<p>I like the funny and clever ones, like the ones from University of Chicago.
Also, I love snail mail.
I hate emails from colleges that quite clearly don’t have what I have specifically said I need, like major. I don’t think there’s much to be done about this, but it is still irritating when I fill out all this info about major and location and what not and then I get things from colleges with none of it.</p>
<p>I appreciate emails from prospective schools that seem a bit more personal, i.e have info about my intended major, scholarships for transfer students, or the name of a transfer adviser. </p>
<p>At first, i enjoyed the emails from prospective colleges, but after a while, I had to unsubscribe from all of them. it just all got too annoying. </p>
<p>Like louis412, I loved the mailings from the University of Chicago. They must spend a fortune on “outreach”, but it was well done. My DD on the other hand could care less…</p>
<p>Some of the colleges (like Vanderbilt) did a great job of sending “informational” packets, such as details on programs, financial aid, etc. These where always appreciated. </p>
<p>I don’t like unsolicited letters from colleges. I do however like unsolicited freebies sent to me from colleges. UChicago, I’m looking at you. </p>
<p>Duke had some pretty awesome posters and booklets. However, the constant emails after I was accepted got slightly annoying (but I understand that they wanted to boost their yield).</p>
<p>I think email and online mail is much better than paper, because I have throw a whole lot away. If colleges that you actually apply to can give step-by-step process of dates to do things (i.e. scholarships, housing, etc.) that’d make my life a whole lot easier!</p>
<p>I agree with most of the aforementioned themes. I would suggest though, if you want us to read and look into a college, send us a free shirt or poster (or the opportunity to get one), because that will give us an incentive to actually look. I am currently waiting on a shirt from Illinois Wesleyan, and I have added that college to my safeties, not because they sent me a shirt, but because I looked into it and found my interested majors and programs. </p>
<p>Before DD applied: Universities that offered to waive application fees and SlideRoom fees and made that an explicit offer by snail mail or email. (NYU was decidedly NOT one of those!)</p>
<p>After DD had decided where to apply: Most important communication from universities for DD was when they confirmed receipt of things–the Common App, etc.–and had explicit instructions of how to get to a portal where she could check in regularly about things she needed to do. </p>
<p>Before applying: It seems, from a marketing perspective, that colleges in the same peer group should be aware of what each other are doing, and try to be in the same ball park. We were surprised to find D received LOTS of marketing materials from one school but barely any from a school that has essentially the same applicant pool. It kind of makes the prospective applicant feel like, “Huh, School X must want me a lot more than school Y.”</p>
<p>Similarly, after applying, some schools were much better about corresponding, sending acknowledgements of receipt of materials, etc. From one school there was zero feedback, plus NO portal to check to see if things had been received. Total radio silence. Very disconcerting!</p>
<p>Lastly, about acceptances. While it’s certainly convenient to be able to get the decision and most information on line, I don’t think it should replace a really well-done, fat, special “fat envelope” in the actual US mail. That’s a tangible, exciting, and special thing to receive. If deciding between two schools where one sends such a package and the other is just cursory… it’s hard not to feel wooed by the special one! (Especially, ESPECIALLY, when it’s been personalized with a handwritten note or words that show the writer actually knows something about the applicant.)</p>
<p>Daughter is a high school senior this year, and is <em>still</em> getting mail from colleges. However, I did see a trend in April/May for more of the mail to be addressed to the parents. That didn’t mean anything to us since our D was set on a college, but maybe it would be useful for some parents.</p>
<p>Son is one year behind our daughter and so the mail for him is ramping up. I do appreciate the mail from the very select schools highlighting their financial aid; in our rural, somewhat depressed area it’s easy to forget how affordable those schools really are if you can get in.</p>
<p>It’s pretty humorous and a little sad, though, how the letters often seem to come from the same direct mail company. {bannerhead} Dear {Student} {Blurb about school’s uniqueness with student name in boldface} {include link to personalize your online experience at this school} Sincerely, {Admissions Name} P.S. {Another interesting fact}. The insertions are absolutely interchangeable. It’s especially sad when part of the blurb discusses how the school will teach your student how to be an independent thinker. We have a couple dozen of these. Either they’re all using the same company to write their letters, or their admissions people all went to the same conference.</p>
