Hi! Today by email I was offered a Cornell University Informational Meeting by a volunteer for the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network (CAAAN). I feel that it would be a great opportunity to learn more about Cornell; however, I am extremely busy during the times that he has mentioned as I have mid-year exams that I really need to study for while also finishing up applications (also an MIT interview sometime soon). I was also wondering whether skipping this would lower my chances of admission, although he does mention that “I’d like to stress that this meeting is optional and mainly for you to get to know Cornell better”. Is it better if I go?
Thanks for your opinion!
EDIT: He also graduated from the college of arts and sciences while I am going for the College of Engineering.
As far as I know, you don’t need to go. We went to one of these things. The info was general. Cornell does not keep track of shown interest. Better spending your time studying. You can learn about Cornell through its website.
This is not an information session for parents and applications. This is Cornell’s version of interview. Yes, it is information base, but like all other school’s interviews, it shows lack of interest if you do not go. If you are applying to MIT, you are probably a strong candidate and Cornell is probably your match school. You need to show more love to match schools than your reach schools. Schools want to protect their yields, therefore they tend to admit students who they know would accept.
Email your interviewer, explain to him why the schedule doesn’t work for you and ask for a different time.
It doesn’t matter where your interviewer went to school, CAS vs CoE. Students at Cornell tend to socialize and mingle together independent of which school they go to.
re #4: “It doesn’t matter where your interviewer went to school, CAS vs CoE.”
Well, it matters a little. Interviewer may know as much as anyone about being a student there in general.
But will know less specifically about academic experience particular to a COE student.
(Though it should be noted that CoE students typically take lots of CAS courses, too).
The importance of this deficit depends on what, if anything, OP really wants to know about, to help make decision…
But information applicable to being there, and studying there, can still be informative, even if not specific to CoE.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I think if someone was really interested in maybe going to school there they would be trying to learn as much as possible about it, and would be eager to go to such a session.
I agree email the interviewer if the proposed time represented a real conflict. Recognizing that the interviewer may not have infinite time available to do these interviews, as a favor to alma mater.
If you don’t really care enough to do it, then don’t. I don’t really know if admissions would care about that or not,. particularly if a good “excuse” was offered. After all they do characterize these as being mostly for the students’ benefit. But then again, it might care, since it can be interpreted as reflecting lack of sufficient interest.
I don’t know about other selective colleges. Both a Cornell rep at a presentation (maybe, not a CAAAN type) and an alum who interviewed DD said this thing did not matter. Your academic achievement, what you are doing as a HS student that shows your commitment, your passion for learning, etc. is what matters. Good luck.
Went to one last year and signed in, I’m sure they got my DD email at least. Same thing when we visited except they logged us in on a laptop computer. I don’t know if it makes a difference but it seems they do track “events”. Personally I don’t think it hurts you but when you talk about razor thin margins between applicants, small things can make a difference. If your an outstanding applicant it won’t make any difference.
Your kid met one on one with an alumni interviewer, off campus, pursuant to a call to arange the interview from that interviewer, and then when he got there the interviewer actually told him to “sign in” ??
That seems pretty bizarre to me. Why would the alum need your kid to sign in? The alum was only meeting with that one kid !!! They can’t remember a single kid, when that’s the only person they are talking to ??
Very weird. After all, the alum has to fill out a form and send it in to admissions afterwards.
I was just thinking back to how this worked for my D2, then I realized she didn’t have an alumni interview at all. Nobody called her. I guess they dont do interviews for transfer applicants.
When my older daughter was applying, there were so many applicants from our area that the alumni association organized a one day 1:1 interview for all applicants at my kid’s school. D1 did sign in when she showed up and was then assigned to an interviewer.