<p>Thanks, Driver, for your post. I should note that the email was possibly a generic one (at least that is what S thinks) to anyone who has expressed interest in Classics at Brown. Still, even if that is true, I agree with your point completely. I do think my son has real interest, and I like your analogy, which I will share. I also think I’ll mention to him that he would not spurn an extra 50 points on his SAT if it were a gimme, or subtract from his GPA in any way . . .in other words, why work so hard on all these academic things and bypass the obvious simple stuff. It comforts me a little to know your D didn’t want to do the thank you notes particularly, either.</p>
<p>Idler</p>
<p>Demonstrated interest is not a factor at the Ivies, Stanford and MIT. However at schools that have historically been “fallback” schools (not safeties) for many students, like Emory or WUSTL,Tufts, Bates, Colby, Middlebury, Bowdoin among others, demonstrated interest sadly has become a big factor in admissions.</p>
<p>Schools like Emory and WUSTL are all about yield and don’t want to “waste” an admission spot on someone that doesn’t place them as a first or second choice in their estimation. Look at the admissions statistics for WUSTL where ED admission statistics (GPA, SATs, class rank) are considerably below those in RD. They would rather lower the bar (still quite high nonetheless) and guarantee their yield in ED than take chances in RD with the highest achievers when their own statistics demonstrate that they are a longer shot to enroll.</p>
<p>Many high school students would be surprised to learn just how much email interaction there is between faculty and students in college. Imagine what a good impression it makes on an admissions officer when they open a file and think to themselves, “Wow—here’s an applicant who already knows how to interact!”</p>
<p>Sure, there are many large institutions that do not want to get into numerous email exchanges with applicants. The flavor of the response to an initial email should be enough to give an applicant a hint. Most of the colleges that my daughters applied to sent emails that encouraged further give and take; several were downright chatty. After several months of exchanging emails, these were the colleges that my daughters made ED applications to. I have to think that, by the time those admissions people received those applications, they were thinking, “Ah, here’s the application from someone I already know!”</p>
<p>In our adult lives, parents know that contacts are important. Many high school students still need convincing.</p>
<p>eadad - your comment about WUSTL is somewhat ironic. While I’m not arguing with your perception of WUSTL, because this is what I have heard also, when I applied last year I really made no effort to indicate that I was interested and I ended up being accepted with a scholarship. I mean, I actually liked the school, but it was not high on my list, and I’m not sure why but they seemed to be really keen on me (i.e. they literally called me to ask me to come visit the campus, they waived my application fee, etc. etc.) I turned down the visit because of scheduling conflicts and, quite honestly, I filled out their application in half an hour the night before the deadline (as opposed to some schools where I spent tons of time rewriting my essay and typing the apps up on a typewriter). Thus, I was very pleased but a bit surprised when I heard back positively from them in March (they were actually the first RD school that I heard from and it was quite nice during my spring break). As it turns out, I almost did end up matriculating at WUSTL, but that’s definitely not something that I think they could have reasonably expected while reviewing my application. So, I guess even yield-obsessed schools like WUSTL aren’t always concerned with how they rank on an applicant’s list.</p>
<p>I was the one who heard the comment from the college adcom concerning not admitting students that did not visit. I may have misspoken as to why the comment was made. I believe the adcom was telling us about the large number of qualified students that applied that year. Maybe she exaggerated about the number of students accepted/not accepted due to their showing interest. I am sure that the school must have accepted students that did not have the means to visit. I am sure the international students did not visit, as well as others.</p>
<p>Does applying Early Decision demonstrate interest (by definition, as it commits the student to attend if admitted) enough so that the student does not have to worry about making continued contact? (Assuming all of the student’s questions about the school have been answered - they should make sure of this before deciding to apply ED!)</p>
<p>MO2:
Yes, binding ED is the ultimate demonstration of interest, and your child will presumably have already made contacts that would have helped him/her make that decision.</p>
<p>Just to beat a dead horse one more time. Admissions at HYPSM do not follow any of the conventional rules. So the fact that demonstrated interest or campus visits play no role in admissions at HYPSM should not be used as a data point in the role of demonstrated interest in college admissions as a whole.</p>
<p>Haha… I think that’s pretty funny. I visited several colleges over the summer, filled out their obligatory check-in card (didn’t have a clue what it was for), then a few months later, started getting envelopes from them and guess what? Not a single one has my name spelled right. Oh well. I guess I didn’t show enough interest 'cause I have ****ty handwriting.</p>
<p>Speaking of thank-you notes: D had a few senior interviewers and has no idea whether to address them as Mr. x or by first name in her thank you note. She wants to be polite, of course, but calling a college senior Mr. When you’re a high school senior seemed a little odd to me, so I thought I’d ask.</p>
<p>My was interviewed by someone who asked my S to call him by his first name. So my S addressed the interviewer by his first name in the thank you note. The interviewer was an alum.</p>
<p>Xanatos
Your comments about WUSTL hit home. At accepted students weekend at one school, not WUSTL, I spent time with 3 mothers. A prof at WUSTL had been e-mailing her D regularly, and her D kept comparing the fact that she felt she was really wanted there vs. the school we were at. She ended going to WUSTL. It showed that the dialogue goes both ways, and definitely has an impact.
