<p>marite - I agree that it's helpful for colleges to let kids know if it's tough to get in. I guess it's a matter of HOW it's done. At Cornell, we had folksy guy who gave advice about finding your unique identity and making it come through in the application. He helped the kids and parents understand that Cornell gets MANY applications from qualified students but can only accept a small percentage. But he talked about it in a way that didn't seem pretentious. And he encouraged the kids to give it a shot - but to take time on the app. Our admissions presentation at Tufts was similar.
We got the opposite feeling at Penn. They seemed (to us) to be flaunting their selectivity. It was a "you need us but we don't need you" feeling. Other posters on this board have walked away with a similar reaction so I don't think it's just us.<br>
Some of it is a matter of approach. Plus we all have different expectations and styles. Perhaps some parents/kids liked the Penn 'survival of the fittest' approach - we did NOT. Tour guide was great though!</p>
<p>I think snootiness versus informative really depends on the presentation. I think the highly selective colleges 'should' be up front with the prospective students regarding their highly selective admissions. There are probably a number of people in the sessions who don't realize quite how selective and what the odds of admission are really like at some of these colleges, even for highly successful HS grads. This includes not just HYPS but also other highly selective colleges including some publics.</p>
<p>It could be simply a difference in presentation style or personality of the presenter or even the personality of the prospective student/family that determines the perception of snootiness vs. presentation of realistic valuable information.</p>
<p>Regarding the student tour guides; I wouldn't put too much emphasis on how the individual came across. We're talking about students here who might have at most had a short session on how to conduct a tour and from that point it's up to the personality of the perticular individual. I've had repeated tours at a number of colleges and there can be a night and day difference in perception depending on the individual.</p>
<p>My experience at the LACs and Ivies has been very good. The guides have been very kind as well as the office staffs. The one exception was a phone call to Harvard's office, but I don't blame the woman for being a little testy. On the Harvard suppliment there is question: "Have you had or have you arranged an interview? When? " Now, the instructions say that the applicant will be contacted for an interview, suggesting a passive role for the applicant. The use of "have you arranged" suggests a more active role for the applicant. When my D called to find out if she could arrange an interview, the office person was somewhat short with her. I suspect that myD was the 100th caller, and while that usually entitles you to win something at the radio station my D was probably one more irritant in an already busy day.</p>
<p>I had an awful experience at Georgetown. They basically acted as though we, as prospective (and possibly, later, admitted) students would have nothing to add to the school -- it was only the school that would add to us. Georgetown had been one of my top choices, and once I was admitted, I easily turned it down due to this snooty behaviour. I ended up choosing a school that made the relationship sound very reciprocal.</p>
<p>LOL - I forgot to mention that the first slide of the slick PPT presentation at our Georgetown session was an itemization of costs - showing a annual grand total of $42K.
Now THAT'S a dose of reality huh?</p>
<p>Haha, I remember that, too.</p>
<p>mardad:</p>
<p>LOL. I got a testy answer from the Harvard admissions office when I called to enquire whether some materials had been received yet. In retrospect, I don't blame the person at the end of the phone line for being testy as he was explaining that the office was busy opening thousands of applications and he could not leave what he was doing to check on S's folder. At the time, though, I was not all that happy.</p>