PharmCAS Community

 View Only
  • 1.  No Response to Offer of Admissions

    Posted 03-04-2020 05:45 PM
    We are seeing an uptick in candidates who do not respond to their offer of admission in the allotted time and end up 'ghosting' us. Our response time frame is clearly articulated both on the interview day and in the offer letter.  We would like to know if other colleges are experiencing the same unprofessional behavior.

    Thanks in advance,
    Heidi

    ------------------------------
    Heidi Fuchs
    Touro College of Pharmacy-New York
    New York NY
    646-981-4739
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: No Response to Offer of Admissions

    Posted 03-04-2020 07:56 PM

    Dear Heidi:

    Given that numbers of applicants are down, I cannot say with confidence that our school's number of "ghosted" applicants is any different from preceding years.  I would however recommend a few things that might help with these situations.  As a school we clearly state the response time needed in our admissions letters, but we also use WebAdMIT to monitor the status of that correspondence.  We also use shared offers and shared acceptances reports as a part of this process.  A few years ago when we were seeing this behavior, we added another letter in our correspondence to applicants that were near deadline or just passed it before we "cut them loose."  This letter gives them specific language that denotes we are aware they received our offer of admission (eg. the e-mail letter was opened, etc.), do they have additional questions for which they need answers before they can make an informed decision about our offer etc. Then we ultimately give them 48 hours to respond after which time we rescind their offer.  We feel this clearly communicates to the applicant that they have standards they are expected to meet to enter the profession and our program, but that we as a school do not want to miss out on the opportunity to have them join our program if there has been a "technology" glitch or some other issue that is delaying them in making a commitment to us.  We also believe that using this 48 hour letter gives the urgency in response while still providing courtesy to the applicant as indicated above.  We believe that this "rescinded" decision, in this example for those who are "ghosting" us, will be ultimately shared with schools (those programs with whom we share the applicant in common) on end of year reports that something occurred which caused us to rescind an offer.   Given the end of year reports are one way in which we assess our work, we think this helps competing schools to understand that our program offered a position to that applicant that was later rescinded.  It also keeps those who "ghosted" us as appearing a legitimately withdrawn applicants, a category that would be misleading in evaluating your programs admissions process in comparison to peers.

    Personally, I believe that "ghosting" is an unprofessional behavior and therefore should be considered a violation of the Applicant Code of Conduct, but I'm not entirely sure how others within the academy might feel about that.  In today's busy world, I am sure I am guilty of unintentional ghosting behavior so I should entirely be casting stones.  While I had hoped the Cooperative Admissions Guidelines would address some of this behavior, the guidelines have not entirely accomplished this since not all schools participate in their use.  Of course, technology is not perfect, and things do happen with e-mail systems, spam filters, etc.; however, given today's announcement regarding the change to the Code of Conduct process, it might be worth visiting the idea that failure to respond to offers of admission within the allotted time frame as communicated by the offering school be considered a violation of the code.  Maybe a violation is too harsh, so at the very least, it could be handled in the same manner as the interview no-show policy is currently.   

    Having served on the Applicant Code of Conduct Committee since its inception, I am pretty passionate about appropriate applicant behavior.  Of course professionalism is a two way street and in light of "Varsity Blues" court cases, the recent NACAC decision from the Department of Justice, etc. regarding admissions practices, I think it is a good time to consider this concept now.  It will not only help us with clarity about what is expected of applicants but that we also take the time to reflect critically on the practices we have in our admissions processes.  In light of current pharmacy admissions climate with declining applicant pools, job market uncertainties, etc.  the pressure  on us as admissions officers is higher than I have felt it during the course of my career.  So, I welcome you and others within the academy to keep this thread/discussion going.  Perhaps it is a concept that can be taken to the PharmCAS Advisory Committee, on which I currently serve, that can continue our collective discussions surrounding applicant and school responsibilities.

    Ghosting is a frustrating behavior that we all face to some degree, so thank you for positing your question!  

