An Admission Process That's About YOU!

Here's a little story that might make you feel better about your college application process. When I was seventeen years old and informed by my teachers that it was time to apply to college, I had no idea where to begin. There were no websites that would help me narrow down the list of schools or social networking sites that would connect me to others to learn more. I learned about the college I eventually chose by borrowing a VHS tape from my school and playing it over and over again. I only applied to 4 schools and forgot to send part two of the application to several of them! I wrote my college applications with a pen and when I made a mistake I would use "white out." I was so nervous about this process that I once called the admission office of a college and hung up the phone when the counselor picked up because I thought she might be writing down everything I said and using it against me in my application!

Well times sure have changed and your college search process certainly does not have to be this way! There are an outstanding number of resources to help students today and counselors are always excited to speak to you about your hopes and dreams. I share my story with you because the admission and financial aid staff at Pitzer College knows how complicated and emotional this process can be. We dedicate our life's work to helping young people and their families navigate the journey to higher education.

If you are reading this, you are probably a student embarking on the college admission process, or a family member wanting to know more about Pitzer College. I hope that as you explore these blog posts, you learn more about what makes Pitzer an extraordinary place.

At Pitzer, we are eager to find the next generation of socially responsible and engaged citizens of the world. We seek students who are ready for a global education and want to use their degrees to make a difference in the lives of others. Whether it's through medicine, art, music, math, science, film or writing, students are using their Pitzer education to stay ahead of the curve and learn ways to best tackle our world's problems. Our community is built on five core values that shape everything we do. If this kind of education excites you, Pitzer College may just be the right college for you.

My goal is to make sure that you have as much information as you need and that my staff and I personalize this process for you. To that end, it is my pleasure to re-introduce Admission Unpeeled, the blog you’re currently reading. So much of the admission process is about stories, and our goal is to showcase the stories of the people that make Pitzer what it is: our students. Our students are a diverse group of young people who have had some wonderful experiences, experiences they are eager to share with you. With each new post, I hope you will learn more about what makes Pitzer a special environment for the students who call it home.

Finally, I know that choosing a college can be emotional, but I believe this process can be exhilarating. And remember, it's ok to be a little selfish. If you are a student, this process is about exploring what is most important to you. I'm sure many people will give you advice about college, but in the end, the one having to live that experience will be you. Shut off all the noise and listen to the person who knows best – YOU. If along the way, you find out that Pitzer may be one of the schools that "fits" you, my staff and I look forward to working with you.

 

Sincerely,

 

Angel B. Perez

Vice President and Dean of Admission and Financial Aid

Pitzer College

HAPPY NEW YEAR... and now back to applications!

"Hello friends of the Pitzer College Office of Admission. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed a spectacular New Years! After all of my fall travel and recruiting, I needed a break and decided to "fly the coop". Where did I go??? I headed to the only place where sagehens can relax and grab some of the best Cuban food... MIAMI!" -Cecil T. Sagehen

After a nice and peaceful winter break, we (the counseling staff) are all back in the office and ready to process those applications. Tons of mail, lots of paper cuts, and so much alphabetizing... but of course it is all worth it in the end. Being an admission counselor has helped me understand how more than ever, we need more students like YOU!

So please bare with me in the next few weeks. If you submitted an application, it is being processed at the moment thanks to our entire counseling and support staff. No need to call... that recommendation letter is NOT late, those SAT scores will arrive soon, and your transcript should be arriving any day now. What more do you have to worry about? You have done your part of the application... so just sit back, relax, continue being the rock star student you are and wait to hear back from us in the coming months.

Until then... open mail (paper cuts), alphabetize, file, etc... it's like I'm an admission robot!!! ha ha.

...and then it was March!

Woosh! Was that the month of February I just saw go by my window? I hardly noticed! I must have spent the whole month hunched over my desk reading applications!

