Parent Opportunities to Meet College Admission Officers

tokenadult · September 2, 2007, 2:29pm

Here on College Confidential a lot of parents have posted helpful threads on visits they have made to college campuses. I don't make a lot of those visits, because I don't travel that much recently, but I've found parents can also meet college admission officers in person when the college officers travel to recruit students. Many years ago I began attending National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) National College Fair

<a href="http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/Events/CollegeFairs/NCF/default.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/Events/CollegeFairs/NCF/default.htm</a>

events, as research for my personal Web site.

In 2003 at the Minnesota National College Fair, my son and I were invited at the Harvard booth there to attend a Harvard-specific regional information meeting at Southwest High School later that fall. That was my first experience with college regional information sessions, which I have found to be very informative and a good supplement to college fairs. I'll mention both kinds of events in this thread.

The NACAC National College Fair

<a href="http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/Events/CollegeFairs/NCF/default.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/Events/CollegeFairs/NCF/default.htm</a>

and NACAC Performing & Visual Arts College Fairs

<a href="http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/Events/CollegeFairs/PVA/default.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/Events/CollegeFairs/PVA/default.htm</a>

are large events, often held in convention centers, with usually hundreds of colleges sending representatives. Not all colleges attend the same NACAC college fairs, so the colleges that appear at the nearest NACAC event to your town may be different from those appearing in another town. I find NACAC college fairs seriously overstimulating :) but very interesting and informative. Most include a certain number of seminar sessions on specialized topics as well as the opportunity to meet dozens of college representatives in their convention exhibitor booths.

There are some regional associations of college admission counselors that organize regional college fairs too, and other national organizations that organize college fairs. Below are links to some examples of those events.

National Scholarship Service (NSS)

<a href="http://www.nssfns.com/category_s/37.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.nssfns.com/category_s/37.htm</a>

New England Association for College Admission Counseling

<a href="http://www1.wnec.edu/admissions/index.cfm?selection=doc.1423%5B/url%5D">http://www1.wnec.edu/admissions/index.cfm?selection=doc.1423</a>

Fall 2007 Minnesota Education Fair (various locations)

<a href="http://www.mn-acac.org/?s=fairs_mef&print=true%5B/url%5D">http://www.mn-acac.org/?s=fairs_mef&print=true</a>

Wisconsin Education Fairs

<a href="http://www.wefs.org/locations%5B/url%5D">http://www.wefs.org/locations</a>

Sometimes particular secondary schools or school districts or consortiums of schools or other organizations organize local college fairs.

<a href="http://www.fcps.edu/ss/FCPSCollegeFairNight/index.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.fcps.edu/ss/FCPSCollegeFairNight/index.htm</a>

<a href="http://www.srs.gov/general/outreach/edoutrch/coll_night.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.srs.gov/general/outreach/edoutrch/coll_night.htm</a>

<a href="http://www.collegefairsdenver.org/Dates.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegefairsdenver.org/Dates.html</a>

I'd love to hear from any of you about your experiences at college fairs or at regional college information sessions (the subject of my next post to this thread). I'll try to post visit reports to this thread as I visit events in my town this fall. Let's get a reality check on what different college representatives are saying and make sure they tell the same story to varied audiences in all regions of the country.

Best wishes for a great college admission season.

tokenadult · September 2, 2007, 2:37pm

By attending NACAC college fairs, I learned about about regional college information sessions, and I've been compiling bookmarks about those since then, which I'll share here. I hope you find the session about the college of interest to you informative and valuable. Some prospective students travel here to Minnesota from Iowa or South Dakota to attend regional information sessions--that's still less expensive than traveling to the college, in some cases.

Some regional events happen in the summer, and a few websites are not yet complete with a full schedule of fall 2007 meetings. If you know of other Web links like this, feel free to share them in replies to this thread. I'll first list consortium programs and then list programs of individual colleges. Some colleges that participate in consortium programs have plenty of individual programs too.

