should my test scores be sent, and how?

You must request that all your SAT Reasoning, SAT Subject exams, ACT, and/or TOEFL scores be sent directly by the testing agency. The Johns Hopkins code for the College Board is 5332 and for the ACT is 1704.

Test scores submitted on or along with an official high school transcript will only be considered if the transcript is submitted by one's high school and the scores are officially electronically recorded by the high school directly from the testing agency. One should check with their school's guidance office to confirm that the test scores recorded on one's transcript have been in the past considered by colleges as official.

Test scores need to be requested from the testing agencies prior to our stated application deadlines but may arrive after the deadline. Regular Decision applicants must submit their request for their tests to be sent to Johns Hopkins prior to the January 1st deadline. Though the scores will arrive past the deadline they will still be considered if requested in advance of the deadline.

May I submit January standardized test scores (SAT Reasoning, SAT Subject exams, or TOEFL) with my regular decision application?

Though regular decision candidates should have completed required tests no later than December of their senior year, students may take the January examinations if they are re-taking the SAT Reasoning exam, are taking SAT II subject exams, or are submitting TOEFL exams. Although we cannot guarantee that January scores will arrive before the Admissions Committee evaluation, past experience suggests that scores taken on these dates usually arrive in time. January scores will be accepted for those students unable to meet their test requirements by December. In such cases, we encourage you to note your intention of taking the later standardized test(s) on your application.

Should I rush my test scores?

There is no need to rush test score reports as they do not get processed by our office any sooner. This is just a way the College Board / ETS makes more money. Save the money, don't rush scores.

I have already sent my application but I want to update a few things or correct an error. How do I do this?

There are two ways to update your application. First you may send any updates in the mail up until the end of January. Please send to the following address and include your name, birth date, and high school:

Application Coordinator
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Johns Hopkins University
Mason Hall
3400 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218

Or you may fax your application update with a cover sheet to 410-516-6025. Once again, include your name, birth date, and high school.

Please note we do not process application materials submitted via email or through email attachments.

Does Johns Hopkins accept additional letters of recommendation?

We require all applicants to submit two letters of recommendations - one from a teacher and one from a guidance counselor. Applicants may submit additional letters of recommendation but we request that you do not submit more than four letters total. Additional letters of recommendation may come from a coach, employer, extracurricular advisor, additional teacher, school administrator – pretty much anyone who can present additional sides of your character. I would though avoid parental and peer references.

How can I arrange an interview and are they required?

Interviews are not a required element of the application to Johns Hopkins. In fact, interviews are informational and non-evaluative. Unfortunately all interview requests for on-campus interviews needed to be submitted prior to December 1st. Please know that if you did not interview you will not be at a disadvantage in the admissions process. Information about off-campus alumni interviews can be found here: http://apply.jhu.edu/visit/aluminterviews.html.

I would like to submit a recording of my music / slides of my art / portfolio of my newspaper articles / DVD of accomplishments / research abstract / or some other supplemental information. Can I do this and will it be considered?

Yes, supplemental materials are welcome additions to your application. All supplemental information should be sent to the Admissions address listed above (under the answer for application updates). There are no specific requirements for supplemental materials; you can submit information in any format (e.g. portfolios, CDs, DVDs, slides, etc.) However we make sure applicants understand that typically the Admissions committee does not have much time to review such information. The general rule is that an application reader has about 5 minutes to review supplemental materials.

I am applying with the Common / Universal Application. Do I need to submit the two Johns Hopkins essays included in the supplement? Do the Hopkins essays have a word limit?

Read this message board thread for a detailed description of this year's essay policy: New Essay Policy Explained.

As far as word counts, we do not state any official word limits. Typically the "community" essay runs between 500 – 1000 words while the "majors" essay runs between 250 – 500 words.

Does Johns Hopkins allow application fee waivers?

Yes, we will accept fee waivers. If paying the application fee presents any financial hardship to you we are happy to waive the application fee.The fee waiver must either be an official College Board fee waiver or a letter from your secondary school counselor on school letterhead. We require official copies and therefore we will not accept photocopied requests for fee waivers. Applicants can apply online and still submit their fee waiver requests in writing.

When is the Financial Aid deadline and where can I learn more about applying for Financial Aid?

The Financial aid deadline for the submission of the FAFSA and CSS Profile is March 1, 2007. Please review this web site for full details: http://www.jhu.edu/finaid/prosp_stud.html.

