<p>Silly question…sorry in advance. What phone number does everyone give for your contact number when applying to MT programs? If you give your S or D’s cell number, the students cannot answer when in school (at least that’s the way it is in our school). But if you give a home phone, there may be no one home, or…a parent will pick up and know admission results before the student. I guess this is similar to “Do you open your child’s mail/email during college acceptance season?”</p>
<p>What did everyone do? Pros or cons to one number over another? Thanks. (Although I guess my D is ultimately going to be the one who decides which number to use!)</p>
<p>I use my cell but most places I’ve auditioned at ask also for my home number so I guess they would call my cell first & if no answer, call my house phone? I worry that they will call during school but I rely on either calling them back once I see their missed call, or waiting for them to call me back (since if it’s an acceptance I doubt they would just give up & accept someone else in my spot because I missed their call)</p>
<p>Regarding mail, my parents open small envelopes/hold them to the light to read so they know if it is a rejection to tell me personally & then show me the letter. For big, obvious acceptance envelopes they hand them to me & we open them together</p>
<p>Give the student’s number. Most schools do NOT want to deal with the parents. Same goes for who makes calls to the school to ask clarifying questions. Have the student call.</p>
<p>Contrary point of view. When my daughter was applying to college, she gave our home phone number. She was living at home, that was her permanent residence and was the number at which it was most likely that a call would be answered or a message on an answering machine retrieved. During the school day, she could not receive any phone calls on her cell phone and there could always be issues of reception at other times. It was never an issue with our daughter nor with any schools that called our house attempting to reach her. I view it really as a non-issue. If a parent answers the phone call from a school, a message can simply be taken. You should use whaever number will best facilitate successful communications.</p>
<p>Normally, I’d agree with anything MichaelNKat says. (And you probably should too). But my feeling is that communication patterns have changed since 4 or 5 years ago and people, schools etc. are more accustomed to point-to-point communications and have come to expect it. </p>
<p>That said, when my son is applying to schools in two years, we will give the home number unless much changes between now and then. My son is the only teenager in the planet that does not know his own cell phone number, nor check his email faithfully etc. </p>
<p>Point being, the best advice is to do whatever is most likely to deliver the message.</p>
<p>Where we live (as well as where our HS is located), our cell phones do not get reception and so our family landline was the number provided.</p>
<p>That said, schools that call about an acceptance were the exception to the rule. I do recall Syracuse calling my D about her acceptance and I gave her the phone when they asked for her.</p>
<p>It is really up to you! If your student would prefer for his/her cell phone to be on the application, because they would be the first to hear news, put that down! But if you trust a land-line better, go with what you feel comfortable with.</p>
<p>Whatever phone you use- just make sure you have an answering machine! I know we’ve tried to call a few people this year to no avail and haven’t even been able to leave them a voice mail… the phone just rings and rings and rings. So we send them an email, which is handy, but it’s not the same as the exciting first chat.</p>
<p>halflokum, talk about communication patterns changing, often, my kids don’t even answer their cell phones when I call. They tell me I should text them instead! Either cell phone usage has changed dramatically or they’re trying to give me a hint! :)</p>
<p>We do not get reception because of the way our house is built (pre-war, steel beams and cement) and reception is spotty all over our neighborhood. We always give our home phone number, it’s the most reliable. Given the frequency of phone calls this time around (many more than 3 years ago with my older daughter) there is no way my daughter would be happy if they all came in on her cell phone.</p>
So we send them an email, which is handy, but it’s not the same as the exciting first chat.</p>