Colleges That Change Lives Consortium (about thirty liberal arts colleges from Agnes Scott College to Whitman College)

<a href="http://www.ctcl.com/events/%5B/url%5D">http://www.ctcl.com/events/</a>

Exploring College Options consortium (Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Penn, and Stanford)

<a href="http://exploringcollegeoptions.org/%5B/url%5D">http://exploringcollegeoptions.org/</a>

Exploring Educational Excellence Consortium (Brown, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, and Rice)

<a href="http://www.exploringeducationalexcellence.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.exploringeducationalexcellence.org/</a>

Eight of the Best Colleges consortium (Claremont McKenna College, Colorado College, Connecticut College, Grinnell College, Haverford College, Kenyon College, Macalester College, Sarah Lawrence College)

<a href="http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/admission/ontheroad/8ofbest.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/admission/ontheroad/8ofbest.asp</a>

Many colleges post lists of regional information sessions. In some cases those are stand-alone events, and in other cases they are participation by that college in local or regional college fairs or high school visits, not all of which may be open to the public. Some of these websites are still being updated.

Arizona State University

<a href="http://www.asu.edu/admissions/ASUNearYou/schedule.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.asu.edu/admissions/ASUNearYou/schedule.html</a>

Bentley College

<a href="http://www.bentley.edu/undergraduate/college_fair.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www.bentley.edu/undergraduate/college_fair.cfm</a>

Boston College

<a href="http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/visits/visit-you.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/visits/visit-you.html</a>

(The Boston College Web page is not laid out correctly for browser
independence.)

Boston University

<a href="http://www.bu.edu/admissions/explore/receptions/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.bu.edu/admissions/explore/receptions/index.html</a>

Brown University

<a href="http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Admission/gettoknowus/brownnearyou.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Admission/gettoknowus/brownnearyou.html</a>

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

<a href="http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/events%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/events</a>

Carnegie Mellon University

<a href="http://my.cmu.edu/site/admission/page.visit%5B/url%5D">http://my.cmu.edu/site/admission/page.visit</a>

Case Western Reserve University

<a href="http://admission.case.edu/future.asp%5B/url%5D">http://admission.case.edu/future.asp</a>

Claremont Colleges

<a href="http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/admission/ontheroad/cc-receptions.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/admission/ontheroad/cc-receptions.asp</a>

Clark University

<a href="http://www.clarku.edu/admissions/cotr/bydate.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www.clarku.edu/admissions/cotr/bydate.cfm</a>

Colby College

<a href="http://www.colby.edu/admissions_cs/visit/off-campus_interviews.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www.colby.edu/admissions_cs/visit/off-campus_interviews.cfm</a>

Columbia University

<a href="http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/events/intro.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/events/intro.php</a>

Cornell College

<a href="http://www.cornellcollege.edu/admissions/visiting/offcampus.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.cornellcollege.edu/admissions/visiting/offcampus.shtml</a>

Cornell University

<a href="http://admissions.cornell.edu/seasonal/events/%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.cornell.edu/seasonal/events/</a>

Davidson College

<a href="http://www2.davidson.edu/admission//admis_trav/admtrav.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www2.davidson.edu/admission//admis_trav/admtrav.asp</a>

DePauw University

<a href="http://www.depauw.edu/admission/visit/events/college-fairs-detail.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.depauw.edu/admission/visit/events/college-fairs-detail.asp</a>

Duke University

<a href="http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/inyourarea_discover-US.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/inyourarea_discover-US.asp</a>

Emory University

<a href="http://www.emory.edu/ADMISSIONS/travel.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.emory.edu/ADMISSIONS/travel.htm</a>

Georgetown University

<a href="http://www12.georgetown.edu/undergrad/admissions/inyourarea.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www12.georgetown.edu/undergrad/admissions/inyourarea.cfm</a>

Harvard University

<a href="http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/travel_schedule/index.cgi%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/travel_schedule/index.cgi</a>