FAQs for International Applicants: http://apply.jhu.edu/faqs/international.html

Even more FAQs: http://apply.jhu.edu/faqs/faqs.html

Whew ... that was a lot of info. Hope it helped. Good luck with those applications, and don't procrastinate!!!

Pet Peeves

Apologies for the long absence, but as you can imagine times are busy in the Admissions Office as we complete the Early Decision process. Since Thanksgiving my time has really been dedicated to the ED process ... doing first reads on applications from my region (New England), confirming decisions during the second read process, chairing the Engineering review committee, and working with a colleague on BME selections. The process has been going much smoother than any year before (knock on wood) and hopefully that means this final week will not be TOO hectic.

As proof of how busy I have been, I am sitting in my office on a Saturday afternoon. Just a minute ago I was staring out my window onto the Decker Quad taking a mental break from the ED application process. I like to do this occasionally throughout the day, both to refresh my brain for the next application but also because I just have a great view. I showed my view in a previous post (see the picture on the right) but earlier this week I had the joy to look out my window and see something new ... SNOW. (See picture on the left) Yes, early this week the Decker Quad and all of Baltimore was coated with a beautiful 4+ inches of snow. The snow began in the morning and throughout the day it just kept falling and accumulating. What a great Hanukkah present!!!

OK, back to my staring out the window. I am relaxing and recharging when IT HAPPENS! My blood pressure begins to boil. I clench my teeth. My toes curl and fingers twist into two fists. I turn away from the window in disgust. Yes, I am getting angry ... but why?

Why? Because once again a person is walking across the grass that makes up the beautiful Decker Quad. (Actually it is a circle, but Decker Circle just sounds too weird.) Yes, my anger stems from people trouncing across the well-manicured grass, when there are perfectly numerous brick walkways to get around. I just don't get it. How much time are you really saving by killing the grass? And why do you have to ruin the beautiful and peaceful blanket of snow?

And it is not just the Decker Quad ... I get perturbed whenever I see a student, faculty member, staff member, or visitor walking across the various quads that make up the Homewood campus. I don't mind it when they walk on the Beach, and I also don't mind it if you are on the grass to hang out, study, chat with friends, make a Snowman, etc. I just can not stand it when you walk across the grass to get from point A to point B because you are too lazy to walk along the brick walkways.

Most of you right now are thinking that Admissions Daniel has flipped his lid. You think I am over-reacting and there is no reason I should get angry because people are walking on the grass. And though I concede there is a bit of over-reaction on my part, I can't help it. Why? Because it is one of my PET PEEVES. And as any one who has Pet Peeves knows (and that is everyone right?) you can't control them.

Urban Dictionary defines "pet peeve" as "an irritating experience caused by others in which you cannot control." Dictionary.com has three definitions for "pet peeve":

1. A particular and often continual annoyance; personal bugbear.
2. Something about which one frequently complains; a particular personal vexation.
3. An opportunity for complaint that is seldom missed.

Wikipedia even provides background on the origin of the phrase:

The term originated from the word 'peeve', and is relatively recent - its first printed usage was in 1911. The term is a back-formation from the 14th-century word 'peevish,' meaning ornery or ill-tempered.

How ever you define it, pet peeves exist and I have many of them. Cell phone behavior (I don't care about the new shoes you bought), people who spell the word definitely incorrectly (no As), SPAM (all forms even the fake ham), drivers who leave their turn signal on (doesn't the clicking sound annoy you?), Paris Hilton (enough said), Bill Belicheck news conferences (and his smug attitude), and almost all local television newscasters (especially the weather people). But my greatest pet peeve, the one that grinds my teeth, is the Crossing of the Quads.

So what does this rant have to do with the realm of College Admissions? Well, I thought that I would share with you all some of my occupational pet peeves that I have acquired over my ten years on the job. Before the list though, I want you all to read the following DISCLAIMER:

These are just pet peeves of Admissions Daniel. They are not reasons why we do not offer admission to students. If an applicant happens to do one of these actions, they will not be automatically denied. In fact, it will not impact the admissions decision. The list is just common annoyances that we often deal with, but they do not cloud our judgment of applicants.

