A very big congratulations to the students who received their Tufts acceptance letters today! We hope you join the Class of 2012 on the Hill!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Hooray!
A very big congratulations to the students who received their Tufts acceptance letters today! We hope you join the Class of 2012 on the Hill!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Who You Gonna Call? TUPD! (Not Ghostbusters)
On Saturday night, my friends decided they wanted to go to a bar in Kenmore Square, near Fenway Park, to meet up with some acquaintainces who live in Boston. However, I live on the opposite side of campus from their off-campus apartment, and I didn't want to walk 20 minutes to their house in the 20 degree temperature at 11 pm and risk pneumonia. What to do? I called the Non-Emergency hotline of the Tufts University Police Department and requested a police escort--for the first time in my time at Tufts!
Promptly, a police officer picked up the phone and asked me where I would be heading. Within a few minutes, a snazzy brown and blue TUPD police cruiser rolled up to my abode. A few minutes after that, I arrived safe and sound at my friends' apartment.
But this isn't an anecdote about the responsiveness of the TUPD or safety precautions on campus. Rather, it's just another vignette that illustrates how friendly the staff members are at Tufts University. In the span of my 4 minute car ride with Officer John Murphy, I learned the following about him: that he has worked for Tufts for the past 10 years; that his younger brother graduated from Tufts and majored in Economics; that he is waiting to hear which musicians will perform at this April's Spring Fling; that he was getting off his work shift in 10 minutes; and that he loves his job.
In turn, he had learned my class year, my majors, my career plans, my hometown, the story behind my freshman year knee dislocations, and where I was heading to in Boston that night! By the time we rolled up at my destination, he shook my hand and said that it was a pleasure to meet me after all my years at Tufts.
I'd said it before, and I'll say it again: the people at Tufts--be they students, professors, faculty members, or support staff--are genuinely friendly, and that has made my college experience all the better. Strangers will open doors for you or volunteer to help you out. In the span of 4 minutes, you can strike up a conversation with someone you've never met.
So, I'd like to dedicate this post to all those unsung heroes at Tufts. I'd like to thank Lina, the Dining Services lady who swipes students' ID cards in Carmichael Hall and who shouts "Sweetie!" and "Bella!" to the freshman girls whenever they enter the building. I'd also like to thank Kate Nash, Program Director of Advising and Scholarships, and James Ryan, Coordinator for Programs and Special Projects, the amazing duo that coordinates Freshman Orientation each year.
And, if you're ever at Bendetson Hall, be sure to thank Ellen Mounteer, the dedicated Campus Visit Coordinator who greets visitors to the reception area! Admissions wouldn't be the same without her.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Medford and Its Historical Significance
Now, in my fourth year of work at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, I feel as though I’m able to recite arcane Tufts knowledge in my sleep—while walking backward, like a diligent tour guide! However, as much as I enjoy reciting the saga of Jumbo the mascot for the umpteenth time, I also love learning new facts about the Tufts campus and the surrounding areas.
On two occasions, I’ve visited the Isaac Royall House, located 5 minutes from the Tufts campus at 15 George Street in Medford. Royall, a rum distiller, slaveholder, and trader of Antiguan slaves, owned over 500 acres. George Washington and his generals stayed in the main house during the early months of the Revolutionary War. Today, visitors to the grounds can peruse a public museum, the Royalls’ home, and the site of the oldest standing slave quarters in New England. Indeed, in February of 1782, a slave named Belinda, who had toiled at the estate for 50 years, spoke before the legislature of Massachusetts to courageously petition her right to a fraction of the late Isaac Royall's inheritance.
Born in Medford, Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) was an outspoken novelist, journalist, abolitionist, and advocate for the rights of women and Native Americans. However, she is best remembered for her 1844 poem entitled, “A Boy’s Thanksgiving Day.” We now know it as the Thanksgiving song, “Over the River and Through the Woods.” The title refers to the Mystic River. Grandfather’s house is still located at 114 South Street, just a few blocks from the Tufts campus, in Medford. In 1976, Tufts purchased and restored the site.
Did you know that “Jingle Bells” was also composed in Medford? James Lord Pierpont (1822-1893) composed the seasonal tune in 1857. At the time, men used “cutters”—also known as “one horse open sleighs”—to race the mile-long route between Medford and Malden Squares.
If you’re walking along College Avenue, you’ll see the massive Cousens Gymnasium complex. In the mid-nineteenth century, this land was the site of the George L. Stearns Estate—and a stop on the Underground Railroad. In the 1860’s, Stearns, a local merchant, operated a safe house, assisting enslaved individuals to escape from the South to the North. Stearns was also one of the “Secret Six” who lent his friend, John Brown, financial support for his 1859 anti-slavery raid on Harper’s Ferry, VA.
One of my majors is American Studies, so it fascinates me that Medford has been home to slaveholders, enslaved African Americans, male and female abolitionists, and fugitives on the Underground Railroad. As a history buff, I love that the greater Boston area is rife with sites of historical significance. Visiting places like Lexington, where the colonists' revolt against England began, and the textile mills at Lowell has helped me attain a better grasp of social struggles in the United States.
Boston may be remembered for its Tea Party, but only Medford inspired Thanksgiving and Christmas songs that are beloved to this very day!
