@jym626 I just went back and looked at @KevinFromOC 's daughter’s list. I don’t think many of the schools on her list track demonstrated interest BUT, if she wants the highest merit that’s not automatic, she will need to show in her essays that she knows the school well and is specifically interested in going there. Of course, if she interviews anywhere, she needs to read up big time on that school, figure out where she fits, and be able to tell the interviewer why it’s the best place for her.
yep- that’s just what I said above 
Op something about Alabama only getting like $15,000 but she is national honors and they will figure it out… No… Email /"call them. Mistakes happen but get it fixed now. I wouldn’t wait for any school to figure it out. Sorry don’t have time to look up what was said. Time for physical therapy and shoveling… Lol…
There is a scholarship for certain stats at Alabama. And an engineering scholarship of $2,500, and a National Hispanic Scholar scholarship of $1,000 I believe.
I think the school mentioned above was Arizona.
For getting desirable jobs, all desirable jobs are reaches, hiring methods, processes and standards may vary greatly (even within the same employer), and hiring processes and grading standards are typically opaque to the applicant.
In terms of showing interest for a job, the applicant has to guess how much to show to signal desire for the job, but not appear desperate for the job.
I think part of the problem with so-called schmoozing, is labeling it schmoozing. Lol. Totally mislabeled in these instances. To me schmoozing is walking into a large networking g event or conference looking for brief and uneventful conversations on your way to the cheese and crackers.
This is not schmoozing.
If you have to send an email or two to express interest or a question of two for an AO. Not that difficult.
For interviews and scholarship committees. These are one on one conversations with people there intentionally. This is about having the ability to speak with another human being about a subject you know well. Your passions. Your self. Your aspirations. Your character.
Uncomfortable perhaps. But it’s only talking. Just remember it is another person who is probably shy and anxious a bit too.
It’s not an option in life to not be able to communicate and be successful at what you want to accomplish.
She’ll be fine. Just show up and be yourself. Showing up is more than half the battle.
And at the school she attends, it’s impossible to me that she has not learned how to navigate these issues. It’s too sophisticated and layered an environment. Also as an athlete she has to communicate with coaches and teammates everyday. In real time.
Just think of this as getting ready for the big game.
For the competitive big scholarships, your D will HAVE to express interest, both in the interview and otherwise. My DS is very introverted and quiet and absolutely hated having to be “on” – make conversation, express interest, and talk about himself. And the scholarship weekends we went to weren’t just one interview - they were 2 days of events where everyone is trying to put their best foot forward the entire time.
Believe me, I know how hard it is. On the morning of his interview for the scholarship that he eventually received and accepted, he had to bolt from the breakfast table because he was so nervous that he felt like throwing up. But he did what he needed to do. I think good interviewers understand that these teenagers are anxious and inexperienced with this kind of thing.
Also, I think I said this somewhere upthread, but on the car ride home, I helped him compose a thank you email that said something like “this weekend confirmed that Big State U is a perfect fit for me because xyz. If you give me this opportunity, I will definitely sieze it.” And, he meant it 100%. I like to think this may have pushed him over the finish line, but we’ll never know. His GC always emphasized that schools want to give these big scholarships to students who will take them.
Remind us…has your daughter applied for competitive scholarships that require an interview? If so…she will need to be comfortable at that interview. Everyone selected to come for those interviews has the resume to get selected for the full ride or whatever. The ones who shine in the interview will likely get selected…not the ones who just can’t converse easily with others.
Just because many of the elites don’t track demonstrated interest doesn’t mean that reaching out and having favorable interactions with the ad com who will be evaluating your likability (among other things) doesn’t have some impact.
Ok I’ll give an example as was requested above. I’m stating up front that it is very likely these interactions made no difference for my S19 but I’m sharing just to give an example of what he did. For one top 20 school (to which OP’s daughter is applying or is on her list), S got on their e-mail list in August of senior year. Shortly after, he received an e-mail from an admissions rep saying that she would be visiting his high school in a couple of weeks so he signed up to meet with her. She set up in the busy cafeteria and I believe he was the only one to meet with her (out of 3500 students). She sent him a follow up e-mail sometime later and he kept it for future use. He thanked her for the meeting via e-mail. Later in the fall semester he reached out to her with attached recent SAT subject test scores and to emphasize his strong interest in the school (had already sent in the application). In January, he sent a brief e-mail to her to update about the fall semester, mentioned some movement in his class rank and expressed that he was concerned that he had not received an alumni interview and hoped that it wouldn’t affect his chances. In addition, his fall sports team had won the state championship and we put together a video of some of his senior year highlights. It was a short video but if she happened to watch it, I think it definitely captured his leadership role on the team.
I do think my S was a strong applicant with strong essays (but no hook). I have no idea whether any of the things listed above helped in his acceptance, but when you are dealing with a below 7% acceptance rate school during RD, it may be worth the extra effort.
@elena13 that’s the perfect example. It didn’t hurt and most likely helped.
@elena13 , and your son was accepted, correct? I didn’t see that in your story, but I am sure his actions helped. I’m guessing that being able to put a face to a name worked in his favor, and he probably came across as being a likable person.
I say to my students repeatedly that colleges want to admit people they like. Easier to be likable when you put forth the effort, and elena13’s son was probably a great example of how to do it right.
@Lindagaf - Yes accepted. It’s not always possible with some of the elite schools to make contact with a particular admissions officer (some of them are less likely to list regional reps on their websites) but it doesn’t hurt to try.