I need to write that disclaimer, because I know the hysteria that exists about the college admissions process. You all read a list like the one that follows, and then the panic sets in, the fear takes over, the anxiety and paranoia increase ... don't let that happen now. This is just a fun little list of my pet peeves and is not directed at you personally. Now on to the list (in no particular order):

1. Misspelling the name of the University. This is the cardinal sin in my point-of-view. It is Johns Hopkins University. Yes, JohnSSSSS HopkinSSSSS. Don't forget the S. It is simple.
2. Dear Rice University... You would not believe how many times we receive emails, letters, and application materials for other Universities. We know you are applying to other schools and that is fine, but please double-check who you are writing to when sending materials. The worst culprit of this pet peeve ... teacher letters of recommendation. I "love" the letters that start by recommending the student for Hopkins, then in the second paragraph they say the student is a perfect match for Northwestern, and then end by stating that Rice must have this student in their next class.
3. Let's talk Emails. First, don't use inappropriate email addresses (you know I am talking to you hotpinkpants@hotmail.com). When emailing use proper sentence structure, paragraphs, punctuation just like if you were writing a letter (this is not an IM, ok LOL, OMG, IDK). Finally, when sending us an email, please sign-it. It is frustrating when writing back to Anonymous, especially if you are writing to have materials sent to you or checking on application.
4. Go University of Virginia. When visiting you might think it is cool to wear a shirt or sweatshirt of another school, but honestly that is just annoying. Especially if the clothing is for a school where we destroy them on the Lacrosse field (namely Duke!!!).
5. Parents!!! We like that you are involved, we encourage it. HOWEVER, let your child talk. And NEVER call or email I pose as your son or daughter. We know it is you. Plus, please let them fill out the applications. It is difficult to process a student's application when their birth date is 3/22/1964. (Yes, it happens.)
6. Inappropriate ______. It has amazed me in my years the seemingly inappropriate behavior some students show. Extremely provocative clothing (please cover up) ... Cursing (soap in the mouth time) ... Sleeping in the lobby during a visit (please take your shoes off our table and stop snoring) ... Talking about illegal activities (so I was smoking pot and yadda yadda yadda) ... and on and on. I understand students are nervous, but that manifests itself in behavior I understand and somewhat appreciate (biting nails, twirling hair, lots of "ums" in speech). There is a difference though and inappropriate behavior is absurd in my humble opinion.
7. Applying Mistakes. Misspellings don't bother me much (except Jon Hopkinds & the word definitely) ... poor capitalization can be annoying but is fine ... not using correct punctuation every time is understandable. What really gets me is an application that is sloppy, messy, and clearly never proofread. Yes, it is easy to apply to colleges now with online forms and the common application, but that doesn't mean it should only take 10 minutes of your time. Would you do that when applying for a job??? What does it say about you when you submit a sloppy application?
8. What is your name? Please, please, please apply with only one name. The greatest pet peeve of my colleagues in Operations is when application materials come in for an applicant under multiple names, nicknames, or just with a first name listed. We process materials for over 16,000+ applicants ... please respect this an make sure all your materials are easy to process and merge together.
9. Contact points. You will not be admitted because you contacted us 25 times in a one-week period. Some schools do value interest, but that doesn't mean we want you to call to just say hello, or email us to let us know that your Alphabet Soup spelled JHU yesterday. All of us enjoy speaking and being in contact with you when there is a legitimate point. Our time though is precious and it is annoying when we receive disingenuous messages where the student is just trying to "accumulate points."
10. Independent counselors. I understand they are out there, and that is fine. But they are not the ones applying ... so they should not be writing the essays, completing the applications, and contacting the schools on "behalf" of the student.
11. Filler extracurriculars. Hanging with friends ... are you Vice-President of that club? Playing video games ... is that community service? Partying ... did you get a certificate for that?
12. Is it a postmark deadline? Though this is a legitimate question, it is one of my great pet peeves because clearly the person asking the question is considering procrastinating. If you are stressing about that January 1st submission / postmark (???) deadline then you have been wasting time somewhere along the way. Yes, all deadlines are postmark deadlines but why wait. In the time you are asking the question and waiting for the response, you could be completing your application and submitting it way in advance of the deadline.

Since talking about pet peeves has a negative tone, I thought I would end this post on a positive note ... new pictures of Soze and Lilly. Enjoy, and I'll be back later in the week with ED updates and info for RD applicants. Cheers!

