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Descartes
Super Moderator
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Posted: Fri Nov 16th, 2007 12:48 pm |
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My junior S has received two dinner-time phone calls in the past week, one from Lawrence and one from Evergreen State, asking him about his interest in these schools. I can only call these "cold calls" because, although he is on their mailing lists, he has had no direct personal contact with anyone at these schools.
I haven't heard of this before. Anyone have a similar experience?
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Wstrdg
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Posted: Fri Nov 16th, 2007 03:00 pm |
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yes, after attending a CTCL conference as a FRESHMAN and filling out the "add me to your mailing list" postcard.
S indicated an interest in Field & Track and the calls from the track team started, always at dinner time. can't remember the college . . .
Last edited on Fri Nov 16th, 2007 03:01 pm by Wstrdg
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Lupine
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Posted: Fri Nov 16th, 2007 03:52 pm |
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Wstrdg wrote: yes, after attending a CTCL conference as a FRESHMAN and filling out the "add me to your mailing list" postcard.
S indicated an interest in Field & Track and the calls from the track team started, always at dinner time. can't remember the college . . .
That's even weirder. I thought that the NCAA recruiting rules prohibited direct contacts like this until the summer between junior and senior year.
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limner
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Posted: Fri Nov 16th, 2007 03:52 pm |
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| S only had two schools call prior to applying: a very small school in Arkansas whose name I can't remember and Harvard. Go figure. We did send back a postcard to Harvard and had checked the "will need financial aid" box. The call was on a weekday morning, the caller was a student working in the fin aid office who wondered if we had any questions about fin aid. Both calls were in the late summer/early fall. S didn't apply to either school.
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jocelynDAD
Member
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Posted: Fri Nov 16th, 2007 05:46 pm |
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Descartes wrote: My junior S has received two dinner-time phone calls in the past week, one from Lawrence and one from Evergreen State, asking him about his interest in these schools. I can only call these "cold calls" because, although he is on their mailing lists, he has had no direct personal contact with anyone at these schools.
I haven't heard of this before. Anyone have a similar experience?
Both D2 and D3 have visited Lawrence and were/are on their mailing list. Both got a call in the early evening (6-8 PM) from a Lawrence Adcom.
This is not unusual, both D's received calls from colleges (LAC) that they had previously contacted and were on mailing lists. If you give your telephone number (which our D's did) then calls will come from some schools. Usually it is a current student, but on occasion it is an Adcom.
All calls were short and pleasant, no pressure or anything like that.
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Wstrdg
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Posted: Fri Nov 16th, 2007 06:08 pm |
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| I'm not familiar with the NCAA rules, but this wasn't recruiting for the track team. It was more like, "I'm a student on the track team, I see you run track, too, and I was wondering if you had any questions about the university." More like limner's call from the student in fin aid.
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Fri Nov 16th, 2007 09:04 pm |
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My daughter received several telemarketing calls when she was applying to school. One I remember in particular was from the director of admissions at Hendrix College Knox College also called her several times, and I seem to remember Guilford calling her too. And, Lawrence invited her to an all-expense paid weekend for the French department. 
My son has only gotten one phone call from a college. He played football in his freshman and sophomore years, then quit to focus on theater and music. Anyhow, the other night, the phone rings and my husband answer the phone. It's someone from Macalester (one of the schools my son has applied to) calling to speak to Son. Husband and I are VERY excited, thinking this is a good sign...until Son reappears two seconds later to tell us that it was the Macalester FOOTBALL COACH calling to ask if he wanted to play in college. I think Macalester slipped down a few notches in Son's mind on that phone call alone.
He also received a very nice letter from the Occidental football coach. We have no idea how they got his name, as Oxy is not on his list, nor has he visited, and, of course, he hasn't played football for two years so he's not on any recruiting list either. But the coach mentioned some of son's stats, and the fact that he hasn't played in two years in the letter, so we're thinking that maybe his high school coach (who never stops nagging son about having quit) may have mentioned him to Oxy. Not sure.
Of course, Son has no desire in playing football. Ever. Again.
Last edited on Fri Nov 16th, 2007 09:06 pm by CarolynLawrence
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Northeastmom
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Posted: Fri Nov 16th, 2007 09:52 pm |
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My younger son just started visiting some schools. He has gotten calls from two of them. One of them made it a point to ask the level of current interest he has in their school. They know that he is just a high school sophomore. When we toured this school they required a "nonevaluative family interview". It meant meeting as a family to chat about the school. They asked what other schools my son was currently interested in during the discussion. Fortunately, I prepared my son in advance for the answer. I told him to tell them that he is just beginning his search so he has no idea. The other school constantly sends email, mailings to us, mailings to my son, and they called. Both of these schools are LACs. The latter just sent out a survey too. They wanted to know what ONE thing is most important in college selection (cost of attendance, class size, athletics, etc). I guess they just wanted to see if my son might be interested in some aid. All of the schools that we visited have sent something by snail mail.
Once my older son was accepted to schools, quite a few had students call to "congratulate him", and then asked if he had any questions about their school.
Last edited on Fri Nov 16th, 2007 09:57 pm by Northeastmom
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Fireflyscout
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Posted: Sat Nov 17th, 2007 12:15 am |
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Given the state of Macalester football (it's worse than Carleton), I imagine their coach is trying to find as much talent as possible.
As for phone calls, I was shocked at the number of phone calls my son received from Kettering - as a sophomore! Daughter received several calls, but the most persistent college was Emory & Henry.
