How do colleges try to sell you into applying?

Applying to College
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<p>So I have made a fair amount of visits to Universities and I always look for their pitch. Here's are the ones I've got now. Feel free to add any opinions or examples you want.</p>

<p>Columbia: We know what is best for you, and we'll get you New York Internships</p>

<p>U Chicago: We are a good school, not HYP, but when it comes to Econ/Math/Physics were awesome. We have got more Nobel Prize winners than you. Everyone here is weird and the curriculum is challenging. </p>

<p>Northwestern: We are a good school! We have lots of little programs and intangibles for you to do. We are more normal than U Chicago.</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon: We like technology and Scots. We're big into computers, but we have a good business school too! (We're only 25% Asian) Pittsburgh is a great, safe, fun city for a college student.</p>

<p>University of Pittsburgh: We are big! We are into pre-professional programs, as in come here and by meeting certain qualifications we can guarantee you into grad school/ med school/ law school. We have more fun than Carnegie Mellon. We give lots of Merit Money.</p>

<p>University of Michigan: We love the Maize and Blue! We have the biggest football stadium in the US! Make sure you take the SAT 25 times so you can get in. </p>

<p>Princeton: If you get in, we'll make sure you are set for life. Princeton for life. We're at the nation's service. We are a part of US History. Our Eating clubs are better than Greek Life. But, that's a big IF. </p>

<p>Rutgers: Ummm, we don't know whats going on because we lost a lot of state funding. Scholarships and programs are all up in the air. We are one of the top 60 research universities. 60% of students do research! We are down to earth. </p>

<p>MIT: We do research on important projects. 80% of students do research! We also are a bunch of oddballs, as evidenced by the architecture and housing system. We will change the world! Hardly anyone fails or leaves!</p>

<p>Harvard: If a University is a buffet, we do freshman year like free samples. Yeah, we are Harvard. Money is not an object. If you are poor you will go for free. We just want you to apply, because like the lottery, "Hey, you never know". (We know we're the best and we don't feel like telling you why) Stoic Utopianism. We are a student body of Stereotypes.</p>

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<p>New York: We're the #1 dream college!!! We're in the best city in the nation and Stern/Tisch are the top in their field.</p>

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<p>Rice: We're in Houston. Come on! Coooome on!</p>

<p>Yale: We're Yale you moron.</p>

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<p>Olin: Rejecting MIT/Caltech is fun!</p>

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<p>Yea right?</p>

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<p>UWisc: No, we're not all binge drinkers!</p>

<p>(seriously, they lectured me for almost one full night on how the uw isn't as alcoholic as everyone says it is... the problem: uw is <em>in wisconsin</em>, Bud country usa.)</p>

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<p>No, no, no Ceecee! We're Miller & Leinie Country! St. Louis is Bud Country.</p>

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<p>I think your assessments are pretty spot-on. Just a few I want to add:</p>

<p>URichmond: We have a lake. It's on our campus. IT'S A LAKE...ON OUR CAMPUS. Also, we will hold your hand through your entire college experience, and I swear our School of Leadership [barely contained snort of laugher] is totally legit and not BS at all. Also, there's a LAKE on our f'ing CAMPUS.</p>

<p>Duke: Lots of our students rejected Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and other Ivies to come here. Some of us rejected every single Ivy ever plus all the top publics and also every university in the USNWR top 50. Did you know our basketball team kicks butt? But uh, we don't really speak about our football team...they're uh...pretty bad. And let's not even start about our lacrosse team.</p>

<p>Wake Forest: We're working really hard to be diverse. Not there yet, but we're gonna keep working! Did you hear that, Juan and Jamaal? DIVERSITY, YAY!</p>

<p>Columbia: We are more cultured than you. If you want to be pretentious and cultured and talk about how much you love New Yawrk and the city life, come here. Our campus isn't cramped--it's cozy! And...cramped.</p>

