<p>I am the parent of two children the elder of whom is at McGill. It was suggested to him that he apply to US Ivys (we are US) but his heart was set on McGill and we are so pleased that he is there.
Now, for the second child. She is a rising senior. Excellent GPA but so so SATS for now but she will retake. Out of the blue, many Ivys are sending her literature. This did not happen with the elder child.
I find it interesting and think perhaps that it is because she is female and excels in Math and Science.
Any thoughts?
Many thanks for any and all replies.</p>
<p>A lot of students get mail from elite colleges. It could be that your son never got on their mailing list, while your daughter did. There is a check-box on some tests that ask whether you would like your name released to colleges. Or it could be that they were interested in females with listed majors in the sciences. It certainly doesn't mean that she will be accepted. Encourage your daughter to look at a variety of schools in the US and Canada, if you want. She can look on their websites to learn more for now.</p>
<p>Trust me, I am not a particular fan of the Ivys. This is just intellectual curiousity. Thanks so much for your reply.</p>
<p>Got it. Sometimes parents or students think that since they get mail from elite schools, such as Harvard, that they are on some inside track to being admitted, which is certainly not the case.</p>
<p>Cor-not saying I wouldn't mind if she were admitted -her math and science scores are very high but surprising enough, she isn't interested in math or science.<br>
Thanks again for your reply-best wishes.</p>
<p>Neither of my kids were interested in nor had the stats to get into an Ivy. Both got mail from at least one. The mail really doesn't mean anything except that it is just one more piece of unsolicited college mail. Even the Ivies send that junk mail out.</p>
<p>Such mail means diddly squat. We have a pile three feet high, including junk mail from every Ivy (except one, and that one if funny because S is a legacy), every tiptop LAC, every "good school" in the country. </p>
<p>The schools buy lists of kids' names...it is nothing more than marketing.</p>
<p>I was surprised at how many pieces of mail the top schools send out, even to sophomores. I don't think my daughter received anything from Princeton, but every other Ivy and top LAC at least sent the log-in with us to get more info letter. Does a school with a 10-20% admissions rate really need to advertise? Some of these schools claim they could throw out all the kids they admitted and make another class of just as qualified students.</p>
<p>Spam, spam, spam spam....</p>
<p>A lot of it is definitely generated by purchased lists with no regard for if a student would actually be a viable candidate. My oldest two skipped a grade in school and they were still receiving college spam their freshmen year in college. Perhaps it was because of their birthdates. My daughter keeps getting information from WUSTL where she is in no way a competitive applicant.</p>
<p>It does make me sad when this kind of marketing serves only to separate a student from a $50 application fee. Equally disturbing is the number of "academic" honors like Who's Who etc...that come in the mail.</p>
<p>It goes some way toward explaining why these schools have tens of thousands of applicants every year for about 1600 slots...they don't lose any money on all that advertising, either.</p>
<p>The cynic in me assumes these schools are investing in their stats: more applicants = lower percentage accepted. At least it's more interesting junk mail than the credit card solicitations I receive daily :)</p>
<p>brooklynmom:</p>
<p>I agree with the others here. I don't think receiving mail means much. Go peruse the Ivy Boards and see the kids who are shattered thinking they were in at an Ivy because they were good students. All schools send out lots of literature to lots of kids trying to maximize applications.</p>
<p>I am a Val, NMF commended, 4.7 weighted GPA, good EC's SAT's 740 M; 800 V, 800 CR, good academic awards and I got waitlisted at one school, which wasn't an Ivy. I didn't apply to any Ivy's by the way. So you can never tell. Ivy's are extremely competitive. Low double digits admission rates.</p>
<p>I think your instincts are probably right: being a girl with high math/science scores gets you on a list. Having good AP scores gets you on a list. Taking the PSAT or PLAN gets you on a list. Being a certain race gets you on a list. Probably living in a certain zip code also gets you on a list. </p>
<p>If you're like me, you can get plenty of good laughs out of all of that college junk mail. My two favorites? West Point mailings (Bwah! For so many reasons! Not the least of which is my somewhat less than inspiring level of personal fitness!) and the University of Chicago...a) because my father hates U of C with a burning passion and it's one of the few schools that he probably would have actively dissuaded me from applying to (btw, his hatred is especially amusing because he always has to qualify it to make amends to my mother, who is a U of C MBA) and b) because after receiving several appropriately quirky mailings, they finally sent me something that said
"If you don't respond, we'll leave you alone." I didn't respond. Guess who sent me another pamphlet a couple of weeks later? :)</p>
<p>
[quote]
OP writes: Out of the blue, many Ivys are sending her literature. This did not happen with the elder child. I find it interesting
[/quote]
And that's why they send it. As other posters have pointed out, it means nothing more than the credit card apps that show up every week. The president of Citibank doesn't personally want your business, nor are the adcoms at the Ivy's sitting around a table talking about your D. But even knowing this, it works. It gets people thinking "well, maybe ..." and also hits an emotional chord that maybe you're on the fast track that's hard to silence (even if rationally you know it's just junk mail).</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Does a school with a 10-20% admissions rate really need to advertise?>></p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Probably not...but this advertising does increase their applications and that is one reason their admit rates are so low...applications go up...slots remain the same...% admitted will go down.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Does a school with a 10-20% admissions rate really need to advertise?
[/quote]
That's how they keep those percentages down -- they want the applicant pool as huge as possible. The more unqualified people who apply, the better -- easy enough for them to weed out ad reject, and it keeps them looking super-selective.</p>