ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 11, 1996 TAG: 9612110012
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER STAFF WRITER
CONFUSION between the terms "early" and "regular" admission has muddied Lauren Wagner's acceptance at VMI.
The letter Virginia Military Institute sent Lauren Wagner Nov. 18 commended her for "rising to the great challenge of being among the first young women to come to VMI."
Now, the admissions office says the 18-year-old from Richmond hasn't officially been accepted.
Wagner applied for regular, not early, admission to VMI. Students accepted for regular admission won't be notified until mid-December.
Wagner will be accepted - probably soon after Dec. 15 - and she has been offered an all-expenses-paid Institute Scholarship, which she has to take or turn down by Jan. 15.
Admissions director Vernon Beitzel said Wagner and Brooke Elliott, of Poquoson, have unofficially been accepted, along with four women - including Jennifer Jolin of Highland County - who were offered early admission.
Wagner and her parents certainly thought she was in.
When a reporter called them Saturday and told them VMI had announced that four women had been offered early admission, her father immediately said his daughter had been accepted.
After all, the Nov. 18 letter was signed by Superintendent Josiah Bunting III, who also wrote, "This is a great and good school. It will claim your heart if you decide to come."
In a second letter, dated three days later, Tom Mortenson, associate admissions director, offered her the scholarship and said, "We hope you believe, as we do, that VMI is the college for you."
After receiving two letters from VMI, Wagner's mother, Eileen Wagner, said Tuesday, "How can we conclude anything else than she's accepted?"
The apparent confusion is between the terms "early" and "regular" admission.
"It's very confusing," Beitzel said. Students who apply for early admission are almost certain that VMI is the school for them. The school's admission policy calls for those applications to be considered and processed first.
Wagner "knows she is acceptable," Beitzel said. "She knows we want her here."
Eileen Wagner said she thinks the admissions process involving women is somewhat disorganized, and there needs to be outside oversight.
"It's too bad," Wagner said. "Maybe they'll get it right next year."
Wagner, a member of her school's cross country and spring and winter track teams, is a lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol and is two hours away from her pilot's license. She plans a career in the Air Force.
Her congressman has nominated her to the Air Force Academy, and she passed the physical fitness test Saturday. If she receives an academy appointment, she says, she will pass on VMI.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 linesby CNB