What is a college admissions rep supposed to do for your child after they've been accepted?

Parents Forum
1

I have a question about expectations. As we head into the homestretch for my son, I’ve been thinking about my expectations of what college admissions reps should do for their prospective students and I am wondering if I am expecting something that isn’t realistic. Would love your insights.

Background: Son is National Merit Finalist, 7 AP (all 4s and 5s), captain of 2X state winning Scholar’s Bowl, completed 2X at state debate and mock trial, 12+ state qualifications for Forensics, First place in three years of regional math relays. Earned an acting award from a regional professional theater (we think he will be nominated for one more this year as well). National honors in English from NCTE. He served on adults boards at our church. He is a leader in his youth group. Tutors middle school students. ACT: 34, SAT: 1510.

Early on we focused on five schools. He applied and was accepted to all five by December. The admissions process was what I expected it to be up to this point. It was after acceptance that things feel wonky.

School #1l (huge public university) transferred him to their honors admissions process. That department focuses on kids like my son and they have been ahead of the curve every step of the way. They guided us through the process. They helped us advocate for my son where it was appropriate and made him step-up where he needed to. This is all new to us so that delineation was helpful. They said my job was to be the safety net, not the trapeze artist.

School #2 (small private liberal arts) did pretty much the same thing. As soon as he was accepted, they selected a current student to be his advocate and the admissions rep and I figured out the ‘paperwork’. Once he was admitted, they asked him to take the lead, with me cc’d every step of the way. This school has the smallest financial aid pie of them all, but they have sent him weekly suggestions for off-campus scholarships.

School #3 (small private liberal arts) did pretty much the opposite. We have had a total of three contacts with his admissions rep. He didn’t know my son’s scores (even though we were already admitted by that point) or that he was a NM Semi-finalist. He has passed on nothing to departments about where my son might best fit. He can’t even get his major right. The only reason they are still on the list is that my son has fallen in love with one of their programs. This reps ineffectiveness cost scholarship opportunities that would have made the school competitive financially. After finally meeting my son, a couple administrators and faculty have begun advocating my son, but the damage is pretty much done.

School #4 and #5 (both in-state schools) have treated my son like a stockyard worker in a Sinclair Lewis book. School #4 is the alma mater of my wife and where my other son currently attends. We have had even less contact with that rep than with rep #3! My son hasn’t received anything from either school in more than a month. I just informed school #5 that, in September my son listed them as his first choice NM school. Now they are number 6 in a grouping of five. The rep’s response: “but he was accepted in December, we assumed he was coming” even though there has been no deposit, housing paperwork signed or honors college commitment accepted.

So here is my question: What is fair and reasonable to expect from college reps after a student has been accepted? My first son went on a few college visits, but when he stepped on campus at the school he is attending, he informed us that he was done looking and to pay the deposit. As a result, I am not sure what to expect. I didn’t expect reps to hand my youngest a tiara and a bag of money to pay for school, but I don’t think feeling like Oliver asking for more gruel is acceptable either.

Thoughts?

2

We had no meaningful contact with admission reps after either of my children got admitted into the college nor did I expect any.

3

^^This.

4

I think their role is … Your kid gets admitted and then you do the paperwork and that’s it.

But hey… We are new to this too. I just don’t have any other expectations I guess.

5

college admissions reps have ONE and ONE job only - evaluate the students who are applying to that college. After they are admitted/ rejected their job is finished.

You are expecting way too much of most admissions reps.
If the college really wants your son to enroll, and has the financial resources to pay for all the extra time and energy spent on whoo-ing your son, then the rep may be instrumental in handing him off to others to finish the job, but that would not what you should expect from most admissions reps.

6

About an hour before I got accepted into my current college, an admissions rep hung up the phone on me. Schools #1 and #2 are the exceptions, not the rule. Once they’ve got their batch of acceptances out, they’re onto recruiting and visiting the next class.

7

We heard nothing between acceptance and deposit, (other than general “hi, hope you are coming” emails. You have to search for stuff yourself, know the deadlines, etc.

Your expectations are way too high for reality.

8

I also have to say that I think there were way too many “we” references in your post- for instance-
“even though we were already admitted by that point”
" We have had even less contact with that rep than with rep #3!"

WE were admitted?? I thought it was your son that was admitted.
What I’m getting at is its time to realize that you are too invested in the process at this point.
He will be going off to college by himself and will have to navigate college on his own, as he should.
Its time to land the chopper…

9

Zero contact here. A few had a note on the admission letter (one sentence). My D1 ran into the admissions guy who interviewed her once she was on campus in the fall, and they chatted. But no… no expectation of more. We didn’t expect more than the mailings we got. Now you need to tell your kid to wear H for emails and forward them (that is how most communications arrives).

