Student "Records" and "Files"

When does a college begin to keep tabs and a file on a student? Like I visited the campus of a university and met with an admissions counselor and then wrote her a thank you note in the mail… But would any of this even come up when they begin reading my file/application? ALSO what about when you call the school and they ask for your name? What does that mean? Can it hurt if I called/emailed about the same question multiple times because I have gotten different answers from different people? I think I even got the same admissions officer for the two times I called

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