Daniel Golden, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, has noted that ”colleges tend to favor strong applicants who make the most contacts with a school–interviews, campus overnight visits, college fairs and the like.” Some colleges even have computer programs that track student contact. They see a student’s interest in them as a tip factor in admissions. Therefore, making multiple contacts with each school on your college list, including getting to know the college representatives assigned to your school is a smart thing to do.

Just so you know, large, public universities are usually too busy to deal with tracking student contact, but many small and medium sized private colleges welcome such overtures.

1. Utilize as many forms of college contact as you can with private and public colleges that value college contact. At some point, this could make the difference between your being accepted, waitlisted or denied.

   College contact includes:

   • Phone calls and emails to the college admissions office
   • Responding to any mailing that you receive from a college that includes a reply card
   • Asking to be put on a college mailing list
   • Signing in at an admissions office when you are visiting a college
   • Having an on-campus interview or an off campus alumni interview
   • Attending a group information session at a college
   • Going to a college fair and signing in at the table or booth
   • Interacting with a college rep who visits your school (and signing their sign-up sheet)
2. Demonstrated interest is a buzzword used by colleges to describe the quantity and quality of contact a student has with them that indicates his/her likelihood of actually enrolling in the college should the student receive an acceptance letter.
   • Pay special attentions to your favorite colleges and make contact with their respective admission offices.
   • But don’t forget to pay attention to any college on your college list, even if they are at the bottom of your list.
3. Every college in the U.S. has a college representative assigned to every high school in the country. Being known and liked by a college representative can positively affect a selection process. Often, he/she is one of the first persons to read your application and sometimes ends up advocating your case to other admissions people.
4. Many colleges turn down or waitlist very qualified applicants who have not shown interest in their college other than applying. Make sure you are NOT one of those applicants.
5. It is never too late to show your interest in a college.

	Freshman Years Freshman year is usually too early for most students to think about colleges, let alone make contact with individual schools.
	Sophomore Years As a sophomore, If you want to begin making contact with colleges, you can: Take a quick tour of colleges when you go out of town and before you leave, sign in at the admissions office Attend hometown college fairs and sign in at the different college tables or booths
	Junior Year Junior year is the year to get serious about making college contacts. As soon as you know that you are interested in a college, let them know by: Registering on their admissions website and asking to be put on their mailing list Finding out who the college rep assigned to your high school is and sending him/her an email expressing interest in the college Attending hometown college fairs and meeting admissions representatives
	Senior Year Contact with college admissions offices during fall semester, senior year is critical. To make it count, do some or all of the following: If you haven’t already, let colleges know that you are interested in them by getting yourself on their respective mailing lists (online or through a phone call) If you haven’t already, find out who the college reps assigned to your high school are, get their email addresses and make contact Arrange for on-campus personal interviews Arrange for off-campus interviews with alums in your hometown If a college rep comes to your high school, make sure to meet him/her
	Parents Because making contact with colleges is uncomfortable to some students, you can be helpful to your child by helping them do this. In Guide 7: Developing Relationships With Colleges, we give examples of what to say in emails, on the phone or in personal encounters; but this is also something you can help your child with as well. Most teenagers don’t have much experience in communicating with adults; so rather than expecting them to know what to say, provide them with a script to follow. Potentially, this is one of those wonderful learning moments that you can take advantage of and help your child to become more competent.

If you want more information about any of the above and:

• All the different ways you can make contact with colleges
• What students and parents should do about college contacts freshman through senior years
• What’s behind the fuss regarding demonstrated interest and yield rates
• Why you should care about college admissions representatives who are assigned to your high school
• What you can say and do to connect with college admissions reps
• What to do if a college rep comes to your high school and you can’t attend his/her meeting
• Whether there is such a thing as too much contact with an admissions office
• How admissions people feel about parents calling them on behalf of their children
• What to say and do when you stop by an admissions office
• How to make the most of a college fair and what to say to the admissions reps
• Recommended websites and books

If you want to gain access to Guide 7, Relationships with Colleges, click here for an online, bare bones version.

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