Applications, applications, applications...

Over these past weeks, we've been working with lots of applicants to help them get their applications submitted by the early deadline of Feb. 1. Although we will still take applications until May 1, those who apply by the early deadline get first consideration for SI Merit Tuition Scholarships. We've been working hard in my office to make sure that we connect with every applicant, and help them to know if their application is complete, or if not, what is missing.

Over the next few weeks, the faculty on the Masters Committee will be reviewing every application that is complete, and be making admission decisions. We try to get decisions back to applicants within 2-4 weeks after they have submitted a completed application. We can't always promise this, but we're pretty good about having a quick turn-around for decisions. The faculty know what an anxious experience applying to graduate school can be, and they want to get answers out as fast as possible.

In general, the admission decisions to our program are rolling, but the financial aid process is batched. So, we will be sending out admission decisions as they come in, but we will be making a first round of SI Merit Tuition Scholarship offers in early March. The additional rounds of offers tend to come in April (for the second round) and in May (for the third round). There is a little flexibility with this, but it gives a general idea of the timeframe we are working with.

If you have already applied to our program, you should be hearing a decision in the next few weeks. If you don't hear from us, feel free to email us and we can check into your application for you. I wish you all the best as you go through this process, and I'm happy to talk more with anyone about their application!

Posted by lauramb on February 13, 2007 at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

How do I know which application pieces you have received?

Welcome to the start of a new semester here at SI! We’ve all just come back from Winter break, and are trying to get back into the swing of things for the Winter semester. This semester is always a very busy time in my office as we are working to process all of the applications that are coming in to meet the Feb. 1 early deadline for the MSI Admissions. In general, we try to work with each applicant as much as possible to make sure you know which pieces of your application we have received, and what we might still need to make your application complete. Since much of our application is online, it does make things pretty easy for applicants. When you submit your application, that turns in your application, SI Application Essay, Personal Statement, and your resume. If you elect to have your recommenders submit their letters online to us, then you will receive a confirmation email directly through the online application system, as soon as the recommender submits their letter. For all the other remaining pieces, or to get a quick overview of what we have received or what we still might need in your application, you can also go to our Web site to check your application status. This will lead you to a personalized Web page that will let you know which documents we have received, and what we might still be waiting for. This will only work if you have submitted your application already, and if a couple of days have passed for us to have received your documents and matched them to your application. If this system doesn’t work for you, you can also email us directly and we can check on your status for you.

I would recommend checking your application status via our online system occasionally, just to make sure that we receive all of your pieces before our deadline. We work really hard to communicate with all applications that are missing things before the deadline, but we realize that sometimes an email can be missed, and we would hate for someone to not realize that part of their application is missing. Overall, although it may take us a few days to match the pieces of your application together, we really will try to work with you to make sure that everything is complete by the deadline. Also, if you think you might miss the deadline by a day or two because of some unforeseen circumstance, be sure to let us know so that we can see about giving you a brief extension. Finally, as soon as your application is complete here in our office, we will send you a confirmation email so that you know you are all set.

I hope this is helpful information for you as you work on your applications. Remember to contact us if you have any questions at all.

Posted by lauramb on January 05, 2007 at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)