The OLINformer

Now that more and more of you are submitting your applications, you’re probably wondering what happens after you click “SEND”… so today I hope to shed a little light on *our* application review process.

NOW through early January - APPLICATION PROCESSING:

1. You create and application account (if you’re like me and procrastinate a bit too much, here’s the link again: https://apply.olin.edu).
2. You submit your electronic application (with uploaded résumé). After we receive your application, we go into our files and pair your application with any other credentials you have sent us: your transcript, your standardized test scores, secondary school report (Form A), teacher recommendations (Forms B & C), senior year progress report (Form D or equivalent) and any supplemental materials. If we have no credentials for you on file, we’ll create a file for you and then add all of your credentials/materials as they arrive in the mail.
3. You check your status online. After submitting your application, you can see what credentials we have received by logging back into your application account and checking your status page. We update these accounts as soon as we can, but PLEASE BE PATIENT! I cannot stress this enough! Every piece of mail must be sorted, dated and manually updated - so it takes some time. Remember that, in contrast to other schools you may be applying to, we are a VERY small college with a very small Admission staff. Be kind to us!
4. You’re complete! When our office has received all the required pieces of information, your status page will show your application is complete. Your application folder (containing all the cool and interesting stuff you’ve sent us) is then ready to be reviewed and your folder is assigned to a reading team….

…So what the heck is a reading team? There are four reading teams made up of five or six faculty and staff members. Each reading team is captained by a member of Admission Office - Dean Charlie Nolan, Assistant Directors Patricia Blanchette, Emma Goodman or myself. Applications are divided amongst the reading teams based on the large geographical regions outlined on our “Meet the Admission Team” page on our website - go ahead and check it out! You know you want to!

Late December through late March - APPLICANT REVIEW:

1. Starting in the end of December/beginning of January, all completed applications are read twice.
2. Throughout the month of January the reading teams meet to discuss the applications assigned to their team.
3. In the last week of January, the reading teams make recommendations to the Admission Committee regarding which applicants should be invited to Candidates’ Weekends (CW). The Admission Committee is made up of 5-6 members including faculty, the Dean of Students and Dean of Admission - all of whom also serve as readers on the aforementioned reading teams.
4. The Admission Committee determines which applicants will become “Candidates” and will be invited to CW. All students are notified of their status in early, early February - we’re shooting for February 3rd or 4th but that’s not a guarantee at this time! I’ll keep you posted on that timeline…
5. Candidates flood campus for CW (February 23-24 or March 2-3) and learn more about Olin, participating in a design/build exercise, interviews and group exercises.
6. The Admission Committee reconvenes to review information gathered during CW by the CW interviewers, a group of faculty, staff, alumni and current students. The Admission Committee determines which Candidates will be offered admission, which will be placed on the waitlist and which will be denied.
7. Notification letters will be sent sometime in the end of March.

As elementary as I’ve tried to make sound above, it was insanely difficult to do! While this process is not exactly “rocket science,” it is very nuanced, subjective and agonizing at times. Because we have created (what we believe to be a very good) holistic application process, it is not as cut-and-dry as admitting all the students with perfect SAT/ACT scores or those with straight-A’s on their transcripts. That would be too easy and far too simplistic… and not very Olinesque! Our review process is extremely labor-intensive but it is the best way for us to build the kind of intellectual and creative community that makes Olin unique!

Learning about each of you is fascinating; the hard part is that we feel like we’ve really gotten to know you after reading your essays and hearing what your teachers have to say about you (or if we’ve met you in person on the road or on campus during CW). The reality is that we only have a small number of spots in each class… and unfortunately we just don’t have room for everyone.

I constantly have to remind myself (and others!) that things typically happen for a reason, even if the reason is not clear at that moment… When I was a high school college counselor, one of the most heart-wrenching aspects of my job was when student came to my office devastated by a disappointing decision from their dream school. It makes my heart ache just thinking about it now (melodramatic, but true, I swear). But the funny thing was that in the vast majority of those cases, the college that a student ultimately chose to attend was just as good for her/him as the original first-choice institution… and in some cases, it was an even better match!

Our applicant pool is one of the strongest in the nation and each of you will have tons of amazing opportunities come April - whether at Olin or somewhere else. I truly believe in our application process; it is perhaps one of the most personal ones out there. And though no admission process can be perfect, I think Olin’s process is pretty darn good!

So now that I’ve pulled back the curtain and revealed the “wizard,” I hope that you feel a bit better (or at least better informed) about our process. I really want to convey the level of dedication that the entire Olin community puts into our approach to admission - from the application readers to the interviewers and presenters at Candidates’ Weekends, we put a lot of ourselves into the process.

Whew! I’m exhausted. That’s it for now. I’m working on posting more pics soon…

Enjoy the weekend and the holidays!
Allison

allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/

So I thought I’d repost my answer from November 16th:

Olin asks for two Teacher Recommendations. Can I send in additional letters of recommendation?

The simple answer is… Yes, absolutely! But don’t go crazy - we don’t need letters from every teacher you’ve ever had or the department chairs or headmaster/principal of your school. It’s about the quality of the letter and how well the person knows you, not the title underneath the signature.

