Web Status Pages - Not Great for Transfers

Transfer Students
1

<p>A friend applied as a Transfer to 13 top schools. Overall, these schools have not used the web status pages very effectively. Some have no status pages, while others have them but are very slow to update them, mitigating their effectiveness. I would think that a good status page would show which app elements have been received (with date) and which are missing. A long time ago when I applied to college, colleges would send a postcard by mail to indicate that the app was received and in/complete.</p>

<p>Here’s what she saw:</p>

<p>Amherst - issued login, but it didn’t work for a full month. Required several emails to Amherst to get it fixed. After that it’s quite good. (but No financial aid info)</p>

<p>Bates - issued login, but shows limited info - and the FA info still shows that FAFSA and CSS are not there (both were submitted w/ Bates codes in Jan) - likely a Bates issue as all other schools got them.</p>

<p>Bowdoin - no status page. letter confirming receipt of app.</p>

<p>Brown - no status page, no letter.</p>

<p>Colby - issued logins, but Colby says that they shouldn’t work for transfers - and the info is incomplete online.</p>

<p>Cornell - issued login, but no info about app has been updated on site after a couple of weeks.</p>

<p>Dartmouth - issued login, but app status page has no info about the app after many weeks</p>

<p>Middlebury - issued login, but app status page has stale old message for freshman and no info about the app after many weeks.</p>

<p>Swarthmore - no login, no status page, no mail confirmation, nothing so far.</p>

<p>Vassar - no login, no status page, no mail confirmation, nothing so far.</p>

<p>Wesleyan - (BEST IN CLASS) WesCheck and SIMON work well and are up to date! Updated relatively quickly after app was sent in. </p>

<p>Williams - no status page, no mail confirmation, nothing after many weeks.</p>

<p>Yale - no status page, no mail confirmation, nothing after weeks.</p>

2

<p>Wesleyan definately has the best page…Cornell’s isn’t too shabby either, when it is updated. I cannot figure out if the Middlebury status page works, and I haven’t gotten any comformation that they have recieved my entire application. I got a letter (3 to be exact) from Bowdoin, but absolutley nothing from Brown, nothing. Its really frustrating!!!</p>

3

<p>never use those… they’re always behind.</p>

<p>If you feel an application is taking longer than it should, call and get a status request. Ask them to physically check to make sure everything is in order.</p>

4

<p>So, out of 13 schools, 3 (Amherst, Bates, & Wesleyan) have status pages that sort of work and only 1 of those (Wes) has one that’s all correct.</p>

5

<p>Vassar confirmed receipt of transfer app with an email and says it will email if anything’s missing.</p>

6

<p>My son who’s applying as a first-year had the same experience at Wesleyan. It’s a good sign that the school has its act so together online.</p>

7

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<p>Fo sho. Little things like how much effort the school actually puts into the process and how they treat prospective transfers will impact my decision in the end. I have yet to have a complaint about Wesleyan.</p>

8

<p>Yes, Wesleyan has excelled in this regard.</p>

9

<p>But does Wesleyan post decisions on-line? I have yet to figure it out…</p>

10

<p>seriously, call the school up.</p>

<p>Why are people so scared to ask admissions for a status request?</p>

11

<p>Several schools say “don’t call us, we’ll call you” and/or “don’t email us, we’ll email you.” The point is that they have these online systems - but don’t really use them well (you get a login but then the info online about your app is not updated for many weeks) which defeats the purpose of having the online system and begs more calls and emails, taking time away from the office staffers who could be entering the info online.</p>

12

<p>even if they say that, if you need to know, they’re not going to dump your app because you asked a question… and if they do, they’re not worth going to.</p>

<p>Treat them as a pseudo business. They want students (you) there just as much as you want to go there. They want your money, they want the grades they hope you’ll earn.</p>

<p>never, NEVER be scared to call a school. All 3 I applied to I called numerous times and still got in to them all.</p>

13

<p>If I were truly concerned (with good reason) that some materials had not been correctly received, I would think it’s ok to call. However, I would also respect the schools’ requests to not call and to use the online system -even if the online system doesn’t work it very well. I can imagine what the call load would be if each applicant called each admissions office several times. I trust that they will contact applicants if anything is awry. </p>

<p>After admissions season, I do think that these admissions offices would appreciate some feedback about the weaknesses of the online status page process, particularly for transfer applicants. I’d encourage other transfer applicants who experienced this to share constructive feedback as well.</p>