Outside of my interviews (which I think all went fairly well), I haven’t emailed or called to reach out to the schools I’m applying to. Is this an issue? Will it effect my chances of admission at all? A few days ago I was on a Hotchkiss virtual event call and the AO said something to the effect of “it’s been great getting to know so many of you through this process, and we look forward to reading your applications”. I took this comment as indicting that people have been a lot more proactive reaching out to admissions offices than I have. Friday I tried calling the admissions office of two schools to ask questions regarding my application, but no one picked up the phone at either. Should I email the admissions offices with a random question or something, or does it not matter?
I called and asked an AO a bunch of questions. It can’t hurt to show your interest in the school by following them on social media and attending virtual events.
I haven’t applied yet so I can’t tell you if it will hurt you to not do so. I plan to keep in touch with all the schools I am interested in for the next year.
I do follow all of the schools on Instagram and YouTube, and I’ve been attending virtual events, I just haven’t had direct communication. I agree that it can’t hurt, but I doubt that it matters whether or not you follow them online, because that’s not something they check. Good luck to you for next application round! If you’re already looking into things now, than you’re way ahead of where I was a year ago.
One thing to keep in mind is that between January 15 and March 10th, the AO’s are very busy reading applications and making decisions. So I would avoid calling an AO now unless something is truly important, and cannot be answered by the main admissions phone line.
FWIW – I don’t think most applicants are being super proactive about communicating. I think showing up for zoom info sessions, meeting during the interview process, a thank you note, and then perhaps an emailed question throughout the process is what that AO meant when he said “getting to know you during the process.” I would not sweat it, and I would definitely not “look for reasons” to connect or ask questions. I think that would not be helpful and could actually have the opposite effect.
I agree with @Calliemomofgirls , don’t bother the AOs with unimportant questions now. Important is different, but if you are just manufacturing questions you risk being annoying.
Let me be less subtle: if you are just manufacturing questions you are being annoying. You will be remembered, but not in a good way.
I understand what you guys are saying, and that’s why I didn’t reach out in the first place. I actually had legitimate, but not paramount, questions for the two schools I tried to call, so I’m by no means looking to annoy any AOs or seem uninformed.
Yeah, same I didn’t keep in touch with the AO’s either, so you’re not alone. Like previous replies, I wouldn’t bother them too much with trivial questions or emails.
“Getting to know” can mean interviewing or reading an application. Don’t worry about this.