Log on to a college Web site and you’ll likely find a separate link for parents. Check the mailbox and you’ll find college appeals specifically addressed to Mom and Dad–in addition to mail for students. Visit a campus with your child, and you may get a separate parents’ tour. Some colleges, like Smith, even encourage parents to write a recommendation for their child as part of the admissions process. “It gives parents a voice,” says Smith’s admissions dean, Deb Shaver. “They want to be involved.”
Colleges hope their extra efforts will win over parents–and, ultimately, students. Kenyon’s Britz knows firsthand how influential parents can be. She took her daughter on East and West Coast tours, and tried to stay objective. But it was hard not to compare everything they saw with what they had at home. When it came time to pick, her daughter chose Kenyon.
