<p>I am using collegedata.com and Fiske to create a comprehensive list of colleges for my daughter to help her college search. (i.e., narrowing the list down from 300 to 30.) I frequently see on collegedata that "level of student interest" and "character/personal qualities" are regarded as very important, or important as admission criteria. Can someone explain how a student demonstrates interest and why it is so important? Surely students who can't get to a college for a visit are at a disadvantage? Is there something I am not reading into the "level of interest?"
Also, "character" is often seen as v. important. Yet interviews are only just "considered". So how is character judged? By the essay and teacher recs? Why have a separate category for those also? If anyone can shed some light, I would appreciate it.</p>
<p>The problem a lot of colleges have these days is that even as they get more applications than ever in many cases, a lot of those apps are “phantom” in that the accepted student is not likely to come to that school but adding it onto the list as a low choice. With the common app, it’s easy to fill out a lot of app, and with a number of schools waiving app fees, the average number of apps per student for those looking at a certain type of college has gone way up. This causes a big headache for admissions officers whose heads will roll if they cannot fill a class when they get so many applications. So they have to come up with some way of figuring out who is truly interested in the school and likely to come if accepted.</p>
<p>One such measure is level of interest. Not as easy to visit 2 dozen schools as it is to apply to them. Schools have found that those students who take the trouble to visit the school and keep in contact, visit the web sites of a school are more likely to accept the offer of the school. This is not something that the very top schools or the very big schools are measuring. They don’t particularly care. The top schools have enough kids that will accept them, the big schools accept enough kids and have constant yields where it doesn’t make as much difference. But the smaller schools where not getting that yield right can be a real problem in terms of who shows up. So yes, if it looks like a student could have visited and did not, it can be a disadvantage at some schools. Especially if the student comes from a school where a lot of those in the area do visit, where others from his school, his region are showing a lot more interest than he is. </p>
<p>Yes, character is judged by recs, by activiites, by essays, to some degree. A student who has spent a few weeks each summer volunteering as a personal aid at a Muscular Dystrophy Camp doing a lot of difficult work there does show some character. Throw in a personal interest for those ailments as demonstrated by participation in fundraising events, a personal story, and some comments by the school counselor, and a picture emerges. NOt necessarily accurate, mind you, but that kid’s going to look a lot better than the kid who has done only things for himself all of the time and gone on some pretty fine vacations, for example. </p>
<p>For those students who truly cannot visit schools do to cost or other extenuating circumstances, it is advised that the school counselor be told this situation so that it can be brought up in that rec. Student should go to local things if the college has any in the area, and also visit the web site and participate on some of the things a lot of these colleges have to gauge interest. An email now and then, following a blog if there is one, can make a difference. </p>
<p>If your child is sincerely interested in certain colleges where personal visits are impractical, then he or she can demonstrate interest by identifying a regional admissions officer, contacting that individual, and asking where the college is conducting field visits, or whether there are opportunities for Skype interviews. If the college participates in a consortium like “Colleges That Change Lives,” they might have a fair somewhere near you. </p>
<p>Cptofthehouse, THANKS! What a concise and wonderful answer. I think when she narrows down to her top 10 or so choices, then she can show her interest by visiting if possible. She can certainly sign up for emails. I am wondering if it is acceptable for potential applicants to actually contact colleges by email with questions?
Do colleges have their own applications, even if they use the Common App? If so, maybe it is better to submit college specific applications? Forgive me if,that isn’t the case, still figuring out how it all works.</p>
<p>Regarding character, from your answer,it seems then that colleges use a combination of components from an app to determine character. Is that fair to say?</p>
<p>Woogzmama, thanks, I will look for that consortium.</p>
<p>See <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1626043-ways-to-show-a-high-level-of-applicant-s-interest-p1.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1626043-ways-to-show-a-high-level-of-applicant-s-interest-p1.html</a> about ideas on showing a high “level of applicant’s interest”.</p>
<p>Thanks ucbalumnus. Very useful.</p>
<p>It’s all so confusing and daunting, isn’t it?!?!?!?!? Good luck with the process. This is a great site with a lot of really helpful people. This community helped us tremendously.</p>
<p>Regarding college-specific applications vs. common app. I do not know if this is the case universally, but all of the colleges my D applied to (small east coast LACs) used the Common App, and all of their supplemental, college-specific essays and requirements were done from within the Common App.</p>
<p>Regarding level of interest, you got great advice above. Does your D’s high school have college fairs or days when there are college reps visiting? My D’s had 2-3 per year, and she went to them whenever there were schools visiting that she might be even vaguely interested in. The representative is quite often the regional rep for admissions. In small LACs, this is often the person who does the “first read” on applications, to they are actually quite important people in the admissions process. meeting them, signing the mailing list form, asking a couple of questions about the school, all are great ways to start to establish interest. And easy for the kid because it’s so casual, not a scary formal interview…</p>
<p>If you are doing any college roadtrips this year (recommended!) make sure that the colleges know you were there. Even if you are not doing a formal guided tour, and are just driving through for a quick peek, stop at the admissions office and sign in. And, yes, the student certainly can email admissions with questions, though they should NOT be questions that are easily answered by looking on the website! I’d recommend finding out who the regional representative is and emailing them directly. It’s sometimes hard to find, you have to dig deep in the Admissions section of the site sometimes, or google “XXX College representative” and your state.</p>
<p>Thanks Staceynell. Good tips. </p>
<p>Yes, colleges use their own criteria. Also, so do admissions officers, and personal bias can come into the picture. Some of this is a matter of luck. You submit an essay on how you love to run and how it makes you feel and if you hit the right chord with the reader who is also a runner, you’ve just scored. If the reader happened to just broken up with a SO who was an avid runner that got on nerves due to that hobby, well, that’s your bad luck. You can’t control a lot of this, as it is fuzzy ground.</p>
<p>I will tell you outright, however, that a few words and examples from the high school counselor counts a lot in this regard rather than blowing ones own horn. You can help out the counselor by giving him/her a “cheat sheet” for writing the reps and listing some thing that person may not know as some examples. It’s difficult to try to show “good character” in your own descriptions of yourself, if you know what I mean. COming on too strong can do the opposite.</p>
<p>For highly selective schools and many large unselective schools, it doesn’t matter a whit unless you have a real head turner of a story. Yes, there are exceptions, but that’s a generality. Where it matters is in the group of schools that have to pick their class carefully.</p>
<p>My one son applied to a selective, but not most selective school, one that was a bit of a reach, maybe high match, and when he visited, he told the interviewer he loved the school, he wanted to go there,e tc, etc. and he meant it. Some things you just know are true and a skilled admissions director can see that, He got a special accept right after the visit, and yes, he did end up going there. But not everyone feels that way and you can’t do this with each school, and coming off contrived can sour the impressions. </p>
<p>Again, thanks cptofthehouse. I am a little concerned about he character issue. My daughter is an intelligent empathetic person who has very strong feelings about injustice in the world, etc…but she is not a warm and fuzzy giver. She volunteers, not with sick kids, but at a state historic site. She does not spend her time doing good deeds like it sometimes seems that more selective schools want. It just isnt part of her personality. She is shy and quiet. That doesn’t mean she isn’t kind, interesting or without opinions. On paper, her stats give her a good shot at more selective schools, such as Vassar and Boston College. She is going to apply to Brown, which is at the moment her top choice. No one has a good chance to getting into any of those schools, esp Brown of course. I do worry though that because she is not outgoing, it will be detrimental to her. She can’t change her personality, but I wonder how she can make her positive attributes stand out.</p>