Best and worst admissions offices

[Anonymous]

30-40 years ago, college admissions offices just had to deal with phone calls, in-person tours and snail mail. There were also a lot less applicants then and they were mostly domestic. Now they’re having to deal with a lot more applicants- plus calls, instagram, facebook, emails, uploads, virtual tours, in-person tours, the needs of a lot more international applicants, newer forms of athletic recruiting, and different institutional priorities. It’s no wonder the admissions staff may have an occasional bad day.

[Anonymous]

Another shoutout for the Bates admissions office. They were really nice. We did a large NE SLAC swing and their staff were the friendliest.

[Anonymous]

Worst: Kenyon - DD checked in but they apparently didn’t check her in properly so we missed the tour (they call visitors by name for small group specialty tours so we just waited for her name to be called). We finally followed up and eventually got an absolutely awful 10 minute tour that they pretended was the tour we were supposed to be on. It was all very disorganized and the tour guide was confused about what tour she was supposed to be giving. It’s also the only school that didn’t send us a post-visit survey about our visit. So either they don’t care or, more likely, they never did manage to check her in despite her checking in repeatedly so they have no idea she was ever there. Which would be really annoying if she wanted to apply since they consider demonstrated interest.

For a $400K product, it definitely reflects poorly on the school when admissions is so disorganized. Most of the schools have been fine and interactions have gone as expected. We had particularly great experiences at Skidmore and Occidental.

[Anonymous]

I found the office at American super helpful. This was not for a tour but the application itself. My DD was overseas when she was submitting her applications and had some technical issues. I was stateside and contacted them by phone, they were so friendly and responsive and helped us sort out the things that she couldn’t do.

[Anonymous]

UChicago admissions ppl were very nice and helpful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:This is the weirdest post on here right now. Says a lot about you guys. You’re focused on the wrong thing people

Odd take. Most people would agree that how prospective customers are treated very much matters in any industry.

How much of a range is there with this variable?

You sign up online for a tour. Your kid checks in at the desk. You listen to the presentation. You walk around the campus with a tour guide.

In terms of differences: Some schools give out a little swag. And apparently one provides a lunch ticket. In my experience, all have provided free parking, but maybe there are some with pay-to-park garages??

I’m genuinely curious. What exactly do you think these tiny “customer experience” differences on your day say about the relative value or experience of a four year college education at these schools?

Are you really this obtuse? Let’s try to make this easy. Mom and Larlo visit college A and are greeted by a cold receptionist and the AO seems snobby when Larlo asks a question. After the visit Larlo emails the territory AO and gets a curt response. Mom and Larlo visit college B and their experience is the opposite.

See how small interactions with staff members can shape feelings towards a college? If they want tuition dollars they can at least be friendly to people interested in giving them business. Even selective colleges care about yield and first impressions matter.

Gotcha.

My takeaway here is that different things matter to different people. Which makes sense. It’s all part of finding the right fit.

Personally, these types of “small interactions” with staff do not shape our family’s feelings about a college either way. A cold receptionist? Don’t care. An AO who seems snobby? We tend to give people the benefit of the doubt at busy events. Same with curt email responses. Regional reps are flooded, especially now that there’s all this advice telling kids to “reach out” to them to show DI.

But I do see how these things matter a lot to some people. My FIL, for example. He makes big assumptions about people based on small social interactions.

Thanks for explaining. You do you. 👍

I think it is reasonable for people to consider disinterested, inattentive responses from an admissions office prior to accepting admission as indicative of how their DC will be treated by the school after admission.

Of course, there are also other, possibly more important factors, but a kid will have to navigate the bureaucracy and a dismissive admissions office isn’t a good sign.

POSSIBLY more important factors??? 😂

You people are bonkers.

[Anonymous]

Holy Cross was poor. The tour guide was fine but the admissions environment before and after was disorganized and unfriendly.

[Anonymous]

A lot of this is about budgets.

Understaffed offices are going to feel different from well-resourced ones.

