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<p>My kid didn’t have a cell phone in HS. He was at school, followed by athletic practice/games/meets, M-F from 7:15 AM through at least 5PM, often later. How exactly was he supposed to make calls during office hours? </p>
<p>We ran into a big problem with this when he was a freshman and attempting to complete a science fair project that required some help from a university lab. He did the initial calling. The people at the local U first said sure, they’d help, then blew him off, made promises they didn’t keep, didn’t return calls or emails, etc, etc. When he called them after 4pm, the earliest possible time for him, they were invariably gone for the day. This went on for weeks.</p>
<p>Eventually I had to step in and make calls for him. By then, it was too late to complete the project in time for the science fair, he had to cut it short, and it negatively impacted his grade. My only mistake was not stepping in sooner. There are people who find it a lot easier to blow off a kid than an adult. I would not expect to encounter that behavior in an admissions office, though.</p>
<p>As it happens, S didn’t have to have any on campus interviews. The only U that seemed to want an interview with an adcom was the U of C. He contacted the person for our region via email. They ended up not doing an interview because it was not feasible to arrange it, and he got in anyway. So I guess it wasn’t that important.</p>
<p>If I thought it was significant, and his attempts to contact them via email were unsuccessful, I’d pick up the phone myself to set up an appointment. I would also explain that I was calling because he didn’t have access to a phone during office hours. It’s not like the parent is going to do the interview, for god’s sake. It;s just logistics.</p>