<p>Vanderbilt: HOT DAMN, HAVE YOU LOOKED AT THE GIRLS HERE? </p>

<p>UVa: Thomas motherf'ing Jefferson founded us. He was an intellectual, an architect, an author, a visionary and the motherf'ing President of the United States. We are obsessed with our school and have a ton of pride to be a part of it. A "hokie" is actually a castrated turkey. Every dirt road leads to Blacksburg. C'MON, THOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDED US. HE WROTE ABOUT IT ON HIS G'DAMN EPITAPH!</p>

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<p>Berkeley: We're NOT overrated I promise!!</p>

<p>Uchicago: Lan parties whoo hoo!!!</p>

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<p>haha..the one for Rice is pretty accurate. But I'm not gonna lie, it's the only reason I'm applying there.</p>

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<p>Uchicago and BostonU: We'll send you a ****load of mail!</p>

<p>Honestly i had a garbagebag of mail from just these two schools that i took to my counselor so she could file it away for future classes, and that was just the stuff she could use</p>

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<p>Really? I got the most mail from WUSTL, Cornell, Notre Dame (I think they thought I was Catholic) and Tufts.</p>

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<p>WUSTL sent me SO MUCH MAIL.</p>

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<p>Rice advertises? I wasn't aware of that.</p>

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<p>Heh, UChicago sent me tons of stuff too, more than any other school. I have a huge pile of stuff they've sent me in the past year. WashU actually didn't send me anything after their initial letter asking if I wanted to be on their mailing list, because I never replied to it. (I regret that now though, because I am interested in WashU now and I know demonstrated interest is really important to them. Maybe I'll just call them up and ask them to send me a ton of stuff.) </p>

<p>And yeah, Rice advertises, though not that much really. I'm on their mailing list, but they only sent me like two mailings a long time ago and only recently started sending me stuff again. They didn't send me piles of stuff on a constant basis like Chicago. But Rice does push the Houston thing quite a bit. Their most recent mailing is all about how great Houston is, and they've even made a new "Houston is cooler than you think" website.</p>

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<p>Brown: Yeah, being super-liberal is the reason we're named after a color. If you like wierd people, we've got lots of them. Wrigley field is more like an Ivy than us, but thats ok. Did I say we're liberal?</p>

<p>Wash U: No, we aren't Washington University. No, we aren't the University of St. Louis. Ok, we'll just send you lots of stuff to make you feel special and know about us, and once you are able to send in the application we mailed you sophomore year, you'll be stuck with us because we didn't explain Early Decision! Owned! Oh, but if you're overqualified, you're getting waitlisted. We are NOT an IVY SAFETY!!</p>

<p>Dartmouth: Yeah, so we're in New Hampshire. Or is it Vermont? Well who cares about the technicalities, we're in the middle of nowhereI'm not really sure how we can be an Ivy League school when I don't think ivy can even grow here its so freakin' cold, but who cares, more prestige for us. If you like to ski and have frat parties, come here. If not, you'll be in for a hell of a winter. Ironic, hell of winter... hehe</p>

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<p>Vassar is apparently also trying to play the location game. However, Poughkeepsie kind of sucks, so I think that's the wrong approach for them, personally...</p>

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<p>Carleton - Frisbees! And it's really not that cold (once you get used to it).</p>

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<p>Swarthmore: We love everyone. Our campus is beautiful. Community service rocks!</p>

<p>TCNJ: It's not like Rutgers. Oh, and look at all the shiny new buildings!</p>

20

<p>lol hilarious thread</p>

<p>You know, I get stuff in the mail inviting me to go to their open-house day. I live in JAPAN and they expect me to fly over to visit their colleges like one week after I get it in the mail. WUSTL kept sending me one page brochures in the mail too... didn't really understand what they meant by them</p>

<p>University of Hawaii (forgot the exact name): we sent you a HARDCOVERED PICTURE BOOK about the scenery at our school with GOLDEN edges so you better come here!</p>