I know this topic has probably been discussed ad nauseam, but I just have to vent. In the middle of today’s usual haul of college seduction mail, sandwiched between Lafayette and Adlephi, was a sweet letter congratulating my daughter on her achievements, cooing that she must be looking at the nation’s most elite institutions and humbly asking if she would consider getting to know Princeton, PRINCETON! Now, my daughter has fine grades and stats, and I am insanely proud of her. I’m sure she will get into many fine colleges, but there is no way in heck my white, middle class girl from the NY suburbs, with a few B’s on her transcript and an ACT of 33 is getting into Princeton. In fact, I checked, and in the past few years only one person has ever gotten into to Princeton from our high school and that was off of the wait list. Many students with nearly perfect scores apply every year.
Its just cruel that these schools do this. I know they are trying to juice their yield statistics, but is it really worth it? Is it worth raising false hope and expectations? Is it worth sucking yet another application fee from strapped families? Is it really worth it Princeton? IS IT?
Yeah, my S has an 1100 PSAT and a 3.1 GPA and has gotten plenty from both University of Chicago and Cornell. The nice poster from Chicago went straight to recycling. Why do they do this? My S says he is going to tell his kids someday about how these high ranked schools were chasing after him.
Yep, It’s annoying, but what is even worse is that some families don’t understand this marketing gimmick that is used to garner your application fee and feeds into the numbers game to lower their admittance rate. I had to gently break this to a parent the other day because they were so excited about the prestigious schools that they were getting letters from for their sophomore. Maybe he’ll have the stats, but who knows until he takes the real ACT or SAT. Even then it’s a roll of the dice for the elites. We got two letters from Stanford from two different department heads on the same day. We had a good laugh as they were practically the same letter with a few accolades about the respective department on each. We could have wallpaper a room with the stuff from U of Chicago. Luckily DS and I knew what was up and just tossed the stuff. He was never going to get into either school.
I post the same thing whenever anybody mentions the college junk mail… why the heck are you guys even reading it?
It’s no different than the junk you get advertising carpet cleaning or a “special sale” at the local car dealer. It’s junk. Mostly untargeted and meaningless.
Just throw it away.
Unless you’re the type person who also answers telemarketing calls and scrupulously studies your junk mail, then you’re a whole different species and I’m not sure what to say.
@milee30 Unfortunately, there are many people who are uninformed and think that those are real letters trying to recruit their kid. They assume that they are getting it because of the score the kid got on their pSAT, SAT or ACT or some magic list. Some of the mailings can be informative, you may not have heard of a particular college and a mailer might peek your interest. I don’t mind the generalized here’s some info about our school type of mailers. It’s the “personalized” letters that seem to be “recruiting” you that are IMHO misleading and border on unethical.
My husband opens every piece of junk mail because a couple of times there has been money in the junk mail (survey companies would put a $1 bill in to tempt you into participating).
you know what I hate? those letters, some from very difficult to be accepted colleges, that tout their sustainability and environmental programs. Really??? and that is why you are sending a multi color glossy mailing? that arrived at our house in a gasoline burning postal vehicle? really colleges? thanks for the opportunity to vent a little.
@milee30 I agree about the general information letters. Many are interesting and some, from schools we hadn’t considered, could be useful. The brochures are also pretty! My objection is to schools in Princeton’s league sending seemingly personalized letters to vulnerable families. Its cruel.
College is a business. Even the not for profit colleges operate as businesses or they quickly go under. It’s a business Just like the carpet cleaner or car dealer but with a different product.
It’s not their job to be kind. It’s their job to fulfill their mission and to do that most colleges use marketing to cast a wide net to attract as many potential “customers” (AKA applicants) as they can. And yes, there are always going to be very gullible people who answer telemarketers or think they’ve won a new car with the key they received in the mail or be flattered that a college is actively recruiting them. Life will be hard for those poor souls and they’ll have to learn a few things the hard way.
Stop being so sensitive and just throw it all away. Seriously. If you’re looking for suggestions regarding colleges you haven’t heard of, there are a lot easier ways to find them than combing through junk mail. And as for the people opening every single piece of junk mail in the hopes of finding a dollar, OMG. Given how much junk mail most people receive you’re probably up to a whole $1 for every 20 hours you spend on that nonsense. Silly.
Throw it away. And use it as a lesson to your kids so they know to throw their junk mail away in the future when you’re not there to throw it away for them.
I agree with the OP. I think it’s obnoxious. My daughter got them from Harvard – “because of your scores, grades, achievements, blah blah blah you belong here…” or some such. Yes, she had some good test scores, but she hasn’t cured cancer or anything. We just laughed and threw it out, but I know people who really think it means they’ve got a high chance of getting in. News flash: you don’t.
@milee30 I’m not gullible. I don’t believe that my daughter is being recruited. I understand that college is a business, but even businesses have some social responsibility. There is a point at which advertising becomes deceptive. I’m not talking in the strictly legal sense, but in the moral sense. Yes, everyone should be smart and savvy and should toss these aside. But its not wrong to ask an organization whose mission is to nurture and educate young people to have a bit of compassion. This Princeton letter is very personalized and congratulatory. It implicates that my D is being actively recruited. It then goes on to list all the wonderful benefits of Princeton as if they need to sell themselves to us. I am not fooled, but others are, and kids who read these letters and fall in love with all the hype get hurt. Is it the world’s biggest problem? Not by along shot. But its a scam and its wrong.
Next someone will tell us that the college they toured doesn’t have a gluten free vegan non-GMO soy offering at one of their smaller cafes! Oh, the humanity. How can they be so cruel?
To play devil’s advocate I don’t think sending those mailers to someone with an ACT of 33 is that outrageous. I’d guess that ‘white, middle class girl from the suburbs’ is most likely one of the largest groups on campus. Out of my D’s 4 roommates 3 of them fit that description and numerous others in her friend group that I’ve met/heard about. They have no idea what your GPA is, your story, etc. An initial ACT of 33 might end up an ACT of 34/35 when all testing is done and that’s likely the same number as all those ‘white, middle class girls from the suburbs’ that my D knows.
@Dolemite OK, thats a fair point. I think I would less annoyed if they just sent the pretty brochure without the personalized recruitment letter which talks about her academic achievements. It sounds as if they do know about her GPA and other accomplishments. I’m not fooled, I find it misleading.
@milee30 To be fair, many of the issues raised on CC are First World Problems. Should I retake the ACT with a 34? How to choose between my scholarship and the prestigious school that wants full pay, I only got into my state flagship but it isn’t a good fit, etc. No one is claiming that these rank up there with gun violence, global warming and famine.