It’s funny that the only other school to which we sent that video (attached in the portal) was an Ivy league school with an under 5% RD acceptance rate and he was accepted there also (was placed on several wait lists and had one Ivy rejection). I know that’s not why he was accepted but you never know what tips the scales in this crazy process.
I am having a hard time accepting that your daughter can’t or won’t make any attempt to show interest to schools where she qualifies for big merit…that seems crazy. A few emails is really all it takes…and it might mean the difference between an affordable acceptance …versus …one that isn’t affordable at all. What does your daughter want, exactly? What happens if the money doesn’t come in as expected?
What will happen if a school such as Pitt emails her to come in and interview for additional scholarship money? Pitt emailed my daughter after her initial scholarship offer…she was invited to interview for additional money to cover room and board. The meeting was with a physics professor…she read up on his research etc so that she would be able to “smooze.” (Kidding…this isn’t shmoozimg).
She also went on another interview…with a panel of 5 alum. Talk about feeling stressed!
Communication skills are important.
What is your daughter saying about all of this? What is she hoping for?
Interviewing when big money is at stake (or sending off an email or two) is hardly shmoozing. Colleges are not looking for cheerleader types or someone to be the BFF of everyone on a scholarship committee; they are looking to give their money to someone who is going to take it, show up on campus, and contribute their time and talent to making the university a special place. Really- not so hard.
An email to a regional rep to a college which a student didn’t have time or money to attend is not such a big hurdle. It can be four lines- “I noticed on the Chem department’s website an interdisciplinary program with the med school pairing up professors and students to work on identifying chemical markers for alzheimer’s. I’m interested in both a chem major AND a chem engineering major- would this program be open to both ? Is there someone in the department I can follow up with on this? Many thanks”.
Or- “The engineering department course catalog describes a couple of independent studies that students have done in the past, but does not list a faculty adviser as the contact. Are requests handled by individual faculty, and is there someone in the department who might be able to spend ten minutes with me on the phone to describe how this works? This is exactly why I’m so interested in University of blah blah blah and I’d love to know more about it”.
Obviously for auto merit awards, no specific follow up is required. But when it’s the difference between the 15K and the 35K-- seems like the payoff is potentially enormous, no???
I don’t think there’s any suggestion that OP’s D wouldn’t attend a scholarship interview weekend. Of course she needs to be engaged and informed for that.
The only question is how much follow up is needed in the meantime to help with merit. At a large public university it might not be that important, especially if they have lots of applications and highly structured processes for deciding awards (for example I very much doubt any interactions would help you get a Regents scholarship at a UC, or get invited to interview for the ones that use that step). At a smaller private school, especially one that is concerned about yield, then it might be more worthwhile to show interest.
So it might be more helpful to identify specific colleges on OP’s list of schools applied to where people can speak to active engagement being useful or not in securing merit scholarship interviews or awards.
For example, I don’t believe it would be at all helpful at Utah, unless and until she is invited for an Eccles interview (and you don’t even apply for that until February after Honors College admission). Even afterwards they don’t need (and based on our experience actually don’t want) more than a thank you email. Most other merit is purely stats based and she is unlikely to get any additional departmental scholarship when she should get full tuition plus NHRP merit for her stats.
@Twoin18 Every school my D applied to was a large state U, and it helped. Her first full ride offer was from Pitt, where there is no question it helped. OP’s D applied to Pitt and didn’t get much merit. Engaging helped my D secure huge merit and competitive scholarship invites at such other schools as UT, UKy, MSU, UMD, Ole Miss, and a number of others.
My D received a full tuition scholarship to Pitt about 4 weeks after she applied. She didn’t show any interest. This was a few years ago and it’s quite possible that things have changed.
I think the OPs daughter didn’t receive more merit from Pitt because the school has gained popularity…there are lots of top applicants. Perhaps showing interest would have helped? I also read on CC that they are going in the direction of need based aid.
In any event, showing interest is never a bad idea if you need significant money. What will the OP do if the money doesn’t come in as hoped for? Why not give Arizona or Alabama the info it needs so as to get additional money sooner rather than later? Will the OP pay full cost for Vanderbilt? I guess I really don’t understand…
This is what I don’t understand…
You reported that your D received $15,500 from Barrett at ASU …but that her NHRP status would give her full tuition. You indicated that if this school becomes a top contender you would contact them at that time…and you assume it won’t be a problem to receive the award. What does this even mean? This school IS a top contender!! She is eligible for significant money…which is what you say she needs to attend college. And she doesn’t really care where she goes.
Are these awards limited? Can she still receive it if she waits a few months? Why doesn’t she contact the school now and seal the deal so that she has an affordable school? She could still complete the rest of her apps and see what transpires…are you scared she won’t?
I guess this is what I find confusing…I feel as though there is something holding you back. Of course I don’t know you and may be totally off base here. I apologize if that is true.
Coming to this late, but did she look at Delaware? Thanks to the Dupont family, there are a few nice scholarships there that might fit the bill.
As noted, most of the schools on OP’s list are not ones where demonstrated interest is an issue. For highly selective merit money that have a selection process, may be a different story.
My last kid did not show any more interest than a visit to his early schools, and did very well in terms of acceptance (100%) with some nice merit possibilities and he was not the superstar this young woman is. No hook. Mostly selective schools. The merit money he did not get at his top choice, ED, I doubt any schmoozing would have made a difference. The kids who got those very rare awards were true stand outs. He was not in the running, very clearly. He was lucky to get accepted