<p>I'm curious about the experiences everyone has had with communications from schools AFTER the application has been sent in. There has been a remarkable and noticeable difference between schools that my daughter applied to ---
- one college has yet to acknowledge receiving her application materials (don't worry, D. called to check and yes, they all arrived) SIX weeks after they were sent
- one college sent only a note saying one particular item was missing but nothing after that until the acceptance letter. After the acceptance letter (and that was all it was - just an acceptance letter), there's been nothing.
- one college sent both an acknowledgement of receiving everything plus directions on how to access the university's decision tracking system; after she was accepted, she received another nice package from them detailing housing and activity options on campus. Then...nothing.
- the final college has sent her confirmation of everything they've received at every step of the way, even acknowledged getting her SAT scores way back in September with a nice "hope this means you're applying" note. The admissions rep sent her a personal email after her application was complete telling her she'd done a good job. He also sent another one several days after she received her acceptance package (which included a very personalized acceptance letter). They also sent a nice letter to the parents from the President after she was admitted, with his phone number and email and an offer to personally answer any questions we might have. </p>
<p>So, I'm wondering how other schools are doing with "after the application is in" communications. Just curious, as I think it is interesting that there has been such variety.</p>
<p>We saw a similar variety last year. In fact, one school that daughter did not choose to attend kept sending items like housing bills and registration forms long after we sent in the postcard declining admission.</p>
<p>Sounds like that last college really wants your daughter! My son had one college like that. He even got phone calls from students, as well as letters and emails from admissions people. They gave him the best financial aid offer, too. However, he did not end up going there. sigh...</p>
<p>Based on my own experience and that of a few friends, I do not think there is any logic in the communication process. Some schools are just better than other, have more "slaves" hopping around the office, or have invested in a better computer system. In my experience, three schools of similar sizes were distinctly different and had different periods of activities. One of the most "congenial" schools before application turned out to be a nightmare in the paper processing. Despite having an automatic acceptance, I took four months of discussions to make them dump blatantly erroneous information from my files. Two months AFTER being accepted, I will still getting requests for SAT scores and other asinine questions. To make things worse, the school also amended my FAFSA using what must have been someone else application. Murphy Law is hard at work at some schools! </p>
<p>My advice is to read ABSOLUTELY nothing in the communications before the ACCEPTANCE. After getting the acceptance you'll figure out which schools were genuine in their expression of interest. And it WILL surprise you.</p>
<p>Since they take a bit of abuse here over their multiple pre-app mailings, I'd like to put in a little plug for WUSTL. Out of all the private colleges (some quite small and supposedly "personal"), Washington U is the only one to acknowledge receipt of my daughter's application withdrawal letter (in accordance with her ED acceptance elsewhere). She got a nice personal reply wishing her luck at [XYZ] University. That was nice.</p>
<p>The best we dealt with last year was USNA. Everything was online and you could check as to when what was received and what still needed to be sent in and if something was missing you could track it down. It was great.</p>
<p>I think we have to separate the communications blizzard (or lack thereof) into two types: (1) logistical/efficiency - status of app, what's outstanding (2) "we want you, we want you, we want you" - marketing/recruiting stuff. In the former category, I especially liked the ones with automated phone systems where you could check which items had arrived (although there was always a lag). Or, online log-in systems. In the latter category, having completed the process, I've come to believe that ongoing brochures, etc. don't mean too much, but <em>semi</em>-personal communications from other than Admissions (letters from Deans, alums,... letters/calls from students) do mean something. In both cases where DS was on the receiving end of these, serious merit $$ ensued.</p>
<p>we also noted quite a bit of variety. A lot of the "teacher rec #1 received" sort of acknowledgement was online.</p>
<p>I totally agree with jmmom - Do not take any of the generic "we love you, we want you" stuff to mean you will necessarily get in until you actually have the acceptance in hand. I would discount the calls from students also. It's nice that they do that, and it gives the applicant an opportunity to ask questions. But I'm pretty sure that the schools who do those prior to sending letters do them for more students than they plan to actually admit. (Some schools wait and only call the admits.)</p>
