<p>I go to a very large public high school. I already visited the colleges I plan to apply for and have good knowledge about them (I think). In October, several colleges that I plan to apply for will come to my school. Because I signed up in the college visit, or something else, they mailed me about these sessions. Here are my questions:</p>
<p>1) Am I obliged to go to these sessions? Most of the sessions conflict with my classes during the day.
2) Do I really get personalized attention to talk to them during these sessions?
3) Will it have any negative side effect if I do not go to their session at my school? Particularly one of the colleges I really want to apply for is a small liberal arts college which only 2-3 students applied from my school last year. If I do not go to the session, does it give them the false impression that I am not interested, in fact I am very interested and will apply. But their sessions timing conflicts with my multivariable calculus class which is a hard class I am taking, so I am very reluctant to skip this class and go to a session without getting any new information. </p>
<p>I did go to a session in a neighboring school in the evening and several hundreds parents/students showed up and there was no chance to even talk to the admissions officer that night. </p>
<p>I suggest that you drop the admissions person an email explaining the conflict. Opening up a direct dialog via email could open all kinds of doors. I know that in my DDs case, the admissions person came 30 minutes early and had a meeting with her 1 on 1 prior to the general session (which was during her AP Gov class.)</p>
<p>It depends on the way the meetings are run. I know my son was pretty much told to come for one meeting the way the notice that the admission person let him know that he was expected. Other meetings that are truly crowd type things are not so necessary. In some cases, just coming by to say hello, reminding the adcom that you visited their school and completing any sign in sheet may be all that is needed.</p>
<p>Agree wtih above poster. It CAN be helpful to write an e-mail explaining the conflict and see if they have any other opening thta might work for both of you. Meeting with AdComs isn’t essential, but CAN be helpful, especially if you can talk one-on-one.</p>
<p>2) Depends on how popular these colleges are at your school. If you’re one of 80 at the session, then no. But if you’re one of four or five, then yeah.</p>
<p>3) Why risk it? I’d take scualum’s suggestion of sending an e-mail explaining your absence, or you can run by at the beginning, explain you’ve got a killer MV class you don’t want to miss, and remind him/her that you will be applying, pick up a card, whatever.</p>
<p>You will not learn anything you did not already know about the school at these school visits. However, I would attend the meetings of the schools you have the most interest in. It may help you stand out by showing your interest. It can’t hurt.</p>
<p>I think I’m just reiterating what everyone above me said, but here’s what I think–</p>
<p>
You are not obliged to go to these sessions-- if you have already visited the schools and do not have any further questions, you probably won’t learn anything. However, many schools keep careful records of how much “interest” a student shows towards their school, and every little bit helps. Most admissions officers pass out notecards where attending students can put down their contact information as proof that they were present at the meeting. If the meeting conflicts with your classes, or you just don’t think it will be beneficial for you to go, I would recommend stopping by the meeting, introducing yourself, and giving your excuse (“I’d love to stay and talk to you, but I have class now!”… etc,) and asking if you can fill out a card, which will put you in the school’s system as showing up. You can also ask for the admission officer’s business card, and send them a quick email about a question, or just to express your interest.</p>
<p>
It depends-- factors like the size of your high school, the size of the college, and the popularity of the college among your student body are important to consider. If you go to a school where everyone goes to University X, there are going to be a lot of people at the meeting, and you will not get much attention. If it is a small college that no one in your school even considers, you could be the only one at the meeting, meaning that you would get a lot of personalized attention. </p>
<p>
You should stop in on the meeting and explain that, by staying, you would be missing a very important calc class. Introduce yourself, get your name on the mailing list, get a business card of the admissions officer, and go back to class. (It’ll only take a couple minutes, and hopefully you won’t miss much calc) That evening, you can send the admissions officer an email, reiterating that you wish you could have made the meeting, and maybe adding a few questions.</p>
<p>While not all schools track interest, I do agree that it would be helpful to reiterate in some way your interest in the small LAC. I like the idea of emailing the admissions officer ahead of time to explain the conflict (particularly since it’s a killer MV class!) and perhaps getting a few individual minutes.</p>
<p>I don’t think you need to skip a class if that will be a problem for you, but I do think that a small, selective school will notice if you completely ignore the admission rep’s visit. Seems to me that an email to the visiting rep explaining briefly that you have a conflict, are sorry you can’t attend, and really enjoyed your visit to the school would be a good compromise.</p>
<p>“You should stop in on the meeting and explain that, by staying, you would be missing a very important calc class. Introduce yourself, get your name on the mailing list, get a business card of the admissions officer, and go back to class. (It’ll only take a couple minutes, and hopefully you won’t miss much calc) That evening, you can send the admissions officer an email, reiterating that you wish you could have made the meeting, and maybe adding a few questions.”
