Colleges with the Worst/Best Admissions Team

Applying to College
61

<p>My two worst were Rochester Institute of Technology and Purdue.</p>

<p>RIT</p>

<p>I went to one of Rochester Institute of Technology’s campus visit days and was very disappointed. They had an information session, free food, and classroom style information sessions on individual majors which were absolutely great. However a very large bulk of the visit day seemed to be an attempt at buying student’s applications. They had live entertainment as seen on Oprah and played random trivia games which were a complete waste of time. I wouldn’t have had a problem with it if it did not consist of approximately 70% of the trip.</p>

<p>I didn’t drive eight hours up to the campus for live entertainment, I was there to get the information and learn about the college. I felt like a majority of the visit was a large waste of my time.</p>

<p>I also spoke one of the department heads or some other high status administrator and simply asked a question. They blew it out of proportion and spoke condescendingly to me while answering. I was pretty offended by him.</p>

<p>Then I attended a session on their game design major because I had nothing better to attend. I loved their professors and the information session appealed to the type of individual that would enjoy the major, but I was very upset that they made a very false claim. They stated that they were one of (I can’t remember the number exactly) 11? colleges that Electronic Arts hires individuals from. I knew for a fact that was false because I actually have connections at EA and know for a fact they don’t hand pick their employees based upon their college of attendance.</p>

<p>Purdue</p>

<p>Then I’ve had a terrible experience with Purdue. First I’ll start off by stating that Purdue is on Rolling Admission. I applied in Early November with all of my application materials received on that date. Its now almost the end of December and applicants who have applied after me have already started to get their admissions decisions.</p>

<p>I figured there must be some kind of mistake, so I e-mail admissions. I was told that they simply did not have the time to look and see if they even had all my application materials. I didn’t expect them to shuffle around looking for them, but to at least look in the computer and see if my name came up.</p>

<p>A few weeks passed and I pressed further that something must be wrong because I still haven’t heard anything and students are still getting decisions who applied after me. The admissions officer finally looked in the computer to see that they were still looking for my transcript. It had been a month and a half since they got it and they still are looking for it.</p>

<p>I then asked if I should just resend the transcript to possibly expedite review of my application. I was told not to bother and that they would actually prefer if I did not send it.</p>

<p>I’m just really frustrated with them because they have not been apologetic or helpful due to their unorganized process. I’m starting to wonder why I’d even want to attend their university when I’m a number to them already - and I’m not even in the college yet.</p>

62

<p>I had an excellent Harvard info session–the admissions representatives seemed very nice, and overall, the session was quite informative, as it should be. The only downside was that there were a ton of people there, so many people (including me) did not have their questions answered. I am with peachy89 though; the man at the visitor’s center was rather cold in demeanor, although he did point me in the right direction when I was lost.</p>

<p>On the other hand, my Harvard tour was awful. There were again too many people (many of whom were quite pushy in their quest to walk at the front of the group), and our tour guide had a very soft voice, making it difficult to hear her. She was also a recent graduate of the school, instead of a current student, so some of her facts were a bit outdated, but it was the summer, so maybe there were no current students volunteering at the admissions office then.</p>

<p>My Yale tour was…memorable. Our tour guide was nice, but a little too exuberant. He flailed his arms a lot and fell backwards over the sidewalk at one point in our tour, haha.</p>

<p>Wellesley had a seemingly nice group of people working in admissions, as did Columbia. Both schools were very accommodating to the prospectives, though my Wellesley tour guide was a bit shallow. However, the students at Wellesley seemed intelligent and polite enough.</p>

<p>My tour guide at Brown basically did not want to be a tour guide, I think. She glared at every person who asked a question–maybe she was having a bad day? She knew what she was talking about though; she just wasn’t very nice.</p>

63

<p>American U = Dr.Jeckyl & Mr Hyde</p>

<p>We had such pleasant experiences with the admissions people and all of the process. D fell in love with AU Questions were answered, good tours and overnights. Pleasant responses to admissions e-mails and phone calls. Personal e-mail regarding admission.</p>

