Taking Tracking System Offline

ClassicRockerDad · 11-03-2009, 05:52 PM

McG,

If you take the tracking system offline, how will someone know or be able to do the self-report interview form if it hasn't been two weeks yet. Should they do it before the two weeks are up?

Sorry for the double post, but I thought it would be better as a new thread.

k4r3n2 · 11-03-2009, 06:22 PM

So I'm guessing that the admissions office is thinking that this won't matter for the following reasons:

1. If you're an EA kid, you have your self-report interview form in already
2. If you're an RD kid, you have plenty of time before the deadline to fill out this form

I'd suggest that your child take a look at the form ahead of time so that, when it comes back online, they haven't forgotten the relevant information and can still fill out the form.

ClassicRockerDad · 11-03-2009, 07:50 PM

Quote:

If you're an EA kid, you have your self-report interview form in already

Negative, My D's not supposed to fill it in until two weeks have gone by since her interview. Two weeks have not gone by yet. She applied EA. The interview only needed to be scheduled by 10/20 which it was. It occurred after that.

k4r3n2 · 11-03-2009, 08:08 PM

Wait, so what is this form? It's to report your inteview if your interviewer hasn't entered it yet?

In that case, I think you should probably wait until the two weeks are up to decide that your interviewer isn't going to send it in. Interviewers are busy people. And, if your interviewer is sending the form by mail, you need to give enough time for the admissions office to open all of the mail.

I suspect the real reason they take down the system is to get people to stop e-mailing them to ask if their forms are missing. Give it time. If the form is still missing after all the mail has been opened / everything has been processed, you'll have enough time to send in the self-reporting form before your daughter's application is reviewed.

ClassicRockerDad · 11-03-2009, 08:32 PM

And if the system is down, the form is inaccessible. Do you see the issue?

k4r3n2 · 11-03-2009, 09:11 PM

Yes, I do. As I see it, these are the two thought patterns:

You: Well, clearly MIT is on top of their game, so as soon as my child's interviewer submits the form, it will show up! If I check it daily and it hasn't gotten put up within two weeks, this means that the interviewer has completely forgotten about it, and I need to alert them to this ASAP to fix this mistake!

MIT: Oh god we have so much mail, we can't open it because people keep sending us e-mails asking where their forms are, maybe if we take the forms offline for two weeks so we can open all the mail, we won't have to respond to so many e-mails. Besides, I bet we'll find most of these forms in two weeks anyway, and then if things are missing on the system, it's because they're legitimately missing, not because they're trapped in a bucket of mail somewhere waiting for us to open them.

So do you see why I'm advising you to wait until the system's back up to submit the self-reporting form, if your daughter's interview is still missing?

*mcgmit* · 11-03-2009, 10:26 PM

99.9999999% of our interview reports are filled in online, and only a handful are submitted via snailmail. (This was a major change for us this year, and our ECs have been amazing in helping to reduce our reliance on paper!)

CRD, you are correct in stating that if the tracking system is taken offline, then applicants cannot tell us their interviews have been conducted. Most interviews have been conducted by now, but there are still some that have been arranged into November.

I will ask the awesome Kim Hunter, who directs the >2,800 alumni interviewers, for her advice on the matter. I'll get back to you tomorrow night, CRD.

-McGreggor