You've hit submit on your application and now you’re anxiously awaiting your decision! Here in Colorado, our dedicated admissions staff are busy processing and evaluating every application that we receive in order to get those admission decisions sent out as promptly as possible. Each year, I continue to be impressed by the expertise of our staff, and I consistently see examples of our team going above and beyond to make the application process as easy and seamless as possible for you.
From the time that you hit submit on your application to the time you get your decision letter in the mail, there are a lot of things happening behind the scenes in our operations department. Our mailroom is still a busy place, despite the fact that we get most documents electronically these days. When our mailroom staff are not opening and sorting mail from all over the world, they’re keeping themselves busy accepting application fees over the phone and resolving duplicate records in our application system.
Next, our data management team down the hall makes sure your paper and electronic documents are scanned accurately into our application system and attached to your record. This is no small task considering the many thousands of credentials, essays and letters of recommendation that arrive in our office throughout the admission cycle!
From there, our dedicated team of processors reviews your self-reported information and runs quality control checks to make sure that your record is complete and correct and that your application moves smoothly to the admissions counselors for review. Along with taking care of all the applications, our processors answer your emails and are standing by to help our knowledgeable staff who answer phones in the Admissions Call Center. They also process your major change and term change requests and review your file for in-state tuition classification.
Working in admissions requires a special combination of attention to detail, a strong desire to help others and, with the increasingly advanced systems and technology we use, the ability to manage the volumes of applications and documents we receive each year. I’m very grateful to have such a diligent and capable staff helping bring you to our wonderful campus. We work early and stay late, we often work on Saturdays, and in this new era of working largely remotely, we’ve made our kitchens and living rooms and spare rooms into home offices to make sure that the processing happens no matter what is going on in the outside world.
When the data has all been entered and checked on the operations side, our admissions counselors begin carefully and holistically reviewing your application materials. If they need more information from you, they’ll tell us so we can let you know what additional materials you should send. Finally, our counselors tell us when they’re ready to make a decision on your file so that we can enter the decision and send you a letter. Our recruitment and operations staff all work together as one big team so that you are well-equipped to make your decision about where to go to school. And, if you decide that CU Boulder is the right fit, our operations team will be thrilled to know that our hard work helped make your dream a reality!
Jessica Oppen
Associate Director
Office of Admissions
admissions@colorado.edu