Recession, post office delays affect admissions
By MEGHAN MARTIN
News Writer
Since the initial anthrax problems in mid-September, post offices have been taking added precautions against the threat of contamination which has caused postal delays in homes and businesses across the nation.
College admissions departments, relying heavily on cut-off dates and deadlines, have been especially aware of the hold-up.
With regular-decision deadlines quickly approaching and early-action dates nearly past, it is now prime application season for college students and high school seniors alike. Whether it will become even more stressful than usual with late arrivals and application anticipation will rely on the promptness of the U.S. Postal Service.
Many undergraduate and graduate admissions offices at universities across the country have pushed back application deadlines in an effort to accommodate the increasingly unpredictable postal service.
Undergraduate admissions
The offices of undergraduate admissions at Notre Dame and Saint Mary's, while not officially postponing their Nov. 1 and Nov. 15 early action deadlines, have realized the need for a more lenient acceptance policy regarding late-arriving applications, and have decided to keep late applications for consideration.
"Generally, we'll take things as long as they're postmarked by the correct date," Notre Dame admissions officer Leah Ashe said. " … [Recently], we're aware of the fact that they might take a little longer."
So much longer, in fact, that the office had even decided to accept any applications received by Nov. 15, a date two weeks later than Notre Dame's official deadline.
Despite the setback, anxious seniors need not prolong their anticipation, as counselor Bob Mundy insists that the office is "still planning on early action letters going out by mid-December, and regular-action letters going out in mid-April."
With an increased uncertainty in the efficiency of the postal system, a higher number of students have opted to use online applications in lieu of their paper counterparts to safeguard their chances of meeting official deadlines. At both Notre Dame and Saint Mary's, the number of applicants utilizing the online option is far ahead of last year's figures.
But as Mundy pointed out, it is really too early to make assumptions, as only 25-30 percent of prospective students have applied at this point.
According to those figures, the number of applicants has shown no significant decline, and Undergraduate Admissions is still looking to admit a freshman class of roughly 1,935 students.
"Things look pretty positive," Mundy said. "Still a lot more that can happen. We never really know until the deadline comes."
Mary Pat Nolan, director of admissions for Saint Mary's, echoed Mundy's optimism. "We have expressed a certain degree of flexibility … and don't anticipate any problems," she said in regards to relaxing application deadlines.
Like Notre Dame, Saint Mary's has not experienced any major waning in the numbers of applications being received thus far, and is actually running ahead of schedule.
Where Nolan has speculated that there might be a deviation from the norm is in the fact that "some families have been expressing concerns that their students live closer to home," which may affect where students ultimately decide to attend. According to Nolan's take on the reactions of college admissions offices on a national level, "the general consensus is that students are applying as they have been. Where we'll see the difference is in where they'll choose to go."
Graduate admissions
Notre Dame's graduate and professional admissions offices have similarly had to deal with the frustrations of delayed mailings and prolonged waiting periods. The graduate school has seen a marked increase in the use of online applications.
However, staff member Linda Chism said that this may not be solely attributed to the slowed postal service because online applications have proven to be much more accessible in their second year of availability and do still depends on the postal system for sending official documents, such as transcripts and recommendations.
Because Dec. 1 has remained the initial deadline for prospective graduate students, the office has already been inundated with mail, particularly from international candidates who have had to mail applications even earlier than usual. The office has not experienced any significant obstacles thus far, and Chism is doubtful that there will be "any official action or grace period" to take late applications into account, even if mail trends do continue to change.
Although applications have only just begun to arrive in large quantities, the graduate schools have been receiving an increased number of applications. Admissions officials are not surprised.
"We figured it would be a trend anyway, because of the economy in general," Chism said.
With more students finding it difficult to secure jobs upon graduation, there has been a noticeable upsurge in the number of students taking the GRE across the nation.
Similarly, the number of law school applicants has seen a significant rise over last year's figures. Margaret Edgington, a senior staff assistant at the University's law school, echoed Chism's sentiment.
"If undergraduate seniors are having difficulty getting a job, then they apply to grad school in case they can't find one," she said, acknowledging the economy's role in the admissions process as well.
Edgington's office has been receiving applications for the past month or so. As they approach their busiest time period, from the end of November to March 1, she said that the staff has still not encountered any major problems. As a result of the decision to take added precautions when handling mail, it has taken slightly longer for letters and applications to be opened, but there have been no delays thus far.
"We have been very lucky up to now. We haven't had any delays with any mail that we've sent out…I can't say [the post office delays] have really affected us much at all," she said.
This may be partly because the law school admissions office has seen a rise in the use of online applications, as well as UPS and FedEx for sending prioritized mail, as opposed to using the Postal Service. In its third year of operation, use of the law school's online application at embark.com has been on the increase as compared to this time last year, further ensuring that the process remains on schedule. And the office itself is staying right on track, with early decisions letters being mailed before Christmas break.
Beyond campus
While Notre Dame and Saint Mary's have encountered minimal difficulties within their own undergraduate and graduate admissions offices, it is rather the seniors here that have had to bear the brunt of policy changes at other schools. Many have experienced typical application processes, with definite deadlines and expedient replies.
As "No schools were pushing back deadlines," senior Irish Thompson said. "My biology advisor told us to put return addresses on the applications, but that's all."
Loyola University, one of the top post-baccalaureate institutions that Notre Dame students opt to attend, has professed no need to alter deadlines for their graduate, law, and medical students, while the University of Virginia's law school has agreed to be more lenient with official deadlines.
Unfortunately for many students bound for medical school, the resulting waiting periods have been lengthened to extents far greater than normal.
"We are not expected to hear about a lot of decisions until mid-to-late second semester," senior Karen Ron said.
Many schools on the East Coast, according to Ron, have pushed back their deadlines, and AMCAS, the company that facilitates the initial medical school application, found it necessary to postpone the initial application schedule because they were unable to receive their mail on time.
Despite postal delays and threats of anthrax, students and prospective students at Notre Dame and Saint Mary's have proven that life has been allowed to go on as usual.
"People aren't letting this frighten them, and that's a good thing," said Nolan.
All News Stories for Monday, December 3, 2001
