<p>The floodgates of college mail have opened for my 11th grader. I am baffled by the content of the mail. Each is a letter - no pictures - talking in general about college and inviting her to take on online quiz, or send away for a pamphlet, etc. I know that the object is to get her info on a list of interested students, but none of the mail includes any information about the school itself.</p>
<p>She hasn't heard of most of these schools. Other than seeing the name of the town on the return address, the mail she is receiving doesn't tell her anything about the size of the school, whether it's urban or rural, or what the school is known for. </p>
<p>I know that it would be more expensive, but wouldn't it be more effective for schools to send a few pictures of their lovely campus and a general description of the school and what is so great about it?</p>
<p>We are getting the same mail via email…and some via mail…
its the casting a wide net method of schools looking for initial interest…</p>
<p>the online quizzes, free “check lists” etc are as you know ways for the schools to connect with a live person–interesting marketing imho because if the kid is lured to look into “what type of school is right for me” type of quiz–they then see something about that inital school for example.</p>
<p>We have seen everything from small lacs to military academy mail come in over the last yr since soph psat and its picked up again with the jr yr …</p>
<p>Something like, “we are a liberal arts college of 1400 student nestled in the foothills of the White mountains” or “we are located right in the center of the action, across the street from Lincoln Center” would make sense to me. My D doesn’t open any of the mail because she deems it worthless.</p>
<p>I guess they think the mail will make her go onto their website but HELLO out there, 11th graders are very busy and it’s not working.</p>
<p>Kajon - LOL about the piles on the counter! We have one pile on the counter and one taking up huge bit of space in the study! I’m having a hard time “switching gears” to focus on #2 (since #1 is pretty much set on what he’s doing).</p>
<p>Glad I had a year’s breather. (I have an '09 and an '11.)</p>
<p>With Son, we had very narrow criteria, so he was not at all interested in any of the mail. But D wants to go out of state and isn’t sure what type of school she wants. She would be the perfect target for college marketing, if they’d approach it in a different way.</p>
<p>My family got a good laugh out of one of the online quizzes that we took as a result of receiving an email message from a college. The quiz told my daughter, a junior, that she might consider engineering as a major. It suggested I consider management (I was a corporate lawyer before I had children). When my son, a freshman, took the quiz, the response he got was that his interests “defy characterization.”</p>
<p>We get tons of mail (and I have twins, so it’s really double the mail). But I don’t get what’s so surprising about it. It’s direct marketing, just like any other product or service out there. The colleges buy lists of names based on whatever criteria. It’s no different from any junk mail received by our household. Honestly, most of it goes straight to the recycle pile; only those from schools that they were interested in in the first place (or that I think they might benefit from reading) gets read. Even then, there’s so much information available online that it really seems as though online has surpassed mail as the info source of choice.</p>
<p>But it seems like it’s direct marketing in exactly the wrong way. I think that a postcard showing a beautiful campus, or a full football stadium, or whatever, could be designed to convey more information and get better results. Kids are oversaturated with media and glossy images - how many of them pause to read a three paragraph letter on white paper?</p>
<p>yes the floodgates have indeed opened. I threw out 25 of these mailings yesterday.</p>
<p>The good thing is that maybe they will get him interested in starting to look into what he may actually want. Though it’s still early, with no real SATs, and no talk with counsleor yet to figure out what his grades mean, in context.</p>
<p>I’m not one to advise these people on how to spend their marketing dollars, but a large chunk of these schools are laughingly inappropriate for our son, the amount of prescreening on their end must be almost nil.</p>
<p>Indeed, your D probably signed up for it…on the psat/SAT registration, one can check a box if interested in receiving mail/solicitations from the CB’s College Search service. If you don’t want junk mail, check ‘No’.</p>
<p>Colleges used to send guidebooks and all kinds of glossy brochures, but the costs is prohibitive, so now they only send if the kid goes online to request such stuff?</p>
<p>I gather Missypie (who’s done this once already) isn’t marveling at the amount or existence of the mailings–I’m pretty sure she knows what direct marketing is.</p>
<p>My take is that she’s talking about the “kind” of mailings, and I have to agree; were colorless letters including trite invitations to get on line and play games the norm ten years ago, my kids woulda tossed them too. They were more likely (with some urging from parent) to look at pictures and prominent descriptions. I agree with Missypie that this is a problematical marketing style.</p>
<p>You’re exactly right, garland. My '11 is totally open regarding schools and could absolutely be influenced by a well designed marketing piece. 100% of the schools are missing the boat.</p>
<p>I will say that we have already indicated interest in two schools by other means. We must be on the “Level 2” marketing list for those schools, because they are the only ones sending colorful pictures, etc.</p>
<p>Ah, I misunderstood missypie’s point – thank you for clarifying, garland. </p>
<p>Yes, I agree with you. First, it seems my kids see opening envelopes as one more chore to do, LOL. If it’s not a self-mailing brochure or postcard that grabs attention immediately – forget it. I agree that a lot of it just looks boring from the outside and doesn’t give anyone a reason to want to open it. “Look - I got mail from Montana State” just isn’t all that exciting.</p>
<p>Of the piles here–our student hasn’t looked at any of it–I sort and cast the non-players out…
and leave a pile for kiddo’s perusal–which isn’t happening</p>
<p>Like Missypie’s student–our kiddo will check out an email and assign it to trash long before a picture-less letter.</p>
<p>A glossy postcard is more interesting</p>
<p>Have you seen the U Chicago postcards?? Very cool method–capture some interest/attention and actually a good info gathering tool for the school</p>