<p>I’ve read books and people say that you should really start dialogue with adcoms? If so what should be the substance of these convos</p>
<p>What books are these? There are too many college advice books out there.</p>
<p>I always wonder if these advice books are right for any of the top 20 schools. There are going to be tens of thousands of people that are highly qualified applying and you have to wondering if attempting to forge a "personal connection" or submitting like a personal biography is the right tactic. This is all just coming out of my ass though.</p>
<p>Anyway, I don't know if that's true, but if you were to try to suck up to an adcom to make a lasting impression on them I would just try to find a way to stick in their heads and make them remember you. So no achievements, no gpa, etc, because almost everyone applying will have similar things. Just remember, the adcoms you talk to might have no bearing on your applications decision. I forget how it works at penn but I know that at MIT they just separate apps into piles and groups of people.</p>
<p>Should we start contacting our adcoms now?</p>
<p>well i started a convo with a columbia adcom before and we just clicked... yeah hes like a major adcom for columbia he was on the tv show ABC's The Scholar.. we talked about the show, the philosophy of columbia, and the type of people that attend.. and someohow we talked for a good amout of time..(this was at this college fair) yeah it was a natural flowing conversation which was exciting/ good sucking up..</p>
<p>I personally think sucking up is a somewhat lame and fake idea. But to each his own.</p>
<p>When I toured colleges this spring and summer, I gave them three things</p>
<ol>
<li><p>A full page cover letter stating my specific interests about the school (programs, organizations, etc.) and my intended major</p></li>
<li><p>An updated 1 page "brag sheet"-basically a resume listing my awards, skills, hobbies, special interests, EC's, work experience, and volunteer hours</p></li>
<li><p>An up to date transcript.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This wasn't a running dialogue, but I felt I got the point across that I was interested in the school and at least made contact with the reps.</p>
<p>Yeah i dont even think you have to go that far. I think that just getting your name out to the adcom helps.</p>
<p>It is not a question of "going that far." I think it is important to not only express interest in a school, but also, to remain professional looking.</p>
<p>just remember that you can over do it...</p>
<p>I think thats way over the edge. Schools like Penn don't really take into account "demonstrated interest," and handing an admissions counselor 3 sheets of useless information that they will no doubt receive along with your application would most likely annoy rather than endear. Theres something about it that screams "look at me im desperate and pathetic"</p>
<p>yea I agree. Just contact your adcom and talk to him/her for a little while (if possible) so that he/she could remember you later on.</p>
<p>I saw my regional rep once at a college fair and I'm sure she wouldn't remember me from Adam. At Penn, the way you demonstrate interest is by applying ED. They certainly know you're interested if you do that!</p>
<p>Maybe more important to develop a relationship in the RD round, but I doubt it. Just make sure your application and essays are unique.</p>
<p>Yeah I agree with you but what should be said to the adcom</p>
<p>How is sending them documents "desperate and pathetic." Sure, if you go about it in an unclassy fashion, you don't look so great. However, if you remain professional and present everything in a to-the-point format, giving them a heads up about your coming application doesn't really screw you up. You would do the same thing when applying for a job. Give them a resume and a nice letter discussing your intentions.</p>
<p>Yes, but see, colleges expect you to hand them this information when you apply, as do companies when you're applying for the job. Plus, although universities today resemble corporations, the professional and academic worlds are still miles apart.</p>
<p>Not really if you speculate on it. While as students, we may not have much experience in the corporate world, colleges have designed the admissions process to be very much like applying for a job in the real world. If you give a heads up, before you send in your app, that you're interested, the worst thing that will happen is that the rep will pitch the papers. I don't think it is too far to say that leaving information about yourself on a college visit is beneficial.</p>
<p>So you are giving them an application for your application??? All's well, more paper for them to burn, this winter is supposed to be quite cold in philly.</p>
<p>Make sure you attach a crisp 100 dollar bill to your "pre-application".</p>
<p>I already took care of that, accept instead of $100, I had another library erected in my name. I put that in my "application for my application" under community service. I built it with my bare hands.</p>