Momof 3
My S is generally shy, and clearly was inhibited when writing to professors at college. Made me upset when he’d put off responding to a personal e-mail, or sending thank yous to alumni who interviewed him. So, I sympathize with you.</p>
<p>My D asked for a phone interview as the school was on the opposite coast and her schedule with sports and activities makes it impossible to take the trip in time. They granted her request and it actually made her very excited about the college. They have e-mailed a few times since then. It was not a HYP however.</p>
<p>A polite, courteous outgoing student can easily “demonstrate interest” to a dozen schools. But aren’t the multiple campus visits (I mean visits to multiple campuses!!) driven more by the parents than the students? It certainly is in our case. We are constantly urging our son to respond to any contacts from schools and at least act like he is interested!!</p>
<p>Live on West Coast. We only went to schools’s informational road shows. Did online visitations. Kid got into school he wanted. School did however sent him unsolicited informational pack while he was junior. Maybe it was fate. </p>
<p>Living in NW makes travels for visitation to CA or to East Coast very difficult. As I read the logs on visitations, I wonder if visitations are for the parents or for the kids?</p>
<p>Added note: Of the families that we know who sent children to well-known schools, none of them made any visitations to those Eastern schools. </p>
<p>I would guess, however, that if you are within comfortable driving distance, you should be able to make a visitation- a least to make sure the ivy isn’t eating into the mortor between the bricks. The West Coast States- 6 hours, 300 miles, doesn’t get you across the state and you can go from ocean to 5000 feet to desert in 3 hours.</p>
<p>My son had established a decent relationship with the multicultural recruiter at his ED school (both in person and via email). Suddenly, the person stopped responding to son’s emails. Son casually mentioned it to another adcom during a face-to-face conversation at one of the events…and that adcom told son that the multicultural recruiter has suddenly quit. All of that demonstrated interest went out the window. </p>
<p>As it turns out, the other adcom seems like a really great guy and son feels good about him…so I don’t think he’s at all worried about the loss of the multicultural recruiter anymore. But, for a while, son was worried about the sudden loss of contact without explanation… Thank goodness we attended the event and he felt confident enough to ask what was up. </p>
<p>Kids like to feel like the college is demonstrating interest in them, as well!!</p>
<p>I agree with Soozievt & Ohio Mom that visits are important for the prospective student. My daughter didn’t even apply to the two schools that were her top choices after visiting. They just weren’t the right fit. Better to find that out before the first day of classes!</p>
<p>Momsdream, We had a similar experience. D had established a relationship with the Regional AdCom for her ED choice; she even met his family during one of her visits to the school. I checked the website the other day; there seems to be a new adcom for our region…</p>
<p>There’s only so much research you can do by reading college guides, spending time on CC, and the like. College visits are terribly important. Regardless of whether you get brownie points for demonstrated interest, college is a big investment of time and $$. Would you marry a mail order bride? OK, maybe that’s stretching the point.
I wouldn’t buy a car without taking a test drive.</p>
<p>Two schools S visited last summer have sent him special applications this past week.
Fees waived, apply by 12/1 or 12/15, get a (likely) acceptance by 12/15 or early February. These are not early decision applications. One school writes, “No new essay. Just submit a graded piece of work.”</p>