Incomplete early action applications

We just sent an email to students whose applications remain incomplete past the deadline. Here is what it said:

As of this date, your University of Chicago Early Action Application remains incomplete. It is likely that whatever is not here has gone astray, though we assume that you and your school have made every effort to send all material in a timely way. We still have time to complete your file, to read it, and to render a decision in December. Let us work together to complete your application.

Please go to the Uncommon Application homepage. Enter your username and password, and click "Login." Click "Check Credentials" in order to see which credentials are missing.

If any of the following credentials are missing from your application, please email the documents by the end of the day on Monday, December 3 to recommendations@phoenix.uchicago.edu or fax the documents to 773-702-8599 (domestic fax) or 773-702-4704 (international fax):

• Essays
• Secondary School Report (Form 2)
• SAT or ACT test scores as reported to your high school
• Teacher recommendations (Forms 3A or 3B)

Official high school transcripts and application fees, which must be paid by check or money order at this time, must be mailed to:

The University of Chicago
Office of College Admissions
1101 E 58th Street, Suite 105
Chicago, IL
60637

Transcripts and fees must arrive in our office by Monday, December 3.

We look forward to working with you to complete the remaining credentials required in support of your application.

Applications that remain incomplete after December 5, 2007, will be deferred to our Regular Notification program.

Please explicitly follow the instructions.

Also, if you're worried about your supplemental credentials, now would be a time to resend those, if you want to. You can use the email address above.

Again, here are the instructions for how to send different items:

Documents that can be emailed or faxed

• Essays
• Secondary School Report (Form 2)
• SAT or ACT test scores as reported to your high school
• Teacher recommendations (Forms 3A or 3B)

Documents that must be mailed

• High school transcripts
• Application fees

A note about TOEFL scores

Not very interesting, but I thought I'd address some of the panic.

TOEFL scores can only be sent to one office in a university, and that office isn't this one. So, when you send your TOEFL scores, they go to the Office of International Affairs, and the OIA sends them to us in a big spreadsheet at certain times throughout the year. Your scores may be sitting at the OIA -- you'll have to be patient while we wait to receive them from over there. After we receive them, we also have to enter them.

And remember, all international students see the TOEFL credential on their credentials site, regardless if the TOEFL is required for them.

No international students see SATs, regardless if they've sent them. If you want to make sure we've received your SATs, you should email me at questions@phoenix.uchicago.edu

Happy Thanksgiving!

I would link to our Thanksgiving email, but it appears that all of our web servers are down. How nice!

Don't resend anything.

The Seminary Cooperative Bookstore

A couple of days ago Libby, Jeffrey, and I took a trip to the Seminary Cooperative Bookstore to take some pictures for the blog. Why is it called the Seminary Coop? Well, because it's in the basement of the Chicago Theological Seminary, a graduate divinity school loosely affiliated with our own Divinity School. Plus, it's owned by its customers. Shares are $30 a pop, and confer a 10 percent discount. Hooray! If the three bookstores (The Seminary Coop, the 57th Street Bookstore, and the Newberry Library Bookstore) have a good year, then you get a little check in the mail.

Here we are descending into knowledge (and idealism, since it is a coop):

We stopped first in the section on MATHS. I am confused by all the numbers:

In the center of the bookstore is a selection of new academic titles. Here's an overhead view:

From there we walked back across the bookstore to the textbooks. On the way, Jeffrey bumped his head on the ceiling. Fortunately, the kind staff of the bookstore have placed fuzzy tennis balls on the low-hanging pipes to prevent tall people from knocking themselves out. This is not an issue for most of us:

OMG, Ramayana:

This is the section for textbooks. Most humanities and social science courses are sold here; most science and math courses are sold at the "official" university bookstore.

The piece of paper tacked onto the bookshelf represents the full list of books required for each course. To the left a blank space is checked (or not) to represent whether or not the book is in stock. As you can see, lots of classes require lots of reading.

Jeffrey asks a question we have often wondered: Why do men barbecue?

There is even a section for graphic novels:

After grabbing some Neil Gaiman, we left the bookstore. I needed to pick up something from the Regenstein Library, so we took the camera with us. Here is a picture of Hull Gate. We are standing facing south, towards the main quadrangle. Look at all that hustle and bustle!