On two occasions, I’ve visited the Isaac Royall House, located 5 minutes from the Tufts campus at 15 George Street in Medford. Royall, a rum distiller, slaveholder, and trader of Antiguan slaves, owned over 500 acres. George Washington and his generals stayed in the main house during the early months of the Revolutionary War. Today, visitors to the grounds can peruse a public museum, the Royalls’ home, and the site of the oldest standing slave quarters in New England. Indeed, in February of 1782, a slave named Belinda, who had toiled at the estate for 50 years, spoke before the legislature of Massachusetts to courageously petition her right to a fraction of the late Isaac Royall's inheritance.
Born in Medford, Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) was an outspoken novelist, journalist, abolitionist, and advocate for the rights of women and Native Americans. However, she is best remembered for her 1844 poem entitled, “A Boy’s Thanksgiving Day.” We now know it as the Thanksgiving song, “Over the River and Through the Woods.” The title refers to the Mystic River. Grandfather’s house is still located at 114 South Street, just a few blocks from the Tufts campus, in Medford. In 1976, Tufts purchased and restored the site.
Did you know that “Jingle Bells” was also composed in Medford? James Lord Pierpont (1822-1893) composed the seasonal tune in 1857. At the time, men used “cutters”—also known as “one horse open sleighs”—to race the mile-long route between Medford and Malden Squares.
If you’re walking along College Avenue, you’ll see the massive Cousens Gymnasium complex. In the mid-nineteenth century, this land was the site of the George L. Stearns Estate—and a stop on the Underground Railroad. In the 1860’s, Stearns, a local merchant, operated a safe house, assisting enslaved individuals to escape from the South to the North. Stearns was also one of the “Secret Six” who lent his friend, John Brown, financial support for his 1859 anti-slavery raid on Harper’s Ferry, VA.
One of my majors is American Studies, so it fascinates me that Medford has been home to slaveholders, enslaved African Americans, male and female abolitionists, and fugitives on the Underground Railroad. As a history buff, I love that the greater Boston area is rife with sites of historical significance. Visiting places like Lexington, where the colonists' revolt against England began, and the textile mills at Lowell has helped me attain a better grasp of social struggles in the United States. Boston may be remembered for its Tea Party, but only Medford inspired Thanksgiving and Christmas songs that are beloved to this very day!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
College Tour Etiquette
This week, prospective students and their families have descended upon the Tufts campus in droves. If you're a sophomore or junior, you may be commencing your college tour process. Pack comfortable shoes and sunglasses: you're going to need them!
I've been a tour guide at Tufts for the past 4 years (and have averaged 8 tours per week over the past 2 summers)! However, way back when, I was the younger sibling who tagged along with my sister and parents on a tour of every college in the United States.
I completely commiserate with individuals who are attempting to navigate the murky waters of this process. After a while, the statistics start to swim in your head and the college campuses morph into the same vague image of a quad with some brick buildings around it.
So here's my take on college tours:
1) Think of this as a movie theatre. Turn off your cell phones, put away your snacks, and please keep your comments to a minimum or just whisper them discreetly, at the very least. Over the years, I've had people conduct business meetings via cell phone, eat sub sandwiches, and make loud comments while I try to walk backward and scream fun facts about the School of Engineering. One of my fellow tour guides even encountered prospective students making out in the middle of her tour! Please be considerate of the other people on your tour. Most tours are an hour in length, so please refrain from disruptive activities.
2) Duck out quietly. Look, sometimes you're going to arrive at a college campus and instantly know that it's not the place for you. Good. Trust your gut reactions. However, sometimes you'll be halfway through a tour when you realize that you're just not gelling with the school. Just traipse off from the tour group without causing a scene. My family and I did this at a school that didn't mesh well with my sister. No harm, no foul.
If, however, you know in advance that you'll need to cut your tour short--you have to drive to another school, for example, or you need to meet with an athletic coach on campus--please inform your tour guide before the tour begins. That way, he or she won't take it as a personal slight.
3) Pay attention. Sometimes, prospective students base their opinion of a school entirely on whether or not they like their tour guide. Remember, this tour guide is ONE student out of the X people who attend that school and is in no way representative of the entire student body. So, while your tour guide is talking, take a few moments to find hidden "clues" about college life. Look at the other students walking around the campus. Do they look happy? Would you fit in with them? Look at the posters and signs. Is the campus vibrant and active? Look for blue lights and electronic call boxes. Is the campus safe? Sometimes, nonverbal signs are as telling as the script your tour guide is projecting to the crowd.
4) Record the memorable aspects of your visit. Whether that means taking photos, jotting down notes, or creating a folder filled with information packets from the colleges you visited, organize your personal recollections. Frequently, visitors to Tufts also take tours of other schools in Boston and the entire Northeast in the same vacation. If you're organized, when you return home, you'll be able to sift through the information and objectively compare and contrast your college choices.
5) Thank your tour guide! Chances are, he or she is an unpaid or minimum wage worker who genuinely loves his or her college. If you loved the tour, shake his or her hand; it'll brighten his or her day! Inquire about tour guide evaluations back at the admissions office.
6) Follow up. If you are genuinely interested in the school, ask for the tour guide's email or mail a thank you card to him or her care of the admissions office. Feel free to call the general admissions telephone number for detailed or personal inquiries.
7) HAVE FUN! When you tour colleges, you're basically window-shopping for the insitution of higher learing that you will attend for four years. It can be just as helpful to rule out schools you don't like as it is to find schools you do. In the process, you'll learn more about what makes you tick and what type of environment will best help you flourish, academically, socially, and personally.
