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<p>Seems like the cost of a glossy postcard would be about the same as a letter in an envelope (that is never opened.) Who knows?</p>
<p>Again, even a phrase in the letter like, “located in the heart of Manhattan” or “with a view of the Pacific Ocean” or “with a nationally ranked basketball team” would help.</p>
<p>The U Chicago postcards are generally multi color tri folds</p>
<p>one part rips off–
each has interesting questions</p>
<p>like—“applications are all stats-- share some numbers about yourself not normally in an app” --and they are looking for interesting obtuse things.</p>
<p>…our student including miles hiked, countries visited, age in dog years etc…</p>
<p>one was like…“if you could tightrope walk over a guide wire (no net) where would you want to do it…what are you looking at…”</p>
<p>one had a “coffee stain” on it and talked about the cool eateries around campus…</p>
<p>U Chicago has definitely thought about this generation and their marketing shows that</p>
<p>True. But I can also see some marketing “genius” telling the schools “hey, kids don’t read, just send them this little letter that will send them to the Internet–that’s where they all are anyway” without thinking about the way it will be perceived. And yes, a postcard could do that, too. Was not very thought out, it seems to me.</p>
<p>I wonder if the same “marketing genius” is advising most of these schools. It all appears to be the same product.</p>
<p>I’ve been continually impressed by UMD regarding their “green campus” initiative. As my S was receiving mounds of mailings from every other college, UMD stayed true sending only a postcard or two (along with e-mails). They won an award in the fall for being “America’s Greenest Campus”–a well deserved award in my opinion.</p>
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<p>I know exactly the one you mean. That one stood out for both of my kids, even though U of C is not on their short-list. It portrayed more of a conversational attitude (“hey come get to know us”) and a very specific vibe. Many of the envelopes just go straight into recycling – and like it or not, I look at the name on the outside and do the recycling for them. I mean, I know my kids have no reason to look at North Central College in Naperville, IL, or Eastern Michigan, whatever. They likely haven’t thought through the extent to which a parent may be a “gatekeeper” for the mail.</p>
<p>S is a sophomore who took the PLAN test. We received 5 solicitations yesterday. All very bland, sent from the same zip code, with the same type of postage stamp. Total waste of time and effort on the part of the sender.</p>
<p>I agree with the posters abvove…give the kid a reason to visit the website. My S is casting a wide net for colleges at this time and would be open to a school that piqued his interest.</p>
<p>The letters are actually a lot cheaper than the glossy postcard, because they can be printed off of any computer or xerox machine whereas the postcard requires a photographer to take the photos, edit them, and create the card, and a print shop to do up the cards before mailing. </p>
<p>It is still a bit early for the glossy mailers to come out, most schools will try to see if they can hook you on the cheap before they go for the more expensive stuff. Look in a few months for your mailbox to be stuffed with postcards, glossies, posters, viewbooks, etc etc etc.</p>
<p>I - for one - found the mailings different for ds2 - class of 2011 - than for ds1 - class of 2009. Two years ago, we literally filled two large boxes with all the mailings, from near and far, of all types and sizes. This time around, there are fewer mailings, of smaller size (UVM, in particular, sent out a viewbook half the size of the one seen in this household in '08), and largely inviting DS2 to sign up on line to receive more information, or return a postcard to ‘stay on’ a mailing list. Some of the letters received are also highly specific as to DS2’s interests - Ohio state referenced a unique EC - while some reference the PSAT score specifically, like Dartmouth. I have also seen more than a few mailings referencing scholarship programs, just recently one from Washington and Lee, whose program I had not heard of until the large glossy arrived here. </p>
<p>Hence, I do think the schools are buying more targeted information, and reducing the overall cost of the paper deluge. It does not feel like the throw it at the wall marketing of two years ago.</p>
<p>D1 always checks the “send no mail” box, or doesn’t check the “send mail” box, so her only mail is from a CTCL event and from schools that she’s contacted. However, she DOES get those U of C postcards. She loves them, reads them, says they’re almost enough to convince her to be interested. The rest of the family likes reading them, too. I think that’s as close as we’ll be to anyone in the immediate family experiencing undergrad at U of C. :)</p>
<p>I’m not sure what list she was on to get the U of C mailings. Same thing with Caltech. My guess is that those schools purchased lists from CTY.</p>
<p>Either way, whether it’s letters or postcards, it’s being outsourced to a printing shop. (Unless you think the colleges are hand-stuffing umpteen thousand letters themselves.)</p>
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<p>I’ve read this before - about filling boxes – and I don’t quite understand. Do you really keep these all? My kids are interested in no more than 20 schools between the two of them – almost all of which we are visiting and so what we see there will be the core of the info needed. The rest of it just gets recycled – I certainly wouldn’t keep a box of it. Whatever for?</p>
<p>I’m still baffled by the phone calls DS#1 is getting from one particular university. We’ve had probably 6 calls…and he has NEVER expressed any interest in the school. Nada! </p>
<p>As for all the mailings…DS#2 looks at where the schools are located. Any place with snow gets pitched. Yesterday, we got 6 in the mail and he only kept the one from Univ of Miami.</p>
<p>pizzagirl: ds1 wanted to keep the mailings, to read them, he thought, in one sitting. Somehow he saw the process as his, and his obligation to review all that we got in by way of mail. DS2 lets the junk mail go straight to the recycle bin - only keeping mailings that are targeted to him, reflect scholarship options, or otherwise suggest a personal touch. 12 unopened pieces met the bin yesterday.</p>
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<p>My native Texan daughter is dismissing any place without snow.</p>
<p>Mail is crazy here too…email is just as bad. I talke with a counselor about this too and she says they get requests all time asking for specific sets of students. All the kids in top 10% or top quartile, or girls with 4.0 in all science and math, etc. All kinds of weird stuff. We got a letter from school that focuses on Mining and Engineering. I guess my high heel wearing, coach pursing carrying girl would look great in a hard hat! They really should get better at that stuff.</p>
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<p>If they’re going to all the trouble to target such a specific group, their marketing pieces should reflect that…The letter should start out “You’re a girl who is great at science and math. We want you!”</p>
<p>Except don’t you think kids just sometimes put stuff down because they have to put some interest down? Example: My D thinks she’s interested in math and science - but she may not fully be as interested as the person who has been hard-core math and science from the get-go. She doesn’t want to be pegged as hard-core math and science and that would turn her off in a letter if she felt that they assumed she was only mathy-sciency. </p>
<p>No reason a high-heel wearing, Coach-purse-carrying girl couldn’t look just great in a hard hat!</p>
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<p>I think there’s a movie in there somewhere…Elle Wood’s little sister goes to the Colorado School of Mining…</p>
<p>I admit this was years ago, but it’s still my favorite…</p>
<p>A well regarded LAC sent my kid a brochure. I knew it wasn’t a college that would be of interest, but many in my extended family have attended it, so I read the brochure. </p>
<p>In attempting to explain the lure of a LAC, it said “Imagine being taught by reputable professors as a freshman!” ( I suspect they meant renowned.)</p>