<p>We had such a gad-awful experience with the Fianancial Aid department. E-mails and a phone call never answered until we researched and cc’d the director. The financial aid counselors never give their names on phone calls, and we got conflicting information from different people. To give credit where due - one woman answered direct questions and was helpful. But overall, the experience changed D’s feelings about AU and our trust in general.</p>

64

<p>check this out</p>

<p>i applied to Indiana university Bloomington before priority. They mailed me saying they received my transcript and everything. a month later i receive a email saying they don’t have my transcript. Now i am puzzled. I call up, turns out they lost it. said they got it but turns out they lost it. then i call them up and i have my counselor take care of it. After chatting with my counselor i discover that Indiana forgot to tell him to fax over the counselor’s release form(which they also lost). i had to tell him. 2 hours after i faxed them it, they finally remember to check the fax. The phones are always busy. Feels like a Microsoft tech support. people are sometimes rude. overall really bad first impression.</p>

65

<p>from my experiences…</p>

<p>best team: swarthmore, i fell in love with their team during discovery weekend and they’ve been amazingly nice and helpful ever since.</p>

<p>best info session and tour: tufts, the info session was hilarious and very helpful. the tour guide was really chill too and really made me like tufts. wesleyan was also very good, my favorite tour guides and the guy in the info session was real (didn’t fluff things up) and chill.</p>

<p>worst info session: brown, they were so boring and i felt as if they since they were brown they didn’t have to try.</p>

<p>worst tour: vassar, the tour guide yelled at me.</p>

66

<p>Worst Admissions Office so far, Ithaca’s hands down. S was rejected after his audition, and a month afterwards they send him a note asking him if he’s forgotten to send them his first quarter grades! Actually, the fact the place that didn’t want him is so messed up made him feel better.</p>

67

<p>Greetings!</p>

<p>While the tour and info session at Drew were just average, the overall experience with the Admissions & Financial Aid folks was excellent. The NE admissions rep and the staff at Drew (including the director!) all made my D feel special. The highlight was an open house that they held for Boston area students at the Harvard Club. Very classy! But the best part was that everyone on staff actually knew who she was! It was very cool.</p>

<p>In contrast, the worst overall experience was at Bard. D was admitted early via their Immediate Decision Program which was great, and people were basically nice on campus. But they make no accommodations for students to stay overnight on campus or to help families find a decent place to stay. Also, even though D heard she was accepted at Thanksgiving, she didn’t hear from them again until the beginning of April! So we had no clue about financial aid or anything else. </p>

<p>Another less than pleasant experience was at Brown. As we sat in a room of probably about 300 people, the volunteer speaker made it very clear that they weren’t trying to sell Brown to anyone–and that they didn’t need to. Sheesh! What a turn off!</p>

68

<p>Williams and Wesleyan were both really bad.</p>

<p>Northwestern, Boston U, and Bowdoin were really good.</p>

69

<p>The best and worst I’ve experienced were both George Washington. They REALLY lay it on thick.</p>

<p>The Information Session and Tour was a perfect example. It was very well-run and organized, but so rehearsed it felt like being on an infomercial. They absolutely SMOTHER you with good tidbits about the school while they smile at you through their teeth. It was actually kinda creepy. After visiting American, Carnegie Mellon, and Lehigh, three smaller schools with a more “homely” style, it felt like the evil empire being at GW.</p>

70

<p>So much of this seems like it’s based only on an experience with one admissions officer or one tour guide. I’d suggest trying to talk to regular kids at the university (if you can find them) and walk around by yourself to get an actual feel of the place.</p>

71

<p>Ugh. </p>

<p>Vassar was SO snobby. I called many times and every adcom I spoke with was snobby, haughty, just all around nasty in an “I’m fabulous and who are YOU” way. Very unappealing. Their student body is cool though.</p>

<p>Barnard never answered emails. </p>

<p>Yale was really bad. The people in the admissions office were so snobby and rude that I crossed them off my list before my list was partially complete. They should really learn to treat prospectives with some respect. </p>

<p>The best, friendliest people were at Brown and Mount Holyoke. They were attentive, sweet, and more than willing to answer questions. They also called back quickly and answered emails promptly. The tour guide at Mount Holyoke was amazing! She was one of those people who you meet and feel like you have known forever.</p>

