The Regular Decision application postmark deadline has come and gone, and the admission staff is getting set to review thousands of applications over the next two months so that our decision letters can be released in late March. But we'll talk more about all of that later...

Today, I want to write a little bit about some of our other responsibilities in the Office of Admission, besides the often-talked-about reading applications and recruitment travel. One of the first things you should know is that, while we are spending a great deal of time and energy working with the high school seniors who have applied to PC this year, we also have thousands of inquiries from current high school juniors and sophomores that we don't want to neglect. In effect, we are working with three different levels of students (by levels I mean seniors, juniors, and sophomores) all of the time. One of the areas in which I am directly involved with these underclassmen is our Publications "task force."

I'm sure many of you have received the Providence College Prospectus (or "viewbook") in your mailboxes; or picked up a PC brochure (what we call a "road piece" in the office) at a college fair; or found the latest round of PC news and our SmartTips in your e-mail account inbox. All of these (and many, many more PC materials) are created by our hard-working (if I do say so myself) Publications team, and while much of the attention at this point of the year is on the seniors who have submitted applications, we want to make sure that you juniors (and sophomores) are receiving the information you need from us as you continue (or start) your college search.

If you are a junior or sophomore and have joined our electronic mailing list, every month you receive a "tip" about the college search process along with the latest in PC news (we like to keep you up-to-date with what's happening on campus!). Each month, our Publications team decides on a new college search tip, and then searches out four or five important campus stories of the month. We certainly do a great deal of writing and editing (it helps to have English majors on the Publications team!!!) and we hope that this information is helpful to all of the juniors and sophomores reading it, no matter what stage of the college search process they are in. (And how can I talk about all of this without offering everybody a chance to join the electronic mailing list [click here!]).

The other main electronic form of communication the Publications team is in charge of is the PC Admission Website. We spend a lot of time making sure that information is up-to-date and (hopefully) easy to find! What's new on the Admission pages? Well, you can always find the latest on-campus news by clicking on the "What's New" link on the left side of the main Admission page. We have also started a listing of college fairs that a PC admission counselor or alumni ambassador will be attending during the spring of 2007 (a great way for juniors and maybe even some very interested sophomores to get some early questions answered!). Oh, and I also heard something about an ongoing admission BLOG...??

So, there you have some of the web-based responsibilities of our admission counselors who are part of our Publications Team. Of course, we also are handling all of the print materials you receive from our office... but I'll make you wait until the next posting for those details!

Until next time, keep the questions coming for the BLOG MAILBAG and check back for the answers on Monday!!!

*Scott