Admissions officers flying out to high schools?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>This was a new one for me, and I'm wondering if anyone else has had this experience. My D was called down to the guidance office yesterday....an admissions officer from one of her top choice schools had flown out (hundreds of miles) to our suburban town to meet with her. She applied to this school a few weeks ago, and is trying to schedule her audition. He had a private meeting with her, told her what scholarships she was eligible for given her scores/grades, talked to her about talent awards that the school gives out, and asked her if she had questions for him. He was knowledgeable about the MT program, and answered all the questions she had. He didn't meet with anyone else at the school. </p>

<p>Frankly, I was pretty shocked. My S, who is a junior in college (a physics major), never got this kind of treatment. My daughter was blown away...this school was already pretty close to the top of her list, but this visit put it up even higher. Talk about personal attention! She was so touched by it, and it actually was helpful for her. This is a school that we won't get a chance to see unless/until she gets an audition, and then we'll have to fly out there b/c they don't go to NYC Unifieds.</p>

<p>Now I'm sure the admissions officer was making the rounds to a bunch of different high schools in the area, meeting with all interested students, but I have never heard of such a thing. I know the big schools come out to major cities and hold information sessions for students ...we have a number of those in Boston and adjacent towns. But this is not a big school, and he took the time to drive 25 miles outside of Boston to come to our high school to meet with one student. I found this pretty impressive. </p>

<p>Am I just naive? Does this happen all the time with some of these smaller schools? (And Emsdad, I did try searching the forum to see if there was an old thread on this, but didn't find one. I could have missed it, though, b/c I am not a master at searching like you. :))</p>

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<p>My son is meeting with the admission officers for seven of the Twelve schools on his list when they visit his school throughout October. As soon as a student expresses interest in a school through an inquiry or app they know. October is reqruitment month. College reps tour around the country visiting.
It’s very common from what I have seen.</p>

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<p>This would not be unusual at our school either, monkey–especially if a student had enough on the ball to have already submitted her application! :slight_smile: The admissions rep would be sure to make contact with any kid who had applied and to check about any who had expressed interest. How great that your daughter got to talk with somebody from the school–it can only help! I hope she liked what she heard!</p>

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<p>None of my S’s schools came out to our high school…and numerous kids applied to some of those schools. This is the first I’ve heard of it! It’s great, but I imagine it gets expensive for the colleges. And yes, she liked what she heard, Times3! It made it way more personal.</p>

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<p>*recruitment (I had to fix that. WOW! App tired:))</p>

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<p>Monkey13 - I am surprised the admissions officer hadn’t given your D a heads-up he was coming. It does seem like he was coming specifically to meet her. Can you imagine if she had been home sick that day?!</p>

<p>Our school of approximately 1200 students (300/grade) has many, many colleges come visit in the fall and the spring. The students sign up in advance to meet in a group with the rep. Of course my D has signed up to attend the meetings for all schools she is hoping to attend. </p>

<p>Just one rep has reached out specifically to my D to let her know she hoped to see her when she visits the school. My D was the only one at that meeting. I couldn’t believe it because it is a big state school, with a lot going for it. I think that many of the kids in our New York high school just do not consider going south of Virginia. They are missing out!</p>

<p>Not all of the Admissions reps are good at making their school sound appealing. Some barely engage the kids, they just ask if there is anything the student would like to know. Really? 16 and 17-year-olds could use a bit of a verbal introduction of the highlights of the school. And most reps really don’t know much about the performing arts departments. So, sometimes the meetings make my D disinterested in applying. I tell her to try not to let it influence her too much, but it surely has an impact.</p>

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<p>I guess our school just doesn’t rate these visits. I’m starting to feel slighted by all you guys…we have no International Thespian societies, no early auditions, no Jimmys, no school rep visits. LOL. This rep only met with my D…I doubt whether anyone else even knew where the school was, let alone applied there. Since we’re in MA, many, many grads go to UMass Amherst. And the kids in the top of the class end up at Harvard, Tufts, Northeastern and the like. But there are about 10 to 25% who end up scattered all across the country…Washington DC, Florida, California…but I guess not enough of the 300 person graduating class goes out of state to warrant these visits. My S got to do interviews at all of his college choices here at home (interviews with alum), but no one came to the school. I guess I was surprised that this guy came for one potential student, and that he knew so much about the MT program. (In fact, my D said, “MT must be a big deal there, b/c he knew so much about it!”) It makes sense to go to big schools, or schools where a number of kids might be interested in the school, but how cost effective is it to travel to a school for one student? And a student who may not get accepted artistically, at that? Ah, the downsides of going to a relatively small public high school…</p>

