To clarify. I suggested contacting admissions about whether AOs or reps were going to be near where the student lives. These trips are not usually published on the website. I don’t think there is any harm in asking if an AO or college rep of some sort is going to be in the area…and asking where, and if students can meet this person or attend something they are presenting.
My kids both interviewed at the colleges where they applied…but these were done in conjunction with visits to the colleges. It was an option when they signed up for the info session and tours. Except my one kid who did meet the college rep here…but again…the college rep reached out to the kid.
But I will say again…the likelihood that email interactions will move the needle in terms of acceptance is very low, in my opinion.
I think the AO responsiveness to individuals in the application/admission stage reaching out is quite low. Another way in which real life for us didn’t jibe with reports in CC! My son prior to our visits in his junior year reached out to over a dozen schools (admittedly mostly very selective ones) about getting connected with someone in the specific and somewhat unusual major he is interested in. He got responses from … none. About half didn’t respond at all, a few responded telling him to check out the department web page (which he had of course previously done), others told him to connect with the department (in general terms, not giving him a specific email or person). When he did that, not a single one had a department member respond. I certainly understand- those schools are swamped by applicants and probably their response to an admitted student would be more helpful. But just to share our experience as from reading CC it seemed everyone was getting to meet with profs etc as a result of reaching out…
Notre Dame and Clarkson (very, very different schools in terms of selectivity) both gave an option of meeting with a professor during the official visits. That was 6 years ago now, way before Covid, so I don’t know if they are still doing that. Clarkson and Lehigh offered in person interviews with their ad coms as part of the process. Michigan put my D in touch with a professor after the tour because of some very specific questions/area of research type questions. JHU let prospective applicants sit in on classes. Lots of schools put D in touch with current students. Purdue’s department admin gave D a private tour of the chem E building after she walked in to pick up some department specific info. Lots of alumni interviews offered too.
None of that was through an email to the admissions. It was all on their websites and things you could sign up for.
Also, it depends on the specific engineering major as to whether students tend to take the FE and otherwise aim for a PE license. Going for a PE license is common in civil engineering, but less common in other kinds of engineering where signing off on designs of things to be used by the general public is less common.
To the best of my knowledge (I’d have to confirm with my D because she drove the process), her communication with AOs during the application season was limited to short “thank you” emails following an info session, high school visit or college fair interaction. She did not expect a response.
Once admitted she did contact AOs about student or faculty contacts in specific areas of interest. Edit: These were not the type contacts that were available on the website. The AOs were very helpful with those requests.
I contacted a couple of admissions offices myself with questions when planning tours (mainly due to covid-related issues not clearly addressed on website… didn’t want to waste a trip if we couldn’t see anything, etc). I did not give my student’s name and simply spoke to whoever answered the phone.
This is a stressful time and I realize you are supporting your kid the best way you know how. I wish them the best of luck in the admissions process.
That was my point. I did not contact the AO and absolutely did not think my call would count as DI. My student drove the process of anything that mattered for admissions. Apologies if that wasn’t clear.
I called a lot logistically or things I want to know. They never ask name. Sometimes if I needed an AO I’d ask. They’d connect me to who was on call. They never asked a name.
I think they track DI mainly by ED, social media/email interaction and event attendance.
I don’t think there’s a score system like OP thinks. And acceptance is often by committee and often the AO of that kid may (or may not) be involved in the decision).
I think you did it (where it matters) or you didn’t. And we read lots who did who don’t get in and lots who didn’t at places that consider it who did get in.
It’s such a minor thing and it won’t get you in. But like the CWRU examples showed, it could leave u out.
Hence we’d click on videos and not even watch. It’s get overwhelming. But it’s a box check.
I’m sure they study their click rates just like any other business.
If your son emails, they may or may not respond depending on how busy they are. And they might not go find his “file” and make a special note that he emailed with a question. I think it is unlikely you can craft a compelling question for each school. And they are smart enough to know when people are checking boxes.
Yes these are the kind of posts I was reacting to by giving our experience which was different. Other than some colleges permitting you to sit in on a class I have not seen this year or last any of the items you mention on any college websites of those in our list. We did run into the head of Astro department at CU Boulder while wandering about the building on our own and he was lovely and took 10 mins to invite my son into his office and chatted with him. But that was a lightning strike. Whether the change is due to Covid, due to increased application numbers, or there is no change and we just weren’t lucky, I have no idea, but wanted to report on our experience.
Agreed, and AOs are not going to do research to get that info for OP. If you want to know that info, contact the dept head. But before your kid does that, make sure it’s a truly important factor in your kids decision process…otherwise you are wasting peoples’ time.
@AlexBravo. There are many CC experts giving you the same advice. Many times we don’t 100% agree. For your son’s efforts to have maximal impact I would suggest working on the application and essay. Those 2 things will have more weight then trying to figure out some questions that could potentially piss off his AO. If you were the AO and got 200 emails a day and maybe one was meaningful, wouldn’t you get irratated?
Nothing will replace good grades /scores. Rigor when needed and good /great ecs and essays. Working a job probably overweights most Ecs.
Look at the schools Common Data Sets for each school. It will tell you exactly what they look for. I will guarantee you that contacting the AO is no where to be found.
Just noting it is often a student answering the phone.
After acceptances, kids sought detailed info , attended classes and met with prof’s, in order to make the best choice. But not before.
I do agree with those who say this is not be for AO, as I acknowledged in my original post. Even though perhaps not exactly answering the original question, I was just trying to share a line of questioning that would be a genuine value added to your student and could demonstrate interest directly to the department of engineering.
Coming from a family of engineers I believe it is a very relevant question. It helps distinguish those schools with professors who are truly involved in their students’ education rather than just their own research because can speak to this very well, even if they don’t have an exact percentage they can discuss how/when their students take the exam and the involvement of professors in the prep (some actually how formal structure for preparing for this important exam). Just a thought that may help your student compare programs.
