<p>I recently visited Oberlin, and at the information session, the admissions adviser who was speaking said that the number of response forms you filled out at college fairs and from the mail have a great deal of effect on your admission. (Or so she implied, because she spent a great deal of time talking about this.) Then, she said that her sister was applying to Oberlin and that she was going to college fairs and sending in response forms to Oberlin in her name. She said it shows your amount of interest. But someone could send 100s of those to 100s of colleges! Was she joking or something? That's the most unfair thing I have ever heard, especially sending those in for somebody else. </p>
<p>My son is a freshman at Oberlin and I don't think he ever filled out an interest card. We visited over the summer and he met with the rep who visited his school. Those were the only things he did before he applied. He didn't do an interview either.</p>
<p>The cards indicate interest and can trigger the school's interest, as well as put you on mailing lists. Smaller schools like Oberlin no doubt want to target students with a genuine interest in the school. The cards won't get you past the admission process unless you are qualified, though, and it is probably a lot more important to write a thoughtful "Why Oberlin" essay than to send in 100s of cards...</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman, didn't go to any college fairs or fill out interest forms. She did visit Oberlin in her junior year, later decided to apply ED, and finally had an alum interview as part of an Oberlin interview day in our city.</p>
<p>I didn't go to any fairs, didn't fill out any forms, didn't visit, didn't apply ED, didn't have an interview. I'm Oberlin '11, but I'm international, so I'm not sure if it counts.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure the adcom was joking. Certainly Oberlin wants to know that applicants are seriously interested, but the notion of sending in multiple cards to demonstrate that is ludicrous.</p>
<p>I wrote a disasterous "why Oberlin" essay, basically because I am an international and had no idea how long or detail or important it was supposed to be - I settled at writing a few sentences about trusting my professors recommendations about it, without specifying why they thought I might be interested (quirky, radical atmosphere). Big D'oh there. I've been beating myself up about it a little, but sending in a supplementary piece of paper explaining the misunderstanding seems like overkill.</p>