<p>Yeah, it was. It's basically a difference in perspective. For the high school students, it feels like a whole new world (and life or death with the admissions process). For example, last night, some powerful storms were coming through the area, and it was mentioned that several families called the hotel apologizing for not being able to attend the information session. Obviously, they were worried that the incident would be held against the applicants. That idea is as far from the truth as one could get. The officers were not looking for reasons to hurt an applicant's chances and put an asterik next to someone's name if he/she did not attend. That would have been silly. The families were not snubbing the university. The storms were! ;) (However, we did have people "sign in" if they showed, and if the people were not on our lists, we had them write down their contact information.) I could tell that a lot of the high schoolers who did show up for the meeting were very nervous (naturally). </p>
<p>However, for the admissionms officers, the process is another day. One of them mentioned that he sometimes dreams about the admissions process after he has visits four high schools in one day. (I felt a little sad for him after hearing that because I understood completely what he was saying. I can liken the situation to studying for an important test or a final. After a long time of working with the subject, it becomes the focus of one's mind. However, under their circumstances, that test or final lasts for several months.) It was also stated the the officers try to rotate assignments for the areas that each of them represents in order to meet new people, etc. (Apparently, the officer representing my area has been at it for a while.) I noticed that during the introduction, the officer mentions the approxinate percentage of students who were offered admission last year (about half) and that they were looking for a class size of about 5,500 to 5,600 students with the current yield rate. I knew that piece of information would be said. It needed to be so that no secrets would be kept from the applicants. Someone also asked (I think it was another panel member) about how the applications were coming, and the officer stated that the application was released on Aug. 1st. Apparently, 10,000 high school seniors have already started the application (!!! already?!), and that they were expections close to 28,000 applications when all was said and done. The applications are obviously not completed yet as the students need to get their recommendations, counselor letters, etc., but I was amazed that they knew these statistics off of the top of their heads. In the end, Proposal 2 did not change what they do. The officers still got what they wanted in last year's class. The only change was that race and gender could no longer be used as admissions factors. The officers mentioned that there was no need to be nervous around them as applicants due to sheer size of the applicant pool and class. However, more care with words may be necessary with some of the smaller private schools because it's so competitive.</p>
<p>It was also strange to be the source of information on a school instead of the one pursuing the information. During the question and answer session with the panal, we were asked about class sizes. Some are definitely large (= public university), but others are not. One panel member mentioned that he was in a class with four students with the teacher being a tenured professor. We were also asked about frats and sororities (apparently making up 15% of the student body... I didn't know that), the ease of getting into wanted classes (ease increases with year seniority but there are always overrides), religious groups (tons of them), the graduation rate in four years (That's changing... It's definitely possible as a lot of the students on the panel, including myself, will be doing so, but if one changes his/her mind on a course of study or wants to pursue other desires, plans can change), the retention rate (The officer moderating us stated that it was in the high 90% range), etc. (I also learned about the sweatshirt factory from the officers. One can guess how connected the students feel with their university be how many shirts with the school's logo, etc. are being worn on campus. At Michigan, I can attest that there are a ton of them, and I am usually one of those students wearing a shirt. :)) After the event ended, I was personally asked about double majoring and graduating in four years. I told the student it's definitely possible with good organization skills and planning. She wanted to pursue two science majors so I stated that I wasn't studying those subjects, but I stated that if she is willing to take a few summer courses, she should have more available time. A parent also came up to us after the session ended and asked how one could make sure that different materials were being received by the Admissions Office. We insisted that the keep on top of the high school counselors first (oh, the number of horror stories read on these boards about counselors and teachers not sending in the information!) but also remain in contact with the Admissions Office. They'll look up what has or has not been received if necessary and will eventually send out reminders if something has not been received. However, do both just in case something goes wrong.</p>
<p>Concerning the admissions officers, I learned that they are human! ;) (Well, I knew that already. However, I guess I still held them up to the status of figures like St. Peter with the power of governing who will enter and who will not.) They like to have fun just as much as anyone else (which led to the football conversation) and are really nice people presonality wise. I hyad a lot of fun working with them. :) </p>
<p>Sorry for the long post.</p>