<p>Has anyone had the experience of being sweet-talked by an elite school, with an invitation to apply, and then rejected? I've heard this happens.</p>
<p>Only Harvard and Yale does this.</p>
<p>How do you know that? Did they do that to you or your child?</p>
<p>I’m a rising Junior FYI.</p>
<p>One of my friends was <em>sort of</em> recruited by Yale (they kept sending him information packets). They ended up rejecting him. Harvard did a similar thing too. They called him over the phone discussing some minority status (he is part black) and basically requested him to apply. Rejected there too.</p>
<p>Do you mean by a coach? Few are actively recruited accept for sports. Some do misunderstand frequent mailings and think the college is recruiting them. Diversity weekends can also be misunderstood as an admissions guarantee.</p>
<p>^Do you mean ‘except,’ because that would make more sense.</p>
<p>The frequent mailings are usually a scam and are sent out to everyone who took the SAT and scored over a certain threshold.</p>
<p>I meant students are invited to apply – yes, their name would be bought off a College Board list, likely. They’re sent recruiting material.</p>
<p>Do not mistake recruited with marketed. Very,very few students are truly recruited. Many are marketed with repeated mailings and emails. They can look very personalized.</p>
<p>blueiquana has it right; that’s marketing, not recruitment. </p>
<p>And yes, some athletes are recruited and rejected.</p>
<p>Like blueiguana says: there’s a huge difference between being recruited and being the object of marketing. Just because you’re being innundated with mailings from schools (both prestigious and non) doesn’t mean you have a special “in” – especially from schools whose admit rates are BELOW TEN PERCENT.</p>
<p>I recruit for an HYP and never sweet talk anyone. I’m no car salesman to the students and families. I know (and hope they do too) about the crushing odds against them. I portray the benefits of my college, explain clearly the steps to apply and I also, in no uncertain terms, tell them what a viable candidate looks like – then it’s up to them to decide. I do no service to them or my college if I just elicit a bunch of unrealistic applications (despite peoples’ cynical assumption that we want more apps to decrease our admit rate to boost our USNWR standing: rubbish). I tell students/families that unless they are in a special circumstance that viable candidates are those whom the teachers and administration uniformly agree are the top scholars of the senior class. I say administration too because the top students are known by them as well. By implication, if this isn’t the student’s reputation, I don’t consider them viable candidates.</p>
<p>I’ve been at some recruiting events where a fellow volunteer will do their best to interest everyone in applying. I cringe at that mentality, personally.</p>
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<p>T26E4, please explain why it’s “rubbish” to assume that all colleges, even the elite ones, want more apps to decrease admit rate. If such an assumption is “rubbish,” why do schools like Harvard send “mass market” materials to students based solely on test scores?</p>
<p>Lol Ivy schools only recruit for sports, and you still have to have good enough grades to get in.</p>
<p>They’re gonna send you info if you have a high SAT score, but that’s just to get more applicants; it’s by no means any indication that you’ll be accepted.</p>
<p>The only other way to get “recruited” would be to cure something like cancer or end the World Hunger Crisis, or be a descendant of a former president.</p>
<p>Lurkerdad: I’m not saying that top schools aren’t mass-marketing themselves. They clearly are. However, I 100% believe that the reason is to increase the pool so they can get applicants from traditionally under-served pools (rural, inner-city, etc.). I choose to believe (and some would say I’m naive) that this is because the tippy top schools sincerely want to find diamonds in the rough. They exert extra effort in travel, recruiting trips, QBridge, fostering workshops w/schools that traditionally have never sent an application, etc… I’ve seen it in the works, I’ve met top schools’ admissions officers. </p>
<p>I believe it’s a noble pursuit. Others would ascribe this to the cynical notion of only decreasing the admit rate in order to look more selective. I disagree. </p>
<p>I don’t find the tippy top schools to much concerned at all about how they are perceived by the general public. They are beholden to their current community and alumni first and foremost.</p>
<p>Look at both Yale and Harvard’s plans to enlarge the undergrad poplulation. Yale’s expansion will be the single most expensive construction project in the history of New England. Why? Because they want to admit more people so they can benefit from what they feel is an excellent education. Among my group of volunteers, we moan every year when we see the admit rate going down and down. We understand that it’s due to the increased apps but we also know that we’re having to reject tons of great kids. On the flip side, we’re confident that our alma mater is looking at a great pool but we meet these kids face to face and it’s hard not to be their advocates. Over the last two years, I’ve interviewed nearly 30. Zero admits, one waitlist (did not matriculate). That’s just the numbers.</p>
<p>It is true that the top schools do some targeted marketing, particular to minority students. This is not exactly “recruiting” in the sense of promising admissions, but they do want more of students in some categories to apply. If you are the recipient of targeted marketing like this, I’m sure it is even more disappointing to be rejected.</p>
<p>But even an individual, personal contact should be considered marketing, and not really recruitment (unless you’re an athlete).</p>
<p>^ What about fly-in’s before you apply? Diversity Weekends etc.
I’m going to MIT (from WI) for free and I haven’t even applied yet. That’d be SO sad if they just rejected me…
Do they really just waste money like that lol?</p>
<p>Now a fly-in might be a different story… certainly they won’t guarantee you anything but it’s certainly a good sign! Good luck to you!</p>
<p>DJAmazon - if a school is flying you in before you even apply then you probably have a greater than average chance at admission, but it is not a lock. Your application may not end up looking as good as they assumed from the more limited information they have about you that led them to extend the invitation.</p>
<p>Many schools do this…It’s their job to get lots of apps. WashU has perfected the art.</p>
<p>Just because a girl dates you doesn’t mean that she’s going to marry you. It does mean that she likes you better than the people she declined to date.</p>
<p>This is like that.</p>
<p>^ Hahaha I like that analogy.</p>