<p>
[quote]
RICHMOND, Va. Over the last few years, the tiny College of Saint Rose in Albany has seen applications increase at least 25 percent annually, minority admissions rise and its standing in the U.S. News and World Report rankings climb more than 20 rungs.</p>
<p>Its secret? Lifting a page from the marketing playbook of credit card companies.</p>
<p>Last fall the college sent out 30,000 bright red Exclusive Scholar Applications to high school seniors that promised to waive the $40 application fee, invited them to skip the dreaded essay and assured a decision in three weeks. Because the application arrived with the students names and other information already filled in, applying required little more than a signature.</p>
<p>More than 100 other colleges and universities paid the same marketing company to send out variations of these fast-track applications last fall, more than a five-fold jump since 2006. Some have spent upward of $1 million on their application campaigns, and many have seen their applicant pools double or even triple in the last two years.
<p>What do you think? My knee jerk reaction is its fine. This is no different than all the other game playing and marketing engaged in by colleges. At least this tactic doesn't hurt kids and might open up other options they would otherwise not consider. </p>
<p>This article highlights once again how colleges are competing with one another for customers, just like in any other industry. And how they focus so strongly on manipulating their USNWR rankings without changing the product itself (I work in the industry: don't get me started on what we used to have to do to play the rankings game). And it highlights the problem with selectivity as a criteria for quality: while it might yield a somewhat stronger student body (which might be an asset if the difference is significant enough), schools often become more selective without any improvement in the product they offer.</p>
<p>The thing that makes these no-fee, no-essay, mass-mailed applications borderline-unethical is the fact that they are positioned as somehow “exclusive”. It’s not nice to make an applicant think he or she was singled out as special when in fact they were just part of a huge mailing list.</p>
<p>They are just diluting the quality of their students, I doubt anyone who applies now actually wants to go there, they just did it because it was free and easy and they didn’t have to write an essay. How sad.</p>
<p>My problem with it is that as a student or parent I am in part paying for all of these mailings/marketing. Yes, the student might benefit with increased rankings/name recognition, but that matters little to me. If you have a high GPA from any accredited program and you are not seeking admission into a top tier school, some grad school will accept you. It won’t mattter if you attended College of St. Rose, a higher ranked school (unless top tier), or a lower ranked school for your undergraduate work.</p>
<p>I don’t have a problem with it- as the ^^ said, no hassle for the app. Let’s face it, a kid who will go for the app that doesn’t require much probably is a good fit for a college that doesn’t ask for alot!</p>