The OLINformer

So things are crazy busy here in anticipation of the 2007 Candidates’ Weekends! Can’t really talk now, but I thought that any Candidates out there - as well as anyone else! - might be interested in the updated (but still officially tentative) schedule for the Weekends. Here you go… my Valentines gift to you all!

2007 CW Schedule

And on a different note…we’ve finally got our first REAL snow of the year!!

Happy V-Day everyone,
Allison

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

Dear Applicants,

This note is one of warm appreciation.

We received 1054 applications for 73 places in the Class of 2011 at Olin College. That figure represents a 34% increase in applications over last year and nearly double in the last two years. We have been overwhelmed with the response from prospective students interested in attending Olin. The quality of the applicant pool can only be described as breathtaking! Your accomplishments inside and outside the classroom are very impressive, making our decisions as to whom to invite to Candidates’ Weekends exceptionally difficult.

We are honored that you have chosen to apply to Olin College. Be assured that every application was carefully evaluated.

I want to wish you the very best in your college selection process. No doubt you will have many options, and whichever college or university you ultimately attend will indeed be lucky to count you in its student body.

Sincerely,
Charles S. Nolan, Ph.D.
Vice President of External Relations and Dean of Admission

So consider this a special treat for those who read this blog (thank you!) and the CollegeConfidential college forum… If you can’t wait for the old-fashioned mail (and I completely understand)…

Decisions are now available online at http://apply.olin.edu

Not to worry - I’m not leaving anyone out! I will send an email to all applicants about this by the end of the day!

Y’all are phenomenal and I wish each and everyone of you the very best, no matter what happens or where you go to college!

Take care and go enjoy your weekend,
Allison

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

Not to worry, my growling is not directed toward anyone in particular!

However, for those of you dying to know EXACTLY how many applications we received this year, your wish is about to come true…

I want to make it very clear that I’m all about transparency in the admission process (hah! no pun intended) - I don’t like a whole lot of smoke and mirrors or doubletalk. I do believe in giving people accurate information, and sometimes that isn’t necessarily available when YOU want it!

I’m sure a few of you are wondering why I haven’t answered the comment (regarding the tally of applications) from my last post. The reason is that I’m not a big fan of throwing a bunch of numbers around with being able to put them in context, especially with regard to our rather “unique” admission process. Several of you who have been on CollegeConfidential noted the number of applications posted by members of the Olin community right after the January 1 deadline; however, those numbers are not quite right and I really wanted to wait until we were finished processing and reviewing applications before posting anything about that.

That said, there will be a guest blogger on Monday, February 5th - Charlie Nolan, our Dean of Admission. So check back on Monday to see what he has to say! And, yes, he will “reveal” our final application total.

And one final thought…[warning - big pet peeve alert]… Lots of applications + low admit rate = highly selective institution. That’s all. Remember that selectivity does not equal quality!! The “best” school in the nation may not be the best school for you - no matter what your friends say, your parents think, or Newsweek/U.S. News/Princeton Review sells you.

My goal in life is not to freak you out! I promise! So please be patient a bit longer.
Allison

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

We are almost finished reviewing your applications!

There’s one final step before we mail out the decisions… The Admission Committee… [cue dramatic music]…

After four very long, hectic, sleep-deprived and gut-wrenchingly emotional weeks - we have arrived at the moment when our Admission Committee will make the final decisions about who is invited to Candidates’ Weekends. And of course, I have noticed a sharp upward spike in the number of emails and IM’s asking me WHEN ARE WE GOING TO NOTIFY Y’ALL ABOUT CANDIDATES’ WEEKENDS!?!? So here’s the deal:

You should* receive your decision letter - one way or another - in the first week of February.

*Disclaimer regarding mail service: We have no control over what happens to the letters after they leave our office! While we aim to have a decision in every student’s hands in the first week of February… we cannot guarantee its arrival date!

That said, hold on a little longer! You all are such an amazing group of young people - your applications were phenomenal, your essays made us laugh and cry, your résumés made us feel like we have done nothing with our own lives! But in the end, we are a very very small school and we cannot admit everyone… no matter how much we love you and want to meet each and every one of you at a Candidates’ Weekend! This is, by far, the toughest part of my job. And so, yes, many of you will be disappointed come early February. I hate having to say that… but if there is one thing I’ve learned in all my years and experience (boy, that makes me sound old!) it’s that things happen for a reason - regardless of whether you know or even understand the reason at the time. Each of you will find your place for the next four year and it will be awesome… even if it doesn’t turn out to be Olin College.

Oh and as old-fashioned as it may seem, you will be receiving your notification by snail mail… There’s something to be said for being able to actually open an envelope!

It’s Friday night after an exhausting week - I’m planning my escape for the weekend! I’ll be back, I promise.
Allison

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

P.S. Did you know that the mere fact that we got about 300 more applications than last year means our little office had to process over 6000 more sheets of paper!?!? Crazy, eh? We’re still recovering!

Yep, ladies and gentlemen, I’m a loser.

I admit it.

I didn’t get those pictures posted - it was going to be this cool “Semester in Review” with lots of fun pics from current students. Sigh.

And it is highly unlikely that it will ever happen. As I’m sure many of you have learned by now, we (again!) have a record number of applications and, well, that means that my life at this point is completely devoted to completing your applications and then reading them… and getting ready for Candidates’ Weekends.

Story of my life these days, where snow = applications (and other duties as assigned)

But there is a light at the end of the lame-blogging-tunnel… We’re working on setting up a NEW blog for this coming semester - a student blog!! Woohoo! We have several current students who’d like to share their view of life and Olin with you, so stay tuned…

On a wackier note, we finally got proof that our pseudo-Admission-Office-mascot is actually in Antarctica:

August 2006 - we gave him to alum Adam Horton before he departed for “the ice”

This is just about the awesomest thing ever! And the closest I’m going to get to the South Pole

I’ll dispense with the penguin theme… although we’re finally getting a bit of winter-like weather in Boston these days, so maybe it’s not so random after all.

Oh and thanks for all the kind emails/IMs from folks - I’m glad to hear that y’all are reading this blog and seem to find my obnoxious, borderline-stalker emails amusing!

I’ll be back someday!
Allison

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

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/