Indiana University: Bloomington

<a href="https://www.indiana.edu/%7Eiuadmit/events/index.php%5B/url%5D">https://www.indiana.edu/~iuadmit/events/index.php</a>

Johns Hopkins University

<a href="http://apply.jhu.edu/visit/explorehopkins.html%5B/url%5D">http://apply.jhu.edu/visit/explorehopkins.html</a>

Lehigh University

<a href="http://www3.lehigh.edu/admissions/infoprogramdetails.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www3.lehigh.edu/admissions/infoprogramdetails.asp</a>

Linfield College

<a href="http://www.linfield.edu/admission/admission-staff/fairs.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.linfield.edu/admission/admission-staff/fairs.php</a>

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

<a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/mityou/fall_recruitment_travel_schedule/index.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/mityou/fall_recruitment_travel_schedule/index.shtml</a>

Middlebury College

<a href="http://community.middlebury.edu/%7Ephinney/SchoolVisits/frames_index.htm%5B/url%5D">http://community.middlebury.edu/~phinney/SchoolVisits/frames_index.htm</a>

(The Middlebury page has a misnamed security certificate, but you can
ignore that and click through.)

New York University

<a href="http://events.embark.com/event/nyu/off_campus/%5B/url%5D">http://events.embark.com/event/nyu/off_campus/</a>

Northeastern University

<a href="http://www.neu.edu/admissions/visitcampus/inyourarea.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.neu.edu/admissions/visitcampus/inyourarea.html</a>

Northwestern University

<a href="http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/cgi-bin/counsel/session01.cgi%5B/url%5D">http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/cgi-bin/counsel/session01.cgi</a>

Oberlin College

<a href="http://www.oberlin.edu/admissions/college/visits/ontheroad.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.oberlin.edu/admissions/college/visits/ontheroad.shtml</a>

Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)

<a href="http://admissions.psu.edu/pennstate/visitsyou/%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.psu.edu/pennstate/visitsyou/</a>

Reed College

<a href="http://web.reed.edu/apply/reed_on_the_road/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://web.reed.edu/apply/reed_on_the_road/index.html</a>

(Following the Reed links to particular state events or using the
clickable map may resize your Web browser window or do other nasty things.)

Rice University

<a href="http://www.futureowls.rice.edu/futureowls/Rice_in_Your_Town.asp?SnID=1744571989%5B/url%5D">http://www.futureowls.rice.edu/futureowls/Rice_in_Your_Town.asp?SnID=1744571989</a>

Savannah College of Art and Design

<a href="http://www.scad.edu/admission/yourarea/%5B/url%5D">http://www.scad.edu/admission/yourarea/</a>

(The SCAD page is not very well designed from a Web usability point of
view.)

Stanford University

<a href="http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/applying/extras/1_2a5_regional.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/applying/extras/1_2a5_regional.html</a>

University of Chicago

<a href="http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/level2.asp?id=90%5B/url%5D">http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/level2.asp?id=90</a>

University of Miami

<a href="http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/0,1770,2613-1;29761-2;9406-3,00.html%5B/url%5D">http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/0,1770,2613-1;29761-2;9406-3,00.html</a>

<a href="http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/0,1770,2613-1;29761-2;48186-3,00.html%5B/url%5D">http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/0,1770,2613-1;29761-2;48186-3,00.html</a>

University of Minnesota Rochester

<a href="http://www.r.umn.edu/07_student_services-On%20the%20road.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.r.umn.edu/07_student_services-On%20the%20road.html</a>

University of Minnesota Twin Cities

<a href="http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/events/offcampus.html%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/events/offcampus.html</a>

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

<a href="http://www.admissions.unc.edu/visiting/inyourtown.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissions.unc.edu/visiting/inyourtown.htm</a>

University of Notre Dame

<a href="https://admissions.nd.edu/ontheroad/%5B/url%5D">https://admissions.nd.edu/ontheroad/</a>

University of Pennsylvania (Penn)

<a href="http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/yourtown/%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/yourtown/</a>

