<p>“If they are really serious, they will waive the application fee. There are a few schools doing that. Otherwise, those are just spam and advertisement.”</p>
<p>If they are really serious, they will waive an actual, existing, real application fee. D received several offers to waive application fees from schools that waive application fees for ALL their applicants. </p>
<p>
:)) yes. We got a snail mail from CWRU about a free application. I thought, how nice. At least until I realized that CWRU has no application fee. In fairness, I don’t recall if they had tried to make it seem as though a normal fee was being waived, but it played into my assumptions that all schools charge a fee to apply.</p>
<p>"Haven’t you been helping your kids understand this stuff since they were about three years old and wanted to have superpowers??? Eating sugary cereal, drinking beer, consuming particular products- your kids have been targeted since they were in utero. "</p>
<p>No kidding. This seems about as obvious as receiving a mailer personalized with my name from the car dealer down the block saying that they really want me to drive a new Lexus. I’m not stupid enough to think that they really mean ME. </p>
<p>I think people are being a little harsh. </p>
<p>Cruel? No, not in my mind. But when a family who might have a high-achieving, first-generation student starts getting mail about how wonderful their kid is, then I don’t think they are “stupid” to think there might be something to it. Tony the Tiger on TV saying, “They’re grrrrrreat!” is a far cry from a letter with your child’s name mailed to your home. I don’t think we should fault people who haven’t been hanging on cc for years not not knowing both those things are advertisements.</p>
<p>It was kind of sad when Washington Univ in SL stopped sending my daughter a postcard, letter, brochure, package every week. She’d never indicated any interest in this school, but they hounded her right up to the application deadline. With that much attention I would have thought she was a shoo in, but we’ll never know because she wasn’t interested so didn’t apply.</p>
<p>It’s just advertising. Wait until you accept and then the mail changes into brochures for dorm bedding packages (that you can’t live without!).</p>
<p>You don’t say- if a family has a high achieving first generation student than that is EXACTLY who these mailings are targeted to. The most superlative and extraordinary kid I ever interviewed for my alma mater had never heard of the college until he got a postcard and a viewbook (the days before email and websites). He and his guidance counselor had hoped that he’d get enough scholarship money to make his state flagship possible which was unlikely. But a “meets full need” school like my alma mater was thrilled to accept and fund a kid who had never heard of them and frankly, had not set his sights that high.</p>
<p>This is when the system is working.</p>
<p>I agree, blossom. While it doesn’t mean your kid is going to get accepted if he/she applies, it is an opportunity to expose the kid to a school he/she may never have heard of. Someone new to the game may not get that, and I don’t think they should be faulted for not knowing the nuance.</p>
<p>We had a sense of humor about the crate of mail both of my kids received. But what did get annoying were the phone calls from schools urging kid to apply! I thought that was over the line. Fortunately, only a handful of schools took that tactic. There were also phone calls from schools after acceptance–also annoying but more understandable. What cracks me up is all the direct mail gimmickry. My absolute favorite stuff came from two schools (that will not be named) both in northern New England–one sent a letter suggesting that summer was the perfect time to come visit, the other offered up a brochure that showed smiling, attractive kids sitting outside the steps of some hoary library–wearing shorts.</p>
<p>Kind of reminds me of the food products, such as flavored waters or salad greens, which advertise that they are “gluten free.” Well, that’s nice, but whoever thought water would have gluten??</p>
<p>I do know some first gen college families and professional colleagues who have been taken in by the mass mailings. I never have the heart to say that a gazillion kids are getting that same brochure.
It’s kind of like when folks believe they have won the Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes. BTW, do any real people actually win that?</p>
<p>What I tell people is “Your student likely is getting that mail because he/she scored well on the SAT, which is great, but everyone who scored at a certain level received the same mailing. So while, it doesn’t mean nothing, it doesn’t mean a lot. Your student’s test scores made him eligible to get on the mailing list, but so did thousands of others’ scores.” That explains that there was something about their kid that “merited” a mailing, but emphasizes that he was one of many.</p>
<p>I work in marketing, and have always tried to point out to my kids how marketing manipulates consumers. Even so, given the ridiculous amount of snail mail and e-mail D received from Columbia, she was tempted to apply, even though she had no desire to attend school in NYC. I can see how people who don’t understand how these purchased mailing lists are generated put way too much emphasis on these contacts.</p>
<p>How can you be a grown adult in this country and not realize that everyday, the mail brings coupons, offers, brochures, etc that are generated off of some mailing list and some characteristic you have – not you personally? Come on now. </p>
<p>Gee, do you think there’s a reason I receive postcards about a new restaurant located 5 miles away but not from one located in Seattle? Gee, do you think there’s a reason I receive notices from car dealerships in my area but not from car dealerships in Maine? Gee, do you think there’s a reason if I buy something from JCrew I wind up getting their catalogs? This is just common sense and part of what we have to teach our kids. </p>
<p>Even our kids know that if you buy something on Amazon, you’ll be barraged with the “folks like you enjoy…” suggestions. Surely they don’t think there are employees at Amazon sitting around wondering, “hey, if this kid read Hunger Games let’s brainstorm on other things she’d like to buy?” Or that there are people at Netflix trying to come up with great suggestions tailor- made to someone who watched a particular movie last weekend?</p>
<p>Move on folks. Save your ire for the girls kidnapped in Nigeria.</p>
<p>Are they making any promises? I don’t see how it’s cruel. We are all bombarded with invitations to test drive cars we may not be able to afford, etc. That said, we did receive some invitations with real content, eg waived application fee. So it’s worth looking at them if the school is of any interest whatsoever.</p>
<p>My son, a very good, but not tippy top, student, has received mail from every single Ivy, as well as many other elite schools. He’s not fooled. All the mail gets lumped together in a grocery bag labeled “Will’s College Spam.”</p>
<p>The descriptive “cruel” is too strong, but the problem is that many people don’t view schools like they do companies or for-profit entities, and thus don’t immediately think “marketing ploy” when they get that letter. A university, especially a well-regarded institution, does not seem to be quite the same thing as Johnson & Johnson, Honda, or Marlboro. A college is seen as a noble place of higher education, not as a crass product-promoter. </p>
<p>Oh come on now.
Our local community college sends our home a mailer with their courses every quarter. Do we think it means that they specifically want <strong>me</strong> to consider taking a course in ceramics or Arabic or accounting? No, it means that they want me to know these courses are happening. </p>
<p>There is no other piece of bulk mail that anyone believes is targeted towards them because they are special snowflakes. </p>
<p>Why anybody is paying attention to any of these. All of these were just pile out there. It had nothing to do with the list of schools my kid applied. Some were even calls, trying to get her, she was pretty stubborn selecting her UG. And after she declared intent, she got even higher Merit offer (we did not expect this at all, seems to be not logical). So, if a kid is that sensitive, you as a parent have to talk to help her to develop certain protective shield. Believe, I do it on a regular basis, and mine is NOT 17 y o, she is 24. I think it has to do also with the gender, I see a huge diff. in this are in both my kids and grandkids. Female hormones make us more sensitive and that has to be also discussed openly. </p>
<p>Directly answering the title question, YES, it can get more cruel than these emails telling your kid they’ve been put on some list… Wait til these kids get the emails rejecting them from these schools.</p>
<p>My questions are about who is providing the college marketing departments with student information.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how much info can be shared by testing companies when they sell their lists? My guess would be that the colleges only know that the student has taken the test but nothing about the actual scores.
Do high schools provide lists of honor students? What about organizations like NHS? Somehow kids are being targeted, but I’m not sure where the information is coming for or how much detail is included.</p>