I have gotten several emails and letters from a college. In those, they have told me to apply and waived my application fee. They also called me a top prospect, though I’m not an athlete. Is this good or does it mean nothing?
Means they have your name and phone number, maybe a psat score, maybe you indicated what major you’re thinking of, when you took that test.
One of mine was thinking of law and mistakenly put down a career category that’s more vocational than professional. She got marketed by every vocational school out there. After a while, it ws pretty amusing.
Best to you. If you’re interested in a school, consider the waiver. But do your research.
It could be real, and it could be marketing. Easy way to check: is it plausible that you would be a top prospect? are your stats in the top 25% of admitted students?
You will get bombarded with this type of marketing. We pitched it all unless it was a school my daughter already had on her list. U. of Chicago and Colorado School of Mines were the worst but she also got stuff from a bunch of tippy top LACs that didn’t even offer her major (which she did list on the demographic section for the ACT). Dartmouth also sent a ton of stuff.
Is this the same one you asked about a few weeks ago or a different one? I think, in most cases, contact from colleges is marketing. Some waive application fees for low income students. If your stats aren’t in the top 25% of accepted students I wouldn’t waste an app there.
Check to see if the college even has an application fee. It is possible they don’t charge an application fee for any of their applicants. The message you are describing sounds like a standard marketing email. Tulane sent out something similar within the last month, for example. Everything they were listing as being special - just for you! - was their standard procedure.
Remember there are still other costs to the application - score reports, unless you happen to not be using all your “free” ones.
Way back in the dark ages I got something like that from NYU Law and was admitted, it was the best school I was admitted to. At least at that time they were very aggressively marketing that they had students from all 50 states and __ countries. They needed a student from my state in my year to replace one who was graduating. I think that they were legitimately targeting me (and I’m sure others with high scores from my state). So if there is some characteristic you have that makes you underrepresented, it may well be that you have at least a slightly higher than normal chance to be admitted, e which is why you got that mailing.
On the other hand, it could very well be marketing. Kid I know with 21 ACT was aggressively marketed from Chicago. Posters, personalized fliers, a bunch of other things that made him seem highly recruited. He had no hooks. There was not a chance Chicago would take him.
Most likely just marketing. But, marketing doesn’t make it bad, dishonest, or unethical. My son hadn’t really considered UChicago until he received his first postcard from them in the summer before his junior year. In 5 weeks we are loading up the family truckster and driving to Chicago to drop him off for his first year.
Research it, if you are interested, pursue it further. If you are not, unsubscribe at the bottom of the email. That doesn’t cost you anything.
The request for information form at one particular college’s website asks for GPA and SAT scores. Not thinking anything of it, D entered her info. We later took a tour of the college and within a week received a letter telling her they wanted to give her $xxx merit for 4 years. She also received an email waiving the app fee if applied before September. Am I wrong to assume that if she applies, she will get accepted and receive the merit aid as stated in the letter?
@eb23282 hard to say without reading the letter. Is it on official college stationary? Signed by somebody with title like Director of Admissions? Make sure the letter doesn’t say things like “students like you often receive $xxx in merit scholarships” or “with your academic success you’ll be considered for one of our [Presidents/Trustees/Mascot] scholarships.”
@BrianBoiler good point. She meets/exceeds the average academic profile of the school and the letter did come from Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, though it doesn’t appear to be a wet signature. The language is a little confusing… “based on your your academic interest and self-reported academic record, you are eligible for the following four year award. This award… will be the foundation of your student aid package after you apply for federal student aid next fall” There’s also an * - “Students must apply and be accepted to be awarded this foundation award”.
She’s invited to contact her admissions rep with questions about the award, but there’s no way she’d be comfortable having that discussion. Am I overstepping making that call?
It is strictly marketing. The college is looking to get applications. The emails have absolutely no bearing on if you will ultimately be accepted, get merit aid or anything like that. So if the emails are from a school you are interested in, by all means use the free application – if it is from a school you are not considering then delete the emails and move on.
@eb23282 I read it as you are eligible. Although, it does almost sound like a sure thing in that “if accepted she’ll get it.” Some schools have merit awards based only on GPA and test scores.
I’d encourage her to call. She might surprise you. She’s practically an adult, have her call in your presence if that makes her more comfortable, but college is a great time for her to begin to do this kind of thing on her own.
if contact number is indicated much better to call and verify it
It is probably through the College Board service if you agree to send your test scores. Some of the not as competitive school are probably sending correct info. The more competitive schools are usually just encouraging as many people to apply as possible. It doesn’t mean that you are viewed highly, but they want to reach out to as many students as possible.(It also helps lower their acceptance rate)