Admissions Office Shout-Outs Forum

[johndhi]

Had a nice +1 chat with Stanford the other day.

[schlizzle]

+ UVA, the way they handled my inquiries about their ED program are partially what made me apply. Even nicer after!

- Georgetown. They were just downright cold.
- Duke. Didn't even bother to answer my question.

[YCrevolution]

..

[Rocketman11]

+1:
UVA (and not just because I go here; they're very nice)
Vandy
Emory

-1:
Liberty (the unsubscribe link didn't seem to have any effect for me, and while a snarky email did finally get me off of the list; there wasn't any apology.)

Sort of like how comcast sales called me yesterday. and then when they called again today and I said "i just got a call with this offer yesterday, please take me off your list." the script the guy was reading off of changed to "because you are a customer, the federal Do Not Call list does not apply."

I hate comcast.

[Bustang]

University of Utah lady was very kind and cordial with me this afternoon.

[YCrevolution]

..

[adonai]

+1 to UC Davis. Called cause I was unsure of something regarding apps, and the lady at admissions not only told me the answer to what I needed to know, but told me not to worry about anything cause I was gonna be alright. It's nothing major I know, but it revealed a side of humanity when I just expected them to be busy and scurry me along in order to get back to their work. I also called around the time their workday was about to end. I could tell they are very nice.

[ILoveClowns8]

Santa Clara, extremely prompt and thorough responses to the emails I sent them.

[galahad85]

+1 for Vanderbilt. Hands-down, the friendliest admissions office I've dealt with. Great personal contact (both before and after acceptance), friendly interviews, and probably the most extensive and informative acceptance packet I've received.

[srb]

+1,000,000 for BU. Of all the schools I applied to and visited last cycle, their office was by far the most helpful/sweetest/welcoming/impressive. I brought a prospective into the admissions office last week and the secretary knew my name. The Dean of Admissions was standing there when I brought my friend in, and she personally introduced herself to my friend and encouraged her to apply. I can't say enough good things about these people.

Edit: It also didn't hurt that Dean Leonard called me the day before Thanksgiving with my acceptance last year, 3 weeks after I applied. <3 BU.

[eshort]

I guess neither of these are directly adcomms (not positive who even counts for that haha) but I think worth sharing:

I visited W&M yesterday and it was so pleasant. The tour guide was very nice and gave realistic information. He seemed genuinely interested in answering any questions- W&M related or not and also gave me his personal email address in case I want to ask any other questions later (a 3L). Spoke with another lady working there who was also very nice and the students were too.

I stopped by GW today and had quite an opposing visit. There was no one at the intro desk. For some reason I thought they had an audio tour (they don't) and requested it in the library. The lady there was almost rude about it; I told her I thought that the email response from admissions had said they had an audio tour but wasn't sure and she seemed to demand to know who sent such email. I checked the email on my phone and it had linked me to a pdf tour which they then refused to let me print. One student noticed us trying to read it on the phone and was decently nice, but after the library experience I felt pretty lame about the situation.
Definitly a minus - I like to hope this is not representative of general experience with them.

(Sorry for any spelling errors or typos, I am on my phone .)

[lawgirl99]

-1 for UC Hastings. The admissions officer was very rude to me when I contacted him regarding a question on my application. Every other school I contacted was very helpful and kind though.

[bluesky]

+1 Vandy, they were really nice and very attentive. Sofia was a great interviewer, I felt right at home. Good email contact and even better visit.

[Pearalegal]

Just got off the phone with ND. Really just super nice.

[Unadilla Kayaker]

+100 for Alabama.

Since my international phone number wouldn't fit on their application, they called my parents' house and told them there was good news. My dad told them that e-mailing me was the best way to get in contact, and I got a nice acceptance e-mail with specific details about me, scholarship information, and information about visiting just 90 minutes later.

It is really help for admissions offices to be flexible in their method of decision delivery. I got accepted at another school last week via status checker and still have not received the snail mail envelope with the acceptance. E-mail would have been much easier, quicker, and informative in my situation (living abroad).

Roll Tide!

[SplitterPride]

BIG shout out to the NORTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY! the phone sex was incredible...try the secretary!

[xanderdellus]

+1 for Laura at Stetson and Matthew at GW.

-1 for Wisconsin and FSU.

[Slimpee]

Big props to Minnesota!

Very accommodating, even at the last minute...

[Lincoln]

+1 to Michigan. I was waitlisted until the last day before the semester. Dean Z and her staff kept in touch with me the whole 6 months. I got confirmation emails for every contact I made, and updates everytime anything happened with the waitlist.

-1 to NYU. I applied with something missing, faxed it the same day they told me about it, and emailed to confirm that I had sent the fax. 6 days later I get an email saying they didn't get it. So I fax it again and send a scanned copy. Still no confirmation they got it.

[gossipgirl]

I've made several calls this term, so I've had some experience with these offices:

+1 Texas (answered all my questions and seemed very helpful)
+1 NYU (let me know immediately that I was complete)
+1 Vandy (can't be nicer, just can't)

-1 Michigan (lady snapped at me because I wasn't ED and they have so many ED applicants...I was like huh?)

[ChaotiCait]

FSU is the best. Fastest acceptance ever and I have had literally 4 professors and admissions people calling me asking if I have any questions or need anything.

[dueprocess14]

If you're keeping an official tally, based on my experience last year through the full cycle:

Good:
Yale, Stanford, Harvard for everything but financial aid, UCLA

Not-So-Good:
NYU, Columbia, UVA, Harvard for financial aid

[fidesverita]

-1 Yale. I called again and they weren't any nicer. In fact, they weren't nice at all.

[Kohinoor]

Based entirely on personal bias and dejection re rejection:
-180 Stanford. I thought we were cool.

[Sequoia90]

-1 for Penn. Not extremely helpful when I went in to visit, and nobody seemed to have 10 minutes to answer questions. They handed me a stack of stapled papers and told me to walk around.