Giving Thanks for the 4 Fs

Let me begin by wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving. I have survived the holiday traffic and arrived at my parent's home for the start of a lovely Thanksgiving break with the family, Lilly, and Soze. This will be a traditional Thanksgiving of great food, great football, great family, and great files. Yes, the four "Fs" of my Thanksgiving holiday for the last nine years. Food, football, family, and FILES - FILES - FILES.

(((Popular Culture blog break: As I am writing about Thanksgiving I am thinking about last summer's movie "Grindhouse." Did any of you see it? This was the double-feature horror film with Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof" and Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror." What made me think of it? Well during "Grindhouse" you get these fake trailers to fake movies and one is by Eli Roth of "Hostel" fame and is titled simply "Thanksgiving." It is one of the sickest things I have ever seen and has changed the way I think of this Turkey Holiday.)))

Back to the blog .... So files during Thanksgiving, that's the life of a dedicated Admissions counselor. Starting in November and running through March your life in many ways becomes reading applications files first and everything else (even holidays) second. For me this is just fact and actually not something I really complain about. Especially with my family ... I've trained Lilly (my nearly two year old niece) and Soze (my nearly six year old dog) to help read files. Soze is great with transcripts and Lilly is even better with letters of recommendation. Obviously, I am kidding ... OR AM I?????

Well as you all prepare to take a break from school I thought I would share a  few updates in the world of Admissions at Hopkins. As you can see from the pictures the reading of Early Decision applications has truly begun. In fact, it began earlier this year than ever before since we moved the ED deadline to November 1st. That has been a wonderful blessing to the Admissions staff both from the Operations side with more time to process and from the Counseling team side with more time to read. I actually got my first batch of applications to read on November 5th, nearly two weeks earlier than in any previous year. (Read last year's "Ready, Set, READ" blog entry that the official first day was not until November 21.) This has been wonderul because my stress level has not risen and I really have been able to pace myself with my evaluations. Plus we are going to have a good amount of time to discuss things in Committee before finalizing decisions.

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For those of you who applied Early Decision, I thought I would provide you with answers to some of the questions I have been asked over the last couple of weeks. (Regular Decision applicants don't fret ... I will post an FAQ list for you all in the coming weeks.)

When will ED notifications be released???

The plan as stated on our web site and in the application materials is to release Early Decision notifications to all ED applicants by December 15th. For the last few years that means we release decisions ON 12.15. I suspect the same will be true this year, but if our plans change and we are able to release decisions a day or two earlier I will update you all through this blog.

When decisions are released that are mailed out during the day and then an email is sent at 6:00pm EST. For further details about the process of notification for ED, please read "Down to the Wire..." and "Notes on the Release of Early Decision Notifications", two blog entries I wrote last December.

How many Early Decision applications were received this year???

Since this generation of college applicants is so obsessed with numbers, this has become the question I am asked constantly. How many applicants? Is that more than last year? Less? Why such a change? What does that mean? AAAAAAHHHHHH! Here is my answer ... calm down ... patience ... and the numbers do not tell the story.

Director of Admissions Dr. John Latting did reveal earlier this week that it looks like our Early Decision application total for the 2007-08 application cycle will be ... 1055 applications. This number is subject to change as we continue to complete applications and confirm Early Decision agreements. But, it is looking like the largest ED applicant pool in Hopkins history surpassing the record 1004 applications two years ago. I always think it is impressive to note that just six years ago in 2002 we received 516 ED applications and ten years ago we received 462.

Is my Early Decision application is complete???

It would be great if we had an online system where you all could log-on and checking to see if your application is complete. Unfortunately we don't, but after a series of demos/discussions I sat-in-on last week that possibility is looking much brighter for next year. For now the process is a simple one.

As you can imagine, it gets busy in the Admissions Office as we process application materials. Because of the volume of records being handled, we regret that it is not possible to confirm personally whether application files are complete or to identity which individual items have been received. Applicants will be mailed an acknowledgment postcard after your application is received and processed. It can take up to 4 weeks for a received application to be processed.

Rest assured that application files are checked carefully for completeness. Starting next week (Nov. 26th) we will contact students whose ED applications remain incomplete. Those students will be given an opportunity to provide us with any missing items before we complete the evaluation of their applications. Early Decision applicants may call the Admissions Office at (410) 516-8171 after November 30 to check if their application materials have been received, but once again we can not confirm individual parts of your application.

