<p>I took the PSATs in september and checked off the box saying that colleges could contact me via e-mail... Little did I know just how many I would get. My inbox fills with 20-30 e-mails from colleges each day. I typically disregard them as junk since many of the schools are schools I would not be interested in/ would not challenge me enough (Not to sound pretentious...). But just the other day I got one from USC, a school I'm definitely interested in. In fact, it's one of my top prospective schools.</p>
<p>So my question is: How seriously should I take these e-mails? I was basically disregarding them as junk, almost like advertising, until I got one from USC. How should I react to that?</p>
<p>Not only is it advertising but on top of that it is nearly free advertising for them. Emails that colleges send you due to you checking that box mean almost nothing. Personalized email from the admissions office would be a different story.</p>
<p>UTPG - I had the same mindset until I got one from USC. Why does a competitive school like USC need to advertise? Not only that, but my friends have gotten the usual (Hofstra, Quinnipiac, etc…) But not USC. (By the way, I’m referring to the University of Southern California, not U of South Carolina).</p>
<p>They’re all pretty much junk/advertising. The good thing about them is that you might somehow be attracted to some school you’ve never heard of before, which is the main point of them. They have no indication for your likeliness of admission, however.</p>
<p>^agreed, the emails have no bearing on your chances of admission. Colleges want more people to apply so they can reject more people and the acceptance rates go down and their “prestige/reputation” goes up.</p>
<p>Advertising = bigger applicant pool = appearance of higher selectivity. </p>
<p>Ex. Harvard sends applications out to give people hope, people who aren’t qualified end up applying, Harvard accepts 1,500 / 30,000 rather than 1,500 / 25,000 . They drop from 6% to 5%. Makes em look better.</p>
<p>People tend to think they can’t get into prestigious schools. Advertising gives them (often false) hope.</p>
<p>Schools like USC HYPSM advertise to get more applicants so when they still select the same number from the now larger pool they seem more selective. If you were to look at the qualifications of the applicants selected by schools like this you will find that they have not changed much in the past 10 years but over the same period you will see nearly a doubling in applications. Remeber selectivity goes into the USNWR rankings.</p>
Very true! The stuff you get in the mail or email is like the letters they get every month inviting them to apply for new credit cards. The head of Citibank isn’t personally involved in your parents applying for a card, nor is the head of admissions or the dean of the college pacing the halls waiting for your app to show up – although in both cases the advertising agency goes to great length to imply it is so.</p>