If you live in one of these states and are thinking about applying to Olin this fall, please consider scheduling an interview with Duncan Murdoch! Duncan is our former Dean of Admission and VP of External Relations, and he helps us out by conducting interviews with students on the west coast. His schedule can be found here. Interviews are not required, and in fact, we do not have the staff to conduct them elsewhere, so please do not worry if you are unable to meet with Duncan!
If you are interested, please use the schedule to find out when Duncan is near you, and then contact him directly. He can be reached by phone (909-821-0171) or by email (duncan.murdoch@olin.edu).
The Princeton Review Rankings are in and Olin College did very well! We are pleased with our results. We know that we have amazing students, faculty, and staff and a fantastic and welcoming community but having the Princeton Review confirm it is icing on the cake!
Fantastic news, high school seniors! It's time to apply for admission to college! What? You're busy enjoying your summer job/internship/time on your parents' couch? You don't even want to THINK about the college application process? We understand.
However, we should note that you DO have some free time right now, and in about three weeks, you will have zero free time. It would be a good idea to create an account, select the colleges you're planning on applying to, and take a look at their essay requirements. This tends to be the most time-consuming part of the entire process for applicants. It can also be the most important part of your application. Waiting until December 31st at 11:30pm is a popular method for dealing with scary application essays, but let me assure you- this is not a good idea. Start brainstorming now, maybe even write an outline! The sooner you finish the essays and the rest of the application, the sooner you can breathe easy. If the essays are too much for an August afternoon, at least consider filling out the required portions of the Common Application. It is a lengthy application, so the sooner you can finalize your home, family, school and activity information, the better.
If you find yourself on a roll and want to check off some other items from your college application to-do list, consider registering for required testing through the College Board or ACT. Olin requires the SAT or ACT with Writing as well as one SAT subject test in Math and one in a Science of your choice. Registration deadlines sneak up quickly, and we often hear from panicked students in late November who suddenly realize that they have missed all their chances to complete SAT and ACT testing.
Please give some thought to who you will ask to write your letters of recommendation. Teachers generally prefer to receive these requests early in the school year, so they can budget their own time during the semester. These letters take time to write, so asking a teacher the day before winter break is not a good idea. Olin requires one letter from a math or science teacher, and the other letter should come from a teacher of your choice.
That's it! See? Easy! Create an account, start a few essays, fill out a few data fields, register for a few tests, and you are starting off your senior year WELL AHEAD of your peers. If you have any questions about the application process at Olin, please do not hesitate to contact our office! Please email apply@olin.edu or call 781-292-2222.
The Admission Office is planning our Open Houses for the fall.
Women's Open House will be held on Sunday, September 26 in the afternoon.
Fall Open House will be held on Sunday, October 24 in the afternoon.
The RSVP sites will be posted on the blog and on the website as soon as they are live, later this summer.
As always, if you can't make the Open Houses we have plenty of opportunities to visit and learn more about Olin and the admission process. During the summer we are open Monday through Friday and during the fall we are open Monday through Saturday. For information session times and to RSVP please visit www.olin.edu/admission/rsvp.asp.
The Class of 2014 consists of 94 students, 54 men and 40 women
(43%).
The "yield" (the percentage of students accepting our offers of
admission) was greater than anticipated. The final yield is 55%, which is similar to last years 58% yield.
Where are they coming from?
Twenty three (23) states and three countries, other than the
U.S., are represented. The leading states are:
California: 20
Massachusetts: 14
Texas: 9
New Jersey: 6
Florida: 5
Hawaii and New York: 4
Colorado, Virginia and Washington: 3
Note: Two students are from Idaho. These are first students from this
state. The only state we have not enrolled a student from in our history is
South Dakota.
Non-U.S. citizens: 3, China, Germany and South
Korea. One U.S. citizen attended high school in Taipei, Taiwan.
Two siblings are members of the Class of
2014. One is the sister of a current student and one a sister of an alumna.
Big News: Deferrals
The most startling result of this year's admission process is
the number of students who have decided to defer their enrollment to the Class
of 2015. As you may know, students who choose to accept a place on the waiting
list have the option of deferring their enrollment for a year, if we have no
space for them in the new class.