Last edited on Sat Nov 17th, 2007 12:25 am by Fireflyscout
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Sat Nov 17th, 2007 12:42 am |
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Fireflyscout wrote: Given the state of Macalester football (it's worse than Carleton), I imagine their coach is trying to find as much talent as possible.
 I'll have to tell my son that. He is getting worried that because he listed football on his applications that he's about to be deluged with phone calls from coaches. Perhaps it will reassure him to learn that he only needs to worry about hearing from coaches of REALLY BAD teams. 
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Sat Nov 17th, 2007 12:43 am |
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Northeastmom wrote: My younger son just started visiting some schools. He has gotten calls from two of them. One of them made it a point to ask the level of current interest he has in their school. They know that he is just a high school sophomore. When we toured this school they required a "nonevaluative family interview". It meant meeting as a family to chat about the school. They asked what other schools my son was currently interested in during the discussion. Fortunately, I prepared my son in advance for the answer. I told him to tell them that he is just beginning his search so he has no idea. The other school constantly sends email, mailings to us, mailings to my son, and they called. Both of these schools are LACs. The latter just sent out a survey too. They wanted to know what ONE thing is most important in college selection (cost of attendance, class size, athletics, etc). I guess they just wanted to see if my son might be interested in some aid. All of the schools that we visited have sent something by snail mail.
Wow, Northeastmom. That's very interesting that they're scouting interest in sophomores. If you don't mind sharing privately, would you mind PMing me to fill me in on the names of the schools, just to satisfy my own curiousity.
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Consolation
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Posted: Sat Nov 17th, 2007 02:26 am |
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Descartes wrote:
I haven't heard of this before. Anyone have a similar experience?
My S hasn't gotten any phone calls from anyone. I'm not sure whether that's good or bad! 
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mackinaw
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Posted: Sat Nov 17th, 2007 12:32 pm |
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Consolation: it's a blessing. If this had happened to us in our day we'd have gone ballistic. We never pick up the phone from 6 til 8 just because of calls, usually from one candidate or party or charity or another. Good thing I keep my cell phone unlisted. I think that's a good idea for your kids, too.
Last edited on Sat Nov 17th, 2007 01:39 pm by mackinaw
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Northeastmom
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Posted: Sat Nov 17th, 2007 01:03 pm |
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The schools we heard from are in the "selective" LAC catagory, not more or most selective category. This probably has a lot to do with it. I think that they need to work harder, and show more attention to fill their seats with the students that they are looking for. This is just my opinion. Carolyn I sent a PM to you.
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bumpyroad
Member
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Posted: Sat Nov 17th, 2007 02:14 pm |
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My D has had calls from a couple of schools - one was Whitman, where she has expressed an interest, to see if she's still interested, and one from a local school, Pacific Univ. in Forest Grove. They must have pulled her name from an SAT list as local talent, because she's had no contact with PU at all.
I can't imagine cold calls have a very high success rate. It certainly doesn't add to my positive attitude about a school. However, it may be cheaper to hire a student to make phone calls than to send out yet another mailing. Next they'll be hiring homeless people to wave signs along the highway,
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WestrnMom
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Posted: Sat Nov 17th, 2007 03:49 pm |
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My son made an inquiry at University of the Pacific during his junior year about a summer program that was supposedly not a condition of enrollment, and was inundated with calls and emails from them over a one-year period. He did visit and apply there, but it was one of the least attractive schools on his list. After he turned them down, he received a call and at least 3 repeat emails asking for his reasons. I then received a call from a pollster asking if I minded answering a short poll, which turned out to be a 30 minute phone call. I was honest with them and said that their constant phone calls from students who knew nothing about the major my son was interested in was a turn off. In addition, there were quite a few other red flags about the school and their recruitment process that made the school unacceptable to us, as well as to our son. The phone calls only highlighted the problems. I know other members of this board had very good experiences with UOP, so our unpleasant one was puzzling.
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Sat Nov 17th, 2007 06:08 pm |
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| I don't know about anyone else's kids, but both of my kids seem totally tongue-tied when telemarketers from colleges call, even if it is a school they're interested in. I agree: I can't see how these calls are particularly effective at convincing kids to apply, although I think it is probably different once you actually get in and are sorting through your options. Then, a call from a college that has already accepted you might be great.
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Descartes
Super Moderator
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Posted: Sun Nov 18th, 2007 12:33 am |
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| A post-acceptance call (or even a call telling you that you have been accepted) might be more effective way to raise yields than a pre-application call is in increasing applicants.
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Mezzomom
Member
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Posted: Mon Nov 19th, 2007 12:43 am |
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| I totally agree about the value of post-acceptance calls. When my daughter would receive pre-acceptance calls, asking her if she had any questions, she would stare at the phone blankly (and if I was nearby, she'd scramble to write a note, asking me if I could think of any questions!) On the other hand, Otterbein tries to call students with their acceptance notification, usually prior to the student receiving their letter. My daughter also received calls from the music department, informing her of acceptance into the program and her music scholarship . Those sorts of calls went a long way in reaffirming the positives of Otterbein in her mind, and when she finished squealing into the phone, she usually had some questions right away.
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jocelynDAD
Member
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Posted: Mon Nov 19th, 2007 03:41 pm |
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Mezzomom wrote: Otterbein tries to call students with their acceptance notification, usually prior to the student receiving their letter.
D3 had a similar experience with both Otterbein and Valparaiso this fall. Both Adcoms called to congratulate her on being accepted and on getting merit scholarships as well.
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