This may be a dumb question, and I know getting college mail doesn’t guarantee a chance of getting into a college. But let’s say I get college mail from College X, a college that is above me (but not a crazy reach). Does the fact they send mail to a student imply that if the student applies, it wouldn’t be crazy for them to get in?
Sorry if that’s worded weird. I’m having trouble phrasing my thoughts.
No. It’s simply advertising. Many schools buy lists of stats from Collegeboard, etc and blast you with mail which may make you think they are courting you. More applications leads to lower admission rates and possibly increased rankings with increased selectivity.
It usually means they want you to apply, often because your test scores are within their possible range.
My all A’s, but 1190 PSAT sophmore is getting e-mails from Rice, which is well out of her reach.
My DD’s got mailing from Harvard. They were 1300+ in SATs which is very good, but not Harvard level.
The Harvards of the world have a low acceptance rate because many people apply but few get in. So if they send mail which makes you think “hey, Harvard is interested! I will apply!” then they get more applications.
So if you really think that a reach school would be good for you, then apply…but have many more match and safety schools.
They want you to apply, but. with stats at the low or below range, chances of admissions are very low.
I literally got mail from Case Western everyday, my stats were in range and I got rejected so it means nothing honestly
@joanofdarc ,
Wait until you get a personalized letter from Harvard 
My daughter got one. It was very enticing. We had a good laugh. We still keep it somewhere in the house.
Like everyone said. No, it does not mean anything except that they have your PSAT scores and your address.
Put aside a box for WUSTL. I don’t know if it is still the case, but people used to report getting a ton of mail from them. As @rphcfb and others pointed out, the letters mean nothing. It is one of the sordid side of college admissions. Every college wants to be seen as selective and to get even more selective every year. The way to do that, given the number of seats isn’t usually changing, is to get more applicants. Chalk this one up to adcoms trying to fan the flames of hope for their own benefit.
Me too @zbthsjunior but I got in (back in the pre-internet days lol)
For my own son (who is a HS senior), the biggest offenders have been Vandy and University of Chicago, but there were others as well. He got a lenticular printed postcard from Northeastern the other day that must have cost the school some serious cash to send out to prospective applicants. OP - ignore the mail. The schools send out these mailings to increase applications, which leads to lower admission rates. It’s all part of the ratings game.
The good ones contain a waiver of the application fee. Sure, it’s part of the numbers game, but if it is a school in which you are interested, you can save a good $50+.
Lately I have heard of this happening a lot, even for families who don’t need the financial break.