It was not intended to be an interview but turned into something close due to the fact that the other students signed up to meet with this guy didn’t show up. She attends a small school, so they meet with the college admission reps in a designated spot in the counseling center.
Contacting the department chair is great advice. I would never have known to do that.
My dilemma now is how to make up for the fact that she didn’t meet with other college reps when they came to her school. In retrospect that was a bad move on her part, some of it not intentional because she was sick on two different occasions when the reps from her other choices visited.
Would you advise she reach out to those reps and see about setting up a meeting with them? I assume most schools require some sort of in-person communication. All of her reach/maybe schools now require a plane trip which would be fine, but definitely not easy at this stage of the game.
Her reach schools are USC, and NYU. And when I say reach, I mean she is in 25th percentile for both. Barely.
Yes, definitely. She’ll talk to her guidance counselor. I was under the impression that both USC and NYU require a school visit, or prefer it anyway, but if a student can’t do that they expect to meet with them when the rep visits their area.
She attends a small school where most of the families have plenty of money to fly around (some in their own jets) to visit schools, hire SAT tutors, college application assistants, etc. We are not in that league. I attended a small state school in my hometown, so I never went through this process. It’s been a real eye opener to discover what many of her classmates are doing to enhance their applications, which is why I’m concerned my D needs to at least visit the schools to which she’s applying.
I asked you all about the importance of the visits simply because you’ve all been incredibly helpful, and I’m trying to get a sense as to what other families do for their kids.
One of my daughters schools tracked interest, 2 had optional interviews, and 2 asked her to interview for merit. The rest (8) did not require a visit or track interest. It is always best for the student to check his/her schools of interest and see what is required or suggested… as you are doing. Asking the guidance counselor for advice regarding the missed school visits will be beneficial.
This is an eye opening experience… that’s for sure! Best of luck.
Actually, it’s sort of sad discovering the extent kids go to in order to get into good schools these days. Some of it certainly doesn’t seem very authentic. One family I know of has spent nearly $20,000 on SAT tutoring and then added another $12,000 for an “Application Assistant” to hold the kids hand through the application process. This is in addition to the guidance counselors provided by the child’s school. It makes me wonder if my D stands a chance in this type of racket.
My Dad went to Stanford and he told me there is no way he’d get accepted now.
Your daughter can get into college without spending that much money on the process. I know it’s hard to ignore it when it’s staring you in the face. We are happy to help!
If she’s 25th percentile for her reaches, can we assume this interview for a safety or a match, a slightly lower tier than USC/NYU? Any chance you want to hint at what college or describe it, if you don’t want to name it?
I wouldn’t split hairs over “admissions interview” vs “high school chat.” Seems OP is concerned about two things- the impression the regional rep took away (and that effect) and what the weirdness means about that college.
Where there’s fierce competition, the AO wields a lot of power. After first cut, he/she has to cull thousands down to a manageable number of finalists. The AO has a lot of choices, thousands of top kids who could be an “it.”
But if it’s not that situation, if she’s a great match for this college, I don’t think they’ be so dumb as to drop a highly qualified kid because the adcom tested her and she didn’t jump through magic hoops. Not if she’s a standout in their pool and offers so much they want.
My bet is they will look at her record and app squarely. Whether she becomes a finalist, we don’t know.
But I think I’d be turned off, too. D1 was at a roadshow where an asst director of admissions couldn’t talk about career services, among other bad mistakes. I was stunned. This was September, I think, so D1 hadn’t finalized targets, but wow, my reaction was No. And it’s a top midwest LAC. In our case, D moved on.
I’d rather not say the school (or describe it) but this school is a tier down from USC/NYU.
You are correct in that this school is a safety/ strong match. Her stats put her in the 75% percentile, plus she really likes the school/major etc.–The admissions guy was off-putting, for sure. And I wasn’t super impressed with the campus tour, it was fine but not amazing by any means. I sort of feel like you did at that roadshow, looking forward: stunned and wanting to say “No, not gonna happen!”
Just how different is an “admissions interview” vs. a “high school chat”?
This certainly felt like a “interview” to D, so I’m just curious how would she better prepare? She knew more about her major and the courses than the AO guy, who read about it on the internet while she sat there listening, she knew what type of volunteer activities she wanted to pursue while there, she was not prepared to discuss why she never played sports. Plus, she thought once she told him she’d pursued a non sports related activity her whole life, he’d want to know more about that (he didn’t).
Do AO typically ask random bizarre questions just to make the kid feel uncomfortable?
Depends. The AO can make comments in his review notes in her file. But if she’s 75th percentile and otherwise matches what they want, it seems utterly self defeating to x her chances, lose their benefit of having her.
Was there anything else, in context, that might have made him test her, so to say? Maybe some unpleasantness with the GC about the no-shows? Or end of a long day with other frustrations?
We cant know if this guy is just a permanent jerk. I think I’d do a lot more quick research about the school, freshman retention (number who stay for 2nd year; in the CDS, I think,) check online talk about her dept (sometimes, studentsreview dot com,) check the backgrounds of profs in her dept, their own research interests, to learn more about fit.
For us, all these years, I’ve smacked my head about the stupidity of that asst director. But the truth is, in subsequent years, as I looked at student profiles, kids pans post grad, student comments, and more, it is a fantastic college.
