Admissions Assistant

Columbia University in the City of New York; New York (NY); On-site; USD 58,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Columbia University in the City of New York is seeking an Admissions Assistant to support the Law School admissions office. You will process applications across multiple candidate populations, maintain the admissions database, and respond to applicant inquiries to ensure smooth operations for thousands of applicants each year.

The role requires strong English communication, data integrity skills, and the ability to manage deadlines under pressure.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or equivalent required.
• Two years’ related experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience required.
• Excellent command of English (written and spoken) with an emphasis on communication and strong interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Processes admissions applications for regular, transfer, visiting, and other candidate populations.
• Maintains a national law school applicant database system and ensures data integrity.
• Responds to applicant inquiries by phone, email, and in person, managing email inboxes with thousands of documents.
• Prepares and generates over 8,500 admission decision letters annually in a timely manner.
• Assists with preparing and mailing admitted student handbooks and other hard copy mailings.

Skills

Excellent written and spoken English

Strong interpersonal skills

Education

High School Diploma or equivalent

College degree preferred

Tools

Student Information Systems (SIS)

Database management software

Job description

• Job Type: Support Staff - Union
• Bargaining Unit: Local 2110
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $57,521 - $60,000

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Associate Director of Admissions Operations, the Admissions Assistant is a member of the support staff team and aids with various duties pertaining to the daily operation of the office, which serves over 8,500 applicants to the Law School each year.

Responsibilities

1. Processes admissions applications for regular, transfer, visiting, and other candidate populations. Assists in the creation, processing, and filing of admissions applications (materials that are received and processed include admissions applications, dean’s certifications, personal statements, letters of recommendations, and academic transcripts). Responsible for continued correspondence to applicants regarding status of application.
2. Maintains a sophisticated national law school applicant database system, frequently under heavy deadline and pressure. Inputs and edits sensitive applicant information and has primary responsibility for maintaining the integrity of the database. Conducts inquires and generates confidential reports of applicant and statistical data as requested by admissions officers.
3. Responds to applicant inquiries by telephone, email, and in-person. Assists with managing shared email inboxes that receive thousands of electronic documents annually, including dean’s certifications and transcripts.
4. Jointly responsible for preparing and generating, in a timely manner, over 8,500 admission decision (admit, deny, and other notices) letters annually.
5. Assists preparing and mailing admitted student handbooks and other hard copy mailings. Coordinates pickup of mailings with Law School Infocenter.
6. Works with admissions officer and other admissions and administrative assistants to ensure documents required of entering students in a deferral period are received, processed, and filed in a timely manner.
7. Maintains university-wide database—Student Information Systems (SIS)—in connection with admitted and current student populations, and conducts inquiries and generates confidential reports as requested by the Dean and Associate Director of Admissions.
8. Edit highly confidential correspondence and complex statistical reports for the Dean of Admissions and the Associate Director of Admissions, including statistical reports for internal constituencies (e.g., the Dean and Faculty) and external agencies (e.g., ABA).
9. Assists with various duties and tasks as assigned and requested. Undertakes special projects as determined by the Dean of Admissions or the Associate Director of Admissions on an as-need basis.

Minimum Qualifications

• High School Diploma or its equivalent required. College degree preferred.
• Two years’ related experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Must have strong computer skills; previous database management skills strongly preferred.
• Excellent command of English (written and spoken) with an emphasis on communication and strong interpersonal skills.
• Must be willing to learn and implement new technologies as needed for maximizing task performance.
• Ability to exercise good judgment, work under pressure and deadlines, and carry out multiple tasks.
• Must be able to work with diverse constituencies and support an inclusive work environment.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.