<p>Or can you?
I would like to hear from experts on this and not simply gather opinions.
I contend the following. Am I right?
At college fairs and other places where college representatives go, they don't remember any individual students because there are too many students at the events.
(This doesn't include elite events sponsored by elite colleges where only a few elite students are invited.)
Most college representatives at these events are only local/regional employees who are just advocates for their schools and don't have anything to do with the admissions process.
Even if the college representative has a title that includes "admissions" or "officer," they don't actually see any applications back at the school. They just have a different title.
In addition, if a student contacts a college's admissions office with a question, it is not saved in a file unless it provides more information from the student -- meaning only if the student has already applied. If a student gives their information to a college before applying, it goes only to the mailing list and doesn't help them get admitted.
No college admissions office sees a student's name on an application and thinks, "Oh, yeah, I remember this person because ...."</p>
<p>Some colleges DEFINITELY have travelling reps who go out to college fairs with the express mission to recruit, take names of interested prospects and follow up to get them to apply. These tend to be reps from smaller colleges that want to get on the radar of area high school students. You can bet 100% that if they have a great connection with a prospect or his/her family, that follow on emails and calls can ensue. It really depends on the college and how they view these events in their marketing plan.</p>
<p>“Most college representatives at these events are only local/regional employees who are just advocates for their schools and don’t have anything to do with the admissions process.”</p>
<p>Again, this is incorrect.</p>
<p>"Even if the college representative has a title that includes “admissions” or “officer,” they don’t actually see any applications back at the school. "</p>
<p>Not in all cases.</p>
<p>Your blanket statement is not true for all colleges. Period.</p>
<p>But I understand your purpose for this post: some students feel that they need to put on a horse and pony show for every college rep – and that’s not the case either. Frankly, it really just depends…</p>
<p>I absolutely agree with T26E4. Additionally, in many cases, the representative who visits your school or a college night in your area is the first person at the college to see your applicantion. In most places, admissions officers are responsible for a specific region. In the fall, these folks travel their own regions, as T26E4 said, to drum up business (er…to reach out to qualified students who might be interested in attending [name of college or university]).</p>
<p>Two examples: the [name of top 30 university redacted] representative who visited my daughter’s school last fall was the officer responsible for our state, who read my daughter’s application and remembered details from having met her; a former student of mine who works as a an admissions officer at a top 50 university absolutely travels her own region in the fall, attending college fairs, visiting high schools, etc.</p>
<p>Now, this doesn’t mean this is how it works at Ohio State or other enormous publics, but I am quite sure the assertion that you can’t impress a visiting admissions officer is far from universally true. Furthermore, even in the case of large publics, it can be helpful for an applicant to have a name and email address of an individual who works there. My daughter’s SAT and ACT scores had not been matched with the rest of her application at our state flagship. It helped her to have the name of a person she’d met, who said to her, “Email me about this, and I’ll look into it when I get back to the office next week. I’ll let you know when it’s resolved.”</p>
<p>But I would also agree that it’s probably not helpful for an eager applicant to make either a spectacle or a pest of himself, trying to impress an admissions officer.</p>
<p>T26E4: I suspect you are correct about this working for smaller colleges. But you provide no proof. However, overall, I like the tone of your reply.</p>
<p>Sikorsky: Thanks for the proof and comparing it to Ohio State or other enormous publics. Thats the kind of answer for which Im looking.</p>
<p>The level of smart interaction with a visiting rep can depend on the general smarts of that person, sure, and whether they are a college employee or stand-in. I’ve met actual staff from top LACs who couldn’t answer a simple, significant question. Also, surprised at how often the staff at the school I review for (not an LAC) remembers all sorts of details about many applicants they have met. </p>
<p>Wondering if you are a hs student or adult- and how you came up with this impression.</p>
<p>I think it really depends. The colleges that visited my D’s private school were pretty universally sent either the regional rep or someone from the “mother ship.” However, my H has represented his LAC at several college fairs in our area because the admissions staff simply doesn’t have the band width to do them all in every part of the country. Many colleges do publish where their admissions reps will be to meet kids on their web sites.</p>
<p>I also had a similar impression as beolein for Ivies and other top colleges with low admit rates. Aren’t they oevrsought after?</p>
<p>Oversought or not, their adcoms travel much of the year, meet GCs and students, do the college fairs and more. An Ivy may actually have a larger budget for this than an LAC. Any smaller school may carefully focus on the regions with the best payoff.</p>
<p>That may be but a student may not get much of contact in a full auditorium with an Ivy adcom.</p>