University of Rochester

<a href="http://enrollment.rochester.edu/admissions/events/offcampus/%5B/url%5D">http://enrollment.rochester.edu/admissions/events/offcampus/</a>

University of Virginia

<a href="http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/uvavisit.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/uvavisit.html</a>

Vanderbilt University

<a href="http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Admissions/roadshow.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Admissions/roadshow.php</a>

Vassar College

<a href="http://admissions.vassar.edu/road_schedule.html%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.vassar.edu/road_schedule.html</a>

Washington University in St. Louis

<a href="http://aisweb.wustl.edu/admissions/home.nsf/pages/groupmtg%5B/url%5D">http://aisweb.wustl.edu/admissions/home.nsf/pages/groupmtg</a>

Wesleyan University

<a href="http://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/planning/fairs_alumni.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/planning/fairs_alumni.html</a>

Wheaton College

<a href="http://www.wheaton.edu/admissions/UndGrad/contact/collegefairs.php4%5B/url%5D">http://www.wheaton.edu/admissions/UndGrad/contact/collegefairs.php4</a>

Whitman College

<a href="http://www.whitman.edu/content/admission/whitman-on-the-road/travel/?state=all&range=current%5B/url%5D">http://www.whitman.edu/content/admission/whitman-on-the-road/travel/?state=all&range=current</a>

Yale University

<a href="http://admissions.yale.edu/events/%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.yale.edu/events/</a>

P.S. If you are planning to attend any of these meetings this fall, I'd be grateful if you post a visit report to this thread. The colleges below this line are listed with links that don't lead to current information as of when I post this. They may be updated soon.

Amherst College

<a href="http://www.amherst.edu/admission/important_info/connecting.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.amherst.edu/admission/important_info/connecting.html</a>

Harvey Mudd College

<a href="http://www.hmc.edu/admin/admission/travel_fall.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.hmc.edu/admin/admission/travel_fall.html</a>

Princeton University

<a href="http://www.princeton.edu/pr/admissions/u/ep/%5B/url%5D">http://www.princeton.edu/pr/admissions/u/ep/</a>

University of Wisconsin--Madison

<a href="http://www.admissions.wisc.edu/inyourtown.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissions.wisc.edu/inyourtown.php</a>

Rileydog · September 2, 2007, 6:49pm

Awesome list - thanks so much tokenadult!

Do the admissions officers want to meet parents? Some schools send letters to parents encouraging them to make contact and some apparently put your kid's application in the reject pile if you call (at least that is what my son told me!). At the current pricetag - I am surprised that schools don't realize that parents have to be involved and should be involved. It's a big expense and a big decision. Most parents of l7 year olds would go to the car dealership with their kid to help buy a new car....and I suspect most parents would ask a lot of questions....why wouldn't a potentially $180k purchase involve parents? Oh, didn't mean this to be a rant - but I am sometimes annoyed by this idea that the kid is going to know enough to ask every question that he/she should be asking.

tokenadult · September 2, 2007, 6:52pm

At the meetings I have attended, students are definitely supposed to be the focus, but the parents often outnumber the students at college-specific regional information sessions, and end up asking more of the questions in the group general sessions. The admission officers do understand that parents have to have some buy-in to the idea of Junior going to College X rather than to College Y. My plan for this year is to take lots of notes, and then compare notes with my son after the sessions. At college fairs, he and I will probably circulate to different booths separately.

