<p>Does Cornell track interest in the admissions process? I live on Long Island, so it is a real schlep to get there. If they do, how late is too late to visit?</p>
<p>no, they do not. my daughter tried to "sign in" and they didn't have a sign in when she visited her brother...</p>
<p>You drive. It's annoying and it's a schelp. But, I think it's important especially for open houses.</p>
<p>According to an admissions counselor that I spoke to, it is not.</p>
<p>I read something from their official site that stressed that you come on the open house. At least for the part of Cornell I applied for.</p>
<p>My dad and I drove 6 straight hours through the pouring rain and dark. When we got there, we saw SO many drunk kids stumbling around...(realize, it was about midnight on a friday, there.) Even next to us at the restaurant, this group of kids were doing saki bombs. And, right as we were leaving, we saw older college students going into a house party, most of them in C sweatshirts and slightly tipsy. My point: Don't visit on a Friday night anywhere near the bars. Not good for parents to see...</p>
<p>i hope they track interest, since i came all the way from texas to visit cornell</p>
<p>i just wanted to let everyone here know that i read this entire thread thinking that the "track" you were talking about had to do with running, and that i wasn't in on some new term of colleges "track interesting." i finally got to the last one and i read it twice, then understood. i'm going to cornell next year, but it sure doesn't seem like it.</p>
<p>ok now more to the topic:
i went up for the first time and signed in with the tour guides in day hall before our tour, but they were just saying they wanted a general number of people that were there. the next time i was up there was for an overnight and they had my name/info on record from when i signed up. the third and last time i visited was for a women in engineering day when everyone had a name tag preprinted and i'm sure they knew exactly who signed up vs. those who signed up and came vs. those who signed up and didn't come. i do think cornell tracks interest, but not in the blatant way some schools do like "here, you're listening for 5 minutes to this info session, write your name down." one of the best possible things you can do is visit the most specified people you can (that have a push in the admissions process). specialized events like the women in engineering day are good. they have them for athletes and minorities and a lot of other specific demographics of people. i'd keep a heads up for those, even though many of them have already passed.</p>
<p>Cornell says that they do not consider demonstrated interest in the admissions process, and I believe them.</p>
<p>They do keep track of who has visited, though (assuming that the visitor signed in for an official information session or tour), and they use this information for various purposes.</p>
<p>When my daughter was a high school senior applying to Cornell, several of her friends who were also applying received invitations from the local alumni association to an overnight event on campus, with free bus transportation, arranged by the alumni. My daughter, who had already visited and attended an information session (meaning that her name was in the "system") was not invited because she had previously visited the campus. The alumni group's resources were limited, so they wanted to invite only those who had not visited. Apparently, they got the necessary lists from Cornell.</p>
<p>CALS sends a thank-you note after you attend their info session.</p>