who's behind the table at college fairs?

[Anonymous]

my son was at a college fair at his school and came home to tell me about x, y, z including "this one guy named Guttentag at the Duke table"

I listen to enough podcasts to know that that is the dean of admissions. The head of the whole thing at Duke.

Is this normal? I thought the people the send on the road where a step up from tour guides but many steps down from Dean of Admissions

[Anonymous]

Nope, they are the admissions officer. Usually the one assigned to your geographic area but some schools list the areas on the website and some don’t so you don’t always know if it’s your assigned AO. Most important thing to know is that it is very likely a person who will be reading your application if you apply. When my daughter was accepted to Tufts this year she got a note on her letter from the AO who mentioned a conversation they had at her school’s fair.

[Anonymous]

Obviously one person can't go to all the fairs, but this is what his job is. To know the territory.

[Anonymous]

I agree it's usually the AO for your Region. Where are you located? If in DC, I think it makes sense that Guttentag would show up- high applicant area, not too far. 20+ years ago when I applied, he came to a local Duke admissions presentation in New York.

[Anonymous]

It's usually the AO for the region or territory.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes the person behind the desk is just an alumnus of the school. I have been asked to do so even though I have no relation to the admissions office of my school. However, in major metro areas, it will typically be a regional admissions officer.

[Anonymous]

Huh, as an alum who stands behind the table at quite a few college fairs, I'm surprised to learn it's usually AOs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my son was at a college fair at his school and came home to tell me about x, y, z including "this one guy named Guttentag at the Duke table"

I listen to enough podcasts to know that that is the dean of admissions. The head of the whole thing at Duke.

Is this normal? I thought the people the send on the road where a step up from tour guides but many steps down from Dean of Admissions

Not surprised. He's the most impressive guy who likes to get to know prospective students. Don't even have a kid there - just a fan.

[Anonymous]

Normally the region's AO but I'm not surprised that the Dean might drop in to a couple to keep a hand in, stay in touch with students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree it's usually the AO for your Region. Where are you located? If in DC, I think it makes sense that Guttentag would show up- high applicant area, not too far. 20+ years ago when I applied, he came to a local Duke admissions presentation in New York.

NYC

[Anonymous]

My DC went to a college fair with reluctance and talked to three schools, no more than 5 minutes with each. They applied to two of them, both with single digit acceptance rates, and they got in both in RD. They never toured the schools, attended college talks, or showed interest in any other ways. I don’t know who they talked to and what they talked about, but it seems like college fair worked to some extent. FWIW DC went to s public high school, and we are MC Asian with no hooks and didn’t hire any college counselors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC went to a college fair with reluctance and talked to three schools, no more than 5 minutes with each. They applied to two of them, both with single digit acceptance rates, and they got in both in RD. They never toured the schools, attended college talks, or showed interest in any other ways. I don’t know who they talked to and what they talked about, but it seems like college fair worked to some extent. FWIW DC went to s public high school, and we are MC Asian with no hooks and didn’t hire any college counselors.

Just to clarify- one of them was the AO for this region (they admit no more than 20 kids from this region every year) and I have no idea about the other school as DC turned it down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Huh, as an alum who stands behind the table at quite a few college fairs, I'm surprised to learn it's usually AOs.

Really? I think it's weird that an alum would be doing this.

[Anonymous]

The person behind the table is very important to your admission file; treat them as "one step above" (or below) anything at your peril.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh, as an alum who stands behind the table at quite a few college fairs, I'm surprised to learn it's usually AOs.

Really? I think it's weird that an alum would be doing this.

Super common.