<p>My son received a letter from Harvard inviting him to apply this year.Does anyone know what basis Harvard uses for sending out these invitations? My son's SAT scores were good but in the 2200s.</p>
<p>Has anybody else on this forum received a letter from them. Does it mean much in terms of evaluating his chances?</p>
<p>Definitely not. My son has received dozens of applications in the mail, all unsolicitied, from Harvard, Yale, Chicago, and many others. I throw them in the big pile to the sky, since I know that they mean not a whit (and he doesn't want to go to any of them anyway, so it's a waste of the paper).</p>
<p>I really don't believe that solicitations from big name schools mean a thing in terms of evaluating chances.</p>
<p>Doesn't mean a thing. Everyone in the country gets one. (not quite- but it is certainly not a select group) It is a good way for colleges to raise their applicant pool so that they appear even more selective than they already are.</p>
<p>Seriously this is insane! Its not about education anymore. Prestige is what matters to schools now.</p>
<p>I think they send them to people who received above a certain cut-off on the SATs.</p>
<p>yea, but thats the only basis they have on it which makes it relatively unimportant</p>
<p>Why knock H for doing this? Why is this seen as prestige mongering? What would be said of H (and other like institutions) if they just sat back and waited for the apps to roll in? Then they would be slammed for sitting on their reputations.</p>
<p>The practice has been in place long before the current admissions craze and rankings-mania. I'm sure the goal isn't to get more apps per se, just more apps from interesting and viable candidates. If their budget gets a few dozen more apps from these special kids who otherwise would have skipped them, it's money well spent.</p>
<p>I recruit for one of H's competitors. Like the Cantabs, my alma mater has no problem with applications and has seen year after year, minute admit rates. In my college night presentations, I used to say "Please apply" -- I do so no longer knowing the buckets of apps that come in. I now say "Research my school. If you think you'd see it being a great fit for you and you're a reasonably viable candidate, then please apply"</p>
<p>I've gotten letters like that from all kinds of schools. It doesn't bother me, but I don't really take them seriously either, since I already know where I'm applying (and interestingly, it's not to any of the schools that have been sending me stuff all 4 years).</p>
<p>The surprising thing is that I know a few kids with similar or better SAT 1 test scores than my son and they do not seem to have received similar letters.</p>
<p>I am surprised about the 'maximizing applications to admission ratio' theory- surely an institution lime Harvard does not need to resort to that. I would imagine the costs of scrutinizing additional ( potentially inappropriate) applications would outweigh any benefits!</p>
<p>Would Harvard know from your zip code that, if your son managed to get in, you would be paying full-freight?</p>
<p>Or it could be that he's on Harvard's mailing list.
The only schools that sent me applications were schools that (at one point) I asked to be added after they received my email/address from the psat. I got applications from Y, H, P, various other ivies, and promptly tossed them aside. My 10th grade self had no idea that these schools would hound me with mail.</p>
<p>Mini might be on to something</p>
<p>Those letters have nothing to do with zip code. They are sent because your son took a standardized test and checked the little box that said Collegeboard can release his scores... He was obviously above the cutoff. Maybe his friends who scored higher than him didn't check that little box.</p>
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The surprising thing is that I know a few kids with similar or better SAT 1 test scores than my son and they do not seem to have received similar letters.
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<p>I think the mail is generated more by the information students put on the PSAT information form than the SAT score. My son put "computer engineering" on the PSAT form and was thereafter inundated by mail from every engineering school in the US, but not by all the Ivies--even with 2380 on the SAT. Then again, our zip code does not say "Ivy League here we come".</p>
<p>They mean nothing. It's based on your PSAT scores. The only prestigious schools that didnt get back to me were brown and dartmoth, which must be the only ones not in the "program" of spamming reasonably scoring HS students</p>
<p>The worst is WashU. They sent me mail/emails every other week during senior year and on a regular basis during high school.</p>
<p>^which is good for me because I actually want to go to wustl</p>
<p>Well he didnt take the PSAT and we live outside the US so unlikely that our PIN code would make any sense to them . Also, they sent us information on funding/scholarships saying that the lack of adequate funds should not deter him.</p>
<p>The mystery deepens...</p>
<p>Harvard's office of undergraduate admissions called me to give me some number with an extension, to call if I ever "have any questions or need help". LOL W T F?
I'm not even applying to Harvard.</p>
<p>What really funny is my daughter is still getting mail from various colleges, while she's packing for university. So, when does it stop?</p>
<p>It did start in earnest shortly after the PSAT scores were out. And yeah, I'd guess a large portion of her school got the Harvard applications. I agree, it probably is zip code and PSAT scores. And no, she didn't apply either. Took a tour and decided it just wasn't for her.</p>