If you're a returning reader, welcome back! If this is your first glance at the blog, thanks for your interest in Pitzer! We're approaching the light at the end of a very long and rewarding tunnel. We're only a week or so away from finishing all of your applications! At this time, everyone's application has been read at least once by the Admission Counselor responsible for your territory and is now circulating to a "second reader." We use this system to ensure that the first person who sees your application has the best chance of being familiar with your high school (and may have even met you while we were traveling). Second readers give each application a fresh perspective and help us get a more holistic picture of our applicant pool. It's been an absolute honor and joy to see your essays, recommendation letters, interview notes, MyCollegeI videos, art supplements etc.

So what's next? Next week our whole team will come back together for an intense week-long summit that most schools simply call "committee." We basically lock ourselves in the conference room and discuss what we've read so that we can build a well-rounded class. Committee is fun, emotional, exhausting, and rewarding. It is also the most poignant reminder that we innevitably receive far more excellent applications than we have the possibility of offering admission to. More on committee in the weeks ahead.

I'll leave you with this fun piece of news. Our very own Angel Perez, Director of Admission, has been asked by the Washington Post to write about the college search and admission processes. His first article is a great checklist for any high school student who is pondering the college question.

That's it for now. See you soon!

Where's my application!?

"I submitted my application online, but my teachers mailed in my recommendation letters themselves...do you have everything!?"

"Did you get my Art Supplement!?"

"I took the SAT and/or ACT more than once, do you have all the correct scores!?"

"I heard there was a glitch with the Common App...is my application OK!?"

"My messenger pigeon came back without my college application, does that mean you received it!?" [True story.]

If you have any of these questions, or others like them, then Cecil the Sagehen has something to tell you. Click here!

Also, for those of you who miss the "Beyond Buzzwords" days, check out this article in the Chronicle of Higher Education and then my Letter to the Editor in response. Let me know what you think!

Stop biting those nails!

Your wait has come to an end. After 3 months of reading, filing and processing paperwork, we have made our decisions!!! At 2:14 PM PST March 26 we mailed our letters.

Regardless of the decision you will be receiving in the next few days, you should be proud of yourselves! Since we are so small we are only able to admit 822 applicants and since we had 4079 applicants these were very difficult decisions. This puts us at a 20% accept rate and believe me we wanted to admit more than 20% of you.

Before you get too wrapped up in the emotional roller coaster the maelstrom of admission letters causes, make sure to thank the people that made this possible. First thank your high school counselor. Whether or not you got into your first choice school, your counselors work pretty darn hard to get you accepted. They work late nights, over their December holiday vacation and send our more copies of your transcript than you could even imagine! So no matter what news you get put on a smile, go to your counselor, give them a big hug and thank them for all their hard work.

Next go to all those teachers that wrote those letters of recommendation. They are often the most neglected in this cycle. They want to share in your joy as well. So tell them where you were accepted and where you were denied and let them share in this emotional time. And don’t forget to give them a big thank you.

The one that many other people forget is your parents. I know most of you are rolling your eyes about that comment, but whether your parents were not involved in the process, were helicopter parents or gave you just the right amount of help, you must remember you wouldn’t be the person you are today if it wasn’t for them. So put the months of bickering aside and thank them for the help they gave you with your application. Don’t forget, the day when they will be dropping you off at your new dorm room is right around the corner, and they will be the ones heading back to an empty nest.

So to everyone who reads this blog, I send you my congratulations or my sympathy and hope you can mange to wait another few more days for that envelope (So please please PLEASE don’t call us yet.)

That aside, here are some pictures of our process.

Here is all of us in committee

Here is Angel in committee

And signing all those letters

Here is Jasmin and Constance stuffing envelopes

The trays of letters (believe me this is only a fractions)

Here is what the outside of the acceptance envelopes looks like. Cecil is happy to get his.

This is what the inside looks like

Here is Alex looking happy, as always while stuffing those envelopes.

We have a tradition here at Pitzer. Every year Arnaldo and Angel loads his car up with acceptance letters and takes it to the post office. Here is Arnaldo on his way to load up his car.

Ahhh all the letters lined up.

Angel and Arnaldo loading up the car.

And now your favorite counselor modeling with the acceptance letters.

Wow what a packed car.

And off they go!

Angel at the Claremont Post Office loading dock.