Ones with budgets to cover parking and lunch (it's not free, dining and parking are billing admissions) or give swag are going to feel different from ones that don't have the money for that.

[Anonymous]

Wow, it’s a theme. With three kids we’ve been to almost twenty schools but Bates really did stand out. It’s the one school where my dc who applied and I felt a little sad about withdrawing the application because they were so welcoming and personable, from staff to students. I even remember feeling a personal connection with the admissions rep when I interviewed and applied in the early 90s.

[Anonymous]

I thought Skidmore and Mt. Holyoke were both great! Felt very attentive and kind. We went to MHC on a weekday and were the only ones in the AO presentation. They basically scrapped the formal power point and talked one-on-one with my student, answered questions, and gave her a bunch of application and essay tips. Both schools sent personalized hand-written postcards from the tour guides afterwards, which was a nice added touch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Worst: Kenyon - DD checked in but they apparently didn’t check her in properly so we missed the tour (they call visitors by name for small group specialty tours so we just waited for her name to be called). We finally followed up and eventually got an absolutely awful 10 minute tour that they pretended was the tour we were supposed to be on. It was all very disorganized and the tour guide was confused about what tour she was supposed to be giving. It’s also the only school that didn’t send us a post-visit survey about our visit. So either they don’t care or, more likely, they never did manage to check her in despite her checking in repeatedly so they have no idea she was ever there. Which would be really annoying if she wanted to apply since they consider demonstrated interest.

For a $400K product, it definitely reflects poorly on the school when admissions is so disorganized. Most of the schools have been fine and interactions have gone as expected. We had particularly great experiences at Skidmore and Occidental.

Kenyon’s admissions office is a joke. We had a graduate with us from its all male days, who is a relative. When he left to use the visitor’s desk to use the bathroom they made fun of him for his questions. This reminds me to call them and rip them a new one. Bye bye Gambier. My cash will be spent elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Worst: Kenyon - DD checked in but they apparently didn’t check her in properly so we missed the tour (they call visitors by name for small group specialty tours so we just waited for her name to be called). We finally followed up and eventually got an absolutely awful 10 minute tour that they pretended was the tour we were supposed to be on. It was all very disorganized and the tour guide was confused about what tour she was supposed to be giving. It’s also the only school that didn’t send us a post-visit survey about our visit. So either they don’t care or, more likely, they never did manage to check her in despite her checking in repeatedly so they have no idea she was ever there. Which would be really annoying if she wanted to apply since they consider demonstrated interest.

For a $400K product, it definitely reflects poorly on the school when admissions is so disorganized. Most of the schools have been fine and interactions have gone as expected. We had particularly great experiences at Skidmore and Occidental.

Kenyon’s admissions office is a joke. We had a graduate with us from its all male days, who is a relative. When he left to use the visitor’s desk to use the bathroom they made fun of him for his questions. This reminds me to call them and rip them a new one. Bye bye Gambier. My cash will be spent elsewhere.

The college kid volunteers made fun of him or the adult staff members?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the weirdest post on here right now. Says a lot about you guys. You’re focused on the wrong thing people

Odd take. Most people would agree that how prospective customers are treated very much matters in any industry.

You are a "prospective customer" after you have been accepted - and they will be very nice to you then, promise. Not sure why folks like you think anyone needs to win you over - also, free lunch lol.

Disagree. In the real world if you treat a prospective client like crap before you realize they’re rich you shouldn’t expect the business once you find out they can afford you. Same for admissions, every kid should be treated like they’re admissible if you want them to consider you after the admit letter.

[Anonymous]

University of Georgia was by far the best. Other wonderful tours/interactions were Wisconsin, Tulane and Syracuse.

NYU was awful.

[Anonymous]

I found the admission people to be upbeat and happy. "Welcome to State U. Today, we will tell you all about our founding fathers, our smart students, our study abroad program and X % of kids who receive financial aid.". Repeat and on to the next school