...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!

After Early Decision Committee

Yesterday the Admission Committee met all day to discuss our fantastic Early Decision applicants. We had more Early Decision applications than ever this year and it was a pleasure and an honor to read each one. After 6 intense hours around a table, which included much discussion and analysis, our committee reached consensus in order to admit the first students to the class of 2014! For the rest of the week we'll be preparing and mailing our decision letters.

Some of you will be very happy to see a letter from Pitzer in the mail. Congratulations! Some of you will be disappointed. One of our policies as a committee is to make honest and fair decisions with our Early Decision applicants; we don't defer or wait-list many students from the Early Decision pool. If we can't make it happen for an applicant, then we want that person to fall in love with another school. We don't make these decisions lightly. Each one of us appreciates the time, energy, and emotion that you put into your application.

Our current students are finishing their finals this week, and the Office of Admission is calm today. The sun is shining in Claremont, and the air is mercifully clear. We've even got some snow clinging to the peak of Mt. Baldy just north of campus! In true Pitzer fashion, I decided to make an "Orange-person" this morning, rather than a "snow-person." The impressive results are pictured below.

For all of our Regular Decision applicants, I encourage you to finish and submit the applications by the January 1 deadline. Dramatically waiting for the clock to strike 11:59pm on New Year's eve to click submit on the Common App will undoubtedly appear to be a terrible decision when your power goes out...your internet glitches...or you forget that you're not in the Pacific Standard Time zone...or some other catastrophe befalls you, causing your laboriously constructed and manicured application to bounce back at you unceremoniously.

Get the picture? Those of you expecting to make a New Year's resolution to stop procrastinating should begin that process sooner rather than later.

Done and done!

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!

Committee

Hi everyone.

So we are in committee now. Another completely new experience for me. During committee we discuss all of the files and create the best class possible. We are still only starting so I will post some pictures and more details next week, but to tide you over until then, here is another post from one of our fabulous Admission Fellows.

Hey readers,

I’ve never written a blog before so I hope I don’t fail you. There’s really a lot going on with me these days as I close out my last semester of college. Mostly what’s on my plate the next few weeks is my thesis and finding something do after graduation.
Just to give you all a little background on myself I’m Tori! I’m a Neuroscience major and a Spanish minor here at Pitzer. While I finished my minor a while ago I still have quite a bit of work left on my major.
As a Neuroscience major I’m required to complete a 2-semester experimental thesis project of my own design. I spent last semester doing background research and designing my experiment and this week I’ll finally start it! I’ll be studying the effects of increased serotonin through dietary means. You guys might have heard about Serotonin in reference to depression, but it does a lot of other things in your body as well. Serotonin is really considered the universal neurotransmitter because it’s involved in so many processes from appetite and weight control to regulating body temperature and how much pain you feel. Also, of course, it affects your mood and emotional state.
Basically what I’ll be doing over the next 2 weeks is administering tryptophan dietarily, which is a protein you normally get from some foods. You might have heard that it’s in turkey. This protein, and only this protein, becomes serotonin in your brain. I’ll be watching for various effects of this treatment and trying to help determine if tryptophan could be a viable treatment option for various conditions such as depression or acute pain.
My study should end just in time for Spring Break so wish me luck! Hopefully there are no snags that would prevent me from having to stay here over break but they don’t call it experimental for nothing.
After the study ends I will write up my results into the paper that will be my actual thesis and I’ll also create a poster for presenting my findings. When I say a poster I don’t mean I’m gluing things to a piece of poster board, it’s a professionally-printed 5 foot by 3 foot display and no easy task to create.
Even though thesis is the biggest item on my plate right now I still have other classes that I’m taking and have to keep up with, like I have a midterm in Cell Bio tomorrow that I’m not very excited about. I’m also taking a class on Meditation & Xi-Quong, which is a slow martial art. I thought it would be nice to take a class that was designed to relieve stress! My last class, but not least, is Neuropsychology which I love. The professor is hilarious and we get to learn about the effects of head trauma and things like that.
Despite all the work I really do love school and will be very sad to leave it. After spending four years here I’ve come to know a great deal of people that I don’t want to leave behind, but at the same time I feel like I’m ready for a transition, something new. It’s very bittersweet really. I imagine you all are feeling something like that.
Well enjoy your last semester of high school and be sure to make the most of college when you get there. And keep reading! Who knows, maybe I’ll post my thesis results….

Reading Time

Hi everyone. I know it has been ages, but I had no idea what reading season actually entails and I have been busy. Allow me to fill you in. After we receive your wonderful applications and spend weeks on end putting them together, see previous pictures of piles of mail taller than I am, the Admission Counselors are finally ready to read. During reading season the admission counselors work from home, YAY!

At this point I must digress, and give a big thank you to our wonderful processing staff. While the counselors take off to read files, they are still here tackling those piles of credentials.

Now don't get too jealous, just because I get to work from home doesn't mean that life is easy. I have to read 135 files a week. That is a lot of reading. I must say, I have really enjoyed some of your essays. My name has even come up in a few of your supplements and it cheers me up every time.

To let you know, we do read everything in your application and we have a holistic approach to admission, so we have no formulas and every part of your application is considered. In fact, just to make sure you get your fair day in court, all the applications get read twice.

Then, every Thursday, our staff gets together and has a mini committee. This is where the two readers present your application and we make a final decision as a group.

As you can tell, I don't have as much to write about these days. So to keep the blog lively, I am going to have some of our Admission Fellows write entries. For those of you who haven't met the Admission Fellows, they are Seniors who conduct interviews, and information sessions and attend college fairs. Since this is their last semester of college, I figure I would allow them to tell you what is going on around campus and maybe share some of that knowledge they have gained over the last 4 years. You can check out their bios on our website.

https://fepzhal.pitzer.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.pitzer.edu/admission/senior_fellows.asp

Congratulations of reaching your final semester of high school. Enjoy it, but not too much, we do still look at those last semester grades :)

Danny