<p>My son requested an overnight visit/interview using the Rice admissions website. He put in his request in mid-September and asked if he could do his overnight in November. He immediately received an email back which said Rice would get back with him "shortly." There has not been any other correspondence from Rice regarding his request.</p>
<p>Since he is requesting a visit at the beginning of Thanksgiving week, I am trying to figure out the best way to get him to Houston considering plane fares could be more expensive than usual. We're also debating whether to accompany him (thus booking our own hotel room.) In short, it seems like it's not too soon to make some travel plans.</p>
<p>I took the liberty of calling Rice admissions early this week (I know......son should call himself but he leaves at 7:20 a.m. every morning and doesn't return until after sports, usually 5:30 p.m.) Anyway, I explained that my son had requested an overnight visit and we're still waiting to hear.......could they please check for me? I was put on hold multiple times and dumped into someone's voice mail. Two days later I called back.....same thing, put on hold and routed to voice mail.</p>
<p>This morning at 8:20 a.m. (kind of early for a Saturday, no?) someone from Rice called back, was very curt, and said that overnights are not scheduled until closer to two weeks out. I explained that we are only trying to make travel plans and that son's original email used the word "shortly" when it referred to their response time. This person was borderline rude and had nothing to offer other than telling me it's too early.</p>
<p>Am I being picky? I know they're busy, but why didn't they generate an email that just stated what she told me: "You will hear from us two weeks out from your requested date." But even then, is it unreasonable to need the information sooner? At this point, I don't even know if I want to pay to travel there. We did the campus tour/info session last year, so he's visited the campus. OTOH, Rice is his first choice and I feel like we must play by their rules.</p>
<p>hmmm hard call justryharder… i agree though that the school should consider the costs of these visits and 2 weeks notice is unreasonable when considering the cost of airfare will be much higher. on the other hand if it is your son’s top choice, then i guess you may have to play by their rules…but now i would consider changing the date if you can, as T’giving day rates may be sky high by then. sorry they were curt/rude but your son probably would have no need to interact with that person if accepted.</p>
<p>this whole process can have you second guessing everything…when my son applied to Vandy he did everything he was supposed to do re alumni interviews, everything was set up but his interviewer couldnt do it until the very end of allowed time for interviews…then the day of the interview son received email saying the person was ill and wouldnt be able to do the interview…son emailed vandy and called… their response was basically it was too late now! always wonder if that (no interview) played a role in him being wait listed.</p>
<p>You should PM anxiousmom, who also, many moons ago, had a less than positive experience with the Rice admissions office. She has since had 2 kids go to Rice and those of use with very happy Rice students/grads have tried to tell all who will listen <em>not</em> to let a bad experience with the admissions office deter you from visiting Rice. You will love it, and so will your DS!! Good luck.</p>
<p>OP, if it makes you feel better, several people on cc have commented previously that Rice admissions have been less than friendly. When ds applied last year, we found them effiicent enough though, yeah, not exactly effusive. Some people were more helpful than others.</p>
<p>I wonder whether there’s a better week to visit than T’gving. But, no, I don’t think it’s unresonable to be able to plan more than two weeks out. If you fly SW, you can always change the flight without a penalty.</p>
<p>The issue can be you don’t know exactly who is answering the email or phone, or making the callback. In a number of cases, you will find a work study student, with very little training and knowledge of their “area” of responsibilities. (This is not a reflection on all w/s students doing clerical/admin work, at Rice or anywhere else. It is an observation based on numerous experiences).</p>
<p>There are times when you need to go to the next level in the pecking order, the chain of command. “Shortly” does not suggest to me six or eight weeks. You may want to speak directly to an admissions officer at the assistant director or above level and let them know your concerns, both about the issues of cost, reservations, scheduling as well as the nebulous and confusing wording. I’d also address the curt and seemingly unprofessional manner displayed by whoever did make phone contact. How they react to and explain the institution’s position to me is far more indicative of future dealings with the resident bureaucracy and administration if a student does apply and matriculates.</p>
<p>Thanks all. I guess it’s not “just me” then. And I agree that Thanksgiving isn’t great, but that is an option that they offer and it really does work best with our schedule. I was curious if other schools have a “two week out” rule on campus visit notifications, though. This is our first overnight visit request anywhere.</p>
<p>And you’re right, jym, I shouldn’t let this keep son from applying. I guess I’m just venting.</p>
<p>@violadad: This isn’t a work study student. We actually dealt with this same individual last year. This person is tasked with most of the scheduling of campus visits of any sort for prospective students, apparently. I know I could escalate things, but my son really really wants to go there and I hate to raise a stink. Yet.</p>
<p>I suggest you start a paper trail of emails and address those emails to your admissions rep… She/he can relay it to the people in charge of coordinating overnights. Sometimes emails may be more effective than phone calls, especially when there are actual dates of when you sent something. If you prefer the immediacy of a phone call, follow that up with an email.</p>
<p>I also heard (not sure if this is true), Rice doesn’t necessarily give added pluses to the application if you visited, unlike some other schools that really like to have the applicants visit.</p>
