Marketing strategy: Big packet from Harvard, tiny envelope from Yale?

<p>So