What are you looking for when you review the applications??? How do you choose who gets admitted???

These are questions that I am often asked and unfortunately there is no easy answer. Plus, Lilly just woke up from her nap and therefore I prefer to end this blog entry and go play with her. Fortunately though I have written on this topic twice before. Last year I posted "The Approach..." and the year before I posted "Three Months..." Take a read and hopefully my words can shed some light on the process.

Hope this little Q&A helped clear up any confusion. If you have further questions, I recommend reading through our Early Decision Questions on the Hopkins Forums and posting your question.

Happy Thanksgiving all.

[[[Photo Captions: (1) Mmmmm....turkey. (2) Lilly teaching Soze as they prepare to read applications. (3) & (4) Reading applications in my amazing new office. (5) To be filed bins beginning to stack up. (6) Decision support sheets and files waiting to be merged. (7) The printer is working over-time. (8) The office supplies are ready, including the blue application confirmation postcards.]]]

Busy, Hectic, Crazed ...

Welcome to November. I hope you all enjoyed Halloween, the start of Fall-like weather on the east coast (finally!), and for many of you the arrival of the Early Decision deadline. I hope many of you have already clicked submit or made your visit to the Post Office ... but if not, good luck with meeting the deadline you procrastinators!!! For you EDers, I recommend taking a look at the "Early Decision Questions" thread on our message boards for answers to frequently asked questions, or for the opportunity to ask us your own questions; click here.

Today actually symbolizes for me the end of the busiest two weeks of my calendar year. As the title of this entry states, life has been busy, hectic, and crazed. Actually those three words barely describe my life for the last half of October ... but it is over now and I am off for a few days of Mental Vacation!!!

Before checking out for a few days, I thought I would update you all on what's been making life some crazed. So let's rewind to 12 days ago:

Friday, October 19

I got to the office early since I knew it would be a wild day. It was the day before our first Open House, the first day of Jameel's Colors of Hopkins program, our first of two overnights, and I had to head out to BWI Airport to pick-up my rental car for my up-coming travel. As the day began, I never expected it would be the last of these things to do that would cause the most chaos. Yes, I spent three hours at BWI because my car rental place (starts with a NAT and ends with an IONAL) did not have any cars in the size I had ordered. See my up-coming travel was group travel which meant four people, four sets of luggage, and four sets of materials for recruitment events. Finally, after me exploding on the manager, they drive down a beautiful extended-cab Dodge Durango. The car was awesome, though it did feel like driving a boat and was a gas-guzzler, but it worked. By no way should I have had to endure three hours in the rental car pavilion at the airport. Oy vei.

The rest of the day was great though. Before leaving for the Airport, I did have the chance to check-out the Overnight registration and enjoy a couple of songs by the Octopodes, one of the best campus a capella groups. Here is a bit of their performance, held in the new session room in Mason Hall:

Saturday, October 20

The Engineering and Natural Sciences Open House was a smashing success. Great weather and nearly 1000 visitors. The Hopkins Interactive students were in full force, staffing the ask-a-student table and helping answers tons of questions. They made my job very easy. Here's some pictures for you all to enjoy:

At the end of the final session of the Open House, I ran to the new garage, jumped into the huge SUV, and got on the road to New England. The drive was endless, and I feared I would fall asleep a number of times, but at 1:00am I arrived in Waltham, MA and checked-in to my hotel ... than hit the heavenly bed for some much needed sleep.

Sunday, October 21

Thankfully, I was able to sleep a bit before waking up and heading up to Manchester, NH to pick-up the friends and colleagues I would be traveling with throughout the week. My group travel program included:

• Me representing Johns Hopkins University
• Amy Atcheson representing Rice University
• Greg Roberts representing the University of Virginia
• Shep Shanley representing Northwestern University

This is our second year recruiting together in New England, and it was great to get together for another successful week of programs.

The trip officially began Sunday evening as we held our first evening program at the Sheraton Colonial Hotel in Wakefield, MA. Expectations was the turnout would be low because something else was happening that evening - The Red Sox faced a Game 7 versus the Indians, winner heads to the World Series. Well, shockingly the people still came to see us ... in fact nearly 400 people turned out. I was the host for the evening, and obviously I began with a Sox joke ... letting everyone know that I was the only rep from the four schools rooting for the Sox (which actually was not true, but brownie points always works). Though the room was crowded, it was a great start to the week.

