<p>Can the amount of mail received from a school wear you out? Does the fact that a school whose LOW END SAT scores tower over your own make you ask: do they have any right to solicit you with their 90-lbs, high glossy, expensively prepared paper? Does the repetitive nature of these solicitations bore you? Do the continuous receipts in the mail alert your parents, and make them ask you the too-often asked question: "How's that application to the university going? You know they mailed you another 90 lbs, high glossy, expensively prepared flyer?" Is there anything good about these documents, and wouldn't it be more ecologically proper to stuff your e-mail box with the same items in PDF format? </p>
<p>I'm assuming you're asking about information that wasn't sent away for. I think for some schools it's probably a waste of money to continue sending these types of brochures - the college game isn't the same as it was 10 or 15 years ago, most students use the internet to conduct their research. It might be a worthwhile investment for the smaller colleges (schools on the "lesser known" thread) that want to reach out to a broader range of applicants, or schools that are suffering from low numbers. For the rest I think it's a waste (though not an annoyance, I liked skimming through the pictures of campuses even if I never intended to go there).</p>
<p>Though I have sent away for information. You can generally find anything in a brochure on their website, but my parents are not very good with computers. When I wanted to show them the schools I was looking at (or more recently, study abroad programs), I'd send away for the information. I know my mom appreciated having something to look at.</p>
<p>I helped my son make his list from the Fiske and Insiders guides. I figured they'd be more objective than material from a college. When he did get something in the mail from a place that sounded interesting, we'd always look it up, but invariably, there was some glaring reason that school wasn't on his list.</p>
<p>I guess they can be useful for a heads-up, but I think it's silly and wasteful to send reams of paper to students you'd never consider.</p>
<p>I found the most ridiculous were solicitations from Harvard, Yale and Columbia. Harvard and Yale even sent applications! I guess if we hadn't have heard of these schools, S definitely wasn't going there! S didn't fall for it; didn't apply. With < 10% acceptance rate their only motivation was to compete with each other. Don't think we got anything from Princeton, but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>these unsolicited brochures mean about as much as the stack of credit card apps that show up every month. They're junk mail, pure and simple.</p>
<p>But you gotta admit it still works, that's why they do it. If the mail gets your parents to bug you about your app to the school then it's paying for itself; your app fee covers all the junk they've sent you and then some, your app helps them look even more selective.</p>
<p>Don't worry, the schools don't just waste paper. If your child included their email address when they took the PSAT, they'll be drowning in email solicitations from colleges as well. Dozens of colleges offered to send my son booklets on "How to Find a College" or "What to Look for on a College Tour." Gee, how sweet of them to be concerned.</p>
<p>I have wondered what drives the repeat mailings from certain schools. Do they send everyone this much mail, or are demographics at play which might mean there is some admissions advantage? Are Grinnell and Williams targeting mathy girls from low-income zip codes or do they send everyone the same mailings? WUSTL, legendary for sending a lot of mail, has barely registered in our mailbox. I don't think that's completely random. Perhaps they focus on zip codes where they feel they have a greater chance of winning that extra app. No doubt there's some marketing science at play considering the costs involved.</p>
<p>as annoying as all this mail is, D decided not one piece could be thrown away! The reaction to some was very funny, like OMG look at all these math equations on the envelope cool! maybe I will look there--Caltech. Reed sent a periodic table which she found very exciting. I will say it made her at least consider schools she has never heard of.</p>
<p>Now the downside is she wants to look in about 12 states across the ENTIRE country!!</p>
<p>OK, here's a warning. My son will be leaving for college in three weeks, and some of that crap is still piled up three feet high in his bedroom. He seems sentimentally attached to some of it, for reasons that are far beyond me. Do yourself a favor, Father of the Boarder, and throw some of it away before it becomes a permanent part of your house. (A lot of it is repeat mail. Wash U was bad for that, and so was Duke, Univ. of Tulsa, several engineering schools I can't remember the name of, despite the fact that they sent at least half a dozen mailings...)</p>
<p>MomOFour, if there is marketing science at work here, it is a very primitive "science".</p>
<p>Just sigh, hand it to your child and expect most of it to be unread but saved (all umpteen solicitations from colleges X, Y and Z)- I bagged the piles after son left for college and expect to recycle them some year after son is long gone (no luck in getting him to get rid of them over winter break). These kids are at an age where, as my son said, there is no such thing as junk mail, referring to anything with his name on the envelope. It takes a few years before the thrill of getting mail wears off...</p>
<p>S rarely reads them. Most go straight to trash. Has mind set on his schools and had a good laugh yesterday. Received WUSTL and Swarthmore packages with ED app. He said, he should fill tem out so schools obtain ED rejection numbers by Dec -- let's them build stats in 2007 as opposed to 2008.</p>
<p>The mailings are definitely the result of the PSAT and to some degree the SAT. My own D took the PSAT for the first time as a soph, and was swamped with mail. Jr. year she opted out of the mailings and the stuff tapered off.</p>
<p>Personally, I kinda enjoyed seeing the stuff, and seeing what schools sent out. </p>
<p>But don't be fooled. There is real science to these mailings. They cost a lot, so colleges hire consultants who help them design their direct mail programs. These schools do know what they're doing. After all, one more full pay student can pay for a lot of mailings.</p>