great solution!</p>
<p>Don’t stress the informational meetings. If you’ve already visited schools you’re interested in or are planning on going and interviewing with someone in admissions, you’re doing just fine. Going to one group session at your hs is not going to affect whether or not you’re admitted. Visiting the school in person packs a whole lot more wallop.</p>
<p>Just remember that the admissions officer who comes to the school is usually the person who will be reading your file first (they are responsible for schools in your geographic area). If the gathering is small, you have an opportunity to create a good impression.</p>
<p>This is a great thread as it has been a topic of conversation at our house recently. My DD did not go to a college session at her HS yesterday. “I forgot”. This is a school we havent visited yet but to which she has already applied. The school knew enough to call the house Sunday to remind her they would be at her HS. We have a visit planned for next month. My DD is going for a full ride at this school. I can not convince her that schools do keep track of these things and it DOES matter some times. UGH!</p>
<p>I used this thread as an example to my daughter. One of her reachy colleges that we all like a lot is at her school today. She wasn’t going to go because she had interviewed there already, but I explained that the person she had interviewed with wasn’t her regional rep, but that the rep would be there today, so she should definitely say hello and make a good impression. I told her that the rep had sent her a handwritten note letting her know that he would be there today, so it wouldn’t have been a good idea to ignore that.</p>
<p>If the colleges care about interest, it would be a good idea to attend the sessions or to at least e-mail them why you aren’t able to attend.</p>
<p>If the colleges are places like HPY, they don’t care about interest, so other than missing out on any info that the admissions officers share, it won’t matter if you attend the session.</p>
<p>I think scualum has it right … email the rep and tell them their slot conflicts with your Calc class. How could a rep not be impressed by a student who’d like to schmooze with the rep but puts academics ahead of that?</p>
<p>I think at the very least you should e-mail the rep and explain your absense. If you can, at the very least I would swing in between classes, introduce yourself say hi and bye. Unless it is a huge public flagship that is 100% stats driven I do not think it is a good idea to blow it off totally if it is a school you are serious about.</p>
<p>Since OP is looking at a small school where very few people from his school apply, I think the student should drop in and introduced him/herself. He could get there early, chit chat a few minutes and then go to class. As it has already been mentioned, the person visiting is the person most likely to be reading your application and will have to advocate for you in front of the admissions committee.</p>
<p>I have seen students who met admissions reps when they visited the school and remembered the student, when they came to visit the student’s school. It also gives your GC a chance to talk you up (provided that you have made a good impression) when they debreif with the admissions rep. It is never a bad thin to be able to connect a face to a name.</p>
<p>I would let the teacher know the situation in advance and ask if I could meet with him/her before school, after school or during lunch.</p>
<p>For students who are applying to a half-dozen or more colleges, these sessions can pose a serious threat to academics, especially if the student misses classes for other reasons during the same part of the school year.</p>
<p>You can go to the College Board site and find out whether the college takes the student’s demonstrated interest into account in admissions. This will probably cut down the number of sessions with admissions officers that you have to attend significantly.</p>