Monday, October 22

Our group travel is not just about evening programs. As we travel from location to location, each morning we would also host a Counselor Breakfast. For these events we would invite local area school counselors to a local hotel for a nice breakfast. We would chat about the state of affairs of our respective fields (college admissions v. college counseling). Each of the reps would also give a brief update on their respective school, and then all four of us would do a Q&A. Each breakfast went exceptionally well, starting with the 35 Boston area counselors we met with. I also got in a second joke ... I started my update about Hopkins by telling everyone we had sold the Hospital and were getting rid of pre-med. Some people actually thought I was serious.

The evening was our second program in the Boston metro area, this time in Dedham, MA at Noble and Greenough School. Another great night as we had about 275 to almost 300 people in attendance. Lots of questions at the end of the program, meant we didn't get back to the hotel to close to 11:00. I crashed!!!

Tuesday, October 23

Tuesday was our one sleep-in day. We gathered around noon, checked-out, drove an hour south to Providence, and I got to show everyone around College Hill. We had lunch on Thayer Street near Brown University, and actual were sitting right next to Lincoln Chaffee, former senator from Rhode Island. We checked into our new hotel, all took naps, and then headed down for our third evening program. Last year the Providence program was the smallest of our events, but this year it went amazingly well. Easily over 250 people. I always enjoy holding the Providence event because two of my favorite alums get to help out -- Steven Snow and Stephanie Cascio. Both are alums who have had children attend and/or graduate from Hopkins. In fact, Stephanie is the Mom of Esther, one of our current bloggers.

Wednesday, October 24

The Providence Counselor Breakfast was a bit smaller, about 15 counselors, but the more intimate environment was great. Some great conversations and questions, that actually had all four of us chatting as we headed out on a 2 hour drive to Norwalk, CT. The drive was actually pleasant not just for the conversation but also for the wonderful foliage we got to see. I wish I had my camera, but I left it on my desk back in Baltimore. Take my word for it, it was beautiful. The only negative of the day turned out to be lunch ... not that the food was bad, but our waiter was one of the most evil people we all had ever met. We were actually scared to ask for anything. So strange.

Our Fairfield County evening session was held at Darien High School and was another smashing success. Great turnout that was over 350 people, and the crowd actually included blogger Jackie's Mom, Dad, and twin siblings who happened to be high school juniors starting their own college searches. Another great night ... at this moment I made a mental note that Group Travel is really the best way to recruit nowadays.

Thursday, October 25

Another great breakfast ... 35 counselors ... a good bagel ... some good eggs (not runny) ... and some sausage. Plus, Shep had his bacon ... he loves his bacon. After breakfast and some email, it was up to Hartford and the site of our final programs.

The Hartford area evening session held at Simsbury High School turned out to be our smallest event, just about 200 people, but also turned out to be the only night when I was under 10 minutes in my presentation. Which was great ... since most nights I was closer to 15 minutes and we had all agreed to be between 10-12. It is hard ... I like to talk and there is so much to say. Thankfully, by the last night I had it down and now I am ready for next year.

Friday, October 26

Our final counselor breakfast with about 15 counselors from Hartford area schools. I love talking with Connecticut counselors because they can't hold me accountable ... I don't read CT students. Ha Ha Ha.

After the breakfast, it was the worst part of the trip. Saying goodbye to Greg, Shep, and Amy at the airport. They are three of the top Admissions counselors I have met in my ten years, it is a true pleasure traveling with them. It also meant I need to drive back to Baltimore, and specifically tackle the Cross Bronx Expressway.

I got back into Baltimore around 10:00pm. It was nice to be home, until my alarm clock went off at 5:00am....

Saturday, October 27

Why you ask? Well, Open House #2 for Humanities and Social Sciences students this time. Thankfully, this was not as big as the first Open House as we hosted between 350-400 people. The event went well despite horrible rains and winds in the morning. Honestly, I was so over-tired that I really don't remember much from the day. What I do remember is how great the Hopkins Interactive students were again with fielding questions.

Unfortunately, the day ended quite poorly as I returned to BWI airport to return the car. No problems with the return of the car, but when I went to pick-up my own car in long-term parking ... well let's just say it is not good when you turn the key to your car and nothing happens. An hour later I got a jump from a nice AAA guy, headed home, and crashed. I'd list Sunday activities, but pretty much it was just a constant day of sleep.