<p>I would also say that you shouldn't take the attentiveness of the admissions office as any indicator of the type of experience your child would have if they actually attended that school. There is a lot of variation in the size of the admissions staff and budget at colleges of similar quality. Feeling courted during admissions may not translate into accessible faculty or responsive administration once a student enrolls.</p>
<p>I'm not talking about the pre-application and pre-admissions "We love you - apply!" mailings, but rather the the AFTER acceptance communications and marketing. Why would schools accept students and then suddenly stop marketing to them? Why do some schools do such a good job of making accepted students feel like they really want them to come? It's interesting to me from a marketing perspective, because while it's obvious that schools want to boost application numbers, it would seem to me that they would also want to boost yield numbers, or at least make sure that they reach their yield targets, by keeping the positive relationship going (or building it in the first place!) after the acceptance letters go out.</p>
<p>It also seems self-evident that schools could really lower their acceptance rates IF they're good at recruiting students AFTER they're admitted, not just BEFORE.</p>
<p>Ah, after the acceptance... Of the 4 colleges that accepted my son, MIT did the best job recruiting the admits to come. There was a Christmas card hand-signed by everyone in the admissions office, a Valentines card, glossy magazines, stuff from the MIT Parent's Association, student to student calls, parent to parent calls. The admitted students' weekend is fabulous. The admissions office really does a great job on recruiting admits. An MIT alum in another state whose son at MIT had some high school activities in common with my son exchanged a whole series of calls and emails with me encouraging my son to go there, and addressing specific issues peculiar to our kids. That isn't strictly an example of the admissions office at work, but it is an example of the MIT community at work. MIT alums and parents seem very involved in recruiting both before and after admissions. We did not experience that as much with the other colleges.</p>
<p>Two of the other places that admitted him had students call, and there were little handwritten personal notes on the acceptance letter. Interesting, the last school, which offered him generous merit aid as one of their top acceptees, did the least in terms of personal contact. </p>
<p>I really think all of this stuff has a lot more to do with resources than with how much a school wants a particular student. And again, it does not have much to do with the student's likely experience if they attend the school. The admissions office can control how much encouragement and info the admits get, but not what kind of experience they would have if they attended.</p>
<p>I have to say that Colgate's communications, from the time of inquiry to after my S was accepted, were amazingly personalized. My S didn't choose to attend but we were all very impressed and considered the school more strongly as a result.</p>
<p>On a related topic, we've found that our mailbox has been EMPTY of college promotional stuff since my D's Dec 15th EA acceptance came through (not ED). I know that schools who accept a kid ED report these acceptances to other schools which, I imagine, would stop the mailings. Do the colleges that have SCEA also do this? Are your kids still receiving promotional materials from colleges?</p>
<p>Carolyn: In terms of school communication after acceptance, I would have to say that of the schools to which my daughter applied last year and was accepted, UNC-Chapel Hill was--bar none--the most impressive, both before acceptance (recruitment and early likely letter) and after. She received phone calls as well as some very articulate and thoughtful letters. And whenever she had a question, someone knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful--no matter in what office-- always managed to answer the telephone. This is where she is now, and she has not been disappointed. She did receive a phenomenal merit scholarship, and the level of support--financial and otherwise--is truly outstanding. This school has definitely lived up to its initial promise. Very impressive.</p>
<p>One other school that I think does a terrific job is Wellesley, with their early evaluation letters, but also after acceptance. We received a letter from parents who had a senior there, simply detailing her (and their) experience with Wellesley. And my daughter received a hand-written letter from a current student, and they had gone to the trouble to take note of my daughter's interests, and then located a current student there who had similar interests, to write her the letter. So that was impressive. She heard nothing more from them after she turned down the acceptance, however. I was also impressed with the fact that UChicago admissions sent a very thoughtful letter after she turned down their acceptance, wishing her all the best, and hoping that she would still consider them for graduate school. (Very smart. Somebody is really thinking there!) Her Chicago interviewer also stayed in touch and sent her a very nice note congratulating her on her Chapel Hill merit scholarship. </p>
<p>Of the others, there is one that is still sending mail to us, wanting to know why we haven't responded to their financial aid office about loans they offered. We followed up with a letter, in case the little decline card was lost in the mail, but letters from their financial aid office keep arriving. I called them, too, but it hasn't seemed to help. We just keep getting mail from them here on a weekly basis.</p>
