An open letter to an admissions officer: a "composite" college-bound student and his parents share 11 essential tips for improvement. (The Admissions Angle).

Dear Admissions Officer:

Now that we have successfully survived the college admissions process and have chosen a college for next fall, we thought it would be helpful if we wrote to describe our reactions to your college's admissions process, and at the same time, give you some feedback about what other colleges did and did not do well.

When we started looking at colleges during the junior year of high school, we did not know very much about the college selection process. But boy, did we learn a lot along the way! In the beginning, we thought that most colleges would be pretty similar. But in fact, the way in which schools presented themselves highlighted some very clear differences. And we found that our interactions with admissions representatives--from deans and assistants, to student volunteers--played a crucial role in the development of our college list and eventual final choice.

We also found that choosing a college and going through the admissions process was very much a family experience; that's why we are writing to you as such. While the student behind this letter played the critical and lead role in setting preferences, establishing priorities, and writing applications, the parents giving you feedback here were sometime chauffeurs, cheerleaders, disciplinarians, bankers, and executive assistants. We make this point up front, because one of our major gripes about the whole admissions process is that most admissions officers do not understand this vital fact: that in most cases, parents and students go through the admissions process together, and that this is as it should be. It is not a sign of weakness on the part of the student, nor is it a sign of parents being overbearing. While certainly that can happen, most families with a graduating high school senior applying to colleges need to make admissions decisions together. Now that we have gotten that off our chests, we'd like to share with you some specific suggestions from the admissions-seeker's vantage point--for reassessing your view of your role, and improving your admissions work:

1) Be on ambassador for your college. To put it bluntly, if you do not like working with people, you simply should not be in the admissions line of work. Please remember that first impressions are important, and that we are all very nervous about the college selection process. The more you can help us feel welcomed and understood at your college, the likelier it is that we will think favorably of you and it. Please be friendly, open, sincere, kind, sensitive, and outgoing.

2) Be an expert on your college. We count on you to share the important details about your school the kinds of students who do well there, common concerns for families, and strong--and weak--programs. We want real information, and details, details, details. So, please learn as much as possible about your institution. Get to know its programs, faculty, administrators, and history. If we ask a question for which you do not have an answer, let us know whom we should contact, and then please learn the answer yourself, for the next applicant.

3) Be committed to your college. The longer you have been there, in multiple roles, the better you can communicate your college's personality, culture, and programs. If you are new to your job, that's okay, but understand that you will have a steep learning curve. Enthusiasm may make up for some of the difference. If you want to be realty good at your job and impress us, plan to stay at your school for longer than three years.

4) Be an advocate for your institution. Please do not let "burnout" interfere with your presentation to us, even though you have been in this role for many years. Your experience will impress us, but not if you are tired, bitter, or patronizing. Sell your institution's strengths, do not try to overcompensate for its weaknesses, and try to remain positive. You may have been through this before, but every time you see students and family like us, remember: We are here for the first time.

5) Please do not improve your numbers to the detriment of interested students. We know you are trying to improve the numbers (we now know about selectivity, rankings, yield, legacies, and endowment), but if someone does not have a chance to gain admittance to your institution, please let him know it outright. Don't "scare off" an applicant or interested individual by pretending that your numbers are higher than they are. Conversely, if someone is a top applicant, do not pretend that your programs are suitable if they are not. And please, please, cease and desist from encouraging every prospective applicant to apply early decision or early action without knowledge of his academic credentials.

6) Personal interviews are important. If you have any influence at all, please encourage your institution to interview more students in the admissions office. It really helps us to have that one-on-one contact with a trained person who knows the school. We definitely felt more inclined to apply to and attend those colleges where we had an interview.

7) Student interviewers are okay, but we prefer interviews with admissions officers. If you do have students working in the office, and this goes for tour guides as well, then please select and train them carefully every year. It's amazing how well a great tour guide or student interviewer can present a school to an applicant, and equally amazing how thoroughly a dud can ruin a first impression of a college that is actually appropriate.

8) We love it when you contact us with personal communications, letters, e-mails, even a phone call if you are going to be in the area, are powerful. Such communications really make us feel we are getting to know a college on a deeper level, as though the institution is paying more personal attention to us.

9) Your Web site is probably the most important source of information for us about your college. Make sure it is up to date, informative, and inclusive. And make sure you enable current students to air their views, publications, and personalities online. That tells us a lot about your school (yes, the good and the bad!). And please--make sure the Web site lets us know, via e-mail, how to contact you, as well as coaches, faculty, financial aid officers, and other families we may want to query. Do you see the Internet as the first introduction of your school, and a well of lasting information during the admissions process? You should.

10) Please do not be cynical or prejudiced when you ore reading the application essays. Most students put a lot of time and energy into their written applications. They also put their egos on the line when they are sharing information about themselves with strangers. You may have read essays about foreign study, loving grandparents, or dying pets any number of times, but this is the first time this particular student is sharing a life-changing experience with you. Please take the writing for what it is, and what it represents about this person.

11) Be up-to-dote on the fundamentals of your institution's financial aid opportunities and procedures. Inform families about the percentage of students who receive aid and the average amounts they receive, but also be honest about the differences in grant-versus-loan and work-study amounts.

We hope that our feedback has been helpful to you as you head into another admissions cycle and consider your career in admissions work. Students and parents like us are, after all, your customers, and though we know we may not always come first in your thinking, we thought you should know how we feel. Thanks for all your hard work, and for your concern helping students find the right college where they will be a success--for themselves and for their college.

Sincerely, A college-bound family

Howard Greene and Matthew Greene (www.greenesguide.com) are independent education consultants, end the authors of the Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning.