It was CWRU that withdrew the application, not the applicant, and put it on the applicant to essentially resubmit.
I don’t think that’s how people not connected with college admissions, which is most people, will interpret it. “We noticed” makes it sound pretty creepy, again most of these applicants and parents don’t really know that organizations track clicks and unsubscribe requests, at least in this negative way.
That is not true. The applicant does not have to “essentially resubmit” an application. Case was very clear about what needed to be done.
All the applicant needs to do is reply with a simple “I wish to remain under consideration for admittance.” That’s not close to resubmitting or reapplying. It’s a 5-second response.
Yes.
I’m betting more colleges will do this. They are fully aware that students are submitting more and more apps. I’m sure they are looking for ways to stop wasting time and energy on people who are too lazy to read an email and hit reply.
On the Reddit thread posted above a current student commented that Case is significantly overolled. I wonder if this unsubscribe/application withdrawal situation is new?
Another poster noted they only applied because they were sent a fee waiver and Case was at the bottom of their list.
Personally I don’t have a problem with dropping the application. Case could have worded it better but if you’re not interested in communication why should they take the time? Also, they don’t know why you unsubscribed. Maybe you just received an ED2 acceptance and you’re done.
Yes too many emails may be an issue but it’s a few months and then you’re done. And welcome to the real world. I go through my emails and unsubscribe a few times a month. Sometimes it doesn’t work, sometimes it works for a few months then I’m back on the list. I second @tsbna44 regarding setting up a colleges only email. Definitely facilitates sifting through emails.
Personally I have more of an issue with applicants clogging up the admissions process because they received a fee waiver and figured they’d just toss one in. I know that’s the possible consequence of a fee waiver but the attitude rubs me the wrong way.
This is probably the real test. If, after hitting unsubscribe (no more spam emails coming), someone doesn’t notice that Case sent the email and didn’t bother to read it, then they probably are not serious about Case.
Of course, Case could help itself out by requiring a “why us” supplemental essay - create at least one hurdle.
The issue is not whether colleges do this, it’s the tone of the email. I work with email marketing in my roles and you don’t start with an ultimatum. You typically say something like "we’re sorry you unsubscribed, if you don’t mind, we’d appreciate you telling us why in the optional question below, we hope you subscribe again. Not, we noticed and we’re removing your application, at least they concluded with we hope you apply. But by that point, it maybe too late, most people only read the first sentence or two if they even click on an email.
True. But don’t you think Case already made their decision to reject? That’s why to me, it’s Case saying - let us act like nothing ever happened and let us take you out of the #s.
If they’re going to reject, they should just do it and not tell the applicant, this way they don’t read the app, so time saved, they keep the app fee, the reject helps the admit rate and does not impact the yield. As one poster said, this applicant may have been trending toward accept or waitlist and Case reached out to test whether the applicant would attend.
That may be the case. And if the applicant truly wants to attend Case, they should feel encouraged by this contact and restate interest.
I can’t be certain but I don’t think Case has already decided to reject.
On paper, the OP would be a good student for Case. However, it sounds like the OP has expressed very little (or maybe no) demonstrated interest in actually attending Case … beyond simply applying. That would be one strike against being offered admission. When the OP requested all communication from Case to cease, that would be a second strike. However, I think Case would still be interested in having the OP as a student if the OP simply restates a desire to attend Case.
Again, in this example it appears the OP has no interest in actually attending Case because the OP implied he was not going to reply to the email. To me, this is a case of “no harm, no foul.” Case read the tea leaves and wondered if the OP would like to withdraw? The OP admits (to us) he doesn’t wish to attend Case. It seems like everyone wins here.
Regarding the #s. I think it would help Case to keep the student in the application cycle then reject him. That would be a tiny drop in the acceptance rate. But it seems Case is willing to give the applicant a fair shake, for now.
I don’t think this makes sense.
Let’s remember, the student received the email AFTER hitting unsubscribe. They aren’t sending this email to everyone who has applied. To me, this is a clear indicator that if the applicant is genuinely interested, despite hitting unsubscribe, then CWRU still considers the applicant to be in the running.
If they were overenrolled last year, they aren’t going to miss this applicant. They can afford to be more choosy if this is the case.
Colleges should have the option for recipients of emails to unsubscribe from marketing emails while keeping students on the list for actual, important emails. If a college is sending so much material that it is considered spam, that’s not a good look for them either.
ETA: “For recipients of emails” added to the first sentence for clarity.
Different colleges will take different approaches with respect to the process. No way to appeal to everyone. Expect each will take the approach that is viewed to be best for the particular institution. That some people may not like part of the approach that a given college takes is all part of the process.
I think that the marketing people at many universities are not all that sophisticated. They seem to be of the opinion that bombarding people with massive amounts of advertising is a winning proposition, no matter what the situation happens to be.
Logically, you’re right - if somebody has applied, they no longer need to be convinced to apply. At very least, they should be sending emails based on the assumption that the students already knows about the college, and is already interested in the college. Unfortunately, advertising people have been known to be impervious to logic, and are often hammers in search of nails.
The issue is really how Case Western worded and framed their email. They could have said virtually the same thing with a little bit more elegance and class to get their point across and to help filter out applicants that are not very interested in their university:
“We noticed that you unsubscribed etc. We appreciate your initial interest in Case Western Reserve University and respect the fact that you took the time and effort to complete an application. If you no longer wish to be considered for admission, kindly email us at - - - - and we would be happy to cancel your application. If we do not hear back from you, we will assume that you still wish to be considered for admission to Case Western Reserve University.”
Based on the responses and lack of responses, Case Western can trim off the applicants who wish to be removed and they can either ignore applicants who did not respond and evaluate their applications or use that information to lower their acceptance rate and improve yield.
Having the default option be a complete application cancellation rather than the default be assumption that the applicant wants to remain an applicant is laughable.
They are also giving the students a very short window to reply. What if an applicant is on vacation or their parent or grandparent is in the ICU with a stroke or Covid this weekend? It was handled very, very poorly.
"However, it sounds like the OP has expressed very little (or maybe no) demonstrated interest in actually attending Case … beyond simply applying. "
Subscribing to an email list is for sure another sign of interest.
Colleges can’t unsubscribe people from their marketing lists, that would have to be done by the student or parents. Maybe you’re suggesting that colleges send only specific emails to people that already have applied (financial aid, major-specific info) and others to people that haven’t (rah rah).
Problem is your approach requires someone who already gave the university the brush off to take an affirmative step of telling you they want their application canceled. What incentive is there for anyone who isn’t interested to respond? Even if you want your application canceled, what difference would it make to you to actually have that happen? I would expect that you will get next to no one who would respond to your email asking to cancel even though there are likely a number of people who are no longer interested.
And to avoid cancelation, all you have to do is spend 15 seconds to respond “Still interested.”
No, the point was there should be options for different levels of email frequency or type–all emails, admissions only, weekly only…
But… I will say, for the schools that my kids were most interested in–they/we wanted to see all those emails. We may not have read them all, but we read far more than for schools that they weren’t interested in. So I think the school could come to the same conclusion based on the selection of which emails to receive!
@NYMom122 is correct, I was intending to mean that colleges should give families/email recipients the option to unsubscribe from certain categories of emails (or as NYMom added, the frequency, etc.) I’ve edited my post to hopefully make that clear.
in our house, BG&B all had a generic college email, and their own personal emails. they’ve applied using one or the other, sometimes both emails are registered with the college as they forgot which one was used first. I can easily see this happening - clearing out an account, and unsubscribing to the email that was used to apply with rather than the other email. so so so wrong of the school to assume they are uninterested. the kid could easily have two accounts with that college. because come on; kids get thousands of emails from colleges. it can be overwhelming.