72

<p>go blue!!!</p>

73

<p>Scripps was amazing. I wasn’t able to go to Preview Day (sadly), but I did an interview and the admissions officer was awesome. We talked for almost an hour, and while she did take notes, she didn’t make a huge deal out of them. I’ve emailed her a few times, and she always responds promptly. My tour guide was also very informative. There were four people on the tour (my mom and I and another girl with a parent), and she gave us a great tour of the campus. I attended a regional info session, as well. Everyone there was helpful, and I felt like they really were interested in the prospective students.</p>

<p>University of Washington’s tour was also well done. The guide knew what she was doing, and she handled the huge group well. It wasn’t as personal as the Scripps visit, but, then again, there were quite a few people on the tour.</p>

74

<p>Tufts rep was hilarious and personable. People laughed at his jokes throughout the info session. Duke regional rep was friendly as well; we talked for a while during a busy college fair and he gladly answered all my questions. Wellesley admissions office receptionist was freakishly upbeat and nice. </p>

<p>Generally, no really bad experiences with admissions folk.</p>

75

<p>I forgot to mention that I also had a fantastic experience at USC…a truly great tour guide. He was unbelievably charismatic, entertaining, friendly, and informative. All other dealings with admissions were surprisingly good, considering the fairly large student body and applicant pool. The high-quality of these interactions was probably a big part of why the school stayed on my radar for so long (it’s a great place, but I was totally wrong for it…still, had trouble shaking the good time I had on the tour)!</p>

76

<p>Best: Lafayette, tour guide was awesome, best by far, you could really tell he loved the school he was at and did a great job of informing us and making us feel like we were at home/welcomed. </p>

<p>Worst: Idk, none really were terrible…</p>

77

<p>I haven’t been dealing with “elite” schools but I’ll chime in on the thread for whatever my 2c are worth!</p>

<p>Boise State University - Friendly people, got my general acceptance within 3 weeks of applying and my honor college acceptance within 3 weeks of applying. However, someone forgot to change the “Dear ___” part on my honor college acceptance letter because it said Dear Allison despite being addressed to me, Sarah. I did go to their dessert reception when they came into town and the directors/officers who came were very nice and funny. Got an e-Christmas card with a corny joke, which is cute.</p>

<p>Ripon College - Hands down the best admissions office I’ve ever met. Aside from the awesome acceptance package, I’ve gotten handwritten letters and phone calls from alumni and admissions staff as well as a Christmas card in the mail actually signed by the entire office staff. Whenever I had a question and emailed, I had a response by the next day. It’s a tiny school so you can really feel the personal touch.</p>

78

<p>Notre Dame was by far the worst admissions counselors, followed closely by carnegie mellon. When i asked if i could double major, the notre dame ppl said i didn’t have to pick a major and that i would be lucky enough to get in! I don’t want to go to a school that might not fulfill my academic needs! I also emailed a question about my app to cmu and they didn’t reply for 2 weeks, by which time i had already submitted my application.</p>

79

<p>USC did a great job at the Scholars event I went to. They made me feel like a real college student, so I really go to experience USC the way I wanted to. </p>

<p>When I visited the University of Pennsylvania about a year ago, the admissions officer who gave the presentation was incredibly friendly, but I got the general vibe that she didn’t want to be there. For the most part, I agree with the above posters. I’ve visited three Ivy League schools (Princeton, Penn, and Columbia), and they all really didn’t care for their prospective students. That being said, you can’t expect them to care either.</p>

80

<p>Princeton was excellent when I visited on campus, but this fall a rep came to my high school, even though I go to a mediocre public high school that has only sent one student to Princeton in the past decade or so at least. The rep clearly did not want to be there, had only been working for Princeton for two months, and couldn’t answer any of our questions beyond what was in the viewbook.</p>

<p>Tufts on campus was very disappointing. The tour guide was really lame, didn’t really want to be there, etc. The info session guy was just spewing propaganda and being really condescending. </p>

<p>Ohio State info session at my school was actually pretty good. I applied there as my safety, partially because of the info session and talking to the guy about merit aid for NMSFs.</p>