Ok, so my DD received a mailed packet from Harvard. She’s a triplet senior in HS so between all 3 kids, we’ve been inundated with mailings and collateral material from the entire spectrum of Universities. This one was oddly specific, inviting her to apply. We were of course skeptical, since we’ve been awash in mailings and solicitations, and although we are biased and think she is qualified, she’s not “uber-qualified” and electrical engineering I believe is not necessarily in their “wheelhouse”? Plus I read about the mailings as a marketing tool to boost admission stats. My question is: how did Harvard know that my DD was applying to engineering schools, specifically for electrical engineering? Harvard was not even on her radar and we can’t figure out how they got that level of detailed info about our kid. Am I being paranoid, lol?
Mailings are based on what students fill out when they take their PSAT/ ACT/ SAT, etc. If she mentioned her potential major on that, schools will know her major if potential major is among the information they buy from the College Board or ACT.
This is normal. She will be inundated with mail from lots of colleges, urging her to apply. She will be offered application fee waivers by some and automatic admission and merit scholarships at others.
Unfortunately, it does not mean she will be admitted to Harvard. I remember in particular one College Confidential story about a student who applied early decision to a prestigious college that had been sending him lots of mail, was rejected by it, but kept receiving mail for the next month encouraging him to apply. The parent was furious. Mass mailings are not really personalized (though they may plunk in your name and info electronically), nor are they monitored by admissions counselors.
It does, however, mean that she is a strong enough applicant that Harvard thinks she might be typical of students who apply. That is good news in general!
Thanks for the reply. Her list of schools was really specific to engineering in her niche field, which didn’t include Harvard because it really didn’t make sense. It sort of came out of the blue. I am looking forward to the days when our mailbox isn’t stuffed with postcards and other mailer packets!
After my first kid I told the others not to check the box at the SAT”s that results in all these mailings!
^ After watching my first kid go through this process, i must agree. Do not check the box! My kid gets so much junk email that he has been missing the important ones–like the messages from college interviewers.
We loved the brochures and emails! They were fun to receive, and, at times, they helped inform our search.
Now I am ‘unsubscribing’ at the bottom of the emails I still receive as a parent, since his choice has been made… but the mailings were fun at the time!
It felt a little sad when three of his other top choices sent him emails that they would extend his application deadline. It is hard not to want to imagine that this is personal and based on his interviews, etc., and that the admissions officer is disappointed that he is not applying… but, on a logical level, it is probably just an email sent to all students who sent in their test scores but did not submit applications, because they want the highest possible number of applicants.
These mailings are not personal.
Omigosh, I wish I knew about that. We have triplets so we are being deluged.
Yeah, we got absolutely no mailings after the first kid. We felt we had a lot more control over information on colleges. If there was a school one of my kids was interested in, it was easy enough to find the website. Save the trees! 
Don’t get too flattered I’m afraid - it is a ploy almost ALL
colleges have increasingly used to increase applicant numbers, and hence perceived selectivity.
Shameful really, because in many instances the kids have virtually no chance to be accepted: They want your $80 and your contribution to the denominator,
It also goes in waves, as we have seen between which colleges were spamming the first collegekids and the current ones (7 year span). In 2011-2012 UChicago, Vandy and WashU were in full swing with massive mailing pushes. This year we are still seeing a lot from Vandy, but St Lawrence has come on strong as well, and out of the blue Bryn Mawr.
While it’s true that once your child registered for PSAT/SAT, the list is sold to colleges and you become flooded with invitations to apply, I think though, that besides pure marketing, colleges are looking at students profiles to see if they potentially are a fit, at least, based on their academic performance so the fact that she got mail from Harvard means something, she is definitely up there when it comes to academics. My kids, one a freshman in college, one a sophomore in HS now have been flooded by mail as well but I can tell you, none of them were from Ivy League or like caliber schools because their scores were not there. Some of the mail is hilarious though. My son received an invitation from a small college in Massachusetts, and it said “You will feel at home at our Catholic institution not far away from Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox”, I was like, sure, someone did their research to send this email to a Jewish kid from NY and a die-hard Yankees fan!
gibby, my kids opted out of the info sharing, and I assume that is still possible-?
Yes - you can check the box that you do not want info sharing, and you will only start getting things then if you load schools into your common app (even just to look at the application) - it seems they somehow get that info and will start sending materials then.
I agree that getting the info for the first child is great. Thereafter, it can still be informative if you like that sort of tangible aid.
I didn’t think it was helpful for the first kid either, and so wasteful. I felt for the poor postal delivery person.