<p>For what it’s worth, I love to talk with parents of high school students. They ask good questions and their focus is on helping their child navigate the audition/admissions gauntlet. Talking with a parent early in the process, usually means the auditioner is organized and prepared when the time comes for her to do her part (on the audition day.)</p>
<p>College Admissions folks are very happy to speak to parents, students, counselors regarding their programs and the universities offerings, policies, climate and any question helping to clarify “fit” and any particulars related to the admission/audition process. At every college/university there is a regional admissions counselor who is assigned to all the high schools in that region. Their job is to create easy pathways to communication to interested students/parents. Find your regional admission counselor on the college website and email or call that person. They will receive you professionally, courteously and will be of great help. If they don’t know a question related to MT audition/admission, they will send you to the correct contact who will help you. Before I was an independent college counselor, I was a parent newbie who asked many questions and encouraged my own kids to do the same. Now, as I’ve honed many professional relationships with college enrollment folks, they cant’ emphasize enough to me their desire to help prospective parents and students. Be fearless- call and email. Knowledge is power so they say.</p>
<p>I was very much the researcher and scheduler for both my daughters (one MT, the other sudio art–equally complicated.) I was okay with that role and knew that ultimately I would do a better job than an overwhelmed high school student.</p>
<p>That said, I did not make decisions without them, and I never called or contacted a school directly for them unless it involved financial matters. </p>
<p>So I would brief them on any questions that needed to be asked, etc. but they spoke to the schools themselves. At times, I would help them compose emails in their name if that was more appropriate.</p>
<p>I do believe school want to hear from students, not parents, and you never know who you end up speaking to. </p>
<p>Younger D had a quick question about her art portfolio requirement the summer before she applied. It turns out that when she contacted NYU she was transferred to the person who would ultimately review applicant’s portfolios. They got to talking and he asked where she lived. When she mentioned a suburb of NYC, he mentioned he would be happy to pre-screen her portfolio over the summer. D set up a meeting and in essence it was an hour long interview/ portfolio review. The professor even asked me to come into the meeting at its conclusion to answer any questions. He offered a lot of advice and D added pieces to her portfolio accordingly. (He said her work showed her technique, but he wanted to see her originality and conceptual ideas that were not high school curriculum based.)</p>
<p>She was admitted ED and entered the program feeling connected to a faculty member. If I had made that phone call regarding her portfolio, the outcome could have been very different!</p>
<p>uskoolfish, I agree that it’s important for the students themselves to communicate with the schools. Great story about your younger D, you never know who you’ll talk to.</p>
<p>I spoke to the schools myself a lot about the scheduling, requirements etc when I couldn’t get what I needed from the website or wasn’t sure. However when it was late in the process and my D had a question about a school I had HER email the admissions counselor or the program directors. Some schools, such as Muhlenberg, weigh “demonstrated interest” by the student in their admission decision to the school itself (Muhlenberg is audition for scholarship only). So be aware of which schools on your child’s list might prefer to hear from him/her at some point.</p>
<p>I had D forward all her communications with the school to me and I kept them in my college folder so I had all the information myself as well.</p>