All are guaranteed a place in the next class, as well as the
half-tuition Olin scholarship. Other than in the first admission cycle in
2000-2001, when 14 students deferred their admission to Olin for a year (known
affectionately as the "virtual Olin partners"), typically we have one or two
students defer enrollment each year; one year there were four who deferred to
the following year. This year the number is 19! Two of these
students were admitted and 17 were on the waiting list.
Beyond the numbers
What's important about the Class of 2014 is that it will carry
on the tradition of excellence inside and outside the classroom at Olin. The
Class of 2014 is yet another wonderful group of exceptionally talented
students.
Greetings from the Olin Admission Office! As you know, we are rapidly running out of April. The National Candidates' Reply Deadline is May 1st, though we are giving you until Monday, May 3rd to make your decision. The numbers as they stand now:
- 65 have submitted deposits and joined the Class of 2014. Hooray! We are SO excited to have you on campus next year! - 13 have turned down our offer of admission and enrolled elsewhere. We wish you the very best and we know you'll succeed wherever you go! - 1 has deferred enrollment and will join the Class of 2015. An awesome choice for those who need a little time to breathe before diving into the college experience.
That leaves 92 of you. What will you do? Where will you go? We hope that this decision is not causing you to lose TOO much sleep, though we also realize that it is an important one. All of you should have received emails from one of our current students. Please do not hesitate to use them as a resource. Ask them those tough questions that are keeping you up at night. Ask them about their own decision to enroll at Olin- many of them were admitted to the same schools that you are considering, and may have some insight into your own decision process.
One reminder: to respond to our offer of admission electronically, please use the https://apply.olin.edu site. The login credentials are the ones that you used to RSVP for Candidates' Weekend, NOT the ones that were emailed to you in early April. (Those credentials allowed you to log on to the Olin Portal and use the Admission Chat software.) We apologize for the confusion. If you have forgotten your username for the https://appy.olin.edu site, please email apply@olin.edu. Generally speaking the usernames are "firstnamelastname" (no space). For security reasons, we are not able to view your password. You can reset your password here: https://apply.olin.edu/reset.cfm
Finally, if you would like to be put in touch with a faculty member, staff member, alumni, or current student, please email apply@olin.edu with your request. We will do our best to respond promptly. Financial Aid questions should be directed to Jean Ricker. Her email address is jean.ricker@olin.edu and her phone number is 781-292-2343. Parents can contact any of our volunteer Olin parents, listed here: http://www.olin.edu/parents/PRPContacts.asp
Good luck and remember that college will be an exciting journey no matter where you go! Make your decision with confidence and then sit back and start dreaming about the amazing classes you will take, the people you will meet and the fun that you will have over the next four years. We wish you well!
Hi
all,
It's officially the middle of April, and those of you who are
deciding where to enroll are no doubt busy with campus visit days, email
exchanges with professors and students, managing your senior course load, and
trying to fit in time with friends. It can be very stressful! Our own seniors
can relate. They are busy with SCOPE, upper-level classes, interviewing for
jobs, visiting grad schools and oh yes! Trying to savor the last months of
college! Many of you have wondered what our seniors are planning for the next
step after graduation, especially given the economy. We have good news to
report!
The
post-Olin plans of the 86 members of the Class of 2010 run the gamut from
prestigious scholarship and fellowship programs to top graduate schools and
corporations, according to the college's Post Graduate Planning Office. While
the results for the class will change as the semester progresses, details
released by the office provide an intriguing look at general trends in the
class's post-Commencement pursuits. Highlights as of mid-April include:
- One student has accepted a
Fulbright scholarship for study at the University of Bath, U.K. Two additional
candidates for the highly regarded international exchange program are awaiting
word on their status.
- Three seniors have been awarded
prestigious NSF Graduate Research Awards.
- Thirty-five percent have accepted
offers of employment, at an average salary of $71,000; seven seniors have
accepted positions with Microsoft, making the Redmond, Wash.-based company the
largest employer of graduating Olin seniors.
- Some other destinations include
Google, Lexmark International, Rockwell Automation, Intuit, Monterey Bay
Aquarium Research, GE Health Care, Mitre and the Naval Underseas Warfare
Center.
- Thirty percent are considering
graduate school and will make decisions in the next few weeks. Possible
graduate school destinations include MIT's MS/Ph.D. Program in Mechanical
Engineering, Stanford's Ph.D. Program in Electrical Engineering and
UCal-Berkeley's Ph.D. Program in Electrical Engineering.
- Six seniors (7 percent of the
class) are planning to develop their own businesses.
