Do these "special applications" mean anything?

Applying to College
1

<p>Lately, I've been getting tons of e-mails and letters from schools inviting me to apply to their schools for free and with no essay with their "Distinguished" applications.</p>

<p>Do these mean anything or are the schools just trying to get more people to apply?</p>

2

<p>It means you’re probably in or above the score range for that school, so they’re trying to convince you to apply</p>

3

<p>I think that they already know that you’re smart based on your test scores, so they want you to apply. And giving you an easier application is a way of convincing you to apply</p>

4

<p>For example, when I was a senior two years ago I kept on getting this Dean’s Application from NYU-Poly. But a lot of people got them anyway.</p>

<p>To be honest with you, unless those schools are outstanding, you shouldn’t even care about them at all.
I get a few other similar applications from various schools too.</p>

<p>NYU-Poly is a good school but I don’t want to go there anyway.</p>

5

<p>Only two of the schools that have sent me these applications are worth mentioning- Southern Methodist & Mills College.</p>

6

<p>

One possibility is that these colleges like your scores and are trying to get kids to enroll who are at the top range of the students they attract. There is another reason, though. Remember that colleges are businesses. Businesses that need to sell a product. While demand exceeds supply for the top schools and endowments are sizeable, at lower tiers there is a need to attract kids who can pay full freight. If you go to the CollegeBoard website and dig around, you’ll see that offer complete marketing campaigns for colleges. And one thing colleges can buy is lists of students sorted by zipcode, a good proxy for family income. So if you live in an upper-income area it wouldn’t be surprising if colleges that you’ve never heard of all of a sudden seem interested in having you attend.</p>

7

<p>There’s another active thread on this same topic:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1014757-priorty-applications-another-way-saying-pre-acceptance.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1014757-priorty-applications-another-way-saying-pre-acceptance.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;