I am a rising senior who has just started her college tours. I compiled a list of colleges that I’m interested in but the few schools I really like are too far for my family to take me to visit (it just isn’t financially feasible to look far). I live in CT and my number one school is UNC at Chapel Hill. I’ve gone through their website to see if they were making an appearance at a college fair nearby me anytime soon but sadly they aren’t. I know college tours are very helpful in showing the school your interest and they take into consideration campus visits, interviews etc into their admission process. So is there any other way I could show a college my interest without visiting? Is it possible to email admissions officers or professors to get to know them?
In the case of UNC, according to the school’s Common Data Set, “level of applicant’s interest” is not considered in the admisions decision.
http://oira.unc.edu/files/2015/05/cds_2014_2015.pdf
Look at prospective colleges’ Common Data Set. (Google college name and common data set). [url=<a href=“http://oira.unc.edu/files/2015/05/cds_2014_2015.pdf%5DHere%5B/url”>http://oira.unc.edu/files/2015/05/cds_2014_2015.pdf]Here[/url] is UNC’s.
UNC does not consider level of interest in its admissions process, so not to worry. For colleges that do consider level of interest, see if there are any events near you, sign up for admissions updates, or ask them. Do not email admissions just for the sake of showing interest, and certainly not with questions that can easily be found on their website; they will remember you, and not in a good way.
@skieurope and @doschicos thank you so much for your quick responses! I am very ignorant to this whole process so this could be a very stupid question: Would it be a good or bad idea to try and get to know the professors there? A friend of mine told me that this would be a good idea but I am not entirely sure. I want to major in biomedical engineering on a pre-med track. The schools I will be touring are GWU, RPI, Dartmouth, BU and BC.
What I would do in your situation is to investigate many schools…of the schools you do tour, what do you like about them? What don’t you like?
For UNC Chapel Hill, try to watch as many videos/reviews online as you can to see what it is like and how it compares. Then if you get admitted and the price is right, go visit it at that point with your other top choices.
Many people don’t visit a college until after they are admitted…esp. if interest is not a factor.
I would only contact a professor if you had a particular question or are a super star.
P.S. also check Case Western Reserve Univ for BioMedEng and Premed.
I wouldn’t suggest taking up professor’s time unless you have something unique to share with them or have a lot of very specific questions in their area of expertise that need answering (that can’t be found online). No need to see out professors for a typical admission visit.
@bopper thank you so much for taking your time to answer my question! I’ll definitely do that for UNC and CWRU is on my list! I looked at their common data set and they listed interest of applicant as important but they’re over a 10 hour drive as well… I’ve gotten letters and mails from them and recently signed up for their mailing list so at least they’ll have my name in their database.
@happy1 Thanks for answering! I realized how dumb the question sounded after I posted it. I wouldn’t want to irritate the professors before I even apply…
If you want to display interest in a school you can’t visit like CWRU I’d see if they schedule interviews in your area (can be with alumni or admissions reps visiting your area).