What is up with Jefferson's admissions office??

[DrBodacious]

I don't have a letter service at my school, so I had to have individual letters sent from four faculty. The first was sent out early Nov, the last was sent out late Nov. I checked my status page frequently and since it displayed that they hadn't recieved my LORs, I called to inquire on Dec 23.

The admissions secretary was very rude and basically said I shouldn't be calling her but that I should just keep checking the status page. Then I explained my situation abou t the individual letters and that they should have recieve some of my letters by then. She insisted they weren't received. She then said that they would have to do some digging around and that they would call me back. Of course they didn't. So I called again today, since their deadline for recieving all materials is Jan 1, and whoever answered the phone today gave me the same cold-shoulder routine, then again said that they would call me back.

Both times they have said that the letters are probably just not entered into the system yet, that they are probably there but not accounted for. ?!?! It's past the deadline and I'd like to know what letters they have and what letters they don't so I might have a small chance of resending them.

From what I've heard, Jefferson is a nice school. But I shure wouldn't be able to tell by talking to their admissions people. How long does it f'n take to dig through the mail pile and look for LORs?! You'd think if they have a deadline they would want to let people know about **** like this. If they don't call me back this week and say that I've been invited to interview, I'm really going to be pissed off. I should have been complete there a month ago. I will definately write the dean of admissions suggesting they revamp how they organize LORs. Their status page, that they seem to think answers the mysteries of the universe, is totally useless. Argh! Good time to use this smiley -->

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[Chrisobean]

it took them a month to post that my committee letter was received on the status page. dont feel so bad, altho it blows that the people were so nasty to you.

and i have been complete for about a month.. and no word on anything.

good luck, i hope it all gets straightened out!

bean

 

[Lochmoor]

I totally agree with you. I think Jeff admissions is a bit rude. I forgot about their status page after submitting my stuff. So, a month or so later, I emailed them to check on the status of my stuff since I hadnt heard anything from them.

I sent that email in mid December......still no reply.....hehe. They could have just sent a little "check the status page email". That's all I want.

I've sent emails to other schools ie Stanford and Baylor. I recieved brief responses from them within a day.

I WAS quite interested in Jeff, now i'm turned off. I mean, if they cant even keep their stuff together about admissions (when most schools try to kiss ass), one wonders about everything else.....

Regardless of if I get in or EVER hear anything from them, I'm tempted to write to them about my experience or lack there of.

 

[DrBodacious]

Originally posted by Lochmoor
I totally agree with you. I think Jeff admissions is a bit rude. I forgot about their status page after submitting my stuff. So, a month or so later, I emailed them to check on the status of my stuff since I hadnt heard anything from them.

I sent that email in mid December......still no reply.....hehe. They could have just sent a little "check the status page email". That's all I want.

I've sent emails to other schools ie Stanford and Baylor. I recieved brief responses from them within a day.

I WAS quite interested in Jeff, now i'm turned off. I mean, if they cant even keep their stuff together about admissions (when most schools try to kiss ass), one wonders about everything else.....

Regardless of if I get in or EVER hear anything from them, I'm tempted to write to them about my experience or lack there of.

I agree! They should really get their act together. Supposedly theit ovrerall reputation is second to Penn in Philly but I don't think they are in any position to have an arrogent or off-putting attidute towards applicants. I'm toting around a decent application and thus far they haven't picked up the pieces of it out of their mailbox, so once I get accepted at a comparable school I'm inclined to say, "their loss." As you mentioned Stanford and Baylor have their acts together...

 

[dookbloo]

the people i talked to at jefferson have given me the same run around twice. they were miserable to talk to on the phone and not helpful to any degree. they also did not 'call me back'

 

[KarateGirl]

DrB, if it helps I'm in the same boat, except I have a committee letter waiting somewhere in limbo. I've called the admissions office three times, the last time being this morning, and I keep getting the same answer--"wait another week". This time she said that they're entering the last batch this week, so if it's not in by Friday call again. If it's not there by Friday, things are gonna get ugly.

On the bright side--if you can call it that--it sounds like our letters probably are there. And if everybody's getting held up then we're not too behind in the review process. I hope.

Ah, I'd rather go to a NY school, anyway.

 

[DrBodacious]

Ok, that's several of us so that is reassureing. I guess I can wait one more week before I talk to those people again. LOL, I was in Philly today when I called them. I should have just dropped by the admissions office and offered my help to sort through the LORs.

 

[size_tens]

My school reported sending out my LOR's on 12/9 and JMC just updated my status page to show that they had been received today. I know the process is frustrating but try and cut the admissions office some slack: they're probably underpaid, overworked this time of year and have mountains of LOR's to sort through.

 

[dookbloo]

i dont think they deserve slack if they are extremely rude and tell you they will call you back when they dont. no other office has responded as poorly as theirs did.

 

[DrBodacious]

Originally posted by size_tens
My school reported sending out my LOR's on 12/9 and JMC just updated my status page to show that they had been received today. I know the process is frustrating but try and cut the admissions office some slack: they're probably underpaid, overworked this time of year and have mountains of LOR's to sort through.

