Today, I spoke with Lauren Jay, an admissions officer here at DePauw. We spoke about her life as an admissions officer and how students can become involved in the office this year.
HerCampus: Hi Lauren, thank you for having us! What inspired you to become an admissions counselor at DePauw?
Lauren Jay: People are my passion. I love to connect with individuals one on one and learn more about them as a whole person. In this profession, you get the opportunity to form relationships with more than just a prospective student. You also get to know the families, other college representatives, and colleagues on the high school side. It is a very person driven profession. I love that I get to act as that go-to point of contact for a prospective student during a big transition in his/her/their life.
HC: That’s wonderful! Could you tell me more about how the admissions process works at DePauw?
LJ: It starts with research. A student needs to find out what is out there. If he/she/they stumble across DePauw and are interested, his/her/their first step would be to reach out to the admissions representative. On DePauw’s website, we have all of the counselors broken down into counties/states. For example, under my profile it says I have Marion and Hamilton Counties in Indiana. If you attend a high school in either of those counties, you are my student. An example of a student who is not mine is someone who lives in Marion County but attends a high school outside of the county.
Next, I would recommend setting up a visit. Whether it is virtual or in person. During the visit, you can sit in on an information session, get a tour, and/or meet with a staff/faculty member. If the student after the visit loves DePauw, has that warm and fuzzy gut feeling, and knows they want to come to DePauw, I would encourage them to apply.
We have 4 admission decision deadlines: Early Decision I on November 15th, Early Action December 1st, Early Decision II January 15th, and Regular Decision February 1st. Early Decision is a binding decision. Thus, if you were to be accepted to DePauw you must agree to remove your applications from other schools. This route is for our “I love DePauw” students. Typically, our prospective students apply Early Action, because it is non-binding and you will find out about your decision sooner.
We do a very holistic review of the application.
HC: What does a holistic review mean?
LJ: We look at EVERYTHING to consider a student for admission. This includes academic transcript, strength of schedule, types of classes he/she/they are taking, extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation, test scores (if submitted, we are test optional), and affinity.
HC: That’s a great approach to utilize. How have things changed in the admissions office since the start of the pandemic?
LJ: Our application process has not changed. We are still doing a holistic review, we are still test optional, and we are still open for visits. The only change we have made is how our visits occur. Please see our policy for visitors here.
HC: What advice would you give to current seniors in high school about to make their college decisions?
LJ: My biggest thing for any student looking to apply to DePauw and/or another college, please reach out to his/her/their admission counselor. My colleagues and I are here to be advocates for you. If you truly want to be a Tiger, you want us to be in your corner. Build a relationship with us and it will help out so much in the long run.
HC: I would agree. Having my admissions counselor was very beneficial in making my decision to come to DePauw. Last question, how can students become involved in the admissions office this year?
LJ: Applications to become a Tiger Ambassador for our office come out in the Spring. Check out Campus Labs and Handshake to find that application, or you can contact one of the lovely admission counselors on campus and they can let you know how to apply!
HC: Thank you for speaking with us Lauren!
LJ: Thank you!