I've been a tour guide at Tufts for the past 4 years (and have averaged 8 tours per week over the past 2 summers)! However, way back when, I was the younger sibling who tagged along with my sister and parents on a tour of every college in the United States. I completely commiserate with individuals who are attempting to navigate the murky waters of this process. After a while, the statistics start to swim in your head and the college campuses morph into the same vague image of a quad with some brick buildings around it.
So here's my take on college tours:
1) Think of this as a movie theatre. Turn off your cell phones, put away your snacks, and please keep your comments to a minimum or just whisper them discreetly, at the very least. Over the years, I've had people conduct business meetings via cell phone, eat sub sandwiches, and make loud comments while I try to walk backward and scream fun facts about the School of Engineering. One of my fellow tour guides even encountered prospective students making out in the middle of her tour! Please be considerate of the other people on your tour. Most tours are an hour in length, so please refrain from disruptive activities.
2) Duck out quietly. Look, sometimes you're going to arrive at a college campus and instantly know that it's not the place for you. Good. Trust your gut reactions. However, sometimes you'll be halfway through a tour when you realize that you're just not gelling with the school. Just traipse off from the tour group without causing a scene. My family and I did this at a school that didn't mesh well with my sister. No harm, no foul.If, however, you know in advance that you'll need to cut your tour short--you have to drive to another school, for example, or you need to meet with an athletic coach on campus--please inform your tour guide before the tour begins. That way, he or she won't take it as a personal slight.
3) Pay attention. Sometimes, prospective students base their opinion of a school entirely on whether or not they like their tour guide. Remember, this tour guide is ONE student out of the X people who attend that school and is in no way representative of the entire student body. So, while your tour guide is talking, take a few moments to find hidden "clues" about college life. Look at the other students walking around the campus. Do they look happy? Would you fit in with them? Look at the posters and signs. Is the campus vibrant and active? Look for blue lights and electronic call boxes. Is the campus safe? Sometimes, nonverbal signs are as telling as the script your tour guide is projecting to the crowd.
4) Record the memorable aspects of your visit. Whether that means taking photos, jotting down notes, or creating a folder filled with information packets from the colleges you visited, organize your personal recollections. Frequently, visitors to Tufts also take tours of other schools in Boston and the entire Northeast in the same vacation. If you're organized, when you return home, you'll be able to sift through the information and objectively compare and contrast your college choices.
5) Thank your tour guide! Chances are, he or she is an unpaid or minimum wage worker who genuinely loves his or her college. If you loved the tour, shake his or her hand; it'll brighten his or her day! Inquire about tour guide evaluations back at the admissions office.
6) Follow up. If you are genuinely interested in the school, ask for the tour guide's email or mail a thank you card to him or her care of the admissions office. Feel free to call the general admissions telephone number for detailed or personal inquiries.
7) HAVE FUN! When you tour colleges, you're basically window-shopping for the insitution of higher learing that you will attend for four years. It can be just as helpful to rule out schools you don't like as it is to find schools you do. In the process, you'll learn more about what makes you tick and what type of environment will best help you flourish, academically, socially, and personally.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Unleash Your Inner Pollock
If you've ever been on a Tufts campus tour, you've probably seen the cannon outside of Goddard Chapel. The city of Medford donated this replica of a cannon from the U.S.S. Constitution to Tufts. Many people allege that the cannon is aimed in the direction of at a school or two in Cambridge--cough, cough--but it's actually pointed at nothing in particular! Also, you may be familiar with the grand student tradition of painting the cannon at night and guarding it until the sun rises. Since 1977, generations of Jumbos have decorated the statue with messages of protest, event promotion, birthday wishes, and marriage proposals. I've painted it on two occasions, including the August 2007 Freshman Orientation, as seen above.
However, if you happen to be miles away from Medford, minus 5 cans of spray paint, and would like to virtually join in on the action, you can visit this amazing website...
http://paintthecannon.com/
...and procrastinate by decorating a virtual cannon. Warning: this is highly addictive.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Baby Jumbos
My friend Chloe (who is also a tour guide) text messaged me today from Florida. She's in Sarasota for Spring Break and, while visiting the Ringling Circus Museum, she came across an exhibit on Jumbo the elephant!
Sometimes I sit in the Ginn Library at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and pretend to write my American Studies paper while actually Googling images of "baby elephant" instead.
Sometimes I sit in the Ginn Library at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and pretend to write my American Studies paper while actually Googling images of "baby elephant" instead.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Walden Pond and the College Search Process
A few weeks ago, I visited Walden Pond for the second time. In my freshman year at Tufts, I took Environmental Geology, so my classmates and I scaled the rock formations and discussed the impact of industrialization and encroachment on Henry David Thoreau’s former home.
Currently, I am enrolled in Boston Radicals, an English class devoted to the long tradition of activist writing in the New England area. We read Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and “Walden Pond” and made a Sunday morning trek to Walden.
A winter storm had blanketed the pond with snow, and my friends and I were able to walk out across the frozen waters and enjoy the tranquil scene. As rough as it was for me to wake up at 9:30 on a weekend morning, I’m glad I took the time to revisit a historic site that has become synonymous with contemplation and solace.