Here we are inside the library. At nerd school, there is a line for the elevator in the library:

The book I need to get is on the B level of the basement, where the movable stacks are. Here's a picture:

Here Jeffrey tries to crush me inside the movable stacks:

Wow, look! It's the place where the first controlled, sustained nuclear reaction took place! Also, you can place your books here for re-shelving. History and convenience.

On our way back to the office, we saw a tree that looked a lot like fall:

And we stopped in the basement of the divinity school for some coffee. The coffee shop there has been holding a tournament-style battle of the gods for many months now. The most recent competition, as you can see on this board, was a "battle of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning gods," Mother Theresa vs. Al Gore:

Mother Theresa won by $0.23.

Hope you enjoyed this; please let us know in the comments. Coming soon: a section on The School of Engineering at The University of Chicago.

Credentials - what will be listed

Students will see listed all of the required parts of the application. If the item has been received, it will be followed by the date when we processed it. If it has not been received, there will be a red "Not received" note. Very ominous. If you see any "Not received" notes, it means your application is not yet complete. If you see none, your application is complete.

Here is what we consider to be required for domestic students (the international list does not include test scores and some other things, though most international applicants are able to send standardized test scores):

1. Form 1: Application for Admission
2. Writing: Question 1
3. Writing: Question 2
4. Writing: Extended Essay
5. $60 Application Fee Paid or Waived
6. HS Transcript
7. Form 3A: Teacher Recommendation English/Social Studies
8. Form 3B: Teacher Recommendation Science/Mathematics
9. Official SAT or ACT Test Scores (if we received more than one set, this may be listed more than once)
10. Form 2: Secondary School Report

You may also see this:

• Other/Additional Application Supplement
• Additional Recommendation 3C

So, we WILL be listing additional recommendations and supplements on the credentials checker. Of course, these are the last things we process, since our priority right now is to make applications complete and ready to be read.

We will not list on campus or alumni interviews, but if you had one, it will be written up. Rest assured.

Credentials checking is updated nightly to reflect what's in our Database of All Teenagers. We will be taking it down as we get ready to send decisions, so it will be down from mid-December to mid-January.

Lastly, don't resend anything! Unless, of course, you are sure it was not sent in the first place.

Update on the TOEFL

All international applicants, because of their citizenship status, will see the TOEFL listed on their credentials. We accept the TOEFL or IELTS for proof of English proficiency, and if you want to know about our required scores, you can go to the admissions website.

For students who have lived in the US or been educated in English for two or more years, your TOEFL or IELTS requirement is waived. However, this fact will not show up on the credentials site. We will not mark your TOEFL as having been received because we will never receive it, but you should rest assured that this is not a required document for you.

OMG, You don't have my stuff!!!!

Hi. Many of you have noticed that credentials checking has opened. Many of you have also panicked about said credentials checking feature. A few posts back, Libby mentioned that the process for all of you seems something like:
1. Mail stuff in.
2. Get decision.

For us, the process looks like:
1. Get tons of mail.
2. Open tons of mail.
3. Remove tons of staples that are affixed to the prominently featured "do not staple" corner of the application.
4. Sort mail.
5. Scan mail.
6. Proof scanned mail.
7. Create files.
8. Read files.
9. Read more files; lose personal life...

And so forth, until you get your decisions. Credentials work similarly. The credentials checking feature of the website lists items that we have both received and processed. That means it came in the mail, it was opened, it was sorted, it was added to your file, it was recorded as having been added to your file. Because of the volume of mail we receive, it often takes a very long time for us to process all of your application materials.

At this time, DO NOT re-send ANY portion of your application. We will contact you at some point in the near future if we need you to resubmit any portion of your application. Resubmission of application materials actually delays the processing of ALL application materials. So if you resend stuff, your friends will shun you, because that means it will take us longer to get to their applications. Reason enough, if you ask me. But perhaps more importantly, it delays our ability to read your file!

Additionally, as a favor to us, please DO NOT call or email our office or your admissions counselor asking if we've received certain documents or if you need to resubmit certain documents. A few of you were discussing the dramatic increase in EA applications that we've seen this year; it was mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article a few days ago. We're doing our absolute best to get through all of these files, but handling inquiries only delays that process, as well. Rest assured we are not evil and we are, in fact, doing our best to make sure the process works smoothly for you and for us.