- Proving that study at Olin can
lead to a range of options, two seniors have been admitted to Harvard Business
School, one has been admitted to medical school and one to law school. There is
even one senior who plans on becoming a seminarian at a Catholic church in
Washington.
We hope that you enjoy your senior spring! Please do not hesitate to contact the office if you have any questions that will help you make your final admission decision!
We have been fielding a lot of calls and emails lately about when we will be mailing our decisions.
The Admission Committee met last Thursday and we are in the process of putting together our admission packages for mailing on this Thursday, March 18, barring any unforseen circumstance. Therefore, most of you should receive them on Friday, others will get them on Monday. We are going to have our online system available starting Monday, March 22 at 9 pm ET, and you can use your username and password that was in your Candidates' Weekend letter to access your decision and RSVP to our offer.
If you have any other questions, please call our office at 781-292-2222 or email apply@olin.edu.
Hello Olin Candidates! We hope that you are getting excited about your upcoming trip to Olin! We are very busy getting ready for these massive events. As we have said before, Candidates' Weekend requires the input and energy of every single Olin community member. Our faculty, staff, students, alumni and parents all join forces to put on a very busy two days for you. Here are some reminders, as well as some clarifying information.
Reminders:
Submit your travel plans as soon as you know them, especially students who are traveling alone! Laura Cotten needs to set up the shuttles that will transport you to and from Logan airport, so the sooner she has your flight information, the better.
Students who are traveling alone and who would like to request a roommate at the Babson Executive Conference Center should email Laura directly. (that's laura.cotten@olin.edu)
EVERYONE needs to submit their travel plans by Monday!
EVERYONE needs to submit their medical and photo release forms by Monday! You can mail them, fax them (781-292-2210) or scan them and email them to caitlin.clark@olin.edu
Have a color photo of yourself scanned and sent as a JPEG
The JPEG file name should be in the following format: Last name_First name.jpg (i.e. Smith_Chris.jpg)
Compose a statement about yourself that is 20 (or fewer) words.Other Candidates have sent in lists of interests, poems about themselves, or favorite quotes. Feel free to be as creative as you want, so long as you meet the word limit.
Send your email with your full name, hometown, high school and 20 word description in the body, and the JPEG as an attachment.
This scanned image/photo does not have to be a portrait, but you must be clearly recognizable and the picture must be suitable for a PowerPoint presentation (group shots are not acceptable).
Students who are coming to the first weekend (February 19-20) should work on their name tags.(use the 3''x4'' template we sent you in your packet)
Clarifications:
I'm traveling with my mother and I'd like to take the Shuttle from the airport. How do I arrange that?
Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to provide transportation for all 270 Candidates plus their families. We reserve the Shuttles for students who are traveling alone ONLY. They are our priority, because they and their parents are relying on us to provide a safe and seamless experience while they are visiting Olin. If you are nervous about driving in Boston, we recommend taking a cab out to the Babson Executive Conference Center, and staying there during the Candidates' Weekend. Olin is a 10-minute walk from the BECC, and we will have students escorting guests back and forth throughout the weekend.
I'm traveling alone from the West Coast and the only flight that works for me arrives on Thursday night. What do I do?!
Not to worry! We suspect that there will be a number of you in this situation. We will arrange a Thursday night Shuttle for students who are traveling alone. The Babson Executive Conference Center does have some rooms set aside for Thursday nights, so you should not have a problem getting a reservation.
What time does the event end on Saturday?
The mandatory portions of the weekends are the interviews, and these wrap up by 5:30pm. You are welcome to leave at that point if your family needs to get on the road. Following the end of the interviews, there will be admission presentation by Dean Nolan, a particularly yummy dinner in the Dining Hall, a performance by the Olin Fire Arts Club, and an open house in one of the residence halls. Candidates tend to enjoy the Saturday night activities, because it gives them a chance to bond with each other and our current students.
What should I wear to my interview? Do I need to bring anything?
Just wear your normal clothes! You will be receiving a Candidates' Weekend t-shirt when you arrive, and many students choose to wear these on Saturday, though it is certainly not required! We are not expecting formal attire of any sort, and the interviewers themselves will be casually dressed. Some of our crazier students will even be in flip-flops. You do not need to bring anything to your interview, just yourself!
Questions? Concerns? Please email us directly or call 781-292-2222!