    Warm Regards,
    Jenn



    ------------------------------
    Jennifer Clutter, MA
    Program Coordinator
    West Virginia University
    School of Pharmacy
    Office of Student Services
    1122E HSN, PO Box 9500
    Morgantown WV 26506-9500
    Office: 304-293-1552
    Fax: 304-293-1447
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: No Response to Offer of Admissions

    Posted 03-05-2020 09:39 AM
    Well said Jenn.  We do similar things here at Belmont.  In my experience we have always had a small percentage of non-responses to admission offers and I have not noticed any increase in such behavior this year.   Our follow-up email after a deadline has passed often triggers a response.  With the decrease in applications I do think we may be more aware of this situation than we have been in the past.

    Bill Nichols
    Director of Admissions
    Belmont University College of Pharmacy

    ------------------------------
    Bill Nichols
    Director of Admissions
    Nashville TN
    615-460-6107
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: No Response to Offer of Admissions

    Posted 03-05-2020 10:51 AM
    Jenn,
    I like the idea of listing it as a rescinded offer instead of a declined offer.

    Jon

    ------------------------------
    Jonathan Parker
    Director of Pharmacy Admission
    Birmingham AL
    205-726-4242
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: No Response to Offer of Admissions

    Posted 03-05-2020 12:40 PM

    I disagree.  From my perspective, failing to respond to an offer of admission prior to the posted deadline is simply a passive withdrawal from the program and that is how we record it within the system.  "Offer Rescinded" should be reserved for situations where the applicant committed an egregious act whereby they became no longer eligible to be admitted into the program.  Whether or not we like it, with an available seats to applicant ratio that is very close to 1:1, for qualified applicants virtually all of the "game cards" are in their favor.  They are receiving multiple offers and they do not always feel it is necessary to "close the loop" by formally withdrawing following acceptance.

     

    To answer the original question, I can't say that we've had a significant change in the number of applicants who do not respond to our offers.  We do, however, make several attempts to contact with them prior to the deadline.

     

    Steve Davis

     

     

     

    Steven Davis, MAPsy

    Director of Admissions

    Touro University California

    www.tu.edu

     






  • 6.  RE: No Response to Offer of Admissions

    Posted 03-05-2020 12:54 PM
    I agree with Steve!


    Sincerely




    Marlon Prince, MBA

    Director of Admissions and Recruitment

    Howard University, College of Pharmacy

    2300 4th Street, NW

    Washington, DC 20059

    Ph: 202-806-6533

    marlon.prince@howard.edu






  • 7.  RE: No Response to Offer of Admissions

    Posted 03-05-2020 02:19 PM

    Thank you all for your thoughtful responses.  I am able to adjust our process a bit by taking your suggestions into account and am most grateful.

     

    I guess it is up to each college to determine how they view the lack of response and how they define egregious. Personally, I feel that it is enabling to accept that they do not always feel it is necessary to close the loop, but sadly, it is a reality. 

     

    Though they are not yet 'professionals' and it is our job to teach and model professionalism, we have to set the bar at some point.  We are prepared to expect a response to our offer of admissions as a minimum standard, especially since we note the importance of responding to the offer both on our interview day and in all of our correspondence, formal and text.

     

    Once again, with gratitude,

    Heidi

     

    Imagine Your Future

    image009.png@01D46A27.DE57ECC0

    Touro College of Pharmacy, est. 2008

    Celebrating 11 years of training the

    next generation of pharmacists!

    Heidi Fuchs

    Assistant Dean
    Admissions and Enrollment Management

    O: 646-981-4750

    heidi.fuchs@touro.edu

    www.tcop.touro.edu

    facebook

    https://touro.box.com/shared/static/dfvz431yevi05t92ahms9fum8vxk27sn.png

    https://touro.box.com/shared/static/8t6hz22v2g61frfkkh009o5rpdzn9uw4.png

    https://touro.box.com/shared/static/ujo3knaz4n715fw34bc3ksh5w3u1odhd.png

     

     






  • 8.  RE: No Response to Offer of Admissions

    Posted 03-05-2020 10:48 AM
    Heidi,
    We will have a few who do this each year.  We document our multiple attempts to contact them in a final email and then list them as offer declined.
    Now that "conduct violation" consequences are going to be in the hands of the individual schools, there may be the opportunity for more sharing of information between programs concerning these individuals.  It would of course then be up to the school chosen to attend to actually do anything with that information.

    Jon

    ------------------------------
    Jonathan Parker
    Director of Pharmacy Admission
    Birmingham AL
    205-726-4242
    ------------------------------