College admission offices across the country are increasingly receiving applications online, and some are even moving to completely paperless systems. But what does "paperless" mean?
"It's such a sexy term, everybody wants to use it," said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
With paperless applications, students are required to use a web-based submission form, though even entirely paperless offices still allow paper applications in special circumstances, Nassirian said. Some "paperless" applications may still include paper forms, such as teacher recommendations and transcripts.
The biggest factor in many schools' decisions to switch to paperless applications is money, Nassirian said. Going paperless saves the cost of printing applications as well as entering data from paper applications into a computer system. It also minimizes errors by removing the data entry step, Nassirian explained. For applicants, an added benefit is that the quick turnaround time and nature of the electronic process means they don't have to wonder if their submitted forms got lost in the mail and can get decisions more quickly, Nassirian said.
There is one "residual concern" about applicants' access to the Internet, he said, calling it the one downside of paperless admissions. Using a public library computer to access the Internet might not offer the same leisurely pace as a home computer for filling out forms, Nassirian said.
The Brown Admission Office is not going completely paperless any time soon, Dean of Admission Jim Miller '73 wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. Other technology projects, such as Banner, are taking precedence, he said. According to Miller, about 90 percent of applicants to Brown currently apply online.
That figure is higher than most schools, but the trend nationwide is definitely toward more online applications, Nassirian said, though he added that there are not many completely paperless admission offices in the country. The University of California system, the University of Michigan and Northeastern University are among those that have made the switch.
Lance Jabr, a senior at Mountain View High School in California, is one of the 90 percent of applicants to the University who plan to submit their college applications online. Jabr said he will apply to Brown early decision this fall. "I think (paperless applications) would make things a lot easier," Jabr said, adding that it would lessen pressure on applicants.
Jabr said he hopes the University wouldn't consider going paperless without first determining how it would affect applicants without Internet access.
Security also becomes more important with electronic applications, Nassirian said. First, records must be protected from hacking. Also, if recommendations are submitted electronically rather than mailed, the sender's identity must be confirmed to prevent applicants writing their own recommendation letters, he said.
Going entirely paperless is not likely to change the applicant pool at a school like Brown, because applying to Brown is not an "impulse" decision, Nassirian said. But for those seeking certificate programs such as vocational training, paperless admissions could make the process easier, and make them more likely to apply, he said.
