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RESPONSE by Andrew Flagel Revisiting High School Visits Response to “The High School Visit” on page 108 NACAC’s anniversary is a great time to ever-expanding assignments, from testing The most successful visit programs are follow up on an article on high school growth to bus duty. Worse, every year at complemented by strong communication visits, a topic of ongoing discus- our conference I hear guidance counselors campaigns, students and counselors receiv- sion in every admission and guidance office. complaining about the poor training and ing substantive and supportive messages, limited experience of the representatives both postal and electronic, before and after Let me begin by admitting that, through that meet with them; this is not a huge visits. Ideally these go into efforts to create most of my career, I’ve held strong biases surprise when so many of those representa- personal connections. about high school visits. The limited analy- tives are only a year or two out of college. sis (largely anecdotal) about their impact Additionally young representatives wonder I have also been impressed by institutions left me skeptical. why we can’t just do everything online, as that have the flexibility to think about visits they envy colleagues from the few schools in dynamic ways. Some shift times to before While it’s common to overhear discussions that have already abandoned fall travel. or after school, others hold modified recep- at every level of our profession sharing these tions or individual counseling sessions for doubts, there remains an almost religious Despite all these issues, I still believe in the students or counselors, or online chats via fervor for the practice. Each year hundreds worth, in fact the crucial value, of these visits. instant messaging or Skype or FaceTime. (maybe thousands) of blazer-clad faithful Some of my best interactions with students, make these pilgrimages across the country. those that most energize me, started at The college admission process is complex, The article highlights a variety of potential high school visits. I have seen the tremen- and continues to be challenging for students good outcomes that can be derived from dous impact that visits, when conducted from every school and socioeconomic collaborative interactions. Sadly, however, thoughtfully, have on relationships with stu- background. Perhaps it’s an old-fashioned admission representatives are apt to be dents and schools. The high school visit at sentiment, but nothing we offer, even the described by the guidance counselors that its best significantly benefits the institution, best Web sites or the most brilliant direct suffer them more like pharmaceutical reps the high school and the student. While the mail campaigns, will replace direct person- than educational partners, while colleges article focuses on a series of things indi- to-person interaction. To be more than sales and universities find weak, if any, return on viduals can do to make visits better (arrive people, however, requires a concentrated often large investments. on time, be respectful of each other... good effort, thoughtfulness, planning, and advice in any setting), there are some addi- investment in an already expensive process. As mentioned in the article, all too often we tional things to consider to get the most out The burden of making high school visits fail to see the most interested or talented of the mutual investment in these efforts. worthwhile is shared by guidance profession- students at a visit, or even those who re- als and college representatives, but those in motely match our institutions. Instead we The three most important things are training, higher education should take on the bulk of find volumes of students attending sessions training and (you guessed it) training. Road the responsibility. We are the visitors, inter- only to skip class. This is exacerbated by runners need to be prepared to answer the rupting to make our pitches. In deference to increasingly limited availability, especially real questions from guidance counselors, not the process, we must go beyond that pitch to among the most competitive students, as mistaking this as reciting every major offered change lives for the better. And that, my dear time in classrooms increases in emphasis. or listing the 25–75 percentile SAT range colleagues, is very much worth our time. Everyone’s favorite stories about visits usu- and faculty-to student ratio. Well-trained ally surround sessions crammed into lunch- reps should be able to guide counselors andReW FlaGel is senior rooms and hallways or those stuffed be- through information not available at the click vice president for students and enrollment at Brandeis tween class periods. of a mouse. While I don’t believe that “fit” University (MA). He served on means a perfect match for every student, the NACAC Seal of Approval For the high schools, visits represent any good road warrior should be able to iden- Committee and has been the more work for guidance counselors al- tify which students will likely be dissatisfied NACAC Membership Committee chair. His blog is featured on ready crushed by high student ratios and on their campuses and admit it! mycollegeoptions.org. WWW.NACACNET.ORG WINTER 2012 JOURNAL OF COLLEGE ADMISSION | 117