(From our FAQ at www.standrews-de.org/cc ):
What if my college says my application is incomplete? Are you sure you
sent my recommendation?
It can be nerve wracking to receive a postcard that says a college is
still missing your materials, or to check the status of your application
online and see that documents are missing. Rest assured, we are not
perfect, but the odds are high that we really did send everything by the
deadline!
It might help to know that colleges face a mountain of admissions mail
every day—mail that requires very systematic and careful handling. As a
result, there will be a very reasonable delay between the moment your
application arrives at the admissions office and the time it is processed
and placed into your file. Let's hear from the experts on this:
* From a large public university: "I wish I had a photo that I
could send you of thousands of pieces of mail sitting in the mail bins
waiting to be processed.Maybe this bit of information will help... we
employ an "army" of students to help us process the mail. We receive so
much mail that some students simply slit open envelopes, other students
date-stamp the materials, and other students place the information in the
proper bin (Part I- Early Decision, Part I- Regular Decision, High School
Transcript- Early Decision, etc.) From the bins, our processing staff
enters the information into the computer. We estimated that we received
over 100,000 pieces of information for our freshman applicants alone last
year (each application requires Part I & Part II, or the Common
Application and our Supplement, the Secondary School Report, the HS
transcript, test scores, and at least one letter of recommendation. Try to
have your students visualize 100,000 of anything, and that may help!"
* From a mid-sized private university: "We track mail received per
day by application type. Last year in November (alone), we received 900
freshman applications. It took us four days to get this mail open, let
alone counted, stamped and sorted. While we have pushed for a system
overhaul, this will still happen because students will still wait until
the last minute to apply."
* From a large public university: "This morning the U.S. mail
delivered 30 tubs full of applications, counselor statements, and teacher
recommendations to our office; two staff members spent all day just
opening the envelopes, another fifteen concentrated on logging everything
in, and yet our mail room still looks as though a paper bomb went off in
it."
* From a private college: "Typically we receive more than half of
our applications right at the deadline. They are processed in the order in
which they arrive, and it takes us about three weeks to get all of the
applications processed and in files. We do enter quite a bit of data on
each applicant into our student database, so for most of our data entry
people it is physically impossible to process more than a certain number
of applications in one day."
* From a large public university:"We never receive a complete
application all in one envelope since we require that ACT/SAT scores be
sent to us directly from the testing agency. There always are sorting and
matching processes that must take place daily since we receive hundreds
(sometimes thousands) of applications, transcripts, letters of
recommendation, etc. each and every business day!"
In other words: if you get a note from a college saying that a piece
of your application is missing, remain calm. In all likelihood, it is at
the office and simply hasn't been entered into the system yet. Go ahead
and check politely with your counselor or teacher about the date on which
the material was sent, and give the college a few days to sort the mail
before you call. Usually, time takes care of the problem beautifully—but
if it does not, please let us know how we can help.
