I think what finally turned the tide for me in recruitment was emails to specific colleges at OSU. I guess I was confused because I thought I wasn’t allowed to email students, but it seems really I wasn’t allowed to use the “All-Student-Email” list. Sending emails to particular department administrators to forward to their own lists apparently is perfectly kosher, if not exactly completely unbiased recruitment. It did generate a flurry of responses, 50 or so in a few days, with maybe 20% of those guys (going by names only). Email to fraternities, however, seemed to be a dud (I’m not even sure any of them got forwarded), unless it just took a few days for the guys to sign up and I am confusing them with the ones I thought came from department emails.

The best scheduling method so far has been calling those folks who provided a telephone number; I got one on the phone who recalled seeing the doodle poll I sent with available interview times, but he also said he wasn’t sure what it was about. So, despite the end of the sign-up survey noting that a doodle poll would be sent, again, that information seemed to get overlooked.

Another rather wasted effort at recruiting was me sitting with a sign in the Dutch Bros. coffee shop, even when I was offering gift cards to their establishment for participation. I got one guy who was an engineer inquire why I wasn’t signing up engineers, but otherwise, no bites. Ditto for hanging out in the dining hall; one guy eyed the sign but said he wasn’t a Dutch Bros. guy. Cash, it seems, is king, as long as you can convince your funding source you are not laundering money (hint: get receipts).

Now the question is whether all of them will show up. So far, I’ve had one no-show after the phone calls for scheduling. The rest of the week I have about 6 more interviews, which will get me pretty close to finished if all of them show up. I’m sending email reminders the day before, so I’m crossing my fingers.