<p>Do they say anything about my chances in applying next year? I've heard about some schools that send out mailings to people who "don't actually stand a chance" so their ratings go up, but I have trouble believing that this would happen from an actual member of the Ivy League. Don't most Ivy Leagues have reputations so sparkling that they need not send recruitment letters? Should I just ignore these? Specifically I mean, Brown, Columbia, and Princeton...</p>
<p>Ignore them…they just send them to people who put that they had an A average and scored like 1300(M+V) on PSAT/SAT</p>
<p>They don’t mean anything, I started getting them with a sub 200 score on my PSAT my soph year.</p>
<p>^^ It means they are interested in you. I never heard from any of the Ivy League. And don’t ingore them, do research.</p>
<p>Descuff if you check a certain box upon taking a PSAT/SAT/ACT and achieve a certain, and not necessarily impressive, score on the test, you get emails from practically every college out there. Seriously, I got below a 200 on my PSAT and I was getting letters from Brown, Dartmouth, Northwestern, etc. Based on that PSAT score I was clearly not ivy league material, but they sent me letters anyways (not saying I’m not ivy league material, but that score itself was not). The emails are just ways for the schools to sell their summer programs and increase the number of applicants (to consequently decrease admissions rate). They mean just about nothing.</p>
<p>I got below 200 and barely heard from any high ranking colleges. And why would anyone rejects a chance to know the Ivy League??? (uninformed junior)</p>
<p>I’ve been saving myself from embarrassment by saying “below 200” but I got a 170 on my PSAT soph year and I was still getting those emails. Based on a 170 - which correlates with a 1700 - I would have zero chance at an ivy. Thankfully, my ACT score is good enough for them now, but based on that score I had no chance. They send those emails to thousands of students, most who have no chance. The messages are part of their marketing scheme, increase interest which increases applications and student involvement in summer programs which ultimately results in more cash in the school’s wallet. You don’t “reject a chance to know the Ivys better”, there are plenty of other, and better, ways to learn more about a certain school than by reading their spam emails.</p>
<p>@dfree124 I guess that was my question, do ivy league schools actually ‘trick’ high schoolers into applying so their stats go up? and any facts/citations would be appreciated</p>
<p>lmao! 170 is embarrassing??? I had like 135 on the junior year (this year) PSAT and I missed more point in my best subject (never before had I had a test in which Math is my weaker subject). But I see where you’re coming from. But are you saying that colleges that don’t send these thing are the one to go to?</p>
<p>@silencefell - yea, it’s all marketing. The only evidence available is probably from personal experiences, but what does Yale care if I got a 170 on my PSAT? </p>
<p>@Descuff - Not at all. Every college has their own marketing scheme, and just because I got a letter from Yale doesn’t mean Yale is a bad school, far from it. And sorry for saying a 170 is embarrassing, it seems like everyone on CC got a 220+ on theirs.</p>
<p>I know some college the just spam mails, but the more they send the more I dislike. Unless they send a book (hence the other marketing scheme), then I start looking into them.</p>
<p>@dfree124 but there are a thousand other reasons a school could want you… unless you actually applied, and got rejected…</p>
<p>Yea, there are plenty of reasons a school could want you, but getting a 170 isn’t one of them. Thousands upon thousands of applicants each year get these letters, but does Yale think thousands upon thousands of the students they send mail to have a good chance at being accepted? Absolutely not.</p>
<p>If you cure cancer and Yale sends you a personalized letter saying “Dear …, you cured cancer, we want you to come here” then Yale would actually want you.</p>
<p>lol The curing cancer joke. But what if we cure the Common cold? HIV/AIDS? Cancer is not the only diseases annoying people.</p>
<p>Yes but has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?</p>
<p>@Descuff You might be uninterested in some Ivies because they lack academic integrity. Like they graduate rich legacy students who don’t deserve to graduate, or inflate grades to make graduation easier. I know Princeton’s still academically rigorous, but Yale definitely gives out gentlemen’s degrees.</p>