In other news, Project Runway, anyone? Amazing.

Also, coming soon: The Seminary Cooperative Bookstore, in pictures...

Whoops

Thanks, guys, for complaining so vociferously that credentials checking did not in fact come up last night. I have been logging into your accounts all morning, though, and have not seen any accounts for whom it did come up (your comments seem to suggest that, for some of you, it's working). If credentials checking is working for you, please email me your name and hometown.

I can tell you that I don't see a pattern of who is able to check their credentials and who is not -- for example, if your application is complete, it doesn't work, and if your application is incomplete, it doesn't work. So that's not the issue. We're working on finding out what it is. Another culprit might be that we were updating our Database of All Teenagers last night, so the feed might not have gone over to the online application. If that's the case, that was poor planning on our part.

Later that morning... Credentials are up now.

After you fill out your application, don't forget to actually submit it!

We've been having an issue this year with students filling out the application, paying their application fee, and then closing their browser window before actually submitting the application. Don't let this happen to you! After you pay the fee, you need to keep clicking forward to digitally "sign" your application and submit it. Until you click "Submit Application" and that confirmation email is in your sweaty, anxious digital hands, your application has not been submitted. You will also know if you have submitted your application because the next time you log in, the application homepage should look completely different.

About 170 students did this early action, and luckily we caught them in time to let them submit their application. However, 60 students have already done this for regular notification. Be aware!

Credentials Checking

Also, credentials checking will open tonight at midnight. That might sound like a good thing, but we in admissions know that it will probably cause a run on the bank, and everyone will call and re-send their documents, neither of which you should do. Do not call us, and do not resend your documents at this time. Just continue to bite your fingernails until you receive an email telling you to resend things. In the meantime, allow us to search through the office couch cushions in search of your English teacher's recommendation...

Decisions - what?

If you have applied early action, you will either be admitted, deferred, or denied.

I think you can guess what admitted means. It means that you can come join us next year. However, you do not have to. That is because our early action program is non-binding. You can apply to other schools if you want. You can enroll the next day if you want. The choice is yours. Financial aid information should follow within days, if you applied on time and your application was complete.

If you are deferred, you will be read again in the regular notification pool. We will ask for your midyear grades in January (we ask for them from everyone), and they will give us the information we need to make a decision in the regular notification pool. We also would like you to show interest by attaching a comment to your midyear report or just telling us what you're up to. Or just sending an email that says "It's too bad that you deferred me, but I still want to attend your school."

Students who are denied will not be read again that year. That is the final decision.

How many students will be admitted, deferred, and denied this year? I we don't aren't know telling.

What will the envelopes look like? They'll all be rectangles, and probably white or white-ish.

When do you do the midyear report? January. Our midyear report is special, and you can only fill it out online. You self-report your grades. That way you can also tell us what you're up to.

Decisions - how, when, where?

The comments have recently turned toward the topic of how you will get your decision, now that you have figured out how to send in your application. For you, the process goes like this:

1. Send in application
2. Get decision

But to us, the process looks like this:

1. Receive lots of mail
2. Get lots of paper cuts
3. Remove lots of staples
4. Scan lots of documents
5. Link the documents to your account in our Massive Database of All Teenagers (MDAT)
6. Read your applications
7. Read them again
8. Have a committee
9. Have staring contests during committee (ahem, Kate)
   
10. Read more applications
11. Read them again
12. Have another committee
13. Go home for Thanksgiving and watch What Not to Wear with mom
14. Read more applications
15. Have another committee
16. Stuff lots of envelopes
17. Mail them (not only on the same day, but in the same second)
    
18. Catch up on all the New Yorkers we haven't gotten to read because we were reading applications
    

So, we are not thinking about decisions, and we are actually baffled as to why our applicants are, when there is obviously so much to do! But that's behind the scenes.

In the world, there are usually three answers to any questions: Yes, No, and I don't know. But here in admissions, there are four: Yes, No, I don't know, and We are not telling.

So, when are decisions coming out? I we don't are not know telling. That is a mixture between "I don't know" and "We are not telling." We have a goal date. Do we ever meet the goal date? No. So we're not even going to tell you the goal date, because we probably won't meet it. If we do, we'll be happy, and you'll get your decision in mid-December. If we don't, we'll be less happy, but you'll still get your decision in mid-December.