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<p>Lucky… I’d bet no performing arts admin visits our entire state! Lol</p>

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<p>Monkey, is it possible that your daughter is the first kid from her high school to apply there? At least now both she and her school are on that college’s radar. I do know that our college counseling staff work hard to establish relationships with the college admissions offices; sounds like yours are less oriented that way. Ours travel to visit colleges too! Just to clarify: it was the admissions rep, not a theater department member, who visited, right? Anyway, definitely a good thing for your D and probably for future applicants from her high school too–she has paved the way!</p>

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<p>Monkey - you can’t be far from Marblehead, and we have tons of college reps come to our high school. Would it be possible for your D to come to our school if a college that she is interested in comes to us? It really is a great experience, especially if not many kids go. A few years ago, Smith came to our school and my D went. It was only her and one other girl, and the admissions rep interview them both right there (Smith required an interview), and really talked to them. The other girl applied and ended up going to Smith because of that - so the colleges do drum up business!</p>

<p>BU came to our school on Friday, and S got to meet the women who will be looking at his application (he told her he was doing ED). Interesting - she told him that the admission reps look at each high school individually, meaning they will look at all the kids from Marblehead, then move on to the next high school and look at all those kids. So they don’t compare kids from different schools.</p>

<p>Anyway - your D should get a boost of confidence from that visit, which will surely help her during audition season!</p>

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<p>Times3, I believe my D is the first from our school to ever apply to this college, so you may be right…they see the chance to forge a new relationship. The officer who came out was, I believe, a general admissions officer, but he is responsible for making my D’s audition appointment for the MT department, and he was very familiar with the MT program and the Conservatory, so…I’m not sure how they organize it over there. Marbleheader, we are south of Boston, so actually you are quite far from us. </p>

<p>We went to the Performing Arts College Fair in Boston, and that served our needs very well. We have visited 6 of my D’s schools, and will visit an additional 5 during audition season, so hopefully we will have a good idea of the schools.</p>

<p>I think my D was impressed with the fact that they came out just for her. It certainly did not make her feel more confident that she would get in there artistically, although she did feel more confident about an academic acceptance there after hearing what he had to say. However, it DID make her more interested in the school. Now, if only she can get in… :)</p>

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<p>Monkey- I am reading about this on CC!!! Call/ Text me- I want details…LOL!</p>

<p>We do have a program at our HS that brings college reps in. We have about 3-6 colleges every day for about 5 weeks. They come during lunch periods and kids can sign up to attend the brief meetings. If there is a particular college you are interested in you can request that the admissions rep gets invited, but it is not always possible for them to attend given their travel schedules. I am surprised your HS doesn’t have something similar through guidance.</p>

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<p>Admissions reps come to our high school too but not really from the colleges my kids applied to. For D1, the only college on her list that had an admissions rep visit our high school was Smith. She did have a great meeting with that person (she eventually was accepted to Smith but did not attend). For D2, the one who applied to BFA in MT schools, none of her schools visited our high school. However, CMU had an admissions rep who gave interviews in our region and my D did meet that person (about an hour away from us). D was Priority Waitlisted at CMU. My girls went to a rural public high school and the typical colleges that send reps to visit just were not the schools my kids were interested in.</p>

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<p>When my daughter was a junior, she went to a meeting in the guidance department with a rep from Rutgers. There were only 3 people there. When she applied to the school the following year, she mentioned in her essay how she had spoken with this rep and even put the rep’s name in the essay. It turned out the rep was actually the rep for our state and she was the one who admits all the students in our state to Rutgers. Even though she was admitted and Rutgers was a top choice, she decided to go somewhere else for a lot of reasons. My point, if you can meet a rep when you are junior- make sure to keep their card! My daughter met again with this rep in her senior year and my husband and I had dinner with her while she was here. She was amazing and she told me a lot about how she makes her selections for admissions into the school. She also told me that she reads EVERY essay and EVERY application! She said that sometimes, the essays make or break a candidate and that sometimes, reading them just breaks her heart with some of the stories. One of the other things she told me was that she has rejected perfect SAT scores and she looks for kids who have interests outside of their chosen field. for instance, if someone is really into theatre, she wants to see other organizations or volunteer work outside of theatre as she wants well-rounded students.</p>

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<p>My four kids all went to their top choice colleges. They never met with any admissions reps at their high schools or in our city, and never went to any college fairs. I mean, I am sure they would have met with reps, but the opportunity never came up for schools they were interested in. We did visit a few colleges before applying and, when possible, went to info sessions, etc. I’m sure it’s a good idea to meet these people if the occasion arises, but it’s not necessary. Remember, the point of recruiting is to drive up the number of applicants, so that the ratio of applications to acceptances improves in the school’s favor, so the school’s ranking will rise. The reps are out there selling the schools.</p>

