<p>As a high school sophomore, I made the mistake of allowing CollegeBoard share my info with colleges and let them send me brochures and other advertisements.
Now, as a high school junior (senior in the fall),I've started amassing letters and brochures from some of the top-tier universities (Yale, Columbia, MIT, Stanford, Penn, etc) two months ago. It was today that I received Harvard's special little two-page letter with brochure.</p>
<p>I understand the fact that Harvard sends a LOT of those informational packets out (basically advertising like any other college), but how many exactly do they send out? I'm not expecting Harvard to send out 100s of thousands of brochures and letters to everyone who made a high(ish) score on the SAT like normal colleges, right?</p>
<p>Do those letters from Harvard land in the 10,000 range? 8,000 range? Does anybody have any idea?
The curiosity is killing me a little. I know that a brochure and a letter from Harvard doesn't mean much, but what exactly does it mean? Does everybody who scores a 2000+ get it? 2100+? 2200+?</p>
<p>Thanks for the help in advance! These letters don't mean very much besides notifying me that these colleges exist (which I am very well aware), right?</p>
<p>FYI, colleges don’t have access to your PSAT/SAT scores with the CollegeSearch service. They just get your address from collegeboard and probably send out their packets randomly.</p>
<p>Only very special people who live in Texas get those magical Harvard brochures. ;^)</p>
<p>On a related note, I wish that students had the ability to opt out of such mailings for environmental reasons. What a colossal waste of money and paper products.</p>
<p>lol @austro: If you don’t mind me asking, what did you get on your ACT? I’m planning on taking mine next weekend.</p>
<p>@astults: Colleges do have access to PSAT/SAT scores (just not specific ones). Some buy the names of the top scorers so they have an idea of what/where to direct their brochures to.</p>
<p>My counselor told me that the higher the scores, the more expensive the names— but colleges do get a list of addresses/names of high-middling scorers on the PSAT (not sure about SAT) from Collegeboard if they’re willing to pay enough.</p>
<p>@bartleby: Students do. On the SAT/PSAT there is a specific checkbox that asks you specifically if you want colleges to mail you stuff. There’s another option for email.
I was dumb enough to check both… but overall, it is optional.</p>
<p>@kelio: I just checked my college junk email, and apparently colleges email you plenty too.</p>
<p>Forget about finding some special meaning to the letters. Just read / take them on their face value - nice little packet, pictures, etc - and continue doing your best preparation for college.</p>
<p>“I’m not expecting Harvard to send out 100s of thousands of brochures and letters to everyone who made a high(ish) score on the SAT like normal colleges, right?”</p>
<p>My older son enjoyed the mail he received from various institutions. Now that he’s enrolled and getting ready to go off to school later this summer, he no longer gets all that mail and he misses it. But now my younger son (rising junior) is starting to have the fun.</p>
<p>My older son got some mailings from schools that he was applying to anyway and followed up with the response cards to “demonstrate interest”. Several of them ended up waiving the application fee. While not tier 1 schools, it was a fringe benefit of responding to the junk mail.</p>
<p>My son got a letter and package from Harvard yesterday, too. He has also gotten them from other top tier schools including Columbia, Harvey Mudd, Yale, Penn, Stanford, USC, Cornell, etc. I don’t know exactly what it means, either, but we are plenty proud of him and you should be proud of yourself, too. He is just finishing his junior year and got a 222 on his PSATs (an analogous score on his SATs) and he really does not know where he wants to go. These letters certainly don’t go to everybody. My daughter, who graduated last year, did well, she got over a 200 on her PSATs, but she did not receive nearly the same attention from the top schools that he has gotten, and she did not get any unsolicited mail from Ivy League schools. This is not to say that her college search was not fruitful and she is not happy; it was and she is. It is just that I see the extraordinary diligence and work ethic my son has (in addition to being a top student he is also a 3 sport varsity athlete) and I commend him and other students who have reached the top tier of academic success. It is not easy. Kudos to all of you.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for the input guys! @T26EA: Well, it seems a little impractical and even mean on Harvard’s part, doesn’t it? I know state schools send brochures to everyone in the state (at least in Texas, they do) despite scores or anything, but you can’t expect Harvard to do the same…Unless the Ivies are actually trying to lower their admissions rate? (More advertising–>more applicants—>larger applicant pool—>more "selectivity?) I do have my doubts about that…</p>
<p>@astults: I know. It’s ridiculous, but it’s a system we all have to play by. </p>
<p>@Austro: Oh, okay! Congrats. (: So the colleges don’t only buy scores from Collegeboard…</p>
<p>@the parents: I had no idea about the application fee waiver. Wow. That’s actually really helpful; @momawe: Your son sounds like the perfect candidate for those top-tier schools, so that’s great. Has he taken his actual SATs/ACTs yet? Also, in your state (based on past results), will he qualify for NMSF in the fall?</p>
<p>A cynic would say that the Harvard admissions dept. generates greater revenue if more students can be enticed into applying. It’s certainly possible that this inflates the applicant pool. It also probably increases the numbers of Harvard applicants with not-so-strong credentials. Such applicants would get weeded out quickly at an early stage of the screening process anyway. As long as the revenue coming in (in the form of additional application fees) exceeds the combined cost of the brochures and additional manpower to handle the bump in applications received, the marketing strategy is “net positive.”</p>
<p>As you pointed out, ellefalloir, a nice side benefit is that Harvard (or any school adopting this marketing strategy) can report an increase in selectivity.</p>
<p>To be honest, though, I don’t think Harvard is intentionally trying to make money by doing the direct mailings. The school has an enormous endowment, larger than any other school as far as I know. More likely, the admissions dept. is just trying to keep up with whatever the other colleges are doing. :-)</p>