However, there are a couple of things I’d like to point out. First of all, we ask for one letter from a math or science teacher and the other from a teacher of your choice. I would like to encourage you to consider asking a non-math/science teacher for the second letter of recommendation. The purpose of the Teacher Recommendations is to give us some perspective on what you’re like as a student. If have both of your letters come from teachers math and science, we often times get a rather one-dimensional view of you. So think about asking your English or history teacher (or some other humanities or social science instructor) - even if you didn’t make your best grades in those classes, those teachers often have great insight to share with us and can help flesh out your application by providing us with a different angle.

Secondly, if you’d like to submit an additional recommendation, it should still add dimension to your application. And since it’s supplemental, it doesn’t have to be academic. So ask your boss or Scout Master; consider your band director or coach; essentially, any adult mentor in your life would be a great addition to your file. Remember: an extra letter of recommendation is just that - icing on the cake! We do not require it and you won’t be at a disadvantage if you don’t submit one.

Oh and there’s been tons of stuff happening on campus the last few weeks and it’s taking me a while to get everything organized and posted. I’ll have new pics from recent events (and perhaps of me drowning in the mountains of mail and anything else I can think of!) soon….

There is a light at the end of the tunnel - and it’s not a train!
Allison

allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/

We’ve had a number of questions lately regarding test scores and submitting the online application or various other application materials. Here are some tips:

• You don’t have to wait for your December SAT scores to submit the online part of your application. All test scores need to come to us on an official score report from the College Board or ACT (and the December scores should arrive any day now). If you haven’t had your scores sent to us yet - contact the College Board or ACT as soon as possible and request that they be sent to Olin College; you may have to pay for a Rush Report.
• We do not need official AP Scores. Just fill in the box on the application and we’re good to go. If you’d like to send a photocopy of your AP scores from the College Board, that’s perfectly fine.
• I noticed a question on CollegeConfidential.com about “superscores” - i.e. combining your highest scores from each section of a standardized test. Yes, we do take your highest individual scores! And yes, even on the ACT.
• You can submit the signed Affidavit at any time. You do not need to wait for us to receive all of your other materials. I would say a good rule of thumb might be to send the Affidavit when you submit the online portion of the application.
• Again, we do not need a Mid-Year School Report! As long as we have some kind of documentation of your academic performance in your senior year - by using Form D or your own first quarter/six weeks/trimester report card - that’s all we’re looking for. Oh and be sure to send all of your transcripts to us, including those from any college courses you may have taken.

T-2 weeks and counting….

Allison

allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/

… and the OFFICIAL READING SEASON hasn’t technically begun!

So as we gear up for all the applications to arrive, a couple of us took the day to re-group and get ready for the onslaught. It was a long day in the office but well worth it! It’s a little weird feeling like there is so much to do when everyone else on campus is winding down for the semester. Finals are done - YAY! - and all that’s left for students are their Expo presentations… I promise to post about Olin Exposition later this week, as I’ll be wandering around, sitting in on presentations and checking out all the posters on Tuesday and Wednesday.

So the weather up here has been insanely mild for almost-winter… and I admit, I’m a little disappointed! Most folks think I’m crazy, but after all, one of the reasons I moved to Boston was to finally experience 4 seasons. Oh well. I really can’t complain. It was gorgeous today - 50ish degrees and sunny - and I took a break from work to join a group of first-years in a pick-up soccer game on the Great Lawn. No clue what the ultimate score was, but after Nina’s foot went one direction and her body went the other, everyone decided it was time to call it a day. And while she was waiting for Mike to get ice for her ankle (he returned with an ice-cold can of root beer in a sock - ahhh, the Olin ingenuity), we all got serenaded by Ben (who wasn’t playing soccer with us, he just happened to wander by and couldn’t say no to our begging for a sample of his latest song).

After that, talk turned to life in the Office of Admission and questions of “How many applications do you think we’ll get this year?” See?!? You’re not the only ones who ask us those questions - even our current students are still intrigued by this whole application process! Like I mentioned in my previous post (November 16th) we don’t really know how many applications to expect this year. So your guess is pretty much as good as mine. But as we inch closer to that January 1 deadline, it is definitely looking like we’ll have more than last year.

Hope everyone has a good Sunday. I’m going to start reading applications this week, so wish me luck!
Allison

allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/

Today, the Olin community was a bit larger than normal when 70 4th grade students from Hillside Elementary School in Needham became “Guest Judges” for our Design Nature class (that’s the first-year design component of ICB, our Integrated Course Block, and students use nature as the inspiration/guide for their design projects).
The Design Nature students showed off their toy prototypes this morning in the first floor hallway of the Academic Center. The Olin students were challenged to develop bio-inspired wall walkers for elementary-aged children; the cool part was that the Hillside 4th graders got to evaluate the toys and experience a little bit of Olin!

