<p>Has any other parent been mortified by what their child has said to a College Rep?
Though I find what he said humorous now, and quite eye-opening, it was a bit uncomfortable in the moment</p>
<p>A bit of background info
My Junior S and I attended a college fair last night. My son plans to be a music performance major, but loves to act and sing. He has not been very interested in the college search process, but was agreeable to attending the college fair held at his school. The list of Colleges/Universities included LACs and schools with either conservatories or schools of music.</p>
<p>The tables were set up alphabetically so Bard College was the first stop. After a pleasant conversation with the Rep., my child told her, "I'm not really interested in academics."!</p>
<p>Luckily he had not given his name and remained anonymous.</p>
<p>A little different, but here’s my son’s special moment. He was interested in running in college. He had a SLIM chance of running for a DI school. It was the first program he visited. When the coach asked if he had any questions, the first thing out of his mouth was, “How does the money work?” I about slid under the table. I realized I should have prepped him a little better beforehand!</p>
<p>Those are great stories! Feels good to know that other parents are also mortified by what their kids say to the reps. I am pretty sure a LOT of our kids also say things that would mortify us during the actual interviews that we do not get to listen to…</p>
<p>Okay, what about things reps say to the students??? My son (who is very into parkour if anyone else knows what that is) asked about the schools’ architecture and structures around campus. The rep apparently was taken a little aback and responded with “well,
we don’t have architecture as a major but we do have interior design”!!!</p>
<p>(parkour is a way of moving about the environment using a combination of martial arts, free-running, and gymnastics so the more walls, staircases, and other obstacles the better!)</p>
<p>My son’s California high school had his junior year school picture on the transcript that was sent to colleges. In that pic, S was very visibly wearing a t-shirt with “University of Texas” on it–a school S did not apply to and where the pic would not have mattered anyway. We were living in California at the time but he was a proud Texas native. So, for those of you with juniors who have not had their school pics yet, wear something plain.</p>
<p>Despite several Rose Bowls and some pretty good basketball teams, etc I always get asked a few times if UW Madison has sports. I know it is not Alabama or LSU but really…Fall Seattle Fair is coming up so I’ll keep note of any doozies.</p>
<p>My son had an interview at a CTCL school and this was the part where they bring the parent in. The interviewer had a copy of the book on a table, pointed to it, and talked about this school’s inclusion. My son lifted the book as if it were a dead rat and had a matching facial expression and said, “Oh yeah. My mom keeps trying to make me read this.”</p>
<p>My daughter and I were speaking to an admissions rep after our tour. The rep asked, “How did you hear about our college?” </p>
<p>My daughter replied, “My mom talks to random strangers on the internet, you know, the people she always warns me not to talk to.” She was referring to this web site.</p>
<p>My kids never asked any questions. My wife and I of course asked all the pertinent questions. (Just kidding!! I think… don’t remember exactly) My wife is attending a college fair this weekend representing her alma mater. I will ask her for any interesting stories.</p>
<p>we were at one for my oldest few years ago, the U of Miami table was 10 deep with 16-17 year old boys, one of them asked the rep “do the girls attend class in bikini’s, cause thats what I heard.”</p>
<p>My oldest son seemed pre-occupied with the quality of the campus dining venues and whether they were “all you can eat”. No, he’s not over-weight…he was still growing (and eating) as a 17 year old doing college visits.</p>
<p>My son told the rep for Rhodes college that they had no way of enforcing their binding agreement for admission so he could still do whatever he wanted.</p>
<p>My daughter got mad at me in front of Davidson College, angry that she did not remember that college and doesn’t want to have to see these dumb schools she knows nothing about! (no clue about that one, she is the one who wanted to go to the college fair in the first place). </p>
<p>Fortunately, none of them had my children’s names, LOL.</p>
<p>Mmm… here’s hoping the rep did not ask the next student who your son was, lmkh70!</p>
<p>And I sort of agree with your daughter – these fairs are just marketing exercises and very superficial, IMHO. I probably would have said that same thing. :D</p>
(Just kidding!! I think… don’t remember exactly) My wife is attending a college fair this weekend representing her alma mater. I will ask her for any interesting stories.</p>
Thanks for a good chuckle to start the day!</p>