An easy way to see if school’s evaluate on interest or interview is to look at the college data website. Just google the college name and put collegedata in behind it and it should come up. Under the admissions tab it will give the criteria that the school rates it’s applicants on - it ranges from very important to not considered. One of the school’s DS is applying to ranks interest as 1 of 3 very important areas. He is applying ED as it is his top choice. If the school is not easy for you to visit, then keep in contact with the Admissions Rep and check to see if they have any online webinars that she can attend.
I think just like in all professions there is a range of competencies among AR’s. DD attended a High School visit and the AR asked everyone what is your favorite ice cream and why. DD says Rocky Road and the AR says “That’s my least favorite!” DD’s friend leans over and say’s I guess your not going to X ( a top 20 school that DD would be very unlikely to get into).
Both my DS & DD met the same AR for another college a year apart and both thought he was a pompous jerk who thought he and his school was more special than it was. But both of my kids had positive experiences with AR’s that put colleges on their lists. In fact one of the AR’s convinced several of D & S’s friends to put his college on their list. He was just really great at communicating with the kids in a way that they could relate to.
I think your D just drew a short straw with that AR.
@Mimi2018, I had a suspicion you were being polite when you said you’re sure he’s a nice person. Lol. There’s always the possibility that he is very nice but just horrible at his job. Some people are not good interviewers, but in my opinion it takes a special kind of person to purposely tell a nervous high school student you’re the gatekeeper for their application. But maybe he’s just new or not representative of the rest of the staff.
I’d definitely reach out to the department chair. It may also help to sift through the RateMyProfessor website to get a feel for the culture of different departments. You have to read the reviews critically and look for patterns, though, because focusing on individual posts may not give you an accurate picture. We’ve found it to be a very helpful site.
The other thing and apologies if already mentioned, is that your daughter being the only one that showed up would be taken as a positive for her. To answer your original question, regional counselors don’t have full say, they do typically read the app first as they’re familiar with the high schools in your area or state. It should be read by somebody else as well.
That USC link is great, explains interest is more than “I want,” some barrage, or just visiting.
Be careful to understand the CDS in the context of holistic. Showing some aspect as Considered doesn’t make it less than Very Important, if it’s still read and contributes to the overall impression.
In the end, you can’t control for some things, like a cranky interviewer. Focus on what you can impact: your presentation in your app, showing your match (trying to understand what would make them want you, over others. For many colleges, that’s a lot more thsn stats.) And be rational enough to know there are many good college choices out there.
I told mine, if you’ve done your best, now it’s out of our hands, their decision. We can’t control for that.
And also understand what “visits and other contacts do not matter” really means. It means that if you visit, email, wear USC (or other gear) in your instagram, but your App is either subpar or does not reflect that interest, it won’t help.
For most students, though, the one way your app will reflect your interest is in how genuninely it expresses your interest. And most of the time, interest will be more genuine if it is coupled with good research/interaction. So sure, the dean of Admissions is not going to read every email letting them know one of 50k prospective students got into the school play. But if you’re at a college fair and you can spend 10 mins with a USC volunteer and they can tell you about something cool about the school you didn’t know but get excited about - that might translate, at least on the margin, in you app.
That is true for most school. High schoolers are sometimes not sophisticated (nor should they be) about how their apps express (or fail to express) genuine interest/excitement about a school. If a kid has not taken the time to at least listen to one of the many ways a school likes to differentiate itself, for instance, and doesn’t find some small way to suggest why that specific differentiation is good for them, (and they will contribute to that distinct differentiation) they are probably not going to be considered to have “genuine interest” no matter how many times they have visited.
These posts are all so incredibly helpful. Wow. The USC blogpost is just great. We will spend some time today looking at the CDS for her various schools. I’d never heard of the rate my professors website, so that will also add to some interesting research this afternoon.
She would like a college or university with a strong art program. She is not a strong test taker but did do well on the SAT essay, which doesn’t seem to matter much, unfortunately. (1340 SAT -21/24 essay) Like I said, USC is a long reach–she knows this but would still like to the Roski School of Art.
She is a thoughtful person who will definitely take the time to research why the school would be a good fit for her, but I’ll also have her think about how she would contribute to USC’s community.
She is also still applying EA to the school in question from my OP. She really likes this school, and told me if she doesn’t want one interaction with this guy to sway her opinion too much.
Thanks again for taking time out of your busy day to help us out.
You had also mentioned that your D missed some college visits at her school for colleges that she has a lot of interest in. When my D was unable to attend one of these for whatever reason, she has sent the person who visited an email to let them know she is interested and that she’s sorry she couldn’t meet him. She only did this for 2 schools; I think it’s important that everyone only do this for schools they are truly interested in, otherwise it loses its meaning.
I’m not sure who the OP was referring to, but my daughter met with the head of admissions for an interview and he sealed the deal! Chemistry can be tricky I guess, but I found the gentleman to be disarming and completely relatable. My daughter is my third child, my partner works in higher ed, suffice it to say, this was not my first rodeo. I’m honestly stunned to read the above - my daughter thought her interviewer was the most authentic, and least scripted of all the folks she met with ( I think it was 10 ). It’s a stressful time, and I hope all kids find the their place.
bosmama–I’m not sure I understand your post? I never revealed who D spoke with or which school he represented so I don’t think there’s a chance your D and my D met with the same person.
My comments about USC are unrelated to my OP. D has yet to speak with anyone at USC. She would like to, but she’s not yet had an opportunity. USC is a far reach school for her.
Melvin123-Thank you! I’ll pass your suggestion on to D. I think that’s fantastic idea.