That’s a great suggestion, thank you
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I know you are early in the process but you recently posted the following criteria…
In this thread you mentioned:
(I assume you mean a 4% RD rate).
The only school with that sort of low acceptance rate within a 6 hour drive of Kentucky that I am aware of is Duke and they don’t offer “generous” merit. The Ivies (with the exception of Cornell), UC, Stanford and MIT are the only other schools I am aware of that are as selective (below 5% RD) as you seem to be targeting and all are more than 6 hour drives and none of them offer merit.
Just making sure you are contextualizing what you are looking for versus what exists before you fast forward to strategizing about how to engage an AO.
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Duke has several extremely generous merit programs including Robertson and AB Duke - perhaps there’s a disconnect between generous and rare. A conversation with the AD is irrelevant to them imo, but if you are a candidate for one of the rare Duke merit scholarships, they’re extremely generous - particularly considering how rare pure merit scholarships are at the top schools.
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Could maybe be northwestern or Vandy too?….which both may have around a 4% RD rate. But neither gives much merit either to students without need.
ETA: Vandy CDS says they don’t track demonstrated interest, NU says it’s ‘considered’, so certainly OP has satisfied NU’s criteria.
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Robertson is funded completely independently from Duke and UNC. My kid was a finalist so I am very aware. They award approx 15 scholarships a year. AB Duke is similarly selective and scarce so I agree “generous” but to very few given how highly qualified the general pool is.
And for the record once my kid was nominated for Robertson semi finals by admissions dept at Duke he was contacted by regional AO and given a likely letter. He never reached out to them.
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Vandy has the Cornelius Vanderbilt, WUSTL has Danforth, \W&L has the Johnson which goes to 10% of incoming first year (yes, I know their engineering isnt’ ABET), UMD Banneker Key (not sure if this is full OOS).
These scholarships are highly unlikely - but not impossible. More like improbable.
Many - but not all merit is based on diverse communities, etc.
The more selective the school typically the less merit and the less the school cares about demonstrated interest. This dynamic juxtaposed against OPs geographic preference requires further consideration when strategizing.
Not being critical of OP but contemplating questions for AOs is a bit premature in my opinion.
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A genuine question for engineering is whether they have data on 1st attempt pass rate for FE exam and whether the school provides any formal preparation for it. Now those are probably more applicable to engineering department but it is useful info that usually cannot be found on website. Just my humble
opinion.
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Ways to show a high "level of applicant's interest" is an older thread about your question (the FAFSA order is no longer relevant, since FAFSA no longer shows the full list of schools to each school).
A student can email and ask if they can connect you with a student who is involved with xyz. But then the student needs to follow up. It has to be genuine though and the need to connect cannot be someone that can be divined from the website.
If the AO visits your area, go meet them at that event.
These are busy people, so do not create work for them to check your box alone. Feel free to send a thank you note, even for an online event, and let them know what worked for you in it.
One other possibility is to ask if they can arrange admission to an event not open to the community that interests you, like a speaker. But you will then need to go.
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The AO is not likely to have that info. If this is what this parent wants the student to ask…the student should be talking to the head of the engineering department.
Keep in mind…some students don’t take the FE while in college.
It is frustrating when a whole thread of responses does not satisfy an OP. I hate to add to that frustration but agree with other posters.
I think that emailing an admissions officer is not a good idea unless absolutely necessary (about an interview, for instance). It could do more harm than good. They will think you, or your son, are trying to get a leg up, which is actually what you are doing.
When your kid writes an essay about “why us?” he can indicate that a school is his first choice. Otherwise, visiting is a top sign of interest, and you are already doing social media.
I feel stressed just reading about what you are doing. The application process does not have to be this complicated. I hope your son is doing well and has reasonable ideas about chances with a wide range of schools that he likes.
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And that are affordable for your family.
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Only because some people reading may not be receptive to posts that run contrary to what they want to hear, I want to stress that contacting an AO about an interview is not a good idea, unless the instructions explicitly state that that is what one should do.
At many colleges, interviews are randomly assigned based on availability and are run by the alumni office; the AO has zero involvement. All of which is clearly stated on the website where applicable.
Even for colleges that spend a ton in marketing and recruitment, the AO’s are not sitting by their phones and computers awaiting contact from prospective applicants. Anyone who thinks that’s their main job responsibility is welcome to DM me their work email so I can contact you with every mindless question which pops into my head.
And before I get off my soapbox, I will reiterate one thing which others have stated - the kid needs to drive this process. The parent(s) can / should provide budgetary guidance, but need not be involved in this level of minutiae.
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Rick Clark is the best!
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At open houses they suggest against this actually. Kids call and actually ask “what’s the weather like today”. Just don’t. Use it as part of another question
Pretty funny! And spot on.
This. But it seems like the OP is trying to force the issue which will work against her student. My kids had their own interviews on campus set up by them to learn about certain programs. This was used in their essays.
A friends daughter talked with her AO since she wanted to combine interests /majors and didn’t see it on their website. She wanted to also talk with someone in a major she was thinking about. She followed through.
But just to ask for contact sake I wouldn’t do. I am in the minority here about contacting the AO. Many do it after their deferred. They send in their LOCI . I think it needs to be done well in advance. Even in Junior year with a logical question.
If you do a search and can find it on their website… Then don’t ask.
@skieurope someone mentioned upthread, contacting admissions about the location of an interview. I totally agree with you on not contacting about whether an interview is scheduled so want to clarify, I was referring to an interview already scheduled. And in that case it would be best to contact the interviewer.
Main message, not a good idea to try to establish a personal connection with an admissions officer, and there are many other ways to show interest, including visits and essays ().
To the OP. Read every blog in the last few years by Rick Clark from Georgia Tech. All your questions will be answered. His advice applies to all schools. He has a fun writing style but the message is blatantly true.
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