Yes… we know he is likely to get deferred (and/or rejected), but he is really interested in this school. He wouldn’t mind being accepted to one of their alternative start options, either. So it’s worth a try. Definitely not applying ED anywhere.
Check your attendance policy for exceptions for college visits. At our school, juniors and seniors can be excused from class for AO visits. In my experience, no teacher has ever declined to excuse a student. If a student is excused, then they are allowed to make up any class work/exams.
Regardless of whether demonstrated interest is tracked, our strategy has always been to (1) attend sessions for colleges one is interested in and/or applying to and (2) prepare one or two thoughtful questions (that cannot be easily located on the college website) to ask the AO.
When Williams visited our high school, my child was only one of a handful of students to attend the information session. The AO remembered her and referenced their visit in a follow-up phone call. In this admissions landscape, every bit of effort helps.
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Thanks! Yes, his counselor gave him a form to get excused from classes for these visits. He doesn’t want to miss important class time, though. It depends on which class he has to miss, too. Good to hear the info about Williams.
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Regardless of whether demonstrated interest is tracked, our strategy has always been to (1) attend sessions for colleges one is interested in and/or applying to and (2) prepare one or two thoughtful questions (that cannot be easily located on the college website) to ask the AO.
Agree! This is prime advice for making the most of these AO visits, and be sure to pick up the AO’s business card. If the school tracks interest it’s good form to send a brief thank you email to the AO for visiting their school, mention that you perhaps read up on something they said in the information session, or that you look forward to coming out to visit to see ___, etc. - personalize it in just one small way if you can.
No one needs to go to all these visits, and it helps tremendously to do a pre-screening of upcoming visits to your school and plan what is worth attending. And then doing a just little prep before the session.
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My daughter attends vassar and masks are not required anywhere unless something has changed very recently and she didn’t bother to mention it to me. We also weren’t asked to wear them at drop-off including when they packed all the parents into the chapel to hear the president and deans speak or when we carried stuff up to the rooms and helped unpack. I wonder if they have different rules for those doing tours? Because I’m not doubting you but I’ve not heard of any Covid restrictions at all at vassar (though admittedly my kid isn’t that communicative sometimes 
).
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This is my view. Whether or not demonstrated interest is officially a factor or not in my experience Facetime always Matters in almost any situation. At least it does in real life.
Maybe I’m naive. I’m obviously new to this. Want to emphasize that only my D and never me has direct contact with the schools. Until we have to start sending checks someday, that is.
Also adding that my D is only super duper excited about 4 ish schools and applying to maybe 10 in this competitive climate. Most are safeties. So she’s planning to do her best for those schools.
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To your point, the Vassar website specifically says masks are not required.
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USC also has a “Why Us?” essay.
Who is coming from USC? Is it your local Admissions Counselor? If so, I would try to make time to attend and make sure your son signs in so his name is logged as attending.
I have a child at USC. They are big on thank you letters. If you tour campus, the guide will send our student a hand written thank you note. After attending the USC event, your son can send an email thanking them for visiting the school and maybe mention something he learned that makes him excited about applying to USC. It should be short and sweet.
Also have him open all emails from USC, click through the link and sign up for mailing lists. It doesn’t hurt to follow (and like) admissions and department pages on social media.
If at all possible, attend Discover USC on October 23.
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Not questioning your experience but I was on campus for an alumni event several weeks ago and masks were not required. Here is the “Plan for Fall”, that has been posted for several weeks.
Edit- I hadn’t read ahead to notice others had already responded. Sorry
All I know is my experience. For tours, on August 29th at Vassar, we had to show proof of vaccination and booster and masks were required indoors. Maybe it is just for tours. I assumed it was for all. Maybe it was just that day, who knows.
From the email confirmation:
“ COVID-19 Policies
Please be prepared to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, including the booster shot, or a negative COVID-19 test for each member of your party when checking in. This policy applies to allvisitors, including those who are ineligible to receive the booster. Individuals not in compliance will be turned away. [Visit our website]
Please bring a mask with you; we require all visitors to wear a mask when inside campus buildings.”
Just found on the tour info.
“ Mask Policy
All visitors must wear a mask when indoors. The information session and guided tour will include entry into campus buildings, so please have a mask with you during your visit.”
Apparently doesn’t apply to students, faculty, staff or trustees. Sorry and I hope it didn’t detract from your experience.
We also visited Vassar in mid-August and had to follow same procedures, proof of vaccination, boosters and masks inside.
Thanks! He did tour the USC campus and he was delighted to receive the hand written note. (He noticed afterwards that it was printed, though!)
But this is what is confusing me. USC’s CDS says that they do not consider demonstrated interest. Do they actually track and consider it?
There are so many USC events. We have a local Discover USC event this coming Saturday. The USC AO is also visiting our HS next week. And we get so many invitations to virtual events. He has attended some. He loves this school but at a certain point it’s a bit overwhelming.
I loathe “Why us?” essays.
Yeah, I get the claimed idea, that you’re trying to make sure the fit is good (and that the applicant isn’t just doing a shotgun approach). But what you’re really doing is asking applicants to stroke your ego, and then having their parents pay to submit that ego-stroke to you. Totally uncool. Just stop it.
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Didn’t bother us at all. She loved the tour, but then she did ballet 2 hours a day 6 days a week in a mask for a year, so not a big deal.
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Or to parents of current students. We were not asked to mask at any time during drop off nor were we limited in any way (including we all got meal tickets to eat in the cafeteria and as mentioned before many hundreds of us packed in the chapel for an hour). Nor were we asked for proof of vax or limited in any way in terms of how long we could stay or what buildings we could go into. None of the students were required to test before arriving this year either (though they did upload proof of vax into their health portals prior to arrival). So it seems to only apply to visitors on tours - I also hope it didn’t detract from your visit and hope these comments alleviate any concerns over restrictions for the students. As far as I know there aren’t any (and cases have been relatively low, though not non-existent).
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Sorry didn’t see your reply before responding. Glad she loved it. My D is a dancer also.
I don’t see it as that. Kids apply to many schools and often re-use essays. I think the “why us” essays are to the point and can’t really be re-used. Most of the time the essays are shorter than the Common App essay so don’t take a ton of effort.
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Question about demonstrated interest… when my D23 sends a follow-up email to a student tour guide, posing a question, is it likely that when the guide replies they blind copy the admission office or otherwise report the contact? Does her question become part of her record with the office? She’s trying to wrap her head around how much these schools are “watching” her.
I mean, it’s kind of both, isn’t it? It’s making sure applicants are putting in proper effort, but it’s also a way for AOs and the like to be reassured that they’re doing a good thing by working for the college they’re at.