Remember that a lot of schools are in the throes of admissions now. These reps are working flat out finishing admissions. If you want something, ask.

10

I’ll pile on and say you are expecting too much, especially as a parent. Any contact, which should be going to student not parent, is extra. Between my 2 kids, only a few who were offering merit scholarships and seemed to really want my kid to matriculate, one in particular who seemed to go to bat for my kid, had any contact. It was for my child to tell that woman that another school was chosen. We did have some contact for paid fly outs and such.

Most contact with your son will be around accepted student events which I assume he is invited to?

"The rep’s response: “but he was accepted in December, we assumed he was coming”
I assume this wasn’t an Early Decision acceptance?

11

My D never had any contact with the admissions reps at any of the schools she applied to. She sent in her applications, she was accepted, she and I figured out what do to accept and sign up for orientation, etc. If we had questions she called the admissions office.

12

My son is still in 10th grade, so I haven’t been through the process yet, but I’m wondering what you expect or want them to do. He’s been accepted. Presumably, he was provided with information about any financial aid package, how to accept the offer, when and where to send the deposit, then how to deal with housing, etc, etc. In what way would he need someone to advocate for him? He’s been accepted.

It sounds like maybe the first two schools are really pursuing him and very much want him to attend. Is he a high stats kid for them, relative to the overall student body? That might explain it.

13

I’ll offer our experience, which goes against what most of the replies are saying. My son is applying this year, mostly to LACs, and has already been accepted to a number of schools. He’s a strong candidate, but I’d estimate that your son is stronger overall. We’ve gotten all kinds of communications from the schools he’s been accepted to – general greetings, goodie bags, offers to help answer any questions we have, encouragements to attend, invitations to visit, and so on. These have come via phone calls, emails, snail mails, and texts. Some of the things were particularly addressed to us (i.e., the parents). (None of these things have yet gone too far or been too much.)

Now, it may not have been the admissions reps that were involved in most of these communications. So maybe your use of that term is biasing the responses. And we haven’t really had the desire/need to start asking too many questions yet, so we haven’t gotten into the details of questions and paperwork, and are not sure how that may go.

But in general I don’t think it’s unreasonable at all to expect a fair amount of responsiveness from the colleges he’s been accepted to.

Now, for state/public schools (is that what you mean by “in-state schools”?), it’s understandable if they’re not so responsive. But I’d think most private LACs should be pretty responsive, and it would be a mark against them if they weren’t.

And I think it’s perfectly fine for you to be involved in the process – it’s complex and confusing, and to some degree, it really is a family decision.

14

Put me down for a Had None, Expect None. Daughter handles everything and I have access to only billing.

15

@csdad2 – oh well of course. Emails for admissions chats; housing chats; some swag. All of that is a given and D has decided that from even the state schools.

But beyond that-- I guess I just don’t know what else is needed.

16

Sometimes the contact is to try to convince a kid to commit, no more, no less. Our girls got widow decals at some point, after we deposited, along with a gracious letter. Then got contact from two groups (one a biggish deal service org they were invited to apply to work with.)

Admissions is front end. Once a kid commits, there’s a pass off. The admissions reps finish their work and hope for a short break.

17

“Sometimes the contact is to try to convince a kid to commit, no more, no less.”
Agreed. Lower ranked schools do seem to put in more effort post acceptance, What’s the old Avis saying? “We’re only number 2 so we try harder.”

18

This can be a confusing process. The kind of hands on, personal help you’re expecting comes from private counselors. They can be pricey and most families don’t hire them. The college admissions reps work for the college and their responsibilities are to evaluate applications and answer questions. If you’re not going to hire a private counselor, you and your wife need to take charge of the process. Every college is different so you’ll have to learn the policies of each one your son is interested in.

If your son wants to be in an honors program you need to find out how to apply. He has to submit the app and follow up. If you’re interested in scholarships, check the website of each school to see if they offer any and what their requirements are. Do they require a separate app or is everyone considered automatically? Are they renewable? If so, is there a minimum GPA to keep them? These are important details and it’s your responsibility to search them out and understand them.

Most colleges don’t have placement services and they won’t analyze your son’s app to suggest where he might “fit” in a particular department. He seems to have high stats and being from Kansas might be a draw at colleges looking for geographic diversity, but if he sits back and waits for college staff to come to him he’s going to miss out. The next 4 years will be full of opportunities, but only if he searches them out. They won’t come to him.

Good luck with your search for the best fit for your son. I’m sure he’ll be fine.

19

@DMM53064 No contact here either and none expected, there are thousands of students…

20

Wait! I did get non-tuition related contact from UMich!! I donated in Giving Blue day and they sent me a tiny magnetic M.

They did send stickers with his acceptance. Most of the schools did.