Here at Amherst Regional High School we know how nerve-wracking it can be 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 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 all some students do is simply slit open envelopes, other students will date stamp the materials, and another student places 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 freshmen apps. 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 kids 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 cyclone went through 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, DON’T PANIC. In all likelihood, it is at the office and simply hasn’t been entered into the system yet. Check with us in the guidance office about the date on which the material was sent, and give the college a few days to sort the mail before you request that we send a second set of documents. Usually, time takes care of the problem beautifully - but if it doesn’t, please let us know how we can help.