<p>Son's ED school even mentioned in the acceptance letter: dont' expect to hear from us again until Feb, and then not again 'til April. Yes, it would be nice to recieve a postcard or two, but at least they warned us. :D</p>
<p>My daughter is having a definite lack of communication with the 7, yes 7 colleges she applied to . They want this and that, extensive documents but with no acceptance. Most want a basic financial assistance document before acceptance. One has accepted her, and wanted the $200 fee within 2 weeks, and I told them that until we know what her financial aid package looks like, they won't be getting anything. Just beware, with regards to my son, his school accepted, sent along a financial aid award package that was very generous, and was all too friendly. We should have known that as soon as they got the rest of the money they needed for tuition all that sweetness would go away. I think when you get too much it's just as much of a warning as not enough.</p>
<p>My D found that her rolling school and her EA school were the best at sending attention her way. They were both safety schools for her and I don't know if that made the difference. From University of Oregon she got emails regarding status of application. She got letters asking if she had any questions. She also received phone calls from students asking if she had questions. She also received a letter from an alumni with his experience at U of Oregon. We were surprised that such a large school would take time to send anything
Univ of Denver- sent lots of mail. Also we received phone calls from parents of present students, and D received calls from students. After her decision to go elsewhere she got a nice note saying that they know a student of her caliber had lots of choices and that they were disapointed she did not end up there but if she changed her mind she could have a place the following year.
From the school she ended up at in the fall she just received the basic's but no extras. But they did have a nice acceptance presentation.
Her other match schools she had only the contact that all students get.
From her 1 reach school she had little communication. And attempts to get information from them was like pulling teeth.
In our case the safety schools definitely made more of an effort to have the personal touch.</p>
<p>I was wondering that same thing myself- should not colleges woo students just a tad more after they accepted? Don't they want them to matriculate?
I believe most mail after acceptance my D received from Knox- letter from president, letter from faculty, letter from student affair office, letter from financial aid office, invitations for chats on line, more mailings "what to do after Knox", Knox news updates, emails from cross country coach/ she is not great athlete/. All other LAC did some of that and all send very nice Christmas cards. Interestingly, their yeild last year 345 out of 1260.</p>
<p>one school that made NO attempt to COURT ME at all was U of Chicago, no contact from admissions office, no letters other than the acceptance package, no calls</p>
<p>Rice, Northwestern, Cornell all actively tried to "recruit" me</p>
<p>The state schools didn't really bother with me. In fact, Western STILL sends me stuff about paying and whatnot even though I've sent THREE letters declining admission and have now been at Reed for a full semester. XP</p>
<p>Lewis & Clark sent me my acceptance, then nothing. Then suddenly, months later in April (I applied EA) I got a phone call from them. It was strange... and awkward since I was sure I couldn't afford the school.</p>
<p>Whitman, well, I never got the "after admittance" thing because they waitlisted me... but I think this is a good "take any 'I love you, want you' stuff with a grain of salt" type moment. I had a lot of contact with the adcom, he was very friendly and called, asked if I had questions, even mentioned I looked like exactly the kind of student that Whitman wanted. Then I got the small, waitlist letter in April. Go figure. :P</p>
<p>Linfield was by far the most amazing. My adcom called me personally to congratulate me when I was accepted EA. He also followed up with a handwritten note, and a hint that I'd get a merit award. Then he called the congratulate me about the merit award (which was about 14k and very nice in all) and expressed his delight that I'd be attending a scholarship contest. When I went down, he recognized me (he saw me once at a 10 minute school session way back in September) and came up, said "hi", talked to me for a while. Then he'd call every so often to check in. Even though after I visited I knew there was no way I could attend Linfield, turning the offer down was really really hard because he was so nice. I ended up writing a thank you note to him, and he replied saying that he knew I'd do an excellent job at Reed. </p>
<p>Now... the the college I chose. XD</p>
<p>Reed was awful. Getting anything was like pulling teeth. They lost practically everything of mine at one point or another and then when I tried to e-mail them I got a virus. :P And, I never heard a word, never met an adcom (or even talked to/e-mailed) which felt crazy because I was in constant contact with the Whitman/Linfield adcoms... and, well... I was sure I wasn't going to be accepted. Goes to show I guess...</p>