<p>Has anyone ever received an actual personal letter from a college, excluding athletic recruits? Generated by a human? Does such a thing exist? </p>
<p>And let’s give “first generation” kids a little more credit. Just because their parents don’t have 4+year degrees doesn’t mean they are too dumb and naïve to navigate the “cruel” world of marketing…and neither are their parents!</p>
<p>I don’t think we’ve gotten any personal letters or emails unless D has reached out first with a question, attended an event, or visited the campus. </p>
<p>But students from UCLA (at least they say they’re students) have called D a couple of times apparently out of the blue. I just hope working a phone-room is not how they make their students earn their FA work-study money! </p>
<p>CPT - please do PM me one. I’d appreciate it. </p>
<p>We got student calls from several schools. That happens.</p>
<p>You are all so ungrateful!</p>
<p>Now that this year’s admissions season is over, just about the only pieces of mail I get are (1) the weekly supermarket circular, (2) bills, and (3) solicitations from AARP!</p>
<p>Thanks goodness for the lone holdout: Embry-Riddle, which is still hoping against hope that my accepted (elsewhere) and committed (elsewhere) senior will change his mind and choose them instead!</p>
<p>DD received follow up calls from several colleges after she was admitted, asking whether she had any questions, and some asked how likely she was to attend. </p>
<p>Most of the calls were from students, but she did get calls from the Dean’s of a couple of schools. </p>
<p>My middle one didn’t get anything from colleges that really struck us as personalized to the point of being “special,”, other than handwritten notes from coaches which is a different situation. But I do remember that back when my oldest applied–which was before the college started e-mailing kids–he got a very impressive personal letter from Yale. We didn’t think Yale was saying he’d get in if he applied, but we did think Yale was saying his PSAT or SAT scores were up to Yale’s standards and that they’d like him to apply. </p>
<p>“DD received follow up calls from several colleges after she was admitted, asking whether she had any questions, and some asked how likely she was to attend.”</p>
<p>Yup, marketing phase II. After they boost selectivity with application solicitations they move on to the all important yield management!</p>
<p>Another yield tool that is being heavily used right now is to write a personal comment on the acceptance letter such as “your essay about x really moved me.” The student and parents think “WOW, the adcom remembers my essay! This college thinks I’m special!” </p>
<p>I don’t think first generation kids - or their parents - are stupid or more vulnerable in general to marketing. But this type of marketing is most effective when it is new. If parents - or older siblings - have received these floods of mail in the past, they’re more likely to be blase about it. If you’ve never seen these mailings before, then at least the first batch may seem pretty impressive, that the school has generated a “special application” just for you and is waiving fees and doing all kinds of other great things because they want YOU so badly they’ll break all the rules! Once the postcards, letters, and brochures start piling up, then it becomes more obvious this is a gimmick. People who have been there, done that, are more likely to catch on right away - to any form of marketing, not just college letters. How many kids think they’re really special the first time the get invited to a “National Leadership Seminar” with distinguished global figures speaking? Then after the 5th or 6th, or when you hear kids at school who don’t have high stats getting the same letters, you realize you didn’t receive this just because you’re special. Everybody who took the SAT probably got the same mailing.</p>
<p>I don’t take any of them that just say “you’ve been invited” seriously, but I have gotten emails about a waived admissions fee from probably 15-20 institutions…what does this mean? If it’s free to apply and they waive the fee and essay…how is it marketing in the monetary sense?</p>
<p>"How many kids think they’re really special the first time the get invited to a “National Leadership Seminar” "</p>
<p>Usually more so the parents…and then the FB fundraising begins begging for sponsorship because snowflake has been chosen for such an incredible honor.</p>
<p>I’ve always wondered what the teachers get out of it for “nominating” the kids. It has to be something or why would they bother giving out the names, and allow their names to be included? Does anyone know?</p>
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<p>Marketing is about building your brand. Some marketing initiatives don’t make $$ directly, but help strengthen your name in the marketplace. If you apply for free, it’s true, the school is not getting $$ from you. But if you go into school and talk about having applied to school XYZ, you’re helping to build brand recognition in your high school. Other kids may take a look at the school. If the guidance counselors hear about a school often enough they might start recommending it to other students. And then the school is getting application $$ from others, as well as boosting the total number of applicants, making them seem more desirable.</p>
<p>I’ve watched the trends at D’s high school, and kids do tend to apply to schools in clusters. The power of your peers.</p>
<p>What I find interesting is the number of people on this forum who say they got mail “from every ivy”. I think there must be some kind of targeting going on there because that certainly didn’t happen to my daughter. There was only one ivy that seemed to be trying to get her application–they sent a significant mailing but she didn’t apply. In fact, most of the schools she applied to didn’t mail her anything, except a few where she requested something or otherwise specifically put herself on the list.</p>
<p>I’ve been getting these emails. Every time I get one, I blacklist that college from my list.</p>
<p>Yes this mail arrives among the flyers for window replacements and secret deals at the auto mall. Steve Martin exclaimed in one of his early movies “Oh I get get it it’s a profit thing”. S visited Career Services for the first time and they said “go to <a href=“http://www.indeed.com”>www.indeed.com</a>” Good lesson…he learned how to dial for dollars without his college’s assistance. Dear Admissions Officer, No one loves your employer. Your employer is not worth the $250,000 price tag.</p>
<p>Bard, Brown, and Beyond</p>
<p>I liked how one of the posters in my “parents of” discussion (Hi Hoosier!) described one school as becoming downright “clingy” with their barrage of emails, offers, and other brochures. 
</p>
<p>"Another yield tool that is being heavily used right now is to write a personal comment on the acceptance letter such as “your essay about x really moved me.” The student and parents think “WOW, the adcom remembers my essay! This college thinks I’m special!” </p>
<p>But sometimes that could be real. For example, my D (at a small LAC) wrote an essay referencing Interesting Extracurricular X that she held. The welcome letter for her class explicitly referenced “in our incoming class, we have students who have done …” and it explicitly referenced her and her activity (without naming names or providing identifying information). We went to accepted students weekend, she was with other students at lunch and I happened to be sitting next to a professor who was on the admissions committee, and when he heard my last name, he said - oh, you must be the mother of the girl who did X, I remember reading about that. It seemed pretty darn genuine. </p>
<p>Yes, my kids have gotten personal comments from the colleges. I think back then it was sincere. But if the admissions director is sitting there, or having an employee grab a stack of letters and write a personal note,maybe even picking from a jar, fortune cookie style, some commentsto scrawl on there as a market schtick…that is starting to get deceptive. We now have a half dozen of emails and letters personally addressing my son when he’s had absolutely no personal contact with the schools yet, and yes, some are turning his head, He’s looking for connections where they might have possibly heard about him. I don’t think so.</p>
<p>I have twin daughters and we were deluged with mail that was specific to each girl. My one daughter even received a customized postcard with her name printed into the picture…it was pretty cool, still I felt bad by the waste since I just threw it all into the garbage. (although I don’t recall any mail from any of the Ivy’s) Because my husband is a professor at our state university, it was the only school my 4 children were allowed to consider when growing up…although, unbeknownst to me, my one daughter had a different idea about this. When she was in 8th or 9th grade she (and her close friends) found this website (College Confidential) and started preparing for an ivy league path. They followed all of the suggestions found on this forum ie taking ap classes, applying for summer internships, loading up on extra curricular activities that they were passionate about etc. In the end we allowed her to apply to a few of her top choices with the hope that if accepted she would receive financial aid. She and her 3 friends were all accepted by at least one Ivy. </p>