With University mail service slow because of the local anthrax scare, the University Admission Office has announced that it will be flexible with late-arriving applications.
On its website, the admission office has instructed applicants not to be concerned about early decision applications mailed by Nov. 1.
According to Dean of Admission Fred Hargadon, his office is receiving applications later than usual because of anthrax inspections in local post offices.
"Applications are currently arriving at the admission office, some by regular mail, some by fax and some by FedEx," he said in an e-mail. "Our main problem is the mail that was headed our way and arrived at either the postal center in Hamilton or the one in West Windsor and was in those centers when [they] were closed for inspections."
All applications that would normally have gone through those centers were rerouted to alternate sites. This additional step is causing a delay in the arrival of applications, Hargadon said.
On Friday, the admission office "received a big load of mail, more than we could possibly open in a day," Hargadon said. "Since some of this mail was postmarked as early as Oct. 19, we're hopeful that it means we'll experience less of a delay in having early decision applications on file in a timely manner than we had anticipated."
The admission website advises prospective applicants to fax a copy of the first part of their applications, indicating that additional parts should arrive.
The website stresses that mail delays will not disadvantage applications in any way.
It is too early to assess the size of this year's early decision pool, as the numbers fluctuate each year, Hargadon said.
"Some of our mail has been delayed, and until we receive that mail, we won't be able to judge whether applications are up, down or the same as last year," he said.
According to Hargadon, unless further complications arise, the admission office will not be substantially delayed in its admissions process.
"A lot will depend on whether, and how soon, mail service returns to normal," he said. "If it returns to normal fairly soon, our process won't have been significantly affected. Otherwise, we may find ourselves finishing up our process a few days later than planned."
Those working in the admission office have taken precautions to avoid any further complications in the admissions process.
"The staff in the admission office mailroom have received training provided by the University on how to open the mail, how to spot suspicious looking mail" and to wear protective gloves, Hargadon said.
(Additional reporting by Princetonian Contributor Kathy Li.)
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