That is dandy. I've had letters sent out beginning early in November and they have no record of any of them. See my beef? Consider yourself lucky that you have a letter service for one. I don't have any idea if any one letter is missing so I'm basically fuked if any of my letters actually does get lost. The rediculous part is that it is now 5 days past their deadline, they should have a handle on things by thier deadline. Jan 1 deadline is a bad idea, hard to work with I admit. I think Jefferson needs to cough up more $ for the admissions staff, or just get new people and start afresh, compete overhaul, whatever it takes, their current system is sub-par.

 

[Lochmoor]

Underpaid? Then where did my $!00 go? Jeff has one of the highest 2nd fee.

Overworked? Not any more than any other schools. Possibly less since they did not have any 2nd essays.

Maybe they should consider pre-screening applications.

Oh well. It's not a big deal to me. I just think it reflects badly on the school when they are not up to the same standard as other schools are.

 

[theprizefighter]

Hi, All

I've had the same problems with Jeff. I sent my letters out in October and called them several times a month to see if they got them. Each time they said they had them but that they weren't "processed" yet. By late Nov, I knew something was fishy and offered several times to resend my letters. Each time they said no no no. Now, they e-mailed me today "We don't have your letters, please fax them." WTF?!! Worst of all, my school charges rip off prices for faxing letters. Jeff has really disappointed me.



theprizefighter

"Dude, where's my $100?" - Medical School Applicant

"Note how the word "cant" is in applicant." - Shannon F. Beerman

 

[Kashue]

I once called the admissions office to see if I could schedule an interview since I was going to be in the area. They replied by sending me an email telling me my file was complete. Also, the lady on the phone was very rude and I heard vacuuming in the background - maybe they were vaccuuming the paperwork of the rejects

 

[CalBeE]

Jefferson's probably like Hopkins...some admission staff are not nice, but once you get in, it's a different story.

When I interviewed at Jefferson, I met some really nice staff, and the director of admission?? (Callahan) was very friendly and helpful too.

 

[Lux Aeterna]

Yeah I have to second Calbee. Jeff's admissions office is asocial, but Grace Herschmann and Clara Callahan and the people you get stuff from post-acceptance are awesome!

I had to tussle with the office back in August about my LORs and if they ever were received. Luckily they resolved it in a few days.

 

[DoctorWannaBe]

I have been offered an interview with Drexel and am wondering if I should call Jefferson to see if they want to interview me since my file has been complete since October and I've heard nothing. Do you guys think that would be a bad idea since the admissions office people seem to be rude to people who call about their applications?

 

[ixitixl]

Originally posted by Kashue
I once called the admissions office to see if I could schedule an interview since I was going to be in the area. They replied by sending me an email telling me my file was complete. Also, the lady on the phone was very rude and I heard vacuuming in the background - maybe they were vaccuuming the paperwork of the rejects

I had an identical experience.

 

[Lochmoor]

Jeff is really backed up. I finally recieved a reply to my email that was sent on Dec 3!! And the reply was :

Dear Applicant:

In response to your e-mail requesting status of your application to Jefferson Medical College, our records indicate your application is complete and under consideration by the Committee on Admissions.

Thank you for your interest in Jefferson Medical College.

So if it took them a month to send that standard reply, i'm sure they're quite bogged down. Now I feel a bit bad for taking them away from doing more important stuff like updating applications.

Sorry bout that ya'll.

 

[KarateGirl]

I just checked the status page, and my LoR is still listed as not having been received, though it was sent Nov. 25. I've called three times already, and the last time they said to give it till Friday.

Has anyone had any success with the admissions office yet? I'm thinking of calling them and telling them that if they can't verify that the letter is there by tomorrow, I'm mailing another one whether they want it or not.

 

[Ischemia]

Haha, the timing of this thread could not have been better.

I was offered a spot at Jefferson. After informing them I will not be attending, I was sent a survey-type letter asking what I liked about the admissions process there and what I didn't. My main problem with their process was the unfriendliness, to say it nicely, of their admissions office, which is what I wrote about.

I just finished filling out the survey and put it in its envelope, came online, checked SDN, and here was this thread. Perfect timing.

Oh, also...They never sent me a secondary. I had to call up and ask for it. I think their office is a little bit off-the-ball, so just keep calling and asking them for whatever it is you are concerned about. Don't rely on them to figure it all out.

One more thing...To be fair, I should say that after you are accepted, they are total sweethearts to you. They sent a holiday card that had my name hand-written on it and everything. Post-acceptance, they are the best. It's just their pre-acceptance admissions office that I'm not in love with.

Best of luck to everyone.

 

[DrBodacious]

The status page now says that my LORs have been recieved. Finally! Though I guess I should just happy that my letters weren't lost. Best of luck to the rest of you who've had problems with Jeff's LOR sorters.

 

[spaz]

glad to know i'm not the only with LOR problems etc. i didn't have problems with jefferson receiving my LORs (although i did have major LOR problems at UCI... and UCI's status page still doesn't show my file as complete despite the fact I finally faxed the letters over after two failed ups deliveries... but that's another long story)

anyway, there was a problem when i first submitted my jefferson secondary online... didn't process or something. so i emailed them right away (since it was after business hours) to check whether or not my credit card had been charged. they emailed back requesting my credit card # etc to look into it. and then they never got back to me

after several weeks i finally i called them again, and they said that they had sent me an email telling me to submit my app again. the obessessive email checker that i am, i suspect that they were lying and never did send that email.

ah, the trials and tribulations of the application process. may i never have to go through this again (knock on wood)