I can tell you that you will get a letter in the mail. We still do that. I can also tell you that we will email you and tell you to check your decision online when it is available. That is different from last year. Last year we emailed the decisions themselves, but this year we are going to make your official decision available when you log into the online application. So, it is to your benefit to be familiar with your user name and password on the online application! I can also tell you that we will not send this email during school hours, so don't expect it in the morning.

If you are admitted, you will also be able to go immediately to a website called ThickEnvelope (haha!) and accept your offer of admission right away! You'll also be able to log into bulletin boards to chat with fellow future classmates, sign up for April overnight programs, etc.

But all this is in the far future. Don't worry about it now. Worry about water. Here is the next installment of Look Around You, entitled Water.

We're here to serve you

Well, we found Libby under the mail, and she was a little dehydrated, but will be okay. She brought back with her another installment of "Look Around You," the origin of the segment about MATHS she posted a few days ago. Well, it turns out it's a series produced by the BBC. Crazy awesome satiric British humor, or actual show about science? Well, like Fox News, we report, you decide: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/lookaroundyou/

In other news, keep commenting about what you'd like to see. As our faithful correspondent Zach pointed out, we posted about dorms and coffee shops last year, but they might deserve an update, depending on your interest. I think the bookstores could certainly be in order.

In the meanwhile, mail opening and reading continues...

Mail and mail and mail and mail

Rumor has it we received 27 bins of mail yesterday. 27! I almost fainted when I heard the rumor. Needless to say, we are incredibly busy opening, sorting, and processing all your mail. At this point it is WAY too early to call or office or contact your admissions counselor to ask if we've received all of your stuff. I haven't seen Libby in a few days; I think she might be buried under the mail.

We really do appreciate your patience as we prepare to read early action applications - we're very excited to learn about you. Yes, you.

I read some of the comments on the last post, and someone indicated that they would love to see us use more pictures. As we start to read, we'll use the blog less and less to give you instructions and more and more to give you information. So, in an example of what my more tech-savvy friends might call "user-created content," or something, tell us in the comments of this post what you'd like to see on campus. Dorms? Dining Halls? My office? The gym? Let us know.

In other attractions, I was at the Museum of Contemporary Art last night and I saw a great show about the relationship between rock music and contemporary art. Details are here: http://www.mcachicago.org/exhibitions/exh_detail.php?id=56. Check it out next time you're in town. Worried about it costing too much? The Frugal Traveler, one of my favorites in the Times, visits Chicago: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/travel/04frugal.html?ref=travel

Applications from around the world... and under the sea

Here's a sampling of the emails I received last night. East coasters moved to Texas, Midwesterners moved to California, Californians moved to Hawai'i, and some people moved underwater to the post office in Vantuatu...

I submitted my UChicago application online 10 minutes ago. Please consider it under "Papeete, Tahiti, France" time zone (currently Nov 1st 10:48 PM).

Thanks,
Vikram M. (Dublin, OH)

In my current time zone in Florida, I submitted my application at 4:30 AM November 2nd. I am choosing, however, to send it from the time zone of Honolulu where it was 10:30 PM on November 1st and within the deadline. Thank you very much for your continued understanding throughout this process.

Anna T. (Pompano Beach, FL)

Hi Libby!

I was looking forward to sending my application from the famed underwater post office in Vanuatu, but when I hopped on a plane to the world's happiest place, I realized that I would have a few difficulties with this scheme because a) after a summer of disuse, I have no French skills left to speak of, b) my application isn't waterproof, and c) most importantly, Vanuatu is at GMT+11, not GMT-11. And I do not want to incur the wrath of the admissions gods by going backwards in time.

So, now I'm in Hawaii and hopped up on jet lag and sleep deprivation and Nyquil and cough drops and I'm flailing and everyone's scared of me and running away and even my application is trying to escape so that's why you're getting it now.

Thanks for your understanding.

Sincerely,
Yibo S. (Mason, OH)

While I admit it was somewhat irresponsible to travel all the way to Baker Island when my online application deadline was looming so threateningly on the horizon, I couldn't resist the opportunity for such a pleasant getaway. It is currently 11:20 PM here, and I'm sure I'm not alone when I say thank god for wireless internet!