So long, farewell auf wiedersehen goodbye...acceptance letter.

By the way, we have started the Official Class of 2013 facebook page. So once you get your acceptance letters come check us out on facebook, ask any questions you might have, and get to know the other students who were accepted to the Pitzer class of 2013.

AND CONGRATULATIONS!

Oh the weather outside is frightful!

Time for random trivia about Danny! [I am still hijacking this blog and I am not sure that the following is really trivia. This is more of a random fact about Danny- JV] I am a big fan of Skiing and Snowboarding and there is finally snow on Mt Baldy. Baldy is the closest mountain to Pitzer’s campus, about a 20 minute drive to the peak. It is the pretty mountain you can see in the background on many Pitzer pictures. Don’t believe me? Check that road piece you got from us at a school visit or college fair.
Check it out. This picture, although low quality and taken under poor lighting conditions, was snapped from the walkway of our new residence halls.

Where else can you have 80 degree weather most of the year and still step outside and see snow for a few months? (P.S. Fri Morning it is still brisk, but the sun is out)

You can tell some students got excited about the snow because this is a sight you don’t usually see on campus.Now if you replaced the sleds with surfboards, it is nothing new. See this is one of the many reasons that SO Cal is the best place to live. (haha take that NOR Cal) [Wow, a throwdown! –JV]

Well snow aside, let’s get back to the admission office.

Regular decision files are already piling up. We even started to read some of the complete ones. Notice the stacks and how mine is the biggest.

Go AZ, UT, NV, MI, FL, TX, Long Beach, San Fernando Valley and Inland Empire students! Way to get your files in early. [The stack two over to the left is my pile. Do we need to talk about my students here? PA, MD, DC, VA, GA, TN, OR, and Santa Barbara I am a bit disappointed. I appreciate that you are trying to keep my work load low near the holidays, but still, I need you to represent. I want the top 5 out of California states to be mine this coming year. Help me out! If I do, Danny will take me to lunch. –JV]

Besides the daunting piles of mail coming in everyday, life has been moving at a slightly slower pace. Early decision letters are in the mail, so they should be arriving soon. (And no, that does not mean you should call us to ask if you got in. I know it is exciting, but you will find out soon enough) In fact, I have a little surprise for you. We got done a little ahead of schedule, so the letters were mailed out on Wed. SURPRISE!

We have also finished conducting interviews and there are very few tours coming in, so the office is quiet and we are mainly putting your applications together and reading files. It is a little lonely because most student workers have time off to study for finals.

I just have to say. I LOVE OUR STUDENT WORKERS!! [Me too! –JV]

I though you would enjoy finding out about a new competition going on in my office. Apparently my digs have become the hot new place to study for finals and some of our student workers have been competing for its use. This is great because I came in after a long weekend of reading to find this amazing note, which cheered me up to no end.

Here is a picture of Jenna for reference. [Jenna is also one of the Overnight Coordinators. Ask her sometime about her work at a cult. She’ll have some great stories for you. –JV]

Then the next day I came in and found this note. (and cookies)

In case you haven’t met Emma, she is one of our Admission Fellows and you can find her picture online. [I should have a pithy comment about Emma here, but I can’t think of one. –JV]

The next morning, Ben was feeling slightly jealous and wrote me this.

Everyone say hi to Ben. [Nice picture Ben. Ben is one of the Overnight Coordinators that I supervise. –JV]


To top it all off this morning, Thrusday, I came across 2 notes!

[Ben gets a bonus point for a “Dark Knight” reference. –JV]
And finally

So I officially declare Emma the winner of the annual random notes in Danny’s office competition.

[Student workers, we need to talk too. What is wrong with my office? It is colorful. It has an iPod dock. There is a cool poster from a Ryan Adams concert last year here in Claremont. I’ve got a lovely view of the parking lot. Don’t forget who hired you. –JV]

While we are on the topic of competition, let’s play another game of Where in the World is Cecil the Sagehen. Where is Cecil this week? (be very specific. Very Very specific)

There may be one last post before I am off for the Holidays, so if you don't hear from me before then. Have a happy holiday season.