It was *so* much fun! I almost felt like a kid again! As I wandered back and forth along the AC first floor, it was amazing to see how engaged and excited the Hillside students were - they took their assignments very seriously as they carried their clipboards and moved from team to team, asking questions and rating each design on an evaluation sheet. Rather than just doing a standard presentation, this was a great way for the Design Nature students to explain their designs and see if they appealed/made sense to their target audience.

And now… the requisite pictures! And yes, the team names are rather, er, creative…

Hard-core evaluating goin’ on!

Ryan, Luis, Victoria and Jeff (Team Two Step Program) and their Caterpillar, Senior Meef Quesarito!

Nikki, Marti, Garrett and Heena (Team Hot Glitter Concept)

Daniel, Brian, Ashley and Giulia (Team Nizhegorodov)

Erika, Annie, Amy and Evan (Team Mega Blab) show off their wall walker to Asst. Professor Oscar Mur-Miranda

Ilari, Ben, Julie, Nina and Yifan (Team Walker, Texas Ranger) demo their walker for Asst. Professor Ozgur Eris - “it walked up a 58 degree incline, w00t w00t!” (a direct quote from Ben ‘10)

Evan, Tatiana, Pam and Jenn (Team Verti-Go)

Alyshia, Sarah, Greg and Roland (Team Las Tres Ardillas) get ready to demo their Fire Snail for Oscar - “our fire snail climbed an incline of 42 degrees! woot!” (direct quote from Sarah ‘10)

Andrew ‘07 and Asst. Professor Ben Linder test out another design

Avinash, Matt, Leah, Eric and Chujiao (Team Sky Walkers) demo their Flying Squirrel design for Assoc. Professor Allen Downey - “Our walker was modeled after a flying squirrel (see the parachute on it’s back?). He DID walk up a VERTICAL wall and did GLIDE down to a safe landing on the floor. In fact, I believe we repeated this over thirty times!” (Direct quote from Leah ‘10)

Morgan ‘10 (Team COW - Crawls on Walls) explains her team’s design to one of the young evaluators

Casey, Amanda, Ben and Andrew (Team Snakes on a Vertical Plane)

Members of Team “Willing2FallMakingAttempts2Elevate” show off their fuzzy wall walker; seen here are Andy, Brittany and Sarah (Wellesley ‘09)

…. very sleepy… that’s all for now.

Keep working on those applications!
Allison

allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/

So as I was going through my emails this morning, a posting from one of our many listservs caught my eye…

One of our first-years got up at the crack of dawn today to go pick up HUNDREDS of flowers and bring them back to campus. Why, you ask? Just because. Because getting flowers feels good. Because giving flowers feels good. Just because.

“…I guess it just seems like a good time for flowers. People are extremely stressed and tired, and flowers just make things happier…” ~Traz ‘10

Thanks, Traz!!

Sometimes Olin just makes me happy.

Hope everyone is having a good Monday!
Allison

allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/

Olin Receives Accreditation from NEASC

The Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering has received accreditation from the New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC). The college received a “Certificate of Accreditation” from the association on December 7, signaling that the college has met the body’s standards for membership.

“NEASC accreditation is a major milestone in the establishment of the college,” said Olin President Richard K. Miller in a note to the Olin community. “It has many implications that flow from this recognition by our peer institutions that our academic institution is sound and in good standing.”

Word of the accreditation decision caps a process that began in 2002 when the college first applied for candidacy status from NEASC. There followed two visits by official NEASC teams under the auspices of the association’s Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, and two “self studies” by the college, culminating in a recent vote by the NEASC board of directors to grant Olin accreditation. Olin graduated its first class in May 2006, and the accreditation will apply retroactively to that class.

NEASC accreditation applies to the institution as a whole. Olin is also seeking accreditation for its degree programs from ABET, the accrediting body for engineering programs. A decision on ABET accreditation is not expected until next summer.

(copied from the Olin Website at http://www.olin.edu/about_olin/news/pr_single.asp?id=176)

And of course, the “I go to an Accredited College” Group was created on Facebook soon after the announcement!

A lot actually!

On December 1st, the Olin community descended upon our Dining Hall with cash and checkbooks in hand for the annual SERV (Support, Encourage, and Recognize Volunteerism) Auction. SERV is the umbrella organization for community service at Olin and, each year, it organizes a auction on campus to raise money for various charitable organizations. This year was the most successful SERV Auction yet (we raised $6,805) and all proceeds were donated to two organizations: half to the Chernobyl Children’s Project and half to Partners in Health.

The event is actually two auctions, one is silent and the other is live. There was a dizzying array of goods and services donated for the auction, from Baked-Goods-of-the-Month to rides to the airport and “Story Time” with Montana Mike (’10) to organizing your home/office/dorm room. And yes, one of the donated items was a pair of tickets to the opening series of the Red Sox and Yankees next April (courtesy of Visiting Asst. Professor of Chemistry Chris Morse). Members of the Office of Student Life and Asst. Professor of Mechanical Engineering Jessica Townsend got in a bidding war…

Note how Prof. Townsend (pictured at right) is staring down her competition!

The tix sold (eventually!) to Jessica for over $200.