-Alina Y. (Marietta, GA)

I was... on... a... bone digging-up trip... in Middle-earth (GMT/UTC - 12:00 hour).
Sincerely,
Alexander S. (Lindenhurst, IL)

I'm just emailing to confirm that my UC application was sent last night at 12:54 am central time, which means that it was sent six minutes earlier than the due date in El Paso, Texas. I'm glad to have finally found a reason to appreciate Texas, and hope that the school has received all of my paperwork by now.

Best,
Kelsey G. (Carol Stream, IL)

Sorry for turning in the application late, I guess I don't have any legitimate excuses, but it is still Nov. 1st somewhere. So, if you don't track down my IP address to Chicago's suburbia, I am hoping you will take my word and trust me that I am writing from Alofi, in the country of Niue, where it is currently 10:03 pm on the first of November.

-Matthew C. (East Dundee, IL)

Wow, you must've gone through a lot of coffees by now.
It's 12:30 in Pago Pago, so I'm applying under Pago Pago's time zone!

Take care,
Bonnie D. (Potomac, MD)

Please excuse my missing the midnight deadline of my home address time zone. However, currently I am on Baker Island hosting an oompa loompa volleyball tournament. They play the Keebler Elves today, who are coming off a dominating victory over the Village People. Also, I am conducting a speech on fire drill safety and procedure. A congo line proves most effective in evacuating and moving a large number of people quickly. Attached, please find pictures of my adventures. Feel free to request more. I'm the fellow in the Willy Wonka suit. The oompas wouldn't have it any other way. Isn't WiFi just amazing, all the way from Baker Island?

P.S. Seems as if all of Collegeboard's staff, especially those who's responsibilities involve sending SAT and AP scores, are on Baker Island with me. They seem to have enjoyed the Keebler Elves' victory a bit too much and do not look like they are in any condition to work. I'll give them the day off so you can expect my SAT and AP scores shortly.

Thank you,
Nino M. (Alpine, NJ)

Although it may appear that my (Josh V.'s) early action application to the U of C was sent at around 3:10 a.m. Central time on November 2, it was actually sent at about 9:10 p.m. on November 1st using the time standards of Alofi, the capital of Niue. Just in case you were confused.

thanks,
Josh V. (Germantown, TN)

I am emailing you to inform you that I will be applying under Alaska Daylight Time. Thanks so much!

-Megan K. (Laguna Niguel, CA)

My name is Cesar L., I have just submitted my application but would like to let you know that I am submitting under Pacific Daylight Time. Thank you and I hope you have a good night.

Cesar L. (El Paso, TX)

I was having a cow because three different email accounts wouldn't work, and a fourth one I tried creating wouldn't load either.

This is Anne Y. from Louisville Ky, sending in a late early application. I was going to say I'm sending it from Honolulu's time zone because I want to be on the beach, but right now, I'm just to relieved that one email account (this is actually my mothers) worked.

Anne Y. (Louisville, KY)

Um, Libby?

I'm a little worried. I emailed you earlier to let you know I was applying early with my deadline time based on California time (-8 hours time zone). Right now, when I finished my early application, it said "Your Application for Admission was successfully submitted online at 1:43 AM on 11/2/2007." The time on that notification is worrying me a little.. Also, when I log in, it says I submitted my form on November 2nd. But right now, it still is November first somewhere on the globe, so I'm alright, aren't I? That's what a part of the website said earlier.

Anyway, I hope everything runs smoothly. Thanks,
Fahim Z. (Lombard, IL)

A strange thing happened to me when I was spell-checking my essays for the University of Chicago EARLY ACTION application. My clock fast forward three hours! Isn't that creepy? Perhaps I watched too many episodes of Supernatural, but I'm feeling that the demons are out to get me. Please allow my application to be submitted under the Pacific time zone. Thank you very much.

UChicago Class of '12 Hopeful,
Chao X. (Rockville, MD)

I am applying from the "Gambier Islands" in France GAMT.

Sincerely,
Lakshmi S. (River Forest, IL)

I am submitting my application in the time of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, which, I believe, is in the CST zone.