<p>I wish universities would send more view books even if they are electronic. I did not consider the University of Miami until I saw their view book. Also, I plan to major in journalism and it annoys me when other universities email me asking if I would interested in majoring in English at their university because they don’t have journalism. I do like it when I get information from universities dealing specifically with my major,academic interests, EC’s ect.</p>
<p>Makes me laugh that my son, a college sophomore, continues to get email and hard copy mailings from a school he never applied to, never expressed interest in, about transferring. I can understand targeting students who had expressed interest at some point, but basically cold calls for transfers? As we have another one in high school, that “transfer” school won’t make it onto any college list of his because of the mindlessness of their mailings. </p>
<p>I wish there was some to know what colleges really want instead of simply saying its holistic. That would help students prepare better.</p>
<p>I barely got any things from colleges back in highschool, mainly technical colleges and specialized things like that. Even at Moorpark college, I dont get a thing. but i wish they would make it easier to find what classes you need for your major…although i found it funny i still got ads for prom tuxedos even though i am now in college</p>
<p>It has been going great I have been receiving a lot of college mail from different colleges. I am also receiving emails. </p>
<p>The communication I received from colleges was for the most part useful. However, I didn’t really like it when colleges mailed or emailed me the exact same thing over and over again - the same information booklet, emails with the same message (“Congrats on being a NMF! Come to our school!”) - especially colleges towards which I didn’t show the slightest interest. I ended up having a LOT of paper to recycle and having to mark a few colleges “spam” in my email. Most colleges did not do this, but I can name a few that did.</p>
<p>I also think colleges in general (especially well-known schools) should limit mailed communication. We can find any information we want about it online (maybe one comprehensive brochure/booklet/whatever you call it is helpful). I think the most useful information mailed to me were invitations to apply for programs like all-expense-covered fly-ins, etc - opportunities that I otherwise would not know about.</p>
<p>So far, the majority of colleges have done little except spam my email. The colleges that spam my email aren’t even colleges that I am interested in. On the rare occasion that I receive a letter in the mail from a college, I will actually take the time to read through it, but honestly the emails are just nothing more than spam.
A typical email will be like “(insert name), is this your email? You haven’t responded to any of our previous emails”. Really colleges?</p>
<p>We are just getting into the fun part of the college search; end of junior year. My son has been getting mail and emails for over a year now and it increases as he takes tests (ACT, SAT) and updates athletic profile, etc. Exciting time and busy time. Focus will be on narrowing down choices to apply by end of the summer. He’s already speaking to his counselor at school and looking into scholarship opportunities and using the net price calculator we realize some schools we thought were ones we needed to avoid actually aren’t. I look forward to next year at this time when we know where he’ll go as sad as it will be for my one and only child. </p>
<p>As a student who needs a lot of financial aid to afford college, affordability was my biggest concern throughout the entire admissions process. One college that only mailed me a few times caught my eye by sending a brochure dedicated to their financial aid and their promise to meet 100% need of all students. I looked into them further, and ultimately applied there.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there was another college that used to mail me quite often (about once every other week?), but as far as I remember never mentioned how they too meet 100% of students’ financial need. I didn’t learn about this until I already finished crafting my college list, and only realized that the college might have been a good fit for me after I already committed to a college! Although I’m happy with the college I’m going to, I somewhat regret not having this school as an option. The admissions department could certainly do a better job at marketing though!</p>
<p>In short, colleges that can afford to and want to bring in more not-so-wealthy students need to emphasize how anyone should be able to afford them. </p>