<p>Why do some colleges send letters almost everyday? Are they really interested in my son? Johns Hopkins is sending the most mail, pleading for an application since they believe my son is in the top 10% applicant pool. Our hs college counselors tell us that these letters are meaningless. If that is the case, why do they spend so much on these mailings?</p>
<p>We toured JHU last summer, and S has been getting this mail as well. I agree, it seems like a waste of paper. I don't know if this is true in JHU's case, but some schools encourage more applications so their acceptance rates go down. Selectivity is related to a school's ranking in USNWR.</p>
<p>I think a lot of schools have followed WUSTL's spamming lead...it made them jump in the rankings quite a bit. It does annoy me that a lot of schools that I feel are out of reach keep spamming my son. At least we've done enough homework to know the odds.</p>
<p>It's a good college. Maybe your son would be a fabulous asset and would receive a hefty merit award.</p>
<p>At our house the numerous mailings have been from Cornell, USC, Randolph-Macon Women's College in Virginia, and Texas A & M, Okay, maybe those are not the most selective but lots of mail has been arriving lately. D did send in inquiries to Vanderbilt and they've been sending back lots of mail asking where d's application is. But that's our fault.</p>
<p>That kind of volume of mail would say to me, "They need us more than we need them." That would be encouragement to try applying to a more selective school. </p>
<p>I have been getting mail for YEARS from one college that I contacted once about a writing project, back when my son was about five years old. I figure it's better to apply to the colleges that are interested in applications but not desperate.</p>
<p>My daughter gets tons of mail from Ursinus and the University of Alabama. She's also getting a series of postcards from Brandeis that say "wish you were here." Yesterday she got a brochure from the National Guard inviting her to be a warrior. She doesn't see herself as a warrior....</p>
<p>Tokenadult. LOL!</p>
<p>S has suddenly gotten letters from a variety of colleges all congratulating him on his APs. It seems to me that they must have all bought lists from the College Board at the same time, hence the simultaneous and rather similarly worded mailings.</p>
<p>UChicago wins for the most mail to our house....and their mail is actually interesting....more than just letters (they send books). Each piece seems to build on the last....</p>
<p>I had to smile when son received their "We've been in touch for a while now..."...as though they were saying "where's the app, son?" They win for the best mail. </p>
<p>The African American students at Harvard have begun to mail him.....maybe one other piece from Harvard otherwise. Though son claims he won't apply, I think their mail is well done. They get a thumbs up for mail. </p>
<p>Yale isn't mailing. Princeton isn't either. We visited both Yale and Princeton, so I guess they don't care if you visit...they aren't going to send mail. That's ok, son isn't going to apply. Ha.</p>
<p>Stanford has mailed once.....a while back. Nothing since. Gawd, I wish he would apply there! I wish he wasn't so paranoid about the quakes. They aren't good about the mail but they win for reputation......</p>
<p>Columbia and Georgetown are good at mailing. Though they don't know it, they'll get apps if ED doesn't work. They have nice, clean mail. It's refined and to the point. </p>
<p>Emory mails us....but their mail isn't as "clever" as some of the others. It seems more standard. They'll get an app too. But, not because of their mail.</p>
<p>Univ of Maryland sends CRAZY amounts of mail......But they're just too large to get an app. Sorry UMD. They get an A for effort, though.</p>
<p>The Army and Marines are also mailing like mad.....just in case none of the above work out. Thanks Bush......but.....NOT!!!</p>
<p>My son is at Pomona and we never got mail from them just an acknowlegement of his app and the date of the online notification of acceptance or rejection. Once in they sent tons of mail. At Wash U we got mailings every day, personal postcards, phonecalls. He was waitlisted. He ended up at the best possible place for him however. Who can figure. Apply to your dream schools, put effort into your apps and then just see what happens. There really is no true way of predicting.</p>
<p>AZmom...exactly. The spam gives you a sense that you are desirable, and would be accepted, when it isn't always the case. Each year the marketing tools get more elaborate. Since we've done a lot of research and reading, we are more aware of the odds. There are some kids that don't understand that just because they are on a mailing list does not mean they are being "recruited" or have a high probability of being accepted.</p>
<p>I know that some of the mail was College Board generated.</p>
<p>My D is still getting mailings from UVA, to which she applied last year, was accepted, and later rejected in favour of Bryn Mawr! I called them and apprised them of the fact that D is no longer a high school senior---that she is indeed already attending another college. They took her name, promised to remove her from their prospects list, and sent another mailing a month later. I give up!</p>
<p>Poetsheart, </p>
<p>They must work with the staff at Haverford as we are still getting mailings despite informing them that D is already enrolled</p>
<p>A little off topic - No mail from Duke before our son applied, but once he was accepted, their mailings were VERY impressive (computer disc, nice folders, poster etc), compared to the mailings that were rather "standard" that son #1 received from Stanford.</p>
<p>I get the most mail from WUSTL, which is like every other day. It gets quite annoying, but theres always the recycle bin close by.</p>
<p>Two schools sent S special applications (no fee, quick response, etc.) so it pays to at least check out the envelope before you chuck it.</p>
<p>Yea we usually got those for my D after she already got her apps in and paid, then 2 days later without fail she would get a free special app. Oh well, guess it sometimes does pay to procrastinate!Poetsheart and S that is so funny definitely a lol.</p>
<p>Marite, yes I'm sure the colleges buy the lists from the college board. My son is a merit semifinalist and he has gotten lots of mail from distant schools we've barely heard of referencing this status. The College Board must be raking in the dough! The kids have to pay all this money to take the tests and then the schools pay to get lists!! What a monopoly.</p>
<p>I have often thought there should be a box to check on the PSAT indicating "I am diligently researching my education options and will request information from schools I am interested in. Please do not make my address available for unsolicited mailings." Think of the trees that would be saved.</p>
<p>The best was for my first S. He was extremely bright and had 13 AP's byt he time he graduated...so you can imagine the mail. It began in his freshman year of HS...and continued through senior year. I did NOT throw one piece out! I collected in all 4 cardboard boxes of mail.....about the size of four file cabinet drawers...and I had much difficulty parting with these documents! Don't know why.....became very psychological to me because every college offered so many wonderful opportunities for success and happiness. I actually believed at some point if I threw something away, he would not achieve happiness nor success at ANY college he selected. The irony of it all....I must have read every piece of mail generated from each school..HE NEVER LOOKED AT ONE! He had already decided on either MIT or HARVARD...so little did I know. I swooned at every postcard, brochure, CD, DVD, and tape, mentally placing him at each college quad that was depicted on the front cover. I guess I needed a life!</p>