While at Walden, Thoreau wrote, “Our life is frittered away by detail. . . . Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” Whether you’re a senior in high school and waiting to hear back from the institutions to which you applied, or a sophomore or junior embarking on the torturous college search process, it’s critical to your sanity that you take a step back and breathe. Picking your future college is stressful, and, unfortunately, the influence of parents, teachers, guidance counselors, coaches, and so-called college “guidebooks” can sometimes further compound students’ anxieties.
At the end of the day, trust your own intuition and try not to base your self-worth on a single application or decision. You are so much more than a SAT number or AP score. As Thoreau noted, “Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.” Admissions officers pass judgment on words and numbers in manila folders—not on individuals. If you have something unique to offer the world, it will become apparent in some form no matter which institution’s name is stamped on your college diploma.
As you navigate the murky waters of your junior and senior years, stay connected to friends and family members. Find healthy outlets for your academic stress. (I’m not advocating that everyone should build a one-room shed in the middle of the forest like Thoreau, but, hey, whatever floats your boat!)
Admissions Counselor Jon Godsey advocates “yoga, meditation, and scented candles” to survive the competitive application process. In his information sessions, Assistant Director of Admissions Davin Bergquist encourages high school students, “If all else fails, take deep, cleansing breaths!” I think Thoreau would agree.
Currently, I am enrolled in Boston Radicals, an English class devoted to the long tradition of activist writing in the New England area. We read Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and “Walden Pond” and made a Sunday morning trek to Walden.
A winter storm had blanketed the pond with snow, and my friends and I were able to walk out across the frozen waters and enjoy the tranquil scene. As rough as it was for me to wake up at 9:30 on a weekend morning, I’m glad I took the time to revisit a historic site that has become synonymous with contemplation and solace.While at Walden, Thoreau wrote, “Our life is frittered away by detail. . . . Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” Whether you’re a senior in high school and waiting to hear back from the institutions to which you applied, or a sophomore or junior embarking on the torturous college search process, it’s critical to your sanity that you take a step back and breathe. Picking your future college is stressful, and, unfortunately, the influence of parents, teachers, guidance counselors, coaches, and so-called college “guidebooks” can sometimes further compound students’ anxieties.
At the end of the day, trust your own intuition and try not to base your self-worth on a single application or decision. You are so much more than a SAT number or AP score. As Thoreau noted, “Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.” Admissions officers pass judgment on words and numbers in manila folders—not on individuals. If you have something unique to offer the world, it will become apparent in some form no matter which institution’s name is stamped on your college diploma.
As you navigate the murky waters of your junior and senior years, stay connected to friends and family members. Find healthy outlets for your academic stress. (I’m not advocating that everyone should build a one-room shed in the middle of the forest like Thoreau, but, hey, whatever floats your boat!) Admissions Counselor Jon Godsey advocates “yoga, meditation, and scented candles” to survive the competitive application process. In his information sessions, Assistant Director of Admissions Davin Bergquist encourages high school students, “If all else fails, take deep, cleansing breaths!” I think Thoreau would agree.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Erin Go Bragh!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
In 1737, colonial Boston was home to the first St. Patrick's Day parade in what is now the United States.
Boston is infamous for its historic Irish American population. As an individual with paternal ancestors from Ireland, I'll most certainly be adorned in green today.
The Burren is a renowned Irish pub and restaurant in Davis Square. Its St. Paddy's celebration replete with traditional Irish bands, foods, and drink begins at 8 am. So I'm off to bed now to ready myself for the day...
Best of luck to you this holiday and with the entirety of your college search process!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Codebreaker
Tufts has several quirky fixtures on the Medford/Somerville campus. Visitors to the Tisch library lobby often look up at the ceiling and see this:
Although this installation looks like something out of "The DaVinci Code," it's actually a sculpture printed with binary code. Sarah Hollis Perry and Rachel Perry Welty, two School of the Museum of Fine Arts students, designed it in 1997. The binary code spells out Philip Larkin's poem, "New Eyes Each Year."
Although this installation looks like something out of "The DaVinci Code," it's actually a sculpture printed with binary code. Sarah Hollis Perry and Rachel Perry Welty, two School of the Museum of Fine Arts students, designed it in 1997. The binary code spells out Philip Larkin's poem, "New Eyes Each Year."
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Spring Break!
Technically, Tufts' Spring Break began today, although students have been departing campus since Wednesday. My friends have jetted off to far-flung locales: Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Florida, Montreal, Colorado, San Diego, and Morocco, to name a few destinations. Members of the class of 2008 will graduate from Tufts in exactly 2 months and 3 days--so Spring Break really is a last hurrah before the "real world" sets in for us seniors!
Jocelyn, my housemate, recently joined the crew team as a coxswain, so she's sticking around Tufts for the majority of break to attend practices. Today, she went to the Museum of Fine Arts with her mom.
As for me, I'm also sticking around the not-so-tropical Medford, MA to finish writing my Senior Honors Thesis. It's currently a 102 page beast and growing. Several other seniors are suffering the same Spring Break fate, but at least we're plodding through it together! My friend Erica, who's writing an English thesis on books for teenage girls (like "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"), is joining me in my caffeination and procrastination. Hopefully, we'll be able to leave the library on Monday and celebrate St. Patrick's Day in proper Bostonian style!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Tufts Thai Club Dinner
Tonight, my friend Emily and I went to a cooking class sponsored by the Tufts Thai Club. In the lounge and kitchen of Lewis Hall, one of the downhill dorms, we sliced, diced, and fried a decidedly delicious dinner.
First, we made fried chicken with basil...
