Early January is always a busy time in our office. I know many applicants are anxiously awaiting news about the processing of documents and I thought I would provide some insight into what we are doing right now to make sure files get ready for reading.

I will start with a statistic:

37% of the people who submitted applications for fall 2009 did so in the five days prior to the admission deadline.

There is no problem with submitting an application anytime prior to the deadline, but here are some insights into how the process works. It can take us anywhere from three to five days to print an application once it has been submitted. Once an application has been printed a file must be created and then the matching process starts.

The matching process involves combing through all of the mail we have received and documents that have been uploaded to our site and then printed. I would hazard a guess and say that we process well over 75,000 pieces of paper each application season. We have letters of recommendation, transcripts, test scores . . . well, you are well familiar with what we ask for at this point in time.

I hope these numbers give you a picture of the process in our office. If you submitted an application slightly before the deadline, it might be a few weeks before we are able to complete the matching process. If you submitted an application well before the deadline the same may still apply. Even if you have submitted an application and several documents well before the deadline, the final matching process can take time.

Stayed tuned and keep up-to-date with the progress of your application on the application Web site.  When the Web site indicates that all of your documents have been tracked into the system this means your application has been sent to the Committee for review.