How beneficial it is to send email to admission officer for undergraduate admission process while applying for each college?
It’s beneficial if:
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They track demonstrated interest (not all do).
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If you ask something not available in another source - like their website - so make it authentic and not fake.
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If you visited, perhaps in follow up to let them know.
In the grand scheme of things will it matter - likely not.
Good luck.
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What do you plan to ask?
@smandloi ”beneficial” in what way? If you think this will help you gain admission…the answer is…probably not. If you have a question that can only be answered by the adcom, an email is OK…but I can’t think of anything that an applicant needs to email an adcom about.
Also…it seems you are the parent. That being the case…I can’t see any reason why you would email an adcom.
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If you have a meaningful question that cannot be answered by carefully reviewing available resources (eg. school website, publications) then it is beneficial to email admissions – but the benefit is that your question will hopefully be answered.
I would not email just to introduce yourself or to ask a question where the answer is readily available. Admission officers are busy people.
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I’ll go further. 90% of the time it’s totally unnecessary and can even be annoying. Only email if you have a genuine need to email.
As an example, my eldest emailed a college asking for the correct version of her essay to be swapped for the one that formatted weirdly with random punctuation everywhere. She made a mistake by not checking that the essay formatted correctly on Common App. The admissions officer was helpful in that case. Other AO’s she contacted with questions she thought were legitimate never responded, not even for the college she ultimately attended. They are really busy.
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I will be the only one that has students do this but… Not as a last minute idea.
In Junior year if there is a question not obvious on the website then ask. Asking to talk to a student in their field tends to work well. Many schools large and small do follow up with that student they suggested. A thank you back to the AO is sufficient. Same goes for Senior year asking a question that can’t be easily looked up. Meeting the AO at a meeting when they present to the school and asking a question there. Sending a thank you after if it makes sense.
There is no gaming the system but getting your name out there in a good way can help. The smaller the college, the better this works.
My kids and those I have helped also emailed or set up live meetings with heads of departments etc when visiting the schools. It’s always nice to be able to use that in a one liner in an essay somewhere. Honestly they did this to gain more knowledge of the university so they could make sound decisions but gained valuable information also.
But please don’t send am email or contact just to tell them your grades and how much you want to go there. They know that since your applying there in the first place.
This is a very busy time for them. They get it. The rule is if you can find it on the website then you don’t need to call/email.
To add. If you or your child has questions in general then call the general admissions number NOT the specific AO. They can be extremely helpful during this process. I have never had them ask my name or that of my child. They just answered the questions I had.
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I would guess it mostly doesn’t help but If it’s for Tulane then definitely email the admission officer and make sure it’s for a good reason. We attended 3 different presentations from Tulane AOs and they all said very explicitly and clearly they wanted to hear directly from the student…but not to waste their time asking questions you should easily be able to find than answer to. (no pressure!) My D24 emailed the AO with an admittedly-not-very-interesting question/comment but, in the context of the email, mentioned the email exchanges she had already had with other Tulane faculty. The AO seemed very impressed by her outreach to the others and replied positively to her email…and then sent her a second reply email later!
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Did she get in?
It’s funny you said Tulane. One of the students I helped with get into EA at Tulane. Her grades were ok but not ultra. But her interest was through the roof. They are a touchy /Feely school and want to know you want to be there and kinda can afford it.
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She withdrew after ED acceptance elsewhere. The second email from the AO actually came right after she submitted her withdrawal. TBH it seemed a little weird to receive a reply after she withdraw so maybe it was sent before her withdrawal went through?
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Or it’s like a football recruit - they’re signed with Ohio State…but then you find out the decommitted and are going to Nebraska.
Or vice versa.
Happens all the time 
I doubt it - but it could be…
Huh? I don’t really understand but it doesn’t matter.
But the important message is…if you are applying to Tulane, definitely email the AO. They tell you directly they want you to do so, and they mean it.
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I think it’s important NOT to spam the AOs. There is a difference between showing interest and asking questions…than just sending emails for the sake of sending emails.
Be thoughtful. These AOs are busy folks.
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