SoOreMom · September 2, 2007, 11:24pm

Thank you. What a great list. You just solved a couple problems I was trying to figure out. :)

coureur · September 2, 2007, 11:30pm

D2 is interested in Caltech, so we'll be at the Caltech admissions show in San Diego on Sept. 9th. I'll let you know how it goes.

tokenadult · September 2, 2007, 11:46pm

I'm looking forward to those visit reports. The Caltech show gets here on the 18th, so I'll have one for that college.

csleslie51 · September 3, 2007, 9:16am

Great thread! Has anyone had any luck having representatives from these programs come an speak to individual high schools before or after their presentations? How would one go about doing that?

tokenadult · September 3, 2007, 9:40am

That's an interesting question in post #8. I've never tried it, and I'm sure that the admission officers are quite busy, but that would be something worth writing ahead about. (MOST colleges these days have convenient email addresses for the admission officer who handles your part of the country on the college website, but a few only post telephone numbers.) I suppose you'd have to do some coordinating with someone in your local high school too. Back in my day, the one college interview I had inside my high school was with an MIT alumnus (who, alas, turned me and most of my classmates off from applying to MIT) and the admission officers proper were nowhere to be found in my high school. But most admission officers visit high schools as part of their road trips, and of course it is expedient for them to visit high schools that offer a good yield of applications and possible admissions and matriculations. So, yeah, my wild guess is that it would be a good idea to go for this, and contact both the college and the high school and see what can be arranged. As is apparent from some of the links I have posted, some college admission officers expect to spend most of their hotel time doing individual student interviews, and others expect to be at local high schools for a few days on each road trip, so the patterns vary. If there is still flexibility at this date, ask for what can be arranged.

bookworm · September 3, 2007, 9:55am

The Caltech presentation turned out well for us, and well worth half a day, with long drive. Three alumni came, and each spoke to their career histories. After the presentation, the rep was surrounded by the kids eager with questions.

I was a little in awe of the kids that came. Most knew each other, attending a magnet school in that city.

When S wrote his "Why C..." essay, he mentioned specifics that he learned at this seminar. He never actualy saw the college until April.

By the way, the percentage of females UGs was 39% this past year.

csleslie51 · September 3, 2007, 12:25pm

Our section of the universe gets very little attention from many colleges, but we do have a wonderful series of college fairs put on by the Rocky Mountain Association for College Admission Counseling (RMACAC). Their area covers Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Scheduled fairs are
Albuquerque, Sunday, October 14, 2007 12:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
Salt Lake City Saturday, October 20, 2007 1:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
Denver Sunday, April 6, 2008 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
More information about these and other events in the southwest can be seen at <a href="http://www.rmacac.org/collegefairs.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.rmacac.org/collegefairs.php</a>

littlebopeep · September 3, 2007, 4:34pm

Admission counselors typically don't mind meeting parents, they will usually have the most questions. However, the search is about the student. Parents should not drive the search. Please do not brag about your child to the counselor, let the student speak for themselves. I had a parent call my office the other week and spoke to me for about 30 min about her child and then sent me a card later with a picture and profile of their child. It was too much. I have never even met the student and have no idea of their real interest.

tokenadult · September 3, 2007, 4:45pm

Thanks for the last few replies. Yes, the focus should be on the students, and parents best respond to the kind welcome of college officers if they listen and ask only parent-specific questions, giving first opportunity to talk to the students.

foggy · September 3, 2007, 6:54pm

Parents please let the students be the ones to ask questions .

Last year we attended one of these presentation by an ivy league school at a library. After the "talk", there was Q&A. Most of the questions were asked by parents. Then when it was all over, a line formed to have one on one with the Adcom rep. Guess what? Yup, mostly parents. In fact there was a couple that spoke to the rep. at length and all the other students were waiting in line.

So please let the students ask the questions. Do not monopolize the time of the Adcom rep. (you can always ask the questions via your child)
As the poster above said, the rep. will not remember the child if you do all the talking.

On another note, that same rep. visited son's H.S. and did say to him,"Haven't we met before?".

Rileydog · September 4, 2007, 12:08am

littlebopeep and others - I would never dream of monopolizing an admission officer at a session - I would be afraid he/she would put my kid's application in the no pile (smile) and my son would kick me anyway. I would also never promote my child and have yet to wait to talk with an admissions officer afterwards. My son has also looked askance at that practice so I imagine he will never be remembered by anyone - he thinks they are all brown-nosers (? spelling). Indeed, one admissions officer told my son she wanted to talk with him after the info session and we waited as long as we could while a very long line of parents and students asked questions and shared information. We had to leave before we could connect with her.

