I spent a brief time in university admissions. There are lots of “side doors” - and that’s not necessarily bad. For example, one university had a rule that any

I spent a brief time in university admissions. There are lots of “side doors” - and that’s not necessarily bad. For example, one university had a rule that any prospective student who inquires about a certain program, and shows a detailed understanding of how that program works, be fast tracked in. Why? We’ve spent a ton of time building that program and want to enroll interested students! The same was true, to a lesser degree, of any prospect who had clearly done her research and was interested in this college specifically. Asking things like “I hear you offer one on one tutorials - how do they work?” show that the students are actually interested in the college, and would probably be a good match. On the other hand, if we get the idea that we’re simply a “safety school” that the student wants to avoid if they can - that student can expect an extremely rigorous and unforgiving assessment of her abilities.