<p>Intparent, I understand your point about the schools that do list the “demonstrated interest” on the CDS form. My point is that, even if such case, one does not have to worry ad nauseam about the inability to visit or participate in school nights. Again, if college visits fit the interest and wallet of the parents, visiting might be a great family outing. If a school is in proximity, it adds a different dimension as it makes contacts much easier. For someone living in Los Angeles, it would be a bit silly not to visit Harvey Mudd or UCSD! </p>
<p>I happen to think that too many parents might think that the contacts are a necessary step and that keeping up with the Joneses is mandatory. Or believe that pushing the envelope of demonstrated interest will be the clincher to secure a fat one! </p>
<p>“Does one really think that the Yale rep who visit a school assembly will leave with a list of the parents in attendance?”</p>
<p>Not Yale, heck no. Schools with +70% yield rates don’t have to. But Kalamazoo College? American University (which labels DI “Very Important,” outranking test scores and activities)? Of course they care.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why schools would lie and claim that they track interest when they don’t. I can see an incentive to hide this consideration (perhaps because it appears to advantage rich students; perhaps because it makes the school’s process seem less academically focused; perhaps because the school wants to appear to be in Yale’s company and take for granted that everyone will want to come). But I don’t see the incentive for American et al. to announce to the world that it’s an admissions factor if it isn’t.</p>
<p>I don’t know about pushing the envelope. But here are two examples (from my own intkids):</p>
<p>D1 applied to Dickinson. We live several states away. She visited, got on the mailing list, went to an in-town event they had in our hometown, and interviewed when invited to while the admissions person was in-town. She was accepted with a nice merit package, higher than her grades and test scores warranted according to info on the web site. One of classmates with literally almost identical stats (grades, test scores, similar ECs) who added Dickinson to her list at the last minute and did not have any contact prior to the application was rejected. Note that D1 is my rock-star interview kid – personal contact will probably always help her in life. And Dickinson is a school where interest is considered.</p>
<p>D2 did the “under the radar” type contact stuff. On mailing lists, went on campus tours, but did not interview anyplace where she actually applied. Interviews would most likely only hurt her admissions chances… this strategy also worked well for her, she was accepted everyplace she applied.</p>
<p>But neither was pushy or “over the top” in showing interest (they didn’t send anything weird to admissions…).</p>
<p>Also… we like visiting for the sake of getting a true feeling for the campus and students. Regardless of whether the college cares about whether interest is shown, for my kids it was key to finding a great fit.</p>
<p>The This American Life piece on NPR is a must listen for any family who has a kid applying to college. Extremely well done…and some terrific laughs.</p>
<p>"Not everyone can spare the time or money to travel hours to see a school that won’t even bother with interviews. "
-How one can choose to apply to school without a visit, without talking to current students, examinning dorms, ask questions about specific program(s), spending overnights? Isn’t it so risky to attend the place where kid will spend 4 most important years of young life where the most adjustments will happen transitionning to some independence and adjusting to much more rigorous academic standards than in HS wthout a single visit? Forget desirable several visits that many kids do before they make such an important decision in their lives. </p>
<p>Visiting schools is very helpful for potential students. But there have been many stories of students who get a bad vibe and write it off without setting foot on campus (they proverbial drive-by) and there are so many students who simply cant afford to visit, before or after admissions are sent out. The good news is, most students will thrive where they are planted. There are many ways to choose a school. Checking out the dorms or tasting the food is only a part of the equation.</p>
<p>Some schools do not track interest, but some do. If the college tracks interest, it is easy to find that this is important to the school. If they track interest, follow Happy1’s advice. Take advantage of any possible interaction you can have with them.</p>
<p>I have noticed with my daughter, she will email with questions if she has any while she’s completing the Common App for a particular school. So far, the admissions office has responded; a couple with phone calls where the admissions officer not only answers her question(s) but then goes on to chat a bit more about a particular program, majors, even the issue of visiting a school. </p>