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<p>I am in the guidance dept. at our college prep high school, and am the one responsible for scheduling these college reps. We have about 30-40 visits a year for our juniors and seniors to attend. The reps that come are responsible for recruiting in our area, and although they are mostly from the “main” colleges our students attend, we get some pretty random ones as well. </p>

<p>Our school only has about 600 total students, and as only the juniors and seniors can schedule meetings to visit with the reps, sometimes no one attends at all. But once someone applies/attends a “random” college, we get no end of brochures, posters, and even college rep visits. </p>

<p>It is possible/probable that there was a local or regional college fair that was the real reason for the reps flight to your town. </p>

<p>In advance of their visits, many of the reps do send me a list of students who have expressed interest in their school and ask me to send them a note as a personal “invitation” to meet with them when they arrive. The rep that visited your D is responsible for your territory and knew your daughter was a strong contender. He/she was smart to visit and maybe secure an admission. Probably a better use of his time than showing up at a neighboring school with a chance of seeing no one.) Pretty cool to have your own visit!!</p>

<p>p.s. We get very few MT schools…Baldwin Wallace came the other day, and since my son is an MT I was commenting on how their name gets thrown around a lot for MT…he seemed uninterested. You got a good rep for your D…one who knows about MT!</p>

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<p>Wow, I wish the admissions officers at my top schools flew out to say hi.</p>

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<p>Another mom and I were discussing this very topic this weekend. Why is it all of these reps from performing arts programs make their rounds at Thespian fairs, summer camps, and even at mock auditions with some of the consultants.
It is easy to be a big cynical. Each kid who auditions for one of their programs brings with them up to $50 in audition fees. Plus applications fees themselves.
I imagine the admissions team members are genuinely caring people, they seem to be warm and friendly when talking with our kids.
But between them, the vocal coaches, monologue coaches etc, this industry of applying to musical theater program is costing families a small fortune. And, when many of these programs offer fewer than ten spots a year, there are many empty wallets and broken hearts for a lot of these kids.
There are folks on Broadway from many different universities , some with no degrees at all. Talent will prevail! I wish families would push back a bit about this process.</p>

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<p>I think this is a bit off the original topic posted by the OP, but the post above made me start thinking about something I often think of when reading posts on CC. Generally, the people you (your children) are auditioning for are the faculty in the programs, not admissions officers, judges, or adjudicators. The faculty do not receive a cut of the application fees, nor do they receive commission for each student who applies to the university. When faculty travel to conferences, fairs, mock auditions, etc… they are not often being paid, they do these things as professional service, educational outreach, and to try to meet and recruit the widest pool as possible from which to select the students they will teach for four years… students whom I taught 10+ years ago still contact me for advice and to catch-up… I have been fortunate to work with them professionally as well…, this is the case with most of my colleagues teaching at programs. The relationships between faculty and students in the programs often go well beyond four years. So, fit is important for the faculty, but most importantly for the student. </p>

<p>Audition coaches, summer programs, applying to 12+ schools, etc… is not required by the programs. Applying and auditioning to their particular program is. </p>

<p>Where I teach we see students audition who have been coached by professional audition coaches, have attended summer programs, etc… and those who have not. Some of the students we accept have been coached or attended summer programs, some have not. Same goes with the students we do not accept.</p>

<p>I have nothing against professional coaches at all! I think coaches, summer programs, etc…can be a great resource for some families, but they are not required by the programs. Even though it may feel like it when in the middle of the process, trying to figure out how to help your children :-)</p>

<p>You are correct there are many professional performers who have attended many schools in many different majors, some without any formal undergraduate education at all. </p>

<p>I think the push back would be towards the perception that coaches, summer programs, applying to 12+ schools, etc… is required. And that there is only one path towards pursuing a career in the performing arts… attending a “top” program. </p>

<p>20+ years later I still remember fondly the audition trips and second visit trips I took with my mom and dad… albeit back then I applied to 6 schools and was accepted to 4… so that was fewer trips than many families take today. In the end it is the time spent with my parents on these trips that was special… and what I learned about myself… the auditions themselves and how I felt about being accepted or not to the schools are distant memories. If your children keep with careers in the performing arts this is just the beginning of auditioning, training, etc… Remembering to experience the journey might help not to feel so pressured through this part of the process. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>

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<p>^^Kat, thanks for that clear-headed and much needed post.</p>