... They officially begin... The entire counseling staff gathers behind the door marked "Meeting In Progress" to review hundreds of applications during one full week of Committee on Admission meetings. This scene was always something that I wondered about when I was applying to colleges: who is behind that door and how are they making the decisions?

We've all seen movies and television shows that feature admission committees made up of ten older, stately, stern-looking gentlemen dressed in suits. There's misconception #1 - we don't wear suits to committee! (Especially when we have weekend sessions; outfits on Saturdays often include jeans, hoodies, baseball caps, and yes, even the occasional pair of pajama pants!). One of the great things about our staff is the variety of different perspectives present in the committee setting. Some counselors have over 20 years in the world of admissions, at different schools all over the country! Some have 2 years of experience, both at PC. Some are young... others are younger (I don't think anyone would classify themselves as old!). One of our counselors is a Dominican priest... Many of us are PC grads, but not all of us - and it's critical to have that outside perspective, that different collegiate experience present in the committee. We each bring with us our own unique college (and high school) experiences - the classes we took, the activities we were involved in - and we do our best to relate to YOU and your experiences. I have great respect for students who hold an after-school job because I worked at a supermarket during high school. One of my colleagues especially loves applicants who wrestle - because of his own experience on the wrestling team during high school.

That's us! If we sound like a relatively interesting group of people, good! (I think we are!). You know what else I get from the above description? That the decision-making process is human, is subjective, is personal. I think the one thing our staff prides itself on the most is how personal, thorough, and holistic we make the review process; there are no magic formulas making the decisions on who will be accepted to PC. No computer programs, no GPA/SAT grids, no numerical cutoffs are employed. Sure, we talk about numbers in committee- we take a close look at your high school performance, your GPA, your class rank (to a much lesser extent) if it's available. But the great thing about committee is that we talk about the people behind the paper. We talk about how a Student Council President brings her class together after the tragic death of a classmate; we hear the glowing recommendation from a community service advisor about how a student truly does put others before himself; we read a fantastic essay that explains what one young lady learned about herself and a diverse group of her fellow human beings from the everyday activity of riding the city bus to school in Seattle.

I should probably explain how our Committee on Admission meetings are set up (maybe I should have done this at the top of this posting- oops!). As you know if you're a thorough reader of this blog, each admission counselor is responsible for a different geographic territory (that we travel to in the fall) and we each complete the first review of all of the applications that come in from our region. In the committee setting, each counselor is responsible for presenting the applicants from his or her territory that have gone through a multiple read process (at least two and often times three or four reads) and been designated as "committee students." After the counselor presents an applicant's information, the floor is opened for questions and discussion, as the committee spends as much time as is necessary to get to know the student well enough to make the appropriate admission decision. These decisions are made together, with each committee member given the chance to state their feelings on each applicant and then the group coming to a decision. Do we always agree? Of course not, but I think it's comforting for prospective students to know that no one person is ever making the decision on their application - it is always a group effort, and certainly nothing will be overlooked with 15 counselors examining a student's credentials.

So what do you think? Exciting? Sure it is. We have the opportunity to hear the stories of so many qualified candidates to PC, to learn about many different types of students and to give them the opportunity to continue their education at Providence. Again, we don't always agree on every decision, and occasionally we do get upset when one of "our" students (from a counselor's territory) is unable to be accepted. But unfortunately, we don't have enough spaces in our freshman class to accommodate every student that applies, and of course we as counselors go into committee knowing that. And so, we don't have a continuous tension in the room because a student from our territory is not admitted. In fact, we run the emotional gamut during committee. We laugh at the jokes a clever student makes in his essay. Our hearts break when we hear a guidance counselor detail a student's difficult family situation. We are proud of the student who moves from college prep-level classes into honors courses and continues their strong academic performance. And there isn't really another feeling like the one we get when we're able to fulfill a first-generation college student's dream by deciding to accept her to PC.

That's a preview of what's to come in Harkins Hall this week. I am one of the counselors who will "get the ball rolling" by presenting applicants tomorrow, which means we will be talking about some amazing students from Massachusetts, the mid-Atlantic, and Louisiana. I hope this (very long) posting has provided a little insight into what we do in PC's Committee on Admission meetings. If you are hungry for more info, don't worry- all of the above are memories from our committees of the past two years. It begins again tomorrow, which means a good night's sleep is a must for me! I'll let you know how it goes soon! Until then, have a great night!

*Scott