<p>Perhaps if the goal is to get the full residential college experience, that may be the case. But many college students, probably the majority, choose college specifically with fitting academic goals around their lives and cost constraints (e.g. commuter students, non-traditional students, students who attend community colleges, etc.). They may consider the above factors unnecessarily luxuries in college selection.</p>
<p>Visiting may also be ineffective if the student and parents do not do their homework beforehand in knowing what to look for. If that is the case, then they may fall for the best sales job and fanciest campus more than the best (academic and non-academic) fit for the student.</p>
<p>Visits cost money as well. One can choose to do all sorts of things when one cannot afford the alternative.</p>
<p>Back when I applied, I did visit most of the schools I applied to. But it was a summer visit so I didn’t have the luxury of sitting in on classes or staying overnight. It was the only type of visit my family could afford. If we hadn’t been able to afford even that I would have applied to most of the same schools.</p>
<p>This was in the 80’s. These days its possible to get much more information without visiting. So I can understand why some people may choose not to visit, and certainly why some consider it preferable to visit after you’re accepted if a school is far away or hard to get to.</p>
<p>You can get misleading information on a visit, too, especially at a giant school. I had one student whose visit at U of Kansas happened to place him with a raging frat guy, while his U of Oklahoma host was a studious nerd (like him). He came away thinking he’d be a much better fit at OU because of the parties and drinking at KU, which is wildly misguided as far as I know – both schools have similar wild party scenes, with OU possibly taking the lead given the football tailgating they do.</p>
<p>The only schools where I think it’s imperative to do an overnight, regardless of cost, are the tiny LACs. When there’s just one scene on campus, you need to be darn sure it’s the right one for you.</p>
<p>Hm, my son visited exactly three of the 10 schools to which he applied. It was only after acceptances that he visited three more of the schools. So, he never did visit 4 of his schools.</p>
<p>Yes, some people do not have the money to do college visits. My oldest was fortunate to be flown out for several visits.</p>
<p>Here’s my theory about expressing interest: if a college indicates that it tracks interest, you should do the things that an actually interested person in your circumstances would do. You don’t have to do more than that. In other words, a person who was actually interested probably would visit the website and sign up for e-mails, meet with a rep if one visits your school, and visit the school if it’s not too far away. Such a person wouldn’t send in a bunch of questions just to prove interest, though. I suspect that for most schools that consider interest, it’s a yes/no factor, and you don’t have to do extreme or crazy stuff to get to “yes.” If you show the level of interest you actually have, isn’t that the best anyway?</p>
<p>NYU does not have interviews. However, D was able to speak to a person in the studio art department about her portfolio. As they talked, this professor offered to meet with her and review her portfolio if she could get into the city. D met with him and he went over every piece in detail. He sat and talked with her for at least 45 minutes and then asked me to join them. He gave her some excellent suggestions and basically said here are my favorite aspects of your work, do more work like this to show me your creativity. He wanted original concepts, nott pieces that look like every high school assignment. Turns out he was on the committee that reviewed (and accepted her portfolio.)</p>
<p>We also had similar situations through Pratt, Goucher and Syracuse. My advice is to reach out to the department where you want to study. Try to meet or get a dep’t tour. Take summer programs. Attend admissions programs and tours that involve department info sessions. All of these contacts can be valuable.</p>
<p>" Not everyone can spare the time or money to travel hours to see a school that won’t even bother with interviews."
I am in complete confusion here. A child is planning to attend at the place that applicant has never visited? Wow!! I have enver heard about this. D. has visited many times, stayed overnights before she decided. How applicant knows if it is a right place, if they never visited? In addition to visiting, ALL of the D’s programs interviewed, they had to because of guaranteed admission to Med. Schools. But respsective UGs did not interview for a general admission. </p>
<p>As has been said here several times, there are many students/families who simply cannot manage the time or expense of visiting multiple schools across the country, especially before the acceptances. And this is probably moreso true for internationals. Fortunately, there are many on line video virtual tours available. They don’t take the place of a campus visit, but they can help. Of course campus interviews are helpful, and some schools in some cases help students who may not be able to afford do visit with some of the expenses.</p>