DEFINITION OF RELATIONSHIPS WITH COLLEGES
Relationships with colleges come in many forms. It might be as simple as:

• Phoning or emailing a college admissions office

• Returning a postcard from a college marketing piece

• Signing up to be on a college’s mailing list.

Or:

• An on-campus interview with an admissions officer

• An on-campus group information session with someone from the admissions office

• Meeting with admissions people at a college fair or a local college reception

• Interacting with an admissions officer during their visit to your school

• Stopping by an admissions office for a quick hello and sign-in during a college visit

• An off-campus interview with an alum from your home town

It also includes appointments with athletic coaches, meetings with art professors to show them your portfolio and auditioning for places in music or theater departments.

adMISSION POSSIBLE® TIP! There is great variety in how colleges keep track of student contact. While larger, public universities cannot afford the time and effort it takes to note when and how often students contact them, other colleges do. Many, but not all, private colleges have computer programs to keep track of each student’s contact with their respective admissions offices.

Contact you make with colleges can be an important aspect of your college admissions. At times, it can even make the difference between your being accepted, waitlisted or rejected.

THE BOTTOM LINE
At a recent National Association for College Admissions Counseling convention, counselors from all over the country reported that colleges are turning down some of their otherwise qualified students, often for no other reason than the student had little or no contact with them. Daniel Golden, a journalist who received the Pulitzer Prize for his articles on admissions, has noted that “…all things being equal, colleges tend to favor strong applicants who make the most contacts with the school — interviews, campus overnight visits, college fairs and the like.” Moreover, some admissions deans have described student contact as a ‘tip factor’ in admissions.”

Common sense says that a good student whose name and face are recognizable to an admissions office may have a better chance of being admitted than someone who is simply a name and an application. If there are two students, each with high SAT scores and equally good grades, whom do you think will be chosen: A student who has taken the time to make contact with an admissions office or one who hasn’t? You know the answer. Contact with an admissions office before filing your application may help you and no contact with them could possibly hurt you.