It’s the most wonderful time of the year…
Well it’s that time of year again. For some of you, this time means finishing up some work before the holiday break, searching for the best deal at the mall or relaxing and spending time by the fire with family and friends. For the world of admissions, it means that reading season is almost upon us.
At this point in time, many of you are probably wondering exactly what happens to your application once it’s been sent to our office. Once your application file is received and is considered complete (it has your application, counselor recommendation letter, teacher recommendation letter, and transcript) it is filed alphabetically in a number of huge filing cabinets located in our office. An admission counselor is assigned to each drawer and is required to complete what we call a “first read” of your application. This requires our lovely yellow reading sheets, in which we record you name, high school, GPA, rank, test scores (if you chose to submit them of course!), the courses you’ve taken, the number of honors, APs, accelerated, advanced classes you’ve taken, the grades you’ve received, and what contact you’ve had with Holy Cross. We also read ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING you send us and briefly summarize each, as well as recording what service, leadership, and extra-curriculars you have been involved in. Once the entire sheet is complete, your application is ready for a “second read” by another counselor. The role of the second reader is much less taxing than that of the first. This second reader double checks the work of the first reader and then records anything else that might stand out. After the second read is complete, the reading of your application is now complete and it is ready to go to our committee!
Happy holidays, happy application completing and happy winter!
Lauren D. Thornton
Admissions Counselor
