I’ll start off by saying, “yes, I know everyone gets their mailbox flooded with stuff like this. It’s part of high school.” But I just have a few questions I’d like clarified.
Does it mean anything? Like, do they want me to come their school, or is it just a ploy to boost numbers?
I've heard somewhere that if its signed by someone from the school, it's not just a massive chain email sent to everyone. How true is that?
I've gotten a couple phone calls from Minnesota and NDSU each. I'm seriously unsure what that's all about. They were just asking about info about me I'm pretty sure I've already told them and whether or not I'm interested.
What terms actually mean something and aren't "fluffy" phrases that are used en masse for everyone? For example, when a university uses the term "priority student."
I’m trying to learn how to read through the lines here of all this stuff and any help would be appreciated. If you have any further reading, that’d be great.
Yep, it’s marketing. They have a product that they want to “sell”.
However, as a consumer, that’s not always a bad thing. Schools like NDSU are looking to improve enrollment (and the qualify of enrolled students), not so much trying to improve selectivity (the number of students that apply vs the number that end up being accepted).
If these are schools you may be interested in, you could find it helpful. It means they are willing to give you additional info and do a bit more to help you decide. Anything from phone calls to setting up one-on-one meetings with faculty in your intended major. On the other hand, all of this spam can become annoying, especially if you have no intention to apply to that school.
“Priority Student”, that can sometimes mean they will let you apply early, use a streamlined applications, or even waive the application fee. Having the application fee waived at a school you are thinking about applying too is a nice perk.
Good Luck!!
EDIT: PS: Some private schools may even be willing to pay for your transportation to fly out and visit them…so it’s always useful to read e-mails from schools that are on your list.
I saw all this as marketing. It doesn’t reflect at all the school’s interest in you, the individual student. But this also means you, the potential applicant, are actually in a position of power (just a little - don’t get carried away). Use it if you are interested in the school. If you like the school, take the phone call and ask them questions, chat with the person. This is the time you can find out details on specific programs, majors or even coursework - if the person on the phone doesn’t have answers, ask for, well, references, either faculty or other students. This is also how you can “express interest” if the school considers that factor.
For the most part, mailings went into the trash (unless someone in the family liked the brochure/postcard/catalog). I think people found emails can contain application fee waiver codes (always a good thing), so they are worth opening if you are interested in the school. Phone calls are interesting; it can be enlightening to ask questions if you think the school is a possibility.
One of the less savory parts of college is how they attract new customers. Some advertising is sent to HS students based on their zipcode; many colleges want to attract full-pay kids and zipcode is a decent proxy for parent income. But a lot is sent to drive up the number of applicants.
HS kids aren’t used to getting marketing mail, and colleges take as much advantage as they can of this inexperience. Those “priority” applications? Read this: http://www.thecollegesolution.com/dont-be-fooled-by-priority-applications A letter signed by someone at the school? Its done with a signature machine, writing the name of someone with an impressive title that has never heard of you. Colleges go as far as they can to imply that they’ve pretty much decided they want you with phrases like “You’d be one of our top applicants” or “I’m looking forward to seeing you in the class of 2020”
If you get an email from, say, Harvard, don’t assume that means you will get in.
It means that they think you have high enough scores that YOU might think you have a chance and they want you to apply so they get a lower admittance percentage.
HOWEVER it is all marketing…but part of marketing is to introduce you to a product. Back in the day I got many mailings from Case Western…a school I at the time had never heard of but turned out to be a good match for me and I ended up attending.