While I was dealing with a broken down car at BWI Airport, something was going on back on the Homewood campus. Saturday evening they held a black-tie optional formal convocation for the New Decker Quad, the New Mason Hall, and the New CSE Building. A full tent went up, and the event was supposed to be amazing. Here are some shots:

Hope you enjoyed this journey through my travels of the past couple of weeks. I'll be enjoying a few days away, and then will return to begin reviewing ED apps (and updating the blog).

OK, I am going to pander for comments. In the last two weeks I have spoken in front of more than 2500 people ... so if you met me either at an Open House or during any of my Group Travel programs ... let me know!!! Just post a comment below, I'd love to hear from you. CHEERS!

Notes on the Release of Early Decision Notifications

I often times enjoy journaling, so throughout the day on Friday (December 15, 2006) I decided to walk around with a pad and pen and jot down a series of entries. Since these entries primarily focused on my thoughts about the release of Early Decision notifications, I thought I would gear them to include details you all might find interesting. I hope you all enjoy this entry, and a special congratulations to the first members of the Johns Hopkins Class of 2011.

7:15 a.m. EST
The start of a busy day. It is the Ides of December and a thick, ominous fog has descended over the campus and all of Baltimore. Is this a sign of impending doom (a.k.a. holiday shopping) or is it just another sign of the fickle nature of Baltimore weather? Who knows, but it sure does make for some unique visual imagery. (I just hope the photos I took show how truly eerie the morning looked.

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Boy am I tired. The last few days have been quite hectic, but it has been a good week. This Early Decision class is impressive and with the volume of applications I am surprised that we finished on time. I do think though that the plan to move the Early Decision deadline to November 1 next year is a good idea -- it will make sure we have the time to make the right decisions.

ED release day is always one of my favorite professional days each year. I can still remember my first year as an admissions counselor rendering ED decisions. In fact I still remember a number of my first ED admits -- I wonder what Greg, Lizzy, and Katie are doing now? This year's pool also had some of those truly memorable candidates, including two that I hope to meet up with next fall and watch in awe as they go through four years of the Hopkins experience.

OK, time to get my work day officially started. First on the agenda is correspondence: clear out the e-mail accounts, respond to some comments on the blog, check the Hopkins Forums, and answer some final crazed questions on College Confidential. I wonder how many times today I will be questioned about what time the ED emails will be sent. Oy vei.

11:20 a.m. EST

Just returned to my desk after helping the Operations team stuff, seal, and add postage to the final admit packets. A few of my colleagues are taking all the decision letters and admit packets to the postal center. The ED Class of 2011 is officially signed, sealed, and in the early stagings of being delivered. I snapped some fun shots of these final steps in the process - enjoy!

As I was helping out sealing the admit packets, I actually reflected on two things. First, I really like the packet we send admits. Sending them Priority Mail is a nice touch. The black folder with the little "Yes" tab is really cool. The poster insert is a lot of fun. And then, special to me, is the Hopkins Interactive insert which resemble the little discs we give out to visitors. I never complain when we are promoting Hopkins Interactive.

The other thing I was reflecting about was how different the admissions decision release process is today compared to when I applied to college back in 1992-93. Back in my day, I had applied to two Early Action schools. Being a first-generation college applicant and having a guidance counselor who knew very little, I really was clueless going into the process. I was able to come up with a list of about 10 schools I was interested in, and two that were clearly at the top of the list. Early Action was something that seemed easy to do, so I took a chance.

Just to paint the picture a bit more -- there were no online applications, there was no E-mail, there was no College Confidential, there were no college Web sites, heck the Internet didn't even exist. The obsession over college selectivity was minimal at best. You picked your schools, you applied to each school individually (Common App., if it existed, was not popular), and then you actually had to wait for the mail. It was truly the Dark Ages compared to today -- now students seem to control a lot more of the process, and demand much more too.