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<p>Seriously? This guy was answering your question, not writing a term paper! He provided you with the answer you were looking for. Are you really going to scold a poster with >7000 posts for not having evidence on file cards like a debate champion?</p>
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<p>Qialah, excellent point. To be more precise, I probably should have said that these interactions can be meaningful on those occasions when the “representative” actually is an admissions officer. But, as you noted, colleges are pretty up-front about that. A volunteer alumnus or alumna shouldn’t (and, I believe, won’t) misrepresent himself or herself as an employee of the admissions office; if the representative says he or she is an admissions officer, you can generally believe that. And, yes, colleges often do let an interested person know where they’ll be and when.</p>
<p>I am an alumni representative for a private university. We send admissions reps, have satellite offices and yes, alumni.</p>
<p>I just attended a college fair. I take names. I hv my own shorthand for notes. I follow up with students for more in depth conversations (notice I did not say interviews). I then take all of this information and report back to admissions on the individuals who stood out. I had a student applying ED, had visited the campus, stay and wait to talk, resume in hand. I made sure he had my attention, my contact info and I had his. Those who asked questions that I could not answer, I got back to.</p>
<p>I take this seriously. My alma mater gave me a great education and fantastic friends. If the students can take the time to stop by, I can make the time to get their info. this includes athletes. I rock at multi-tasking, which doesn’t hurt. If I need to hammer at admissions, no problem. </p>
<p>S2 is meeting an admissions rep who will be down from MA for a larger college fair. Knowing his interest, she is meeting him privately. </p>
<p>One cannot lump every representative in the same pool. Some hand out pens. Others, like myself, truly take an interest and our voice matters.</p>
<p>Speaking from experience –</p>
<p>My D attended a college fair in the summer when she was a rising senior, where she met an officer from a specific school. During senior year, she attended a massive one at her HS (I was with her at this one). The admissions officer definitely remembered her face, especially when she reminded him where she had seen him before. When we later visited the school and saw him, he remembered her.</p>
<p>Bottom line, one can make an impression. Besides – what’s the downside to showing up, dressing nicely, etc. Essentially Zero. So, it may help, but can’t hurt. To be honest, isn’t this good training for life. How often does a chance encounter lead to an important opportunity later in life (Zephyr thinks of how he met his wife). So, take these things seriously and make the best impression you can.</p>
<p>“they don’t remember any individual students because there are too many students at the events.”</p>
<p>Meeting a million kids means they won’t remember everyone. But they will remember some standout individuals, good and bad. I agree that you should take these seriously. They may not make a difference to your application in the end, but they could.</p>
<p>I’d garee with it. That is if you are free most of the time. It’s at least a few hours or the entire evening gone making a trip to attend. By the fall of senior year, you’ve attended info sessions and took campus tours. If adcom’s visit won’t add anything new, is it really worth spending the time hoping for a face to face?</p>
<p>beolein: I’m not college admissions wikipedia. However, I’ve done college recruiting meetings for 20+ years. I recruit for an HYP so for impressing me matters nothing besides just a pleasant interaction which we all would prefer.</p>
<p>However, in my time at these college fairs, I interact with with other college reps. Some are alum volunteers like me, some are professional presenters for big state schools. Some are DEFINITELY recruiters looking for potential applicants. These tend to be reps from local, smaller (and ususally private) colleges. They are there to sell their school to as many as will listen – hoping for a few applicants – hoping for a few matriculants. This I know because I’ve broken bread with them.</p>
<p>Do you know something different? If so, please state your sources. Thank you.</p>
<p>[There have been a few threads started lately where there are multiple questions asked that seem to originate in a search for more than a few college tips. One OP admitted being a “private counselor” and sure seemed to be doing some job research. That sort of thing. Why would a hs kid “contend” the details stated in the opener? And, want feedback from “experts?” Just sayin’.]</p>
<p>Thanks for all the proper responses.
Discussion boards across the internet are filled with opinions, speculation, and tangents. I wanted cold, hard facts. Yall replied with cold, hard facts, opinions, speculation, and tangents.
For example, Iglooo answered only with an impression, but orangemom12 answered with background and proof of her expertise.
And T26E4 first answered with no proof, but later provided credentials that showed they know what they are talking about.
My conclusion is its a mixed bag (hmm, much like discussion board answers). But if you dont have the opportunity to interact with a rep such that they get your name in writing, it will not benefit you in the admissions process unless you gain valuable information from the rep.
Yes, my personality is such that I want correct answers that are to the point. Dont waste my time with other stuff. Search using Google for impress visiting admissions officers (without the quotes) and you get 592,000 results.
I hope my answer with it’s details helps others.</p>