<p>zooser....your experience shows that the mailings are working to attract students who may not have considered the school (as another member on this thread also mentioned her son likely is to matriculate at a school he first heard of through a mailing). While not the same, I had a student get into a college today and the mother told me that I was the one who introduced them to this college. What about the kids who don't have a college advisor like me? A mailing may do the same thing to bring a school to their attention. </p>
<p>menloparkmom....as far as putting a disclaimer on the mailing....hmm...ya mean like diet products??....."so and so lost 150 pounds but these results are not typical!" :D
(my honest opinion is that students and parents need to read up on the college and the admit rate and stats of admitted students and not just decide to apply due to what is in the brochure or the mailing....selecting colleges involves a basic level of exploration of this information)</p>
<p>Soozie, don't you think there might be plenty of schools that could be right for each student but there has to be someway to cut through the noise and get noticed by the student? That's how I view mailings. When D got the packet for the honors college, though, and I read the criteria and saw that she would meet them, I did feel a little proud.</p>
<p>Tokenadult, I didn't save these, but in April of senior year, we got mail from the University of Oklahoma and UT-Dallas saying that if S1 designated their school as #1 on the NMF yellow card by the specified date, he'd get a full ride, including this, that and the other. Both letters made a point of saying they were speaking to us, because they know we're paying the bills and the kids toss the mail!</p>
<p>It was a much harder sales pitch and a lot more of the "we will give you" than anything we saw during the regular marketing season.</p>
<p>These messages are not cruel college mailings, but legitimate offers, made to (I think) all NMF's. Such schools are trying hard to increase geographic diversity, but it must be difficult to lure the 'coasters.</p>