...and then tom yum koong...
...followed by a Thai omelet with pork...
...and washed it all down with home-brewed Thai ice tea, one of my all-time favorite things!
First, we made fried chicken with basil...
...and then tom yum koong...
...followed by a Thai omelet with pork...
...and washed it all down with home-brewed Thai ice tea, one of my all-time favorite things!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
"Behind the Scenes, Admissions Offices Conquer Mounds of Mail"
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently published an enlightening article about all the paper, staples, and postage stamps behind the college admissions process.
You can read it here:
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i20/20a02001.htm?pg=dji
Additionally, for the benefit of individuals without Chronicle subscriptions, accounts, or web passes, this is the article's text:
Behind the Scenes, Admissions Offices Conquer Mounds of Mail
By ELIZABETH F. FARRELL
If coming back to work after winter break seems daunting, consider the plight of college-admissions officials. While most high-school students are breathing a sigh of relief after finally submitting their applications, those on the receiving end are rolling up their sleeves. January is crunch time for many admissions offices, and it's common for admissions deans to spend long hours at the office while the rest of their campuses are eerily quiet.
Admissions officers emphasize how many hours they spend reviewing the qualifications of each earnest applicant, even as they anticipate record-breaking application numbers this year. What isn't as well known, however, is how much time it takes to get those applications ready to read.
Most students apply online, but the process is far from automated. Below is a guide to admissions officers' intricate yet often ignored efforts to organize the truckloads of paperwork that pour in this time of year. Handled with care? Indeed.
1. The Mail Arrives
And it's not e-mail. Think 20 bins a day of snail mail. That's what Stanford University reports receiving in the final weeks before its January 1 application deadline. Though 95 percent of applications are submitted electronically, most of the teacher recommendations, high-school transcripts, and activities résumés are mailed separately. Each applicant generates up to a dozen pieces of mail, and 24,000 applicants last year meant 250,000 pieces of mail to process. This year is just as hectic, according to Richard H. Shaw, dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid.
"A high percentage of our students apply at deadline," says Mr. Shaw. "So by January 2 we are buried alive in paper, and it stays that way until the end of the month."
2. Opening the Piles
It's not difficult to open an envelope, but it takes time to open thousands of them. That is why Kristin R. Tichenor, vice president for enrollment management at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, says, "Thank God for student labor." At her office, an army of student workers is charged with the sole duty of opening the mail and stamping each piece with the date.
Everyone chips in at Loyola Marymount, according to Matthew X. Fissinger, director of admissions. Mr. Fissinger requires all members of his staff to pick up daily letter-opening shifts during the busy times, and his receptionist takes home piles of mail at night to open in front of the television. Her husband helps out, too. Other institutions, including Villanova University and Connecticut College, hire temporary staff to keep up with the avalanche of envelopes.
"It's like getting a 25-pound bag of sugar and trying to put it in a five-pound container," says Michael Gaynor, director of admission at Villanova. "We need all the help we can get."
Old-fashioned letter openers can expedite this monotonous task, but paper cuts are unavoidable.
3. Organizing the Mail
After the piles of mail have morphed into piles of paper, they must be matched up with the online applications submitted by students. Thus begins a colossal process of data entry and document scanning. Some colleges, including Stanford and the University of Southern California, scan all related documents — recommendation letters, transcripts, etc. — and then read everything electronically. Others, such as Worcester Polytechnic and Earlham College, print everything and review paper files for each applicant.
As with envelope opening, these tasks require hundreds of hours of labor, and the work is boring but important. Hundreds of students may share the last names Abrams, Blake, and Campbell, and admissions staff must ensure that none of their materials get placed in the wrong file.
"Things do get misfiled sometimes," says Martha C. Merrill, dean of admission and financial aid at Connecticut College. "But it's remarkable that so few errors happen given the volume of applications we're processing."
4. Making the List, Checking It Twice
Now that everything is filed in one place, admissions officers must figure out how to standardize all that information. Grade-point averages can be particularly tricky. High schools have vastly different numerical scales for calculating grades, and some courses with the same names are far more challenging at one school than another.
Then comes the (other) hard part — reading those applications and deciding whom to admit and reject.
DID YOU KNOW?
The admissions office at the University of Iowa has its own mailroom, with a staff of six.
To get a jump on data processing before the afternoon mail delivery, admissions staffers at Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles, often drive down to the campus mailroom and load bins of mail into their cars to bring back to the admissions office.
Applicants may obsess over every word in their essays, but their high-school counselors often ignore instructions that warn them not to staple forms together. Removing staples is perhaps the only task that is more mind-numbing than opening mail.
Lehigh University's admissions office can get downright musical during crunch time. J. Leon Washington, dean of admissions and financial aid, sometimes leads his staff in singalongs of Broadway-show tunes and top R&B hits to cut the boredom of tearing through thousands of envelopes.
During the early January rush at Villanova University, mailroom staff members come in through the side door of the admissions office so those workers already buried in unopened envelopes will not feel discouraged when they see the fresh piles being delivered.
At the end of the process, Connecticut College's admissions director brings in a masseuse to give chair massages to weary staff members.
Every applicant wants to stand out from the pack, and many will send compact discs of their musical performances, portfolios of their artwork, or even baked goods to distinguish themselves. Colleges like Earlham use separate bins to catalog those items.
