Well, that was just plain mean. 
OP I re-read the post. It sounds like one school has a huge, well known NMF program in place and actively recruits.
The other schools sound like regular schools that don’t really care about NMF status–his stats are probably just normal there. Were you expecting the same level of attention there?
Other than interviews (if they had them) and admit day (where they roll out the red carpet for everyone). We had very little contact with the admissions office. Most everything we needed to know was available on the website and in the written materials that came with acceptances. Of course, if we had a specific question I would not have hesitated to call (and did, for example, when I had a question about the financial aid at one school – we made an appointment with the FA office and came in to ask our questions).
@austinmshari,
the OP’s kid has already applied and been accepted at colleges. He was expecting / hoping for MORE contact from the admissions reps, who have already done their jobs.
@menloparkmom, Yes, I understand that. That’s why I said OP and his wife have to take charge of the rest of the process. If they want their son to be in an honors program, be in the running for school scholarships, or have additional opportunities once he matriculates, they all have to be proactive.
We’re new to this (D is a HS freshman), but it was my impression that the college reps were pretty much local PR agents for the respective colleges whose duties were pretty much to recruit students and answer questions. As such, I don’t expect anything more from them. That being said, D met a couple at her school’s college fair who are quite good at promoting their respective colleges. 
My daughter was accepted to five schools (all large state flagships). We only knew who her admissions rep was at one of them (a school 12 hours away). The admissions rep we knew about didn’t do anything in particular for my child, before or after acceptance, but she did hold a send-off event in the summer for local kids who were attending the school (held at a time when my daughter couldn’t attend).
I expected nothing from admissions reps after acceptance, and I was not disappointed.
Between 3 kids and almost 30 acceptances over a decade, we only had meaningful contact with one admissions rep after admission. And I say “we” on that because we had a death in the immediate family on the day before a scholarship event my D had been invited to, so I informed the rep that she wouldn’t attend and explained why (it was past the response date and she was in school until after business hours). The rep made accommodations for the circumstances, expressed condolences, and reached back out a couple of weeks later to make sure everything was ok. Much appreciated, and she did get the scholarship and ended up there. Otherwise, nothing.
Is it terribly harsh to say that you of course love your son and know that he is wonderful, but to the colleges he is a source of revenue? Your post makes you seem very indignant that colleges aren’t rolling out the red carpet. He is an excellent student, but he is not Malia Obama.
D got into 9 colleges and was offered good merit scholarships at 6 of those. As far as contact post-acceptance, only one school made what I would call an effort, and that was through the parent network, who reached out to me. They wanted me to know that they were happy to answer questions and the like. Another college sent my D a cool hard back book which definitely caught her attention, and where she ultimately deposited. Wait list offers came via personal phone calls and emails. I think you should be very pleased that any effort has been made at all.
Right, the parent call. I made some of them, too. But that’s no longer admissions.
Btw, we did paste that decal on, asap. Lol.
You son should make his decision without regard to the niceness or attentiveness of the admission office. Once he is enrolled, unless he becomes a tour guide or volunteers in admission, he will have zero interaction with admissions counselors. Make the choice based on academic and social factors that are most important to him (and of course financial constraints)
Honestly I think this is just a case of big hoopla being made over a NMF kid at one school and then the reality that at other schools they simply don’t care and those are just average or high average stats at other schools. I would think it’s hard to start out with school #1 who makes it a big deal and then the others clearly don’t-- it’s a glaring gap.
Add me to the choir. You are expecting things from admissions folks that just don’t happen.
We heard from one only…and that was to deal with a scholarship weekend. But after the scholarship weekend was done…no contact at all. None.
It sounds like this family likes the attention from Schools #1 and #2. They win. Go to one of them.
I always say, don’t fall for a school on the basis of being treated well by the admissions office. Because they will have nothing to do with your life there. Could their approach be a reflection of an overall attitude on campus? Maybe. Or maybe it’s just good marketing.
As a parent, DH and I saw our role as one of helping our pups decide, by making sure they had asked the relevant questions. We were chauffers to get them to the college visits, but since we were also writing a big check, we wanted them to understand the choices in front of them, and especially deadlines (as senior year of HS still has its challenges).
I remember asking DS “What do you think?” and then telling him “I’m not asking to pester you, I know you are smart enough to figure this thing out, I just want to get a sense as to where you are in this process, and if you noticed something we didn’t, or had questions we might have caught part of an answer to, we can talk” I have posted before that It was hard to not show too much enthusiasm for any one school, and he later told us he thought we didn’t care, while we thought if we had asked about it more, we would have been adding to the pressure he was feeling. He wanted to go everywhere, and found amazing things to say about all of them.
Early on in the college touring process (summer after freshman year), we were fortunate to hear the question raised by another parent about how “we” took 2 AP’s as a sophomore, and “We” were taking 4AP’s as a junior including Calc BC, so the high school doesn’t have any math options for “us” as a senior…you get the idea. The admin officer kindly asked if they were “both” applying as he wanted to research to see if the college has ever in their storied history ever ever accepted both a parent and a child in the same year . The humor was well received but the point was nevertheless clear.
OP, just let it go. You have raised an awesome child, who has great choices.
As for contact with the college admissions depts., I did contact Stanford after D was enrolled, and I explained to them that our minivan was totaled in an accident, we no longer had the sticker, and D said they were different than the ones in the bookstore. They happily mailed us a new one.
@fieldsports Agree 100%. At many universities, the moment a student confirms acceptance the file is transferred from admissions to the respective freshman dean’s office and the involvement of admissions ends. During the period up to May 1, the admissions office is involved but usually in coordination with the Dean’s office. I wouldn’t take a lack of attention as an indication that a particular student isn’t “important”. If you reach out, admissions will respond and help.
S1 was accepted to all of the 20 schools he applied to including HPYM and equivalents, and was awarded several top merit scholarships. Neither of us had any contact with admissions of any kind before, during, or after the acceptances and it never occurred to me that we should. Well, I suppose the call from Harvard that he was receiving a likely letter would be considered contact, but so what? There are lots of special kids out there-schools gave you affirmation by accepting your son and you shouldn’t need or expect anything further, IMO.
I wouldn’t pay much heed to the ‘attention’ factor either, other than it was a possible indicator of stressed resources at a college or university (i.e., the small private LAC). Even then, I would just dig into the facts a bit more before making a decision.
Your son sounds like a great student and person! But even as a NMF, this admissions business is just that - a business. Best wishes in all the decision making.
The Admissions Office is the marketing and selection arm of the university often staffed by officers barely older than the applicants who are doing a two year tour of duty. In their defense how do you get attached to kids who very well might reject you for another institution?