I would like to know what things matter and what things don't in the admissions process. Often, these are only glossed over in a very general way in info sessions - clearly it is a bit like learning the secret ingredients to Grandma's stew (smile). But, my goal is to help my child pick realistic schools by understanding the school's admissions process, as much as possible. I see this as managing the family finances, my work schedule, and my son's emotional investment. although I might not have any control over the last part. It's clear that what seems to be a match is often not a match and the cost of a school visit can be considerable. The cost of not looking at a different school and focusing on one that is out of reach, also potentially considerable, etc. I think,until one has been through this process as a parent, it is hard to understand the amount of time, stress and expense is involved for parents and kids. I think the expense and the time commitment justifies a parent's right ot ask a few questions that the less worldly and experienced l7 year old might never think to ask. If the info session is not the right place to do it (and I am ducktaped anyway) then it would be nice to feel that one could call and ask without worrying about being perceived as a PIA. BTW, my son will not ask my questions so he is not a good conduit.

citygirlsmom · September 4, 2007, 12:27am

after attending several college events, we found that those that talked alot to the admission people asked the stupidest questions, how many students, what city, acceptance rate, do you need to write an easy

it was SOOO annoying, almost every answer was available, no real questions were asked and those same people hogged the admissions person thinking they were making an impression

Rileydog · September 4, 2007, 12:54am

That has also been my experience. I have found it annoying after traveling hundreds of miles and spending $$ on a hotel to hear parents ask questions that could easily have been answered from the website. OTOH, I have friends who have never looked at a college website so maybe I am just an information junkie (that is true) and I expect too much from the info session. On the opposite end, we have attended info sessions where the admissions officer has spent nearly the entire time describing their programs and not giving the students time to ask more than a few questions. Also annoying.

Rileydog · September 4, 2007, 12:57am

I think I am getting grouchy. I apologize. Must be that school is starting this week and clearly the crunch is upon us!

calmom · September 4, 2007, 5:25am

I don't think the information session is a good place for that sort of information -- its more geared to providing information about the school than specifics related to admission chances.

The basic "chances" and "what is the college looking for" information you are looking for is available from a number of different sources; the College Board site is a a good one. Using that site, you can search each college by name.

Each college has an "Admissions" page which contains information such as:
* Percent of applicants admitted
* Whether the college has EA/ED; if so, stats about numbers applying & number accepted
* Admission Policies & Factors, including specific admission requirements and level of importance of various factors
* Expected high school preparation - courses required/recommended

There is also an SAT page that gives you the score ranges for SAT & ACT scores for the school.

This is the sort of preparation you can do in advance of the info session. I think that if there are very specific questions related to a student's circumstance or a particular program he/she wants to apply to within a school, those questions can be raised at the info session, bearing in mind that if the information is too specialized that the visiting ad com may not really know the answer.

I actually think that most of what might be covered in a typical info session could probably be learned from the college web site -- the real value might be the "sense" the student gets of the school from the presentation, more of a process of reading between the lines and getting a gut level impression. That is something that I think parents interfere with when they ask too many questions. I think in general the best use of the time would be to do research in advance; write out specific questions; and then pretty much let the kid take the lead on figuring out which questions are important to ask. Keep in mind that many questions can also be answered easily & directly through email -- the face-to-face session with the admission officer is definitely not the only opportunity.

I do think that these sessions can be valuable -- I just think that sometimes expectations are too high.

originaloog · September 4, 2007, 6:14am

csleslie51, during our son's sr year, a number of college admissions reps visited his hs to chat with students in group sessions. Srs were permitted to skip class to attend these sessions if they chose.

I am not certain how the hs arranged these visits, but I assumed the guidance office extended the invitation. Most colleges who did this were ones w/i 150 miles but were both public and private. None were what would be considered highly selective colleges ala Duke or Pomona.

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