Worcester Polytechnic has one data-entry person who specializes in processing international applications. Why? Because not everyone is familiar with common names in Vietnam and Turkey, which account for many of the institute's foreign applicants. Transposing first and last names is a common mistake. Minor data-entry mix-ups could lead to major confusion later on.
TECHNOLOGY PROS AND CONS
Pros:
The University of California application system is one of the few in the country that is almost paperless. More than 99 percent of the 95,000 freshman applicants this year applied online, and they self-report their grades and test scores. By requesting official statements of that information only from accepted students, the UC system drastically reduces the amount of paperwork it has to process.
Fewer envelopes in the future may make this process less time-consuming.
When all materials are organized electronically, multiple admissions staffers can get access to them simultaneously. That also saves space by eliminating the need for roomfuls of file cabinets.
Those whose offices are fully online think this point is where all the electronic information helps — files are all readily available and searchable. When an admissions officer wants to pull up an essay quickly for review, or gets a call from a student wondering if her teacher's recommendation arrived, he or she no longer has to manually sift through rows of files to find it.
Cons:
For the foreseeable future, the bins of mail are here to stay at most institutions. Many are waiting for the day when a critical mass of high schools send transcripts and recommendations electronically. No one expects that to happen anytime soon.
In the meantime, there is no machine that can open and empty all the different-sized envelopes that admissions offices receive. The task may be simple, but it requires human effort.
Many applicants now get a pin number that allows them to log in and ensure the college received their admissions materials. Woe to the admissions office that doesn't scurry to update that data, as it can expect a flood of frantic calls.
Eye strain, carpal-tunnel syndrome, and backaches are rampant from all that computer use.
http://chronicle.com
Section: Students
Volume 54, Issue 20, Page A20
You can read it here:
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i20/20a02001.htm?pg=dji
Additionally, for the benefit of individuals without Chronicle subscriptions, accounts, or web passes, this is the article's text:
Behind the Scenes, Admissions Offices Conquer Mounds of Mail
By ELIZABETH F. FARRELL
If coming back to work after winter break seems daunting, consider the plight of college-admissions officials. While most high-school students are breathing a sigh of relief after finally submitting their applications, those on the receiving end are rolling up their sleeves. January is crunch time for many admissions offices, and it's common for admissions deans to spend long hours at the office while the rest of their campuses are eerily quiet.
Admissions officers emphasize how many hours they spend reviewing the qualifications of each earnest applicant, even as they anticipate record-breaking application numbers this year. What isn't as well known, however, is how much time it takes to get those applications ready to read.
Most students apply online, but the process is far from automated. Below is a guide to admissions officers' intricate yet often ignored efforts to organize the truckloads of paperwork that pour in this time of year. Handled with care? Indeed.
1. The Mail Arrives
And it's not e-mail. Think 20 bins a day of snail mail. That's what Stanford University reports receiving in the final weeks before its January 1 application deadline. Though 95 percent of applications are submitted electronically, most of the teacher recommendations, high-school transcripts, and activities résumés are mailed separately. Each applicant generates up to a dozen pieces of mail, and 24,000 applicants last year meant 250,000 pieces of mail to process. This year is just as hectic, according to Richard H. Shaw, dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid.
"A high percentage of our students apply at deadline," says Mr. Shaw. "So by January 2 we are buried alive in paper, and it stays that way until the end of the month."
2. Opening the Piles
It's not difficult to open an envelope, but it takes time to open thousands of them. That is why Kristin R. Tichenor, vice president for enrollment management at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, says, "Thank God for student labor." At her office, an army of student workers is charged with the sole duty of opening the mail and stamping each piece with the date.
Everyone chips in at Loyola Marymount, according to Matthew X. Fissinger, director of admissions. Mr. Fissinger requires all members of his staff to pick up daily letter-opening shifts during the busy times, and his receptionist takes home piles of mail at night to open in front of the television. Her husband helps out, too. Other institutions, including Villanova University and Connecticut College, hire temporary staff to keep up with the avalanche of envelopes.
"It's like getting a 25-pound bag of sugar and trying to put it in a five-pound container," says Michael Gaynor, director of admission at Villanova. "We need all the help we can get."
Old-fashioned letter openers can expedite this monotonous task, but paper cuts are unavoidable.
3. Organizing the Mail
After the piles of mail have morphed into piles of paper, they must be matched up with the online applications submitted by students. Thus begins a colossal process of data entry and document scanning. Some colleges, including Stanford and the University of Southern California, scan all related documents — recommendation letters, transcripts, etc. — and then read everything electronically. Others, such as Worcester Polytechnic and Earlham College, print everything and review paper files for each applicant.
As with envelope opening, these tasks require hundreds of hours of labor, and the work is boring but important. Hundreds of students may share the last names Abrams, Blake, and Campbell, and admissions staff must ensure that none of their materials get placed in the wrong file.
"Things do get misfiled sometimes," says Martha C. Merrill, dean of admission and financial aid at Connecticut College. "But it's remarkable that so few errors happen given the volume of applications we're processing."
4. Making the List, Checking It Twice
Now that everything is filed in one place, admissions officers must figure out how to standardize all that information. Grade-point averages can be particularly tricky. High schools have vastly different numerical scales for calculating grades, and some courses with the same names are far more challenging at one school than another.
Then comes the (other) hard part — reading those applications and deciding whom to admit and reject.
DID YOU KNOW?
The admissions office at the University of Iowa has its own mailroom, with a staff of six.
