Dec 12, 2004 By Justin Pope Ap Education Writer 5 min read

Credit card and mortgage companies promise customers an answer “while you wait” on loan applications. Now, more and more colleges are doing the same – visiting high schools and letting applicants know their admissions fate right on the spot. At Barrington and Deerfield High Schools in suburban Chicago, 45 colleges came to campus over two days this fall.

More than just the typical college fair information session, schools’ representatives settled behind tables in the gym and met face-to-face with applicants whose transcripts and test scores they had already reviewed. In many cases, the colleges made conditional admissions offers on the spot, sparing students the nervous trips to the mailbox that will be the fate of many other seniors who are finishing up more traditional applications this month.

“It was just a major relief – one of those pressures of senior year just lifted off your chest right away,” said Kari Blanas, a Deerfield student who got word that she had been accepted to the Universities of Iowa, Kansas and her top choice, Miami of Ohio.

Not every high school could pull off an on-site admissions fair like this, but Deerfield sends lots of kids to lots of schools – 98 percent attend college – and has the pull to persuade institutions that on-site admissions are worth their time.

It also has a large counseling staff and dedicated parent group that handles the logistics.

Still, various forms of on-site admissions have become increasingly popular in recent years for four-year schools (they’re already common for community colleges). If not one big fair, a growing number of high schools from Maine to New Mexico have a few such instant decision visits scattered through the year.

For colleges – especially those with fairly straightforward admissions standards – on-site admissions can save them time handling their big feeder schools. Many also seem to be viewing it as a way to recruit hard-to-reach groups. Among the 70 high schools where Michigan State conducts on-site admissions each year are city schools in places like Detroit and Flint with lots of first-generation college students and few guidance counselors.

Even some private colleges are using the method to expand their base.

“I think it’s a win-win situation,” said Carol Descak, interim director of admissions at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia, which has been doing on-site admissions at about 10 area high schools, and this year expanded the practice to schools in nearby Pittsburgh. “Being a small school, we always provide that personal touch.”

After meeting with students, colleges sometimes give a straight acceptance; sometimes it’s a less-formal assurance that acceptance is virtually certain at a later date. College representatives then have time to pitch their institutions to those they’ve accepted and answer questions, while advising students they’ve deferred how to improve their chances later in the year.

Sometimes there are tears, too, but generally the colleges aren’t allowed to reject students outright at the event – just to say that their application faces some serious challenges.

Most of the colleges participating already offer rolling admissions – meaning there’s no single application deadline – so the practice isn’t the only way to get a verdict early in the year.

And institutions such as the University of Illinois emphasize that applicants don’t have a better chance of being accepted if they choose the face-to-face option.

But Marybeth Kravets, Deerfield’s college counselor, said it’s great to see students when they hear the words “you’re in” and celebrate with friends.

Having the event in October also forces students to get organized earlier in the year, she says. That makes for better applications and has few drawbacks, since seniors still have until May 1 to mull any offers.

Plus, denials of favoritism aside, it never hurts for students to make their case to an admissions officer in person, Kravets said.

“I’m sure there’s been occasions where a student has been able to advocate for themselves and a decision has been changed,” she said.

Just for that reason, on-site admissions has, in fact, rattled some high schools – at least in the Chicago area. When Illinois agreed to participate at Barrington and Deerfield this year, it felt compelled to offer the same arrangement to other area schools, though it assured them they shouldn’t feel pressure to hold their own event for fear of their students losing an edge.

Kravets, a past president of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, admitted the process has caused some tension.

But she insists the event – part of a larger program to get students excited about the application process – is good for her kids.

Of 384 seniors this fall, 89 percent made at least one application through the process. Of the 967 applications those students submitted, 82 percent resulted in admissions.

Last year, about half attended a college that had told them they were accepted at the event.

“There are a lot of high schools that do not understand or condone or agree with instant gratification,” she said. “But for us, it works.”