Letters! We get letters!

Whenever I look at the mail bins downstairs, I think of the that little song...

Anyway, the mail is pouring in and that's great. Our mail services staff is busily opening bin after bin of letters and passing them along to the processing staff to be checked in and then filed. However, something else is pouring in: FedEx and UPS packages from students living in the US. Now, it's perfectly normal for international students to send applications via one of those delivery services (DHL seems most popular), but there really isn't any need for students living in the United States to send their applications or supporting documents by special courier.

Pass the word around. Don't spend $20 (or whatever it is) to mail anything by FedEx or UPS or DHL if you live in the US. There's plenty of time for documents to get here via the US Postal Service.

This is considered a very small amount of mail.

The status of your status page

There seem to be many students checking their application status at odd times. I thought I'd explain how the status page works and when you'll see updates to it.

First of all, you won't see anything about your credentials until you hit the submit button. At that point, anything that our staff has already checked in will show up. As we get closer to the deadline, the amount of mail we get grows dramatically and mail may sit for a few days before the staff is able to process it. It could take around two weeks for something that arrives in early January to get through the system.

If recommendations are submitted online, the name of the writer and the date they submitted their letter will show up on your status page. Paper recommendations are not logged into the system. You will not see information about them on your status page.

Once your application is complete, your status will not change until the notification date in late March. The exact date and time of that will be posted here and on the UVa website.

Though your status won't change, you need to log into your account to send us your mid-year grades as soon as they're available. We do not need your school to send an updated transcript with your first semester grades. You simply need to log in and report them through the online application website.

Hope that helps! Please use the comments if you have any questions about status!

Transfer status update

Spring transfer decisions are going to be turned off today. By now, everyone should have their official letters. If you haven't received any notification, contact our office.

Application supplements

The deadline for sending performing and visual art supplements has passed and we're now in the process of sorting and sending mail bins off to various departments around grounds so faculty can start their review of CDs, slides, DVDs, and other media. Of course, in the mix are a few items that aren't really mean for arts faculty. Some people send DVDs, books (I wrote about those last year),
and other items. Unfortunately, the extras don't get much attention unless we're in the mood to procrastinate and throw in a DVD that didn't fit any of the art categories.

Thanks for your submissions! The faculty will review them in the next few weeks and then notes will be added to your files to let us know what they think.

A blurry picture of some art supplement sorting

Ready for the onslaught

I took CavBear down to the file room this morning to have a look around. It's a pretty different scene than the one I showed you all just a few months ago, isn't it? Those red boxes are full of file folders and I know there are plenty more stacked up in one of our storage rooms.

We're ready and waiting!

The good news is that many students have hit the submit button already. Those applications will be reviewed by the Office of Virginia Status, then get matched up with any supporting documents that arrived earlier in the season, and finally be marked "ready to read". I'd guess that about 3,000 applications are either in processing mode or being read right now. In a few weeks, that number will jump dramatically.

Good luck finishing up those applications, everyone!

Miscellaneous credentials waiting for an application