The UA has undertaken a new initiative to help alleviate some of the stress university applicants face each year waiting to hear whether they have been accepted or not.
The Wildcat Promise initiative informs early applicants of the school’s decision shortly after they apply. The initiative is different from Early Decision in that students who are accepted through Wildcat Promise are not required to attend the UA.
The initiative has already allowed approximately 4,000 applicants to learn their admissions decision for the 2014-2015 academic year about a month after they applied.
“We have a lot of students that know they want to come to the University of Arizona,” said Kasey Urquidez, associate vice president for Student Affairs and dean of undergraduate admissions. “So, our goal in part was to have students and families be able to get everything complete so that, before the holidays, they know they have everything set … and can finish out their senior year strong.”
While the normal application deadline for freshmen is May 1, Wildcat Promise gave students two opportunities to apply early with the understanding that they would receive the decision after a month’s time. Those who applied before Oct. 1 were notified by Nov. 1, and those who applied before Nov. 1 will receive their decision by Dec. 1.
Arezu Corella, director of undergraduate admissions processing, oversees the team that reviews the online and paper applications of the thousands of students who apply to the UA annually. Corella said turning out thousands of admissions decisions in a month means that her office must expedite the process of evaluating and making decisions on the applications. Once all decisions are made, a staff that includes several UA students packages the acceptance or rejection letters — along with other information and resources — into large envelopes for mailing.
For those students who are accepted, the red and blue envelope leaves no question. The word “YES” dominates the front of the packet followed by the words, “You have been accepted!” Some students said the earlier decision has helped with the stress of waiting for an acceptance letter.
“I’ve been stressing a lot about college applications,” said Eliicia Villaseñor, a senior at Flowing Wells High School who was recently accepted to the UA. “By getting my acceptance letter earlier, it kind of just calmed my nerves … and made me know that I have potential and I can succeed and I am good enough for the U of A.”
Villaseñor, who has aspirations in many different fields, including business, fashion and acting, said she was surprised when she got her acceptance letter on Halloween, a day earlier than she had expected. The first member of her family to attend a university, Villaseñor said that she is excited to get her college career underway.
“I just look forward to being a part of the U of A community,” she said. “I’ve heard a lot of great things about [the UA], and I look forward to being a part of that.”
– Follow Mark Armao @MarkArmao
