We got the same email (sent to my son and both parents)! He isn’t one to be on his portals obsessively (for any of the schools he applied to). We were all so surprised to see this email. He never unsubscribed. Ridiculous.
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Most email apps have filters where you set up emails from certain senders to be moved to another folder, so you can avoid them. You can also mark them as spam and it will start going to the spam folder. However, you do have to read the emails at some point but it would be only the colleges of interest. And for colleges that track clicking on the email, then you would have to open those as well.
Yes and no. You can set rules. But they don’t always work. For example, indeed goes my junk email. So I set a rule in outlook.com that anything from indeed comes to my inbox. Now it’s about 75/25 …most still go to junk.
The same thing happens with mail at work I set a rule to go to trash. I still see emails from those organizations in my inbox.
So it’s not full proof. But there is that.
But one will be more organized and find it more efficient to have a college only email….imho.
This was incredibly stupid on Case Western’s part. They should have just continued to monitor emails and use the information as they see fit to lower their acceptance rate and/or to help with yield protection etc … announcing it to the world in a statement that reads more like a jealous lover than a university … it’s ill advised and oddly unprofessional.
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Not sure I see an issue here. An applicant who deliberately unsubscribes from the primary form of communication while having an active in-process application presumably is no longer interested in receiving communication from the university regarding the status of their application, notifications regarding merit or financial aid, requests for additional information, upcoming deadlines/dates, etc… That would seem a strong indication that the applicant is no longer interested in maintaining an application or relationship with the school. So why should the school continue to utilize resources to process the application? Since the applicant has opted out of email, does that mean the should the school should now make all necessary communication regarding the application via snail mail, text or phone? Or should it regard such action as a tacit form of application withdrawal, allow the applicant the opportunity to reconsider or correct if it was done in error, and then move on?
I notice that when explicitly asked why they would unsubscribe from a school that they were interested in attending, OP did not supply an answer. That answer would go a long way in helping the rest of us better understand whether CWRU did anything wrong in this situation.
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I suggest you look at it from this perspective: CWRU maintains amazing attention to the details. It is a reflection of high quality and high standards. D18 is graduating from Case in 3 months, and D22 is deferred to RD. We have been beyond pleased with Case’s attention to detail in so many ways throughout the past 4 years. It is a very good thing!
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Case turned us off when they told my daughter they wouldn’t even look at her college credits from a state school to see if they would accept any until she was accepted, and we put down a deposit. We had never received such a response from any other school. All of them for very helpful when it came to looking at them and letting us know what would and wouldn’t be accepted even before she applied. Some even use the Transferology website which is great. We also weren’t impressed at all with their campus tour or info session.
I can see how unsubscribing could show them a possible lack in interest, but it seems a bit rude to send such an email. Maybe something more in like “we see that you unsubscribed from receiving emails does this imply that you’re no longer interested in applying to our university.”
My guess is it helps their yield. If they withdraw you it won’t count as a decision. So it would not help their acceptance rate go lower but would help their yield.
At least that’s how I’d anticipate it.
No decision = no # in the calculation.
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I agree. If accepted, how is the school supposed to communicate with the applicant if they have unsubscribed from emails?
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Flip it around - having an opportunity to affirmatively confirm your continued interest is a good thing. Other applicants don’t get that.
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I’m a bit surprised that some people think this is an egregious error of the part of CWRU. I see absolutely nothing wrong with this. In fact, if this thread is any indication, the move seems to have the desired effect. People who aren’t really interested will unsubscribe, and if someone is really interested, they will get in touch to say so.
I also see no reason to return the application fee at this point. Decisions will be released fairly soon. They have probably already devoted time to processing the app. Perhaps though they could refund the app fee as a goodwill gesture.
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That speaks volumes. That an applicant would respond to such an email by withdrawing is proof the applicant never seriously considered CWRU in the first place.
If the school that sent the email had been MIT/Yale/Stanford, I don’t think an applicant would think twice about restating his/her desire to remain in contention.
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Kudos for CWRU for being more transparent and just not rejecting unsubscribed applicants outright. At least they are giving applicants a warning. I’m sure there are plenty of other schools that are doing the same thing without a heads up.
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We set up a college only email for the marketing after taking the SAT. But, at our high school, kid had to use the school email to apply so that the transcripts could be sent. So then all of the marketing email went to kid’s school account.
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I think there is a difference between sending an email that says “we noticed you unsubscribed. Are you still considering Case, or would you like to withdraw your application?” and an email that says “we are withdrawing your application unless you contact us.” Case charges $70 to apply. Part of that application fee is paying for someone to monitor who is unsubscribing and send out these emails. I get that it is better for Case’s enrollment management to play this kind of hardcore game, but I guess it rubs me the wrong way.
That’s not what they are sending in these emails. Here are the subjects of emails that we’ve received recently:
Winter scenes from the CWRU campus
Q&As with current students and other ways to learn about CWRU online
Six faculty making big headlines
Check out this future lawyer’s resume
CWRU leaders at the forefront of society’s most important conversations
A resume ready for law school
(Plus two emails advertising events for admitted students–these are relevant and important to us)
We have been receiving these types of emails for months. They are not targeting my kid’s interests, they are mostly just general marketing. I’d prefer it if there were a way to opt out of these general emails and only receive important ones such as the types that you listed.
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Exactly! Those types of spammy, rah, rah, emails that are not tailored for anyone are junk, IMO, especially when if you multiply that by the 8-10(15?) schools that are commonly applied for.
In contrast, Purdue sends S2 emails specifically about Engineering, which is the faculty he applied for. Big difference, to me.
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That’s interesting mine received the catered ones from CWRU. She wants engineering, theatre and possibly something in the social science area. So a major, secondary major and a minor. With also interest in learning overseas, co-op or internship. Before she accepted them that was the majority of what she saw. She likes the school because it’s one of the places that wants you to learn across the spectrum and the emails all demonstrate that. We did get the winter one too but that of course is check out our campus. Once she accepted the school her emails are even more catered to her. I think they do send a lot and they are broader in nature because so is the school. My son goes to Emory. They are a lot less transparent and communicative. Actually it’s funny - I get more information as an alum than I do as a parent or as he does as a student or when he applied. I seem to know things before he does. I personally prefer having the option of seeing more and then filing it wherever it should go. CWRU uses very little snail mail while others are bombarding the mailbox and winding up in the circular file so there is that side too.
It would be nice to tell them to send less as some schools do but it is one of the ways that they track interest or disinterest.
My daughter was just paired with a theatre buddy - a senior at the school and has had faculty reach out directly now that she is in too. I think they are simply more handholding on that end as well.
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“This is an awful look on Case’s part.”
My take is that it’s an awful look on the part of the applicant. Case is well known for considering demonstrated interest. I told my son when he was applying there to make sure that he opened up every e-mail they sent.
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I certainly understand why they would reject the applicant because the student isn’t demonstrating interest. But why is Case withdrawing the student’s application?
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I hate it when the toxicity of a2c on Reddit bleeds over here. OP with a drive by.
https://old.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/svt9ah/dont_unsubscribe_from_college_emails/
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