But I digress. What I was truly remembering was finding out on December 15, 1992 that I had been deferred from both of my Early Action schools. I opened the small letters, read them fully, showed them to my family, and then filed them away. No real reaction, well maybe a bit of disappointment. I was done with my other applications already, and I knew that I would ultimately get in some where. Looking back now almost 15 years later, it was not the most momentous day of my life up to that point...it was just another day. The day in late March of 1993 when all my other letters arrived was more memorable, but still the whole time period was not filled with much anxiety, dread, anticipation, fear, and/or stress. Some of it actually was fun and enjoyable.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that, though I do enjoy this day every year when we release ED decisions, I do wish we could find a way to go back to the good old days when anxiety and stress were not so prominent. The whole process has gone awry, and I think on a day when I am not so worn out I could really come up with some ideas to turn things around. But that is for another day ... it is lunch time, and I have some online Christmas shopping to do.

2:15 p.m. EST

The fog is gone and it actually feels like a nice spring day outside now. Baltimore weather is so strange. I love that there is a Chipotle now just a few minutes from campus. And oh yeah, I have already answered that "what time are the emails being sent" question 14 times just today. Patience people!!!

So John [Director of Admissions, John F. Latting] just distributed the ED statistics and they just prove what a great start to the admissions cycle we have experienced. There is some great data, especially when compared to the ED pools of the past few years. Here are the highlights:

• Second largest ED applicant pool = 997 which is just down 1% (7 total apps.) from last year's record 1004 applications which had been a 39% overall increase. Just five years ago in 2002 we had 516 ED applications, and in 9 years ago it was 462.
• The acceptance rate dropped once again - this year we chose to admit 45% which means 447 students will be receiving the good news that they are the first students to be admitted to the Johns Hopkins Class of 2011.
• Of the 447 admits: 46% are female, 43 are underrepresented minority students, 34% are Engineers, 34% Natural Science, and 28% interested in Humanities or Social Sciences.
• As far as the "quality" of the admits, everything is up. Mean SAT Critical Reasoning + Math is a 1364, up from 1352 last year.
• New Jersey remained the top state (73), Maryland second (60), and New York third (50). 28 totals states represented with the admits.

3:49 p.m. EST

I just got off the phone with a college counselor and we were discussing the case of an ED student who was deferred. Those conversations are never easy, but they are not as hard as the "Deny" talks or any conversation with a student or parent who wants an explanation about why a certain decision was rendered. The conversation made me reflect on the deferred students and I thought I should include some information for them in this journaling.

I guess the most important thing to say to the ED deferred students is that the road does not end here and you shouldn't lose all hope. We will admit deferred students during regular decision. ED deferred applicants are admitted every year, and are provided the same chance of admission as the applicants who apply regular decision. At Hopkins, we do not defer all applicants who are not admitted ED, we actually do deny a number of ED applicants who we determine do not have a chance for admission in the RD review process. Deferred applicants do have a second chance.

Here is my list of suggestions and advice that I always pass along when speaking with ED Defers:

1. Apply to other schools. Though obvious, your chance for admission to Hopkins is not guaranteed and you want to make sure you have options.
2. Make sure you update the academic portion of your application. This would include mid-year grades (which will play an important role in your re-review), additional standardized test scores you may have taken, and maybe even an updated letter of recommendation from your guidance counselor.
3. Consider updating the non-academic portion of your application. Though not required, an updated resume and an additional letter of recommendation (especially from a senior year teacher) can always help. Just make sure anything you add does contribute in a new way to your application. Do not be redundant.
4. Write a letter to the Admissions Committee. Though not something all deferred applicants need to do or even should do, some of you may consider writing a personal letter to the Admissions Committee stressing your interest in Hopkins and why you feel you are an appropriate candidate for admissions. Consider this a cover letter to your overall application.
5. Most importantly, have a stellar senior year academically. The most important part of the review of a early decision deferred applicant is their academic progress throughout senior year.

[Note: We have started an ED Defer discussion thread on the Hopkins Message Boards. Check it out here, and post questions if you have any.}

6:25 p.m. EST

Just got home. Long day. The emails have all been sent out, and I am anxious to go online and see the reaction. However, I am going to first enjoy a nice dinner with Soze, purchase my last Christmas present online, watch Stump the Schwab on ESPN Classic, and then watch Wheel of Fortune on ABC. I'll log on around 8:00.

8:10 p.m. EST

Well the news is out. Everyone is reacting. Very interesting. It's been a long process so I am going to have a glass of wine (maybe 2 or 3) and enjoy some DVDs. I have had the same Netflix DVDs for the past three weeks. Then it is off to bed for a long night sleep and the start to a relaxing weekend.

Congratulations and best wishes.