<p>I just do not know how this works. I remember asking my daughter to check the box (in her SAT maybe) that says colleges can send her stuff. I have been expecting your basic marketing mailings, and we've been getting them forever. But do these schools actually get her scores? How do they know whether she's an honor student or not, or do all the mailings invite everyone to their "honors open house" or to use their in their special honors-only application, some saying acceptance will be within 2 weeks...well, you've seen them. How much information have these random schools get, and from where?</p>
<p>Schools pay ETS to send them the names/addresses of kids who score above a certain cutoff. The cutoff, of course, will vary depending upon the selectivity of the school. But if, say, they’re recruiting for their honors college, they might ask ETS for everybody who’s scored above 2000 on the SAT, so if your D is on the list they would know she falls into that category. The brochures can be informative, but they’re just advertising. So don’t take them too seriously as an expression of interest, any more than you would if you received an L L Bean catalog shortly after ordering from Lands End Anyhow, if your kid applies, she will have to send in her scores with her application–the schools won’t “remember” her from their previous solicitations.</p>
<p>It’s fun, but don’t take it personally. One reason schools do this: Mass mailings lead to increased applications. Increased applications lead to lower acceptance rates. Lower acceptance rates lead to higher rankings.</p>
<p>yes, some schools get the ACT list. I got an offer from a random school I’d never heard of yesterday that specifically said that based on my ACT score I’m eligible for a scholarship.</p>
<p>Schools send out literally tens of thousands of these mailers each year in order to boost their application rates. Many will try to flatter you. Don’t fall for it. They don’t really mean it. Sure, they’d like you to apply, along with 20,000 or 30,000 other people. That’s all it means. It’s just a huge waste of money as far as I’m concerned, but I guess most of them can pay for it out of all those application fees they collect, so it doesn’t come directly out of your tuition. It just comes out of the bank accounts of the thousands who are suckered into applying.</p>
<p>A certain kind of student (or parent) will actually read portions of these brochures and rule out applying to colleges that send out material that’s full of errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.</p>
<p>Others find that they make excellent linings for birdcages.</p>
<p>And another type of parent (& student) will take the mailings as proof that the Ivy League schools are recruiting their junior, high scoring student. Really. I used to work in advertising so I take anything that comes into our house with a grain of salt. But other, more naive people who put their children on a pedestal see it as confirmation of the imminent educational doors that will swing open. While I of course can smell a mail merged document from a mile away, even if it does have my kids name sprinkled through it and has a nice Yale letterhead ;)</p>
<p>So conversely, no one in my house is going to get a letter with an Ivy letterhead; does that mean they shouldn’t bother applying to those schools?</p>
<p>Nope! Lots of kids don’t get them because they were wise enough to check the box saying “no mail;” there are lots of other reasons why kids with stats good enough to put them in the applicant pool don’t end up getting those letters.</p>
<p>^
No, apply anyway it means nothing. D scored very well on both SAT & ACT, yet received relatively little mail from colleges (yes, she checked the box!).She received nothing from one particular school know for sending LOTS of stuff, but applied anyway, was accepted and is attending.</p>
And it can be awkward to have a conversation with those folks. I know a guy who swore up and down that the letters his d received were genuine offers of admission and scholarships. I liked the kid and thought the dad might be inexperienced with college marketing, so I tried to indicate, in a gentle way, that lots of kids receive similar letters. He was insulted and barked at me in such a way that his wife grabbed his arm and said “She’s done this before and her kids are smart too, you know” - to which his response was “Not like ours!” :D</p>
<p>I remember particularly him saying that she had been offered “four free years!” at the US Air Force Academy - without even applying. Fortunately, the daughter turned out fine, though I doubt that Dad was much help in the college hunt.</p>
<p>Perhaps some of these “confused” folks will get less confused when they get virtually identical “personalized” letters from a half-dozen or more schools. All will offer them a free booklet on how to tour colleges or how to choose a college, and all will be worded almost exactly alike. The only difference - the letterhead it comes on. Maybe then they’ll figure out that this is a marketing company hired by far too many colleges… or maybe they’ll still think their kid is being personally recruited.</p>
<p>My kids did not check the box which really cut down on the mail. Ivy’s and others did somehow find high scoring DD. Doesn’t mean a thing. They just want for apps to increase income and have lower app/admit ratios for rankings, She made it a habit of not applying anywhere that solicited an application (besides Smith). Kind of a Groucho Marx attitude of not wanting to be part of a club that wants you.</p>
<p>@Laf: If I remember correctly, the HYP letters that D received were different from the bulk of the rest. A nicer quality paper, typed envelopes vs. mailing labels. Letters vs. glossy brochures. I can see how someone could fall for it being a unique mailing. </p>
<p>My college freshman d is still receiving recruitment mail. Maybe they think she’ll change her mind :rolleyes: (not a chance - she LOVES seeing the mountains out her dorm window!). :)</p>
Anyhow, if your kid applies, she will have to send in her scores with her application–the schools won’t “remember” her from their previous solicitations.</p>