i’m top 2 % in high school
but i dont go online and do those “college searches” things
i just requested info
from ivy leagues/stuff
but nothing sends me stuff
<p>hahaha, probably because they dont need to do that to get you to come. If you know about them, then other people know them as well. Sometimes they dont really need to get their name out any more. Except Internationally.</p>
<p>I think the key is when they see your test scores. Have you taken PSAT, ACT, or SAT yet? My D always got a pile of mail right after the scores came out. All of the colleges pay to get the addresses of top students.</p>
<p>You also could have checked a box on standardized tests asking not to get mailings (maybe by mistake?).</p>
<p>Don't feel left out. It doesn't mean anything when you do get it.</p>
<p>Are we talking about the (annoying) postcard-type letters that come to our houses?! I have gotten some from interesting colleges (JHU & Cornell), but I did not do particularly well on any standardized tests lol.. they must have mixed my scores with someone else's! They probably want to lower their acceptance %'s by tricking me into thinking I have a chance mwhaha :(</p>
<p>Haven't you heard? They consider other factors besides the SAT so as long as you have at least a 1200/1600, you are in consideration. I don't know why they market so hard. You would think that they do not already have enough qualified people applying.</p>
<p>I think they still send out mailings to students with lower-end SAT scores, so that more students will apply, ultimately lowering their acceptance rates (which boosts their overall rank). Are you sure about that 1200/1600 statistic? Where have you heard that from, and which colleges might you be talking about?</p>
<p>Sorry, that is what a Harvard adcom says if you ask them in a presentation what the minimum SAT score you need in order to be considered. Adcoms never discourage anyone from applying. They are told to try to get the selectivity up for USNWR.</p>
<p>chanman, colleges do not send out literature via the mail based upon your results in school. It is based upon PSAT and SAT/ACT test scores</p>
<p>D typically received a massive influx of mail when test scores were released. The colleges seemed to get the scores ahead of the students, it came to be the signal that the scores were arriving. She received full brochures and application packages from the colleges.</p>
<p>One big reason why colleges send out so much literature even to students who most likely are not competitive enough to get in is because the college wants to "improve" its standings.</p>
<p>The schools will still have the same number of openings in the freshman class, but if more people apply, then the college makes money from the applications, and they reject more applicants, thus lowering their % acceptance and becoming more selective and therefore more "prestigious."</p>
<p>Most of the mail that I saw coming in last year came from less selective colleges. There are about 1.4 million high school graduates each year, and there are about 3500 four-year colleges in the US. There are about 20 colleges in Tier 1, about 50 in Tier 2, and about 250 in Tier 3. All three tiers put together only account for the top 10% of colleges. The bulk of colleges are scrambling to attract people and stay in business.</p>
<p>D received brochures and applications from all ivies as well as other top schools, JH, Stanford, MIT etc. Her scores were good but not incredible. Wash. U sent her stuff on a monthly basis. Top LAC's were less likely to do the mass mailings but she did receive info from many of them as well. I agree that lower ranked schools are huge generators of junk mail. She is still receiving application info from many of them.</p>
<p>Mailings depend upon not only your scores, but also your location and your expressed major. If you want to major in music, you aren't likely to get a mailing from an engineering school. Most students are swamped with mail from in-state schools, but don't receive much from Alaska or Hawaii (unless they happen to live in one of those states). </p>
<p>If you are interested in a college from which you haven't received a mailing, find their website and request information.</p>
<p>on the same weekend that you go to the websites and request info. Learn the art of thrusting the trash into the rolling bin and then remember that you once felt left out of the marketing machine that we now call the college search!!! Have fun and I hope you get tons of mail.</p>
<p>OK ... I'm going to be the token non-cynic about the schools motivation for mailing info. In other strings a lot of folks want colleges to consider kids who have less then top-top notch academics ... perhaps testing issues, or a late bloomer, or more active in the community, or a URM, or from a lower income family, etc. How are the colleges supposed to find these people? Especially when there is not a central database of high school students to which they can reference.</p>
<p>One way ... start with the test scores that are sent to the schools ... which is as close to a HS student database as they are going to find. The big catch, from the test scores they know little about the student beyond their scores (and what they can infer from the address and the HS) ... so they cast a very wide net which would include scores and grades that might not work for a BWRK but which might work for a URM, or a low income kid, or a great cellist, or a shortstop ... all things they do not know until they receive more information.</p>
<p>It is easier to be a cynic when it is about marketing. :)</p>
<p>Looking at the stuff that comes in the mail isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I don't know how many people find their dream college in a brochure. It is the same as any marketing plan. Most of the brochures are wasted, but just a few successful hits make it worthwhile.</p>
<p>At least they aren't using spam.</p>
<p>"At least they aren't using spam."</p>
<p>BTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!! Is it just me that believes it is a sad yet amusing day in America when we find junk electronic mail more annoying than junk mail we can hold in our hands? But then again, with real mail, we can rip it up to relieve stress, or like my dad does, switch up the junk mail from one sender into a return envelope from another, and junk mail them back...</p>
<p>Harvard even sent me a brochure!!! They're really trying to catch up with NYU, sending material to kids that they would never accept....</p>
<p>I recieved mail from</p>
<p>Harvard
Yale
Cornell
Emory
Pomona
GWU</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon sent me probaly 30 pieces of admissions material over the course of 10 weeks, never took the hint that I was never interested. </p>
<p>And then Elmira, has sent me everything in the world, even scented invitations to a tea party signed in purple ink!</p>