<p>Ds did overnights at three other schools. In two cases, the visits were part of a special program so things were handled much more than two weeks out (the dates were set months in advance, he’d had to apply to be accepted to the overnight program, etc). In the third case, he set it up about a month ahead of time. He was an accepted student by then, so this was to see if that college was the right place for him (it was ).</p>
<p>Because this is the third year in a row I’ve seen people complain about this particular office, I’d be inclined to document all this and after decision time let them know of your concerns. This reminds me of a poster here who was really turned off by admissions at another school where her ds was applying. After all was said and done, she wrote them. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but when ds and I visited that school the next year, we had the best experience ever. Still ranks as the no. 1 visit for all of us. Ds didn’t end up picking the school, but I always will have a favorable opinion of them based on our experience, and the thought that they perhaps received some criticism, took it to heart and made changes.</p>
<p>I also had a bad experience with the Rice admissions office last year, and I was just trying to get a viewbook to share with a class I was teaching. It took several calls and by the time the viewbook arrived, the class was over. (I think the process took about 6-8 weeks). The person I eventually spoke to was an adult (clearly not a student) and was very curt.</p>
<p>The timing may be causing a problem also. Many colleges are “out” after classes on Tuesday and those that aren’t and have Wednesday AM classes, the profs tend to reschedule or release the kids. It’s not an optimum time to try and schedule an overnight. If Monday/Tuesday are the only days you can fit in, perhaps you could go along and book hotels, etc. so that he has a fall back if the overnighting doesn’t work. We’ve found mid-late January perfect for overnights with our boys. Both “overnighted” at their top pick school and did the travel by themselves just to see what it would take to get to the college. But we also did Monday/Tuesday before Thanksgiving campus visits with both boys. By Wednesday the campuses were empty…the kids that don’t leave are sleeping on Wednesday mornings and the offices and buildings are closing.</p>
<p>I thought the two week rule is that you need to schedule your visit at least 2 weeks in advance. My D signed up about a month before her visit. She got her confirmation the next day. Everything went smoothly.</p>
<p>@ limabeans: Actually, we were told that they take interest into consideration, and an overnight would be a good way to show interest. And you’re right about doing emails instead of phone calls. I’ve always been one to just pick up the phone, but in this case I probably should have emailed.</p>
<p>@Youdon’tsay: I have been known to write a letter or two in my life, and I agree it should be done here. Rice is a better school than this.</p>
<p>momofthree: Yes, I know that Thanksgiving week can be hectic. But, again, this was a choice on their online schedule and would work best with son’s schedule. If that truly is a bad week for Rice, why didn’t the admissions person just tell me that on the phone?</p>
<p>@hillbillie: Your daughter did this at Rice?!?!? Are you saying she signed up online and they emailed her with confirmation the next day? For this Fall?</p>
<p>Just adding to the chorus of bad experiences with Rice admissions. Last year, S requested an interview on time and never got one or any acknowledgment. The admissions rep during the high school visit said to email her with questions, which S did with no answer. There was one generic email she sent saying she’d been out so responses would be delayed, but never any response. S was reluctant to make waves. S ended up waitlisted, and you never know what happened, but he never felt like he got a fair shake. Our whole area is pretty dismayed with the Rice admissions process, since it seems like its harder to get in around here (statistics-wise) than it may be in other places. I wonder how much comes down to the rep, but who knows.</p>
<p>JustTryHarder, yes my D had no problem at all – for this fall. I just asked her to make sure I remember correctly since she handled these things herself. She actually got the confirmation within the same day she signed up and visit info about a week before her departure day. She even got an email from the student host! This sounds crazy, but I would just sign up again to see what happens. You never know if the application crashed on the server side, the database went haywired on the day your son signed up etc.</p>
<p>My son is a freshman at Rice now. For some reason the admissions process went very smoothly for us. In fact, when there was a glitch - it had to do with sending my son’s art portfolio in the proper format - the person who emailed with us was very patient and got back to us on her own as the deadline approached. None of us are techies and I think I had to google “How to compress files” on the final day. But it all worked out.</p>
<p>The only other problem had to do with my son’s host when he did visit after he was accepted. It wasn’t a great fit. Tulane had done a much more professional job with April visits, but their program was run by the admissions office; at Rice it was run by student volunteers. BTW, my son didn’t visit prior to acceptance, but he did have a local interview. He just ran out of energy as the winter wore on.</p>
<p>My son is very happy with his choice. He loves it academically and socially. So I hope you can keep these problems in perspective, and that things work out as well for you as they did for us. We’ve found the administration to be very open and we’ve had many opportunities to speak directly with President Leebron, so I’d take my complaints to the top. They are trying to sell you a $200,000 service. They should not be curt with you on the phone.</p>
<p>I’m beginning to think that we will forego the overnight visit. I’m not sure it will change my son’s perception of Rice as his first choice. And he’s already visited and done the tour/info session. He can always request a local interview and leave it at that. </p>
<p>In general, administration at Rice is great and everything works well. Everything, except the admissions frontline. I would be willing to bet that it’s still the same grumpy person who was there 7 or so years ago when DD applied!!! Please, look beyond the admissions department. It really is a lovely school! :)</p>
).</p>