To get a jump on data processing before the afternoon mail delivery, admissions staffers at Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles, often drive down to the campus mailroom and load bins of mail into their cars to bring back to the admissions office.
Applicants may obsess over every word in their essays, but their high-school counselors often ignore instructions that warn them not to staple forms together. Removing staples is perhaps the only task that is more mind-numbing than opening mail.
Lehigh University's admissions office can get downright musical during crunch time. J. Leon Washington, dean of admissions and financial aid, sometimes leads his staff in singalongs of Broadway-show tunes and top R&B hits to cut the boredom of tearing through thousands of envelopes.
During the early January rush at Villanova University, mailroom staff members come in through the side door of the admissions office so those workers already buried in unopened envelopes will not feel discouraged when they see the fresh piles being delivered.
At the end of the process, Connecticut College's admissions director brings in a masseuse to give chair massages to weary staff members.
Every applicant wants to stand out from the pack, and many will send compact discs of their musical performances, portfolios of their artwork, or even baked goods to distinguish themselves. Colleges like Earlham use separate bins to catalog those items.
Worcester Polytechnic has one data-entry person who specializes in processing international applications. Why? Because not everyone is familiar with common names in Vietnam and Turkey, which account for many of the institute's foreign applicants. Transposing first and last names is a common mistake. Minor data-entry mix-ups could lead to major confusion later on.
TECHNOLOGY PROS AND CONS
Pros:
The University of California application system is one of the few in the country that is almost paperless. More than 99 percent of the 95,000 freshman applicants this year applied online, and they self-report their grades and test scores. By requesting official statements of that information only from accepted students, the UC system drastically reduces the amount of paperwork it has to process.
Fewer envelopes in the future may make this process less time-consuming.
When all materials are organized electronically, multiple admissions staffers can get access to them simultaneously. That also saves space by eliminating the need for roomfuls of file cabinets.
Those whose offices are fully online think this point is where all the electronic information helps — files are all readily available and searchable. When an admissions officer wants to pull up an essay quickly for review, or gets a call from a student wondering if her teacher's recommendation arrived, he or she no longer has to manually sift through rows of files to find it.
Cons:
For the foreseeable future, the bins of mail are here to stay at most institutions. Many are waiting for the day when a critical mass of high schools send transcripts and recommendations electronically. No one expects that to happen anytime soon.
In the meantime, there is no machine that can open and empty all the different-sized envelopes that admissions offices receive. The task may be simple, but it requires human effort.
Many applicants now get a pin number that allows them to log in and ensure the college received their admissions materials. Woe to the admissions office that doesn't scurry to update that data, as it can expect a flood of frantic calls.
Eye strain, carpal-tunnel syndrome, and backaches are rampant from all that computer use.
http://chronicle.com
Section: Students
Volume 54, Issue 20, Page A20
Monday, March 10, 2008
A Tale Of Two Elephants
Jumbo the elephant, P.T. Barnum's celebrated circus pachyderm, is commemorated in statuesque form both in St. Thomas, Ontario (where, in 1885, he met his untimely demise by train)...
...and the Tufts Campus in Medford, MA (where, in 1975, he met his second untimely demise, this time by fire).
Today, his ashes live on in a 14 ounce Peter Pan Crunchy Peanut Butter jar on the desk of Tufts' Athletic Director. Third time's the charm, Jumbo!
You can read more about our mascot's epic life here:
http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/spring2002/jumbo.html
...and the Tufts Campus in Medford, MA (where, in 1975, he met his second untimely demise, this time by fire).
Today, his ashes live on in a 14 ounce Peter Pan Crunchy Peanut Butter jar on the desk of Tufts' Athletic Director. Third time's the charm, Jumbo!You can read more about our mascot's epic life here:
http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/spring2002/jumbo.html
Sunday, March 9, 2008
There Will Be Funnel Cake
Our Spring Break begins this weekend, but before Tufts students jet off to tropical locales, the university's Programming Board has implemented a final hurrah: the first-ever Skating Rink and Winter Carnival at Tufts!A 40' x 60' ice skating rink was erected atop the Fletcher Tennis Courts. For the past 4 days, students were able to rent skates for an hour at a time.
Today, the 4-hour carnival will feature indoor laser tag, an inflatable slide, a photo booth, ice sculptures, and a DJ. Funnel cake, snow cones, caramel apples, jumbo pretzels, popcorn, and hot chocolate are among the delicious and unhealthy treats that will be available. With the exception of ice skating, the entire event is free!
Programming Board is an umbrella organization that is responsible for the majority of the social programming at Tufts. You can read more about it here:
http://ase.tufts.edu/pboard
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay
From an early age, my parents instilled in me a love of music from the 60's and 70's (aka when they attended high school and college). Although I have no recollection of it, apparently the first concert I ever attended was a Paul Simon performance. It occurred in the 1980's, a few years after his Central Park reunion concert with Art Garfunkel.
Bob Dylan's experimental "Nashville Skyline" is one of my mom's all-time favorite albums. Columbia Records released it the year she graduated from high school, and it's been a favorite of mine for years as well. At home, the original album sleeve is framed on our wall alongside Andy Warhol's zipper artwork on The Rolling Stones' "Sticky Fingers."
Ironically, I wound up attending Tufts University, where both Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel performed in the 1960's.
On March 7, 1964, Bob Dylan peformed at Cousens Gym at Tufts. A handbill from the event is pictured below. I've actually seen the same poster on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH. You'll note that tickets cost $2.50 to $3.00!
