<p>I have pretty good stats (3.94 GPA with 11 AP's by graduation, 2300 SAT score, etc.) and in the past few months, Penn (along with UChicago and Columbia) have been mailing me A LOT of marketing materials. Do top schools simply try to get everybody they can to apply so that they reject more people, acceptance rate drops and the school supposedly looks better? I did pretty well on the PSAT (219) and will likely be a national merit semifinalist in my state. Did Penn get my data from the PSAT or SAT? </p>
<p>I believe the College Board shares approximate PSAT and SAT score ranges with universities. Super-competitive schools and Ivies usually just mail out materials to students who scored in a high range. It’s true this usually results in more applicants, thus allowing colleges to be more selective, but you should also keep in mind that they send materials to students based on competitive test scores, meaning they think you’ll be a competitive applicant.</p>
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No, they rely on your judgment on whether to apply or not. They DO want great applicants. How do you think not marketing themselves will get to that goal? Often elite colleges are slagged for not casting a wide net. Now you’re suspicious that they are only doing it cynically to reject more kids to increase their appearance of selectivity. I think some schools are that venal. I don’t think Penn works like that. Indeed, the trend among some top schools (I know Yale and MIT for sure) is to do less mass marketing that, without fail, enticing kids to apply who aren’t viable applicants in the first place; and to do more directed marketing.</p>