Why are schools still using snail mail?

[drfanta]

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As I sit here waiting for my last admissions letter to come in the mail I started to ponder with the technology out there today, why do schools still use snail mail? Granted, some schools do use email and phone, but most make you sit around and wait for 2-3 days. I don't know about you, but this whole process of finding out about interviews and admissions started in January for me and there have been sleepless nights wondering when I'm going to get that long awaited letter in the mail. And for me my mail doesn't come till after 4PM sometimes!

Anyways, you would think with the technology available there would be a way to link our VMCAS login to our status at each school we apply to. I know what you are going to say next, "Not all schools are on VMCAS". Well they should be. I mean come on, there are only 29 schools in the US and they should all be on the same system.

Well, this concludes my rant about snail mail and even though this is my last admissions cycle I hope in the future applicants will be able to sleep peacefully 😴 knowing all they have to do is check the computer for their answers.

 

[VMCAS001]

Excellent comments, and if you don't mind, I'd like to submit my two cents. Currently, there are three schools that do not use VMCAS: Tufts, Tuskeege, and Texas A&M. One other is a "partial" member, meaning they accept direct applications as well as VMCAS applications.. they are Missouri.

Regarding snail mail.. it's a common dicussion issue around the overall use of paper where applications, evaluations, and notification are concerned. You must remember that schools largely feel that paper applications are easier to sort, process and distribute to their admissions committees. However, this is changing fairly rapidly. Take evaluations, for instance. 99% of schools request electronic letters of evaluations (eLOR). The hang up is the "older generation" veterinarians and others that are not tech savvy, and wish to write an old fashioned letter. This is a MAJOR headache for schools and for VMCAS.

As you know, some schools will not even consider a paper evaluation (be forewarned -- and let your evaluators know this!).

Your VMCAS Staff.

 

[athane960]

I also thought that maybe schools wanted to make SURE you were notified and snail mail can be a way of doing that as opposed to email where something might get deleted or put into the junk folder or a phone message that might not reach the person. That was just a way I tried to justify this process😳

 

[eatpinkpenguins]

Also, for acceptance letters, snail mail allows interviewers to write personal messages and they're nicer for saving than a printed out email.

I think the next step is for transcripts to be sent via email to schools. Plus, then maybe some schools would lower those $8/transcript processing fees...

 

[flyhi]

I also thought that maybe schools wanted to make SURE you were notified and snail mail can be a way of doing that as opposed to email where something might get deleted or put into the junk folder or a phone message that might not reach the person. That was just a way I tried to justify this process😳

Do they send the acceptance letters certified then? It doesn't sound like anyone has had to sign for them. Don't know about you, but i've had plenty of things 'misdirected' by the USPS. Plus, if you move during the app process, you have to worry about your mail getting forwarded. A year later and i am still receiving my previous owners mail.

I agree about the emails though and the junk mail filters.

 

[1CellNtheSea]

Maybe it's just more formal?

And I agree that things get lost in junk email folders, wrong phone numbers/not picking up your phone, etc. A letter in your hand is a nice thing to be able to show to family and friends, keep for a scrapbook/frame, etc.

I actually prefer a physical letter! When I got rejected from UC Davis it was just an unfriendly, generic email and it didn't seem very genuine. I appreciated the time put into the other letters that were mailed. (The rejections also have a pretty place in my scrapbook next to my glittery acceptance! 😀)

 

[DollyyLlama]

here's one reason.. how heartbreaking.

UC San Diego sends wrong e-mail to rejected students
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/03/uc-admissions.html

how about both? email followed by snail mail? definitely there's a risk with both forms of having a glitch in the line of communication.

 

[athane960]

Do they send the acceptance letters certified then? It doesn't sound like anyone has had to sign for them. Don't know about you, but i've had plenty of things 'misdirected' by the USPS. Plus, if you move during the app process, you have to worry about your mail getting forwarded. A year later and i am still receiving my previous owners mail.

No, they don't send them certified and i agree with problems with USPS as I have moved around so much and have had my share with them. That was just the only justification that I could come up with the schools relying on snail mail only.

Personally, I prefer the mulitpronged approach, do email and send out snail mail the same day or same with a phone call.

 

[bunnity]

here's one reason.. how heartbreaking.

UC San Diego sends wrong e-mail to rejected students
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/03/uc-admissions.html

how about both? email followed by snail mail? definitely there's a risk with both forms of having a glitch in the line of communication.

Something similar happened to an ex-roommate of mine (for grad school for a DPT) - she got an acceptance phone call and then a rejection letter. They had called the wrong person!

 

[flyhi]

Ouch!

 

[sumstorm]

Or Optimistic, on here, who got an acceptance letter at her address (with her address on it) but for another student (from a school she applied to.)

 

[1CellNtheSea]

how about both? email followed by snail mail?

yeah...UC Davis said they would do that but I never got the paper letter. Oh well!

 

[david594]

Something similar happened to an ex-roommate of mine (for grad school for a DPT) - she got an acceptance phone call and then a rejection letter. They had called the wrong person!

That why I called OSU back to verify my offer.... twice (I have low self esteem 😳 )

I was seriously waiting on pins and needles until I got the paper offer.

 

[bunnity]

That why I called OSU back to verify my offer.... twice (I have low self esteem 😳 )

I was seriously waiting on pins and needles until I got the paper offer.

Yeah thank goodness I heard her story AFTER getting my paper acceptance, or I would have been freaking out.

 

[Poochlover11]

I haven't read through all the posts above-but I definately want to be notified by email and snail mail! Just to be sure! I heard of someone who's acceptance email went into her junk email 😱. So make sure you check your junk email too-just in case!

 

[HeartSong]

A phone call makes the most since to me. Other than the fact that it's more time consuming and may be difficult to catch someone (cell phones help with that). But that's the only way they are going to know for sure that the person got the information. Although, a lot of email services have an option where you can be notified if the other person received the email and even when they open it so that would be more reliable than snail mail. I think that hard copy is important because it is more official but forms of communication can be used as "pre-notification."

 

[StillDreaming]

i think it's just was people are used to at most schools. Also, the man power it takes to call 80 - 140 people and sit there for a few minutes to listen to the excitement on the other end will be time consuming. While stuffing envelopes is pretty time consuming too, stuffing 80-140 is going to be a lot less time than calling those same people (I'm assuming they won't call those who do not get in)...

the time is probably what prevents some schools from calling... and email just has too many problems to be trusted, although, Tufts does use an online notification thing, and their emailing system seems to be working pretty well (i didn't hear of any complaints, other than the financial aid notification of which some people didn't receive, but this isn't admissions)...

We'll see what happens and if other schools adopt calling/online systems...