Chatters love the rooms’ low-stress feel. Online, they don’t have to impress anyone. Another big plus is the simplified logistics. “When students and parents need to talk with several different offices simultaneously–financial aid and housing, for example–chat brings them together in one location,” says Pat Bosco, dean of student life at Kansas State University. And chat rooms can obviously be a great place to find friends even before school starts. “It’s really nice to see prospective students respond to each other,” says Wellesley College admissions officer Jane Kyricos, who says chat sessions are especially popular with women. “Sometimes they exchange e-mail addresses. It’s a great launchpad.”
A few of the most exclusive schools are still bucking the online trend. “We prefer face to face, or the telephone,” says Yale’s assistant director of admissions, Michael Molto. Harvard’s comment on the subject is even terser: “We don’t have them,” says Marlyn McGrath Lewis, the university’s director of undergraduate admissions. Some things don’t change.
