My Daughter has now contacted 10 regional admissions officers for colleges she is interested in. She has asked them each a thoughtful question that you can’t readily find the answer to. She has only heard back from two of them. These are all selective colleges. Is this just a really busy time of year? Are they annoyed by these types of emails? Should she resend her emails? She is a little frustrated, as the college advisor has told her she needs to do,this to express interest.
I suspect it is just the time of year. Most RD results came out in the past few weeks and I suspect most reps are more likely to field queries from admitted students and will probably be rather busy for the next several weeks as waitlists are sorted out. Your daughter is probably more likely to receive a response if she waits until some time in the summer.
AO really dislike when people do that. That’s what I heard from an AO at Brown.
Very selective schools really don’t care about students’ interest. It’s more the 2nd tier ones (who fear losing top applicants to the more selective schools) that really care about this. If she has honest questions, she should trawl CC and find out the answer.
I’m not an admissions counselor (though after 18 months here at CC, I could probably play one on TV 
but i think it’s a matter of 1) poor timing (it’s nuts right now…they’re trying to increase the yield as high as possible by May 1 and probably aren’t thinking at all about next year yet) and 2) they likely just don’t want to spend the time answering the questions…at this point, pretty much everything can be researched online so they don’t really need to answer these questions. Plus, they have no relationship with the applicant yet…I think very specific questions could be answered at a later point…once scores have been turned in…and seminars/visits been done…
I disagree with @T26E4. It really depends on the school. For example, Northwestern is hardly second tier (They are ranked higher than Brown and Cornell) but they do consider level of applicant interest.
OP, your daughter is better off calling, going to a fair, visiting the school, or talking to a rep when they visit her school.
Call them, don’t email!
- If your D is a junior it is not the time. Admissions officers are extremely busy finalizing the incoming freshman class. The summer before or fall of her senior year is the best time to contact them.
- In addition, may top tier schools don’t care about interest, you can find that information on the common data form.
- And there are other ways to show interest and they can be as simple as getting on the school’s mailing list, visiting if you are able, asking for an alumni interview at the appropriate time, and stopping by their table at a local college fair etc.
Okay, thanks all. I will show her this thread. Probably better to email in the summer.
Also, surely a phone call is more annoying than an email? And would they actually even answer their phone at this time of year? Certainly if they are too busy to answer an email, they aren’t going to return a phone message.
I would absolutely not call now.
Many of those waitlisted students are sending e-mail to the AO these days too. The best time to contact them may be between July and October.
So now I am a little concerned. I hope they aren’t making a list of “Annoying students who sent emails in April.” Do they keep a black list, and would they put her on it because of an email?
Just one email to each one? I can’t imagine that would get you put on anyone’s blacklist! It might have gotten clicked past, left for later, or deleted, who knows…but if they don’t have the time to reply to one email, I highly doubt they have the time (or the anger?) to write down her name for future emailing reference.
Thanks everyone!
@Lindagaf: One important point that has not (I believe) been raised in the earlier posts follows. Your daughter SHOULD NOT – particularly during the annual admissions cycle’s busiest times, but really ever – ask questions that can be answered through the institution’s web site, just to have direct Regional Admissions Officer contact. Not only does this make her look indolent and/or un-resourceful, but it also squanders the AO’s valuable time. While doing so is common, it is also clearly undesirable.
Toptier, thanks. If you reread my post, I said that she asked questions not readily found anywhere. I will show her this thread, and I think it is probably best to just resend her questions, in a new email, in a few months time.