After D-Day COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

After D-Day COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog Just a few highlights and things to consider on this day after the deadline day for our two-year, full-time programs . . . First, as a reminder, the default status for some information on the application (i.e. test scores and transcripts) is Not received.   Even if you uploaded the correct documents and input the correct information it may read Not Received. This is normal.   We manually review each application to check for accuracy and readability so do not let this status shock you if you log into the system. Second, if the PDF you view does not seem to match what you entered, do not panic.   As long as the information you entered was correct it will display correctly on the PDF we print in our office.   We use a different PDF and there are some bugs in the applicant preview PDF that we have not been able to correct. Third, I completed the review of my first batch of applications and 43% of those I reviewed had submitted everything online and I was able to read everything (i.e. no blurry transcripts).   This is great because we can now file these applications and they can patiently await being assigned to Committee members for reading.   Individuals with a completed file will also receive an email from us within 48 hours letting them know the application is complete.   48 hours is our standard window from changing a status in the system and generating an email to an applicant. As a reminder, reading will not begin for approximately three more weeks.   Thus do not panic because you have not received a completion email from us, at this point in time less than 10% of applicants have received a completion email and this is normal.   In the 24 hours prior to the deadline last year we received well over 1,000 applications.   It will take us several days just to print the applications, let alone review them for completion.   Thus it might be up to three weeks until you receive a completion email. What of the 57% of my batch that were incomplete?   Well, we set them aside and continue to work through the batches as quickly as we are able.   Those in the 57% category likely submitted documents via postal mail.   It is much faster for us to sit at our desks and work through batches quickly than run around the office looking for matching documents. Why wait to start our search?   Well at this point in time we would rather not go looking for something and come up empty handed.   If a letter of recommendation was mailed, it may be sitting in huge stack of mail that has not been opened right now.   It is not a productive use of our time to start looking for documents until we are caught up on our mail and we will not be caught up for a while because we received a lot of mail in the past few days. Now that the deadline has passed we ask for your patience.   You are welcome to follow the tracking of your application online yourself, full instructions are here.   Unfortunately we cannot respond to emails about the receipt of individual documents because we have a great deal of unopened mail and hundreds of applications that have not even been printed yet. I guess that will be my final note in this entry.   It is going to take us at least a week to print everything so if you log in and your application has not been printed, do not panic, trust that we are working as quickly as we are able. Thank you for your patience and continue to follow the blog for updates.