Red, white and black M ‘ M’s. A wooden chair. One left shoe. A picture of someone in Stag attire. No, this isn’t a list for the next Fairfield campus scavenger hunt, but instead gifts sent by prospective freshmen to their dream colleges in hopes to override others in admission’s offices.
Welcome to the new, more competitive, extreme world of college admissions, where students are engaged in “X-Games” of their own to get noticed – and accepted.
With a rising number of applicants, these strategies may be further utilized.
The simple “thank you” note to a college after a campus visit has evolved from letter-writing into an array of outlandish gifts, according to a recent New York Times article . At Lehigh University, one letter carried colored M’M’s along with the applicant’s name written on the candies. The student reminded admissions, “Keep me on the tip of your tongue when reviewing applications.”
At Fairfield, students present themselves to counselors with photographs, video recordings and sound clips, said Debra E. Johns, senior associate director of Admissions at Fairfield. The Admissions office sends these materials, especially studio art, music and theater-related pieces to their respective departments.
When photographs arrive, applications come alive.
“It is a person,” said Johns, “a person attached now to a photo. It puts perspective on it and personalizes [the applicant].”
Even though it is personalized, the extra quality does not necessarily help or hurt the individual, according to Johns.
The most outlandish submission to the Admissions office at Fairfield was a crafted wooden chair. The prospective student said the chair was dedicated to reserve a seat, figuratively and literally, along with the class of 2009, said Johns.
But such a move can backfire. During the application process, Johns said, “You should be playing conservatively and doing what admissions asks you to do.”
Of the average annual 8,500 applicants to Fairfield, about 100 prospective students present themselves in an unusual way, said Johns. But such activity is more frequently from wait-listed students hoping to be noticed.
One wait-listed applicant sent postcards to the Admissions office for three consecutive weeks showing pictures in Fairfield attire. Although it was a creative idea, it wouldn’t have affected the decision made by Admissions, according to Johns.
Similar tactics are used at other schools. A student sent a tire iron along with the vow, “I’m going to pry my way into this college” to the admissions office at Boston College, said Karen Pellegrino, Fairfield director of Admissions.
While at Fordham University in New York, Pellegrino found a single shoe tied with an “I’m already a foot in the door” slogan.
Pellegrino said some of the students’ letters are genuine, but others have strategic motives in mind. The Admissions office wants only what is asked of its applicants, which includes high school records, standardized testing scores, extracurricular activities, recommendations, personalized essays and even interviews.
Students at Fairfield said they did not send gifts or notes to Admissions or at least did not admit to it.
“[I] never thought about sending letters to thank people,” said Shannon Dennis ’10.
Meanwhile, Connor Purcell ’10 said he “sent letters to colleges I wasn’t attending.”
Well-rounded application packages generally work far better than “quirky gimmicks.”
“We’d rather see creativity demonstrated in the classroom as opposed to [in the] admissions process,” Pellegrino said.
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