<p>I assume that Harvard writes to thousands of kids whose SAT scores and grades are up there, encouraging them to apply, but why? Why the personal letter addressed to me, the flashy pics and stats, the hard sell? I would think of all schools, Harvard needs to do this least. Is it a way to get kids to apply so that they can be rejected? ( We reject 99.9 percent, while Yale only rejects 99.7) If that is the case--that they are trying to up their stats--I find it unkind and misleading. You get the letter and think,"wow, Harvard wants me." Maybe by this time students know better than to think that...but...</p>
<p>Bloomberg News had a good article about the topic last May. See: [Ivy</a> League Colleges Solicit Students Rejected for Stake of Selectivity - Bloomberg](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>They are trying to get a diverse pool of applicants. Sometimes you can get lucky.</p>
<p>Thanks Gibby. Just as I thought. Note what I have put in CAPS from the article you cited: </p>
<p>Harvard College, which accepted a record low 6.2 percent of applicants this year, markets to high school students because it wants to find the most talented class, said William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid. The school informs students “it’s a highly competitive process,” he said.
“There are so many students out there in the world who might not automatically think about Harvard as a place to go,” said Fitzsimmons, WHO DECLINED TO SAY HOW MANY STUDENTS IT CONTACTS. Harvard, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, received almost 35,000 applications this year, a record.</p>
<p>All those application fees, so many rejects.</p>
<p>Well I for one only applied because of the ‘solicitation’, and guess where I am attending in the fall? 
Therefore, whilst a lot of people who receive the applications would not influence their application list due to it, there are quite a few who do! And for those who do, a few get a chance to attend a school they did not previously give a chance. I was initially against this as like you, I saw it as a blatant method of game the rankings due to increased selectivity, but after I was personally influenced by this mailing, then maybe it has some good intentions behind it!</p>
<p>“Yale, which admitted 7.4 percent of applicants this year, cut its mailings by a third since 2005 to 80,000, Jeffrey Brenzel, dean of undergraduate admissions, said in an interview.”</p>
<p>Doing the math: In 2005, Yale sent out 240,000 mailings to receive 19,448 applications ([College’s</a> admit rate dips lower | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2005/apr/01/colleges-admit-rate-dips-lower/]College’s”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2005/apr/01/colleges-admit-rate-dips-lower/)). That’s a ratio of 12.3 mailings for every application. Assuming Harvard did the the same in 2005 and did not cut it’s mailings in 2011, that would mean it sent out approximately 430,000 mailings to receive 35,000 applications.</p>
<p>gibby - I interpret by a third to imply they are two thirds of the original number which means it must be 120k.</p>
<p>If your interpretation is correct, that would half my result to 215,000 mailings – still a huge number – and very much out of sync with Yale’s number.</p>
<p>Readyforit, </p>
<p>Harvard’s endowment was 34 BILLION dollars last year. The most revenue Harvard could generate from app fees (of $75) per year (assuming there are 35,000 applicants) is 2.625 million dollars. That isn’t even a drop in the bucket compared to their endowment. It would actually take Harvard more than 128 application cycles to earn amounts high enough to approach their endowment. </p>
<p>Now take the 2.625 million dollars and subtract students who waived application fees. Now subtract the costs of designing the pamphlets (including staffing public relations people to design and write the pamphlets) and printing and distributing hundreds of thousands of pamphlets. Do you truly believe there is a large profit margin here, if any? Do you HONESTLY believe that Harvard is lining its pockets with app fees? </p>
<p>Harvard mails to reach all sorts of students. A few years ago I was a girl from a rural town who had never considered applying to Harvard and had never heard of HFAI. Because of mail I received from Harvard, I got interested. I would not be attending the number one university in the country for free if not for the “extraneous” mail. I have posted my story elsewhere, and I believe it is one that proves that Harvard’s mailing program is not only successful, but life changing. (And certainly not done with the intent of making some cash on the side…)</p>
<p>Aleader- I find your story inspirational. I hope you are indeed correct. I would like nothing more than to believe that Harvard might actually want ME for ME. You may also be correct that the app. fees they generate from mailings are of minimal import to their finances.I do continue to wonder, however, whether the ongoing competition with other top tier schools, a race in which percentages of applicants and rejections, acceptances and yields are important to the ranking and prestige, drives some of their outreach–including their personal letter to me. I do have very high scores and grades, but so do many others like myself–I am neither from a rural community, nor do I require aid. And, I am not an under-represented minority. So why me? I hope they see something in me that is indeed there. I am just concerned about getting my hopes up when in fact I am part of a marketing strategy that has little impact on my future in the end. Congrats to you and good luck!</p>
<p>readyforit - I believe aleader’s story does explain why Harvard sends out the marketing materials that they do. Acceptance rates and yield are a very small portion of the USNWR ranking formula. They need to cast a wide net in order to attract the diversity of students that they want to build their class from. But you are correct to recognize that there are many, many more “high test score/high grade” kids than they could accept. The wide net is to find those that
from amongst that population. It will not be until they see your application that they will be able to know whether your are part of that smaller group.</p>
<p>So this is not about their stats or prestige, but about getting the best class? They do it for all the right reasons? College isn’t a business for them? </p>
<p>Still, I am confused… </p>
<p>Don’t they assume that kids with high scores and grades already have them on the radar? They dont exactly have a name recognition problem…</p>
<p>Yes, but there are still a heckuva lot of high schools around the country where the guidance counselor’s response to a smart student will be “Wow, you’re so smart you should go to community college and maybe transfer to a state school!” or where they, even if they send a bunch of students to Local U, really haven’t heard of Harvard as a possibility, rather than as a set piece for movies like Legally Blonde. I know the reasons Harvard sends out so much mail aren’t all saintly, but I am glad that they do it. The student body would be more class-homogenous and generally narrower in a bunch of ways to which I would object if they hadn’t reached people like aleader and my good friend B.</p>
<p>points taken. Thanks.</p>