Thank you so much,
Rachael L. (West Bloomfield, MI)

So, this crazy fiasco just happened in my living room. Elephants came charging into my living room. Mine. Elephants. I don't know where or why they came here, but they were chanting something about the University of Chicago. I don't know if these are new scare tactics for your college recruiting purposes, but its... probably something that isn't going to go over very well with homeowners. Anyway, I booked it to the Galapagos Islands, from which I will be sending my application.

Sincerely,
Jessica T. (Monroe, MI [[before the elephants so rudely barged in]])

Great job, guys! With your excuse-making skills, you'll go far in life.

I just wanted to clear up a question that all of us have gotten this morning -- the fact that your application says it was submitted on November 2. Well, let's not forget that technically it was. Computers cannot bend time and space the way lenient admissions offices can. But you don't need to worry about it.

Another thing you shouldn't be worried about yet -- your credentials. That is for us to worry about. Right now we have a 10-foot pile of credentials that has grown arms and legs and is walking around the mail room. While we work on opening all of the mail and scanning and linking your documents, we won't really know how to answer the question "Do you have what I sent?" The answer is generally, "we don't know." We don't want to say "no" when your 3A recommendation could very well be under our left elbow.

When we are confident that we have opened and scanned most of what is in the office, we will open the credentials checking link on the online application, and you will be able to see what we have received. If you are missing something, you will have time to send it again or harass your teachers. We will also email all students whose applications are missing required documents in enough time for them to resubmit whatever we are missing.

Another thing you can use to majorly geek out

So Libby was driving me downtown a couple of days ago, and we saw an ad on a cab for a "festival of maps." It led us to this website:
http://festivalofmaps.org/.
We were all like, whoa...a two-month long, city-wide festival of maps. I almost died and went to geek heaven right out there on Lake Shore Drive.

Anyway, if you're in town for a visit over the next few months, for a tour, overnight, or class visit, take some extra time out to check out one of the exhibits.

Finally, congratulations, EA applicants! Your long, hard slog is over and ours has just begun. Wish us luck, and cookies.

A treat for after you hit "submit"

This is just some fun stuff to reward yourself with after you complete your application, or while you're sitting in front of your computer with your fingers frozen over the keys, in some kind of shock that has not been medically identified. We were there. We're not actually trying to torture you.

One of the women on Project Runway this season is a Chicago alum! I know that was important enough to stop spell-checking your essays.

But this is -- installment one of the Look Around You series, courtesy of YouTube. You don't even need to go to the University of Chicago! You can learn everything about our world through these videos. It's over eight minutes long, though, so I really do recommend you turn in your application before viewing.

Why I Haven't Responded to Your Email

It's not because I don't like you and am trying to give you the brush-off.

I have - and many of my colleagues are in similar positions - over 300 unread emails in my inbox. As we've been busy in meetings and prepping mail for the Early Action cycle, I've so far only been able to address a small number of those. Again, my colleagues are probably in similar situations.

I know many of you have questions, especially on D-Day. Please visit our home page at http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu for help with frequently asked questions. If you absolutely, positively, 100% cannot find the answer to your question on our incredibly thorough website (thanks, Libby) call our office at 773.702.8650. Be advised, though, that our office closes at 5 PM CST today, and no one will be available to answer calls after that time. PLEASE DO NOT FLOOD OUR OFFICE WITH PHONE CALLS TODAY.

If some of you feel like you cannot finish your application by the deadline tonight and would like to change your status from an Early applicant to a Regular Notification applicant, send an email to your admissions counselor with that information.

And, finally, let me add to Libby's congratulations: you guys made it! Only a few more hours to go, and then we do all the work. Good luck.

Extra note from Libby: Post questions on the blog instead of emailing your counselor tonight. I will answer in the comments section.

Happy early action deadline!

I got a lot of emails last night about what time zone people were applying from. One guy from Singapore sent this:

"I am applying from Singapore [GMT +8], and I apologise for not being able to meet the deadline as I had jungle combat training in Brunei and my military flight home was delayed. All the supporting documentation has been sent, and I apologise for any inconvenience caused."

The scary thing is that I think he is telling the truth!

I'm looking forward to all sorts of harebrained stories tonight, fact or fiction, but I wanted to remind everyone that the deadline is November 1, not October 31! So, tonight is when I should be receiving all those fun emails.

Here's a sample of some of the emails I received last year.