Pictured below are the front and back covers of a Simon and Garfunkel album. The duo performed at Tufts in 1967, and their live recording is now considered a rarity. Bootlegged songs from the recording are widely available online.
Bob Dylan's experimental "Nashville Skyline" is one of my mom's all-time favorite albums. Columbia Records released it the year she graduated from high school, and it's been a favorite of mine for years as well. At home, the original album sleeve is framed on our wall alongside Andy Warhol's zipper artwork on The Rolling Stones' "Sticky Fingers."
Ironically, I wound up attending Tufts University, where both Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel performed in the 1960's.
On March 7, 1964, Bob Dylan peformed at Cousens Gym at Tufts. A handbill from the event is pictured below. I've actually seen the same poster on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH. You'll note that tickets cost $2.50 to $3.00!
Pictured below are the front and back covers of a Simon and Garfunkel album. The duo performed at Tufts in 1967, and their live recording is now considered a rarity. Bootlegged songs from the recording are widely available online.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The Importance of "fit"ness
It's an overcast yet unseasonably warm day in Medford, MA, so I figured I'd punch up the blog with a photo of Richard Simmons radiating physical fitness and orange quads:
Today's entry is dedicated to finding the right "fit" in an institution of higher learning. Hence the Richard Simmons visual pun. I know, it's lame and cheesy, just like "Disco Sweat."
On Saturday, my friends held a party themed "Because there are only 78 days until graduation." Many of my fellow seniors are waiting to hear back from medical schools, law schools, graduate programs, and job opportunities. It's a bittersweet time: as much as we're all looking forward to whatever the future has in store for us, we know we'll miss Tufts, the collegiate lifestyle, and all the friends we've accumulated during our four years on the hill.
Embarking on the job search process, I find myself ruminating on what many of the Tufts admissions officers stress in their information sessions: "FIT MATTERS." It's important for you to select the college or university where you can excel, just as it's imperative that graduating seniors make wise professional choices. A prestigious job title or shiny college bumper sticker alone won't guarantee you happiness. You have to actively look for the environment where you can thrive and be comfortable. Ultimately, that's the occupation or college campus where you will shine brightest.
No Ouija Board, Magic 8 Ball, algorithm, or college guidebook will be able to definitively tell you whether or not a respective college or university is the perfect personal fit. So, in addition to the myriad stats you've been absorbing while looking at schools--median SAT range, applicant acceptance ratio, average classroom size, number of computers in the library, etc.--be sure to place equal importance on that "quality of life" quotient. It's going to vary from person to person and from institution to institution, but this barometer of future contentment is the "gut feeling" that tells you whether or not you'd be happy somewhere.
Sure, the college you're touring may have x number of Rhodes scholars and y square feet of linoleum per freshman double. But do you feel comfortable walking around campus? Do you think you could make friends there? Are there enough cultural and extracurricular events and activities to sustain your interest? Is the surrounding environment stimulating? Would you be comfortable with the dominant forms of social life? Is this the type of place that you'd be happy to call home for four years?
I can't claim that Tufts University is a panacea for every high school senior. It's been a great fit for me personally, but no single institution in the world is perfect for everyone. Every college or university has its own unique attributes, and the college search process is all about sorting out the puzzle pieces and discovering which one fits you best.
Today's entry is dedicated to finding the right "fit" in an institution of higher learning. Hence the Richard Simmons visual pun. I know, it's lame and cheesy, just like "Disco Sweat."On Saturday, my friends held a party themed "Because there are only 78 days until graduation." Many of my fellow seniors are waiting to hear back from medical schools, law schools, graduate programs, and job opportunities. It's a bittersweet time: as much as we're all looking forward to whatever the future has in store for us, we know we'll miss Tufts, the collegiate lifestyle, and all the friends we've accumulated during our four years on the hill.
Embarking on the job search process, I find myself ruminating on what many of the Tufts admissions officers stress in their information sessions: "FIT MATTERS." It's important for you to select the college or university where you can excel, just as it's imperative that graduating seniors make wise professional choices. A prestigious job title or shiny college bumper sticker alone won't guarantee you happiness. You have to actively look for the environment where you can thrive and be comfortable. Ultimately, that's the occupation or college campus where you will shine brightest.
No Ouija Board, Magic 8 Ball, algorithm, or college guidebook will be able to definitively tell you whether or not a respective college or university is the perfect personal fit. So, in addition to the myriad stats you've been absorbing while looking at schools--median SAT range, applicant acceptance ratio, average classroom size, number of computers in the library, etc.--be sure to place equal importance on that "quality of life" quotient. It's going to vary from person to person and from institution to institution, but this barometer of future contentment is the "gut feeling" that tells you whether or not you'd be happy somewhere.Sure, the college you're touring may have x number of Rhodes scholars and y square feet of linoleum per freshman double. But do you feel comfortable walking around campus? Do you think you could make friends there? Are there enough cultural and extracurricular events and activities to sustain your interest? Is the surrounding environment stimulating? Would you be comfortable with the dominant forms of social life? Is this the type of place that you'd be happy to call home for four years?
I can't claim that Tufts University is a panacea for every high school senior. It's been a great fit for me personally, but no single institution in the world is perfect for everyone. Every college or university has its own unique attributes, and the college search process is all about sorting out the puzzle pieces and discovering which one fits you best.
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