<p>^^ oops
yes thats what I meant…</p>
<p>ok so 10 days tick tock</p>
<p>As far as interviews—maybe ask the question as a new thread…I know that there are a few alumni that do interviews for schools–and are parents on the forums…perhaps they can shed light on it…</p>
<p>fogfog, I’m dismayed (wish I could write “shocked,” but not much shocks me any more about college admissions) at the news that one college on your list <em>requires</em> an on-campus visit. Can you share the name of that school? It seems unlikely that financial need students can make trips across the country. </p>
<p>From what we have gathered, some U’s really really don’t care about interest. It’s almost a point of pride with them (as in–we know thousands of young people want to attend our august school–it’s expected that everyone is avidly interested in us (!)), while others seem sensitive to yield and the perception that they might be a back-up choice. Best of luck on your travels, fogfog.</p>
<p>In fact, it would be really helpful if we shared what we learn about showing-the-love schools. For instance, as would be expected, Stanford does not track who visits the campus. USC does take names (and puts students on mailing lists), but adcoms do not track interest. WashU does take note of who visits.</p>
<p>Here’s a little list to start. </p>
<p>Does not track interest:
Stanford
USC</p>
<p>Tracks interest:
WashU
U Rochester (from SlitheyT)</p>
<p>This also would be a great new thread.</p>
<p>Strongly recommending interviews and strongly recommending on-campus interviews are not the same thing, of course. Many schools offer alumni interviews near you. </p>
<p>We are on the oppositve coast from MIT. During a group information session in our area, they told students that they strongly recommended interviews, and gave us the dismal stats for the students in our area who were accepted to MIT and did not have an interview (of course they neglected to mention how dismal the stats were for those kids who DID interview!). </p>
<pre><code>Haverford strongly recommends on-campus interviews if you live within 150 miles of campus. Otherwise, you can email for a local interview. Swarthmore says they highly encourage them, but they are not required.
</code></pre>
<p>FYI, my DS2 did a Haverford interview on campus at the time of his visit, and found the interviewer to be a great person - he felt very comfortable and at ease. Perhaps that was the objective, rather than an assessment of DS2. Anyway, DS2 left with a positive impression, and will apply.</p>
<p>My son is interviewing at Haverford in a few weeks, when he makes an east coast trip with his dad. He’s touring campus anyway, so we figured do the on-campus interview at the same time. I hope he has a positive experience as well!</p>
<p>I think the interview has evolved a bit - a couple of times when we’ve visited, we’ve been given an individual appointment with an admissions counselor. While I think they’re mostly trying to make an impression on us, I’ve advised my D that they could easily be taking notes on her, too, and to be thoughtful on how she acts, looks and talks. </p>
<p>And those meetings have definitely been a make-or-break with her. I was surprised that at one school the admissions rep admitted that she was “very new,” and she said she didn’t have a lot of answers to our questions. That didn’t make a very good impression on my D, especially when it was clear the woman was guessing.</p>
<p>As far as MIT</p>
<p>The Admissions lady at the info session said interviews were not required - however a very very good idea etc…and that interviews can be done local to the student w/ alumni—not on campus…I think they are all alumni local interviews though can’t be sure…</p>
<p>I hear from GCs at 2 private hs’s that</p>
<p>Vandy
Emory
GWU</p>
<p>absolutely all track “the love”
…trying to remember which others I have heard about–</p>
<p>I have a friend -whose daughter was a student at a school and helped with admissions…
according to this young lady --the school can also tell whether the kid or the parent made the inital contacts. I have mentioned this before on these boards and they told me I was dead wrong. All I can say is for this one school–they can/do. Am not sure what that really means…like did the initial request for infor come through a parent’s email address?? or what</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I am assuming that is the case and told my son HE has to be the one to place the calls to schedule his interviews. This is tough for him – he HATES making phone calls.</p>
<p>^^Thats a good point…would be weird for the parent to call to schedule the interview–huh.</p>
<p>Do you really think that if a parent makes the phone call instead of the student that it’s going to tip the balance for acceptance? I’ll take my chances on that one! 
My son doesn’t drive and doesn’t have a crazy work schedule like I do - I’m going to keep on making the arrangements. BTW, we created a new e-mail just for the college process which clearly identifies it as my son’s.</p>
<p>Kathiep- I’m with you! I think most admissions offices understand that the logistics of a multiday college road trip are an appropriate thing for parental involvement.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Good reminder! For those who’ve joined recently, doing this will keep your child’s regular email from being innundated forevermore with college email. It is also useful to make this a separate college-only so that both parents and the student have access; students have been known to ignore what looks like junk mail, but which is really an important email about FA or scholarships :eek: </p>
<p>If your kid’s email is something like <a href="mailto:2manybabes4me@gmail.com">2manybabes4me@gmail.com</a> or <a href="mailto:MargaritaQueen@gmail.com">MargaritaQueen@gmail.com</a>, it’s especially important to use something that looks a tad more respectable. :)</p>
<p>Oh I don’t think its a make or break kind of thing, thats for sure! I also wanted him to take a little more ownership of the process.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>that is hilarious…though too true</p>
<p>I know of a teen who’s FB profile is open–(a relative- not my kid) and its all about “paintball is MY life” etc etc…uh yeah…and pics that tell too much of a story</p>
<p>As afr as multi school road trips–sure parents should be involved–However if mommy is calling the alumni to book the interview–I think that looks bad…even worse than when a parent calls a teacher to fight about a student’s grade…
We can give our kids open dates and also ask for dates that work when it comes to local alumni interviews…and let them handle the business side of things. </p>
<p>Our student drives–so its a matter of borrowing the parent’s vehicles…</p>
<p>I think it’s only the upper tier schools that do those interviews anyway. My older kids applied to a dozen schools between the two of them and none had alumni interviews. Lot’s of campus interviews with admissions people but never one off campus with an alumni.</p>
<p>My older D did 2 alumni interviews (Georgetown and Tufts); was not accepted to either school. The Tufts interviewer asked her why she had not applied ED, which she wasn’t expecting and stumbled a bit on the answer. Even though it is said that GWU tracks interest, she and many of those accepted had not interviewed. She had visited the summer after her soph year, and did not go meet the admissions rep when he came to our HS.</p>
<p>Most of our college visits were set up online, so they could not tell who was doing the arranging. Alumni interviews were done after applications were in, directly set up between the student and the interviewer.</p>
<p>I have a CommonApp question. I have some awards that some may simply not know what it means. For instance, I’ve won a few national writing awards that are handed out to only 5 students out of roughly 6,000. However, I doubt adcoms have heard of it. How could I describe what the awards mean?</p>
<p>^^ humm probably best asked in admissions…maybe some have had great ways to work that sort of thing–if the award is a big national thing–ad-coms would know, right?</p>
<p>CIA: You need to prepare a resume (or activity list) to go along with the Common App. You can format it so as to allow a little room for explanations.</p>