Howdy yall, I’m a current senior who is working on filling out applications and fine-tuning my college list.
My question is: If a college fairly regularly sends me mail and emails, does it mean I stand a chance within the admissions process?
Since junior year, I’ve been receiving mail from schools like Harvard, Cornell, Williams, Tulane, and so forth. Does the fact that I’ve been sent this mean that I am more likely to have a chance within the admissions process? I know these schools are very high reaches for everyone, but if I’ve been contacted in this way, could it be more worth it to try to put my hand into applying to one of these, especially ED?
Question 2:
Does being awarded something like ‘candidate’s choice’ or ‘priority consideration’ to apply make a school less of a reach and more of a match?
There’s no correlation between the mail you receive and your chances at these schools…
I’m surprised you didn’t mention University of Chicago. It’s rare a week goes by that we don’t receive at least one piece of mail, more often two, from them.
I’m not really sure how these things work but one of my kids (twins) will invariably receive mail from a college that the other is on the mailing list at, while the one who gets the mail has expressed no interest there.
No. The mailings alone don’t mean anything. I have a lot of kids and the ones with high stats didn’t get as much mail as some of the low stats ones from top schools. It all depends if you get onto their mailing list and there are a lot of ways this happens.
Colleges want to have as many applications as they can get. They often bring in money in the way of fees. They boost the selectivity of the school. They give the schools more options and variety in picking their university community. It increases the chances of finding some “hidden jewel” students who might never have applied without what looks like a personal invitation.
I’m doing a bit of research in colleges for a young cousin. I’ve used his names and stats and opened up few informational accounts. I’m being inundated with mail both internet and hard copy from every school imaginable. His stats are nowhere realistic for the top schools and they are right there in the thick of it.
The answer is no to question 1 and question 2. Mailings and free applications are marketing tools used by college and will have no bearing on your chance of admission.