<p>I'm a sophomore and me and a lot of my friends are getting deluged with emails/letters from both colleges. Most of them I've never heard of, but I did get one from Chicago - do colleges just randomly send these out? My friend got one from Columbia, but I haven't. These don't mean anything, correct?</p>
<p>They don't mean a thing. My daughter had a large black trash sack full by the time senior year came round. Many multiples from the same college.</p>
<p>they send it to anyone who got a 60 composite on their PSATs</p>
<p>No, they don't really mean anything -- they're just marketing tools. Each college buys mailing lists from various sources in order to get its name out there, so that as many students as possible will apply. This helps the school to be "selective."</p>
<p>Most of the top colleges -- Ivies, Stanford, MIT, U of Chicago, etc. -- get their mailing lists from the College Board (or ACT) and pre-screen according to their own specific criteria -- for example, students who score above a certain value on the PSAT or are interested in a particular major such as engineering. That may be why your friend got a mailing from Columbia and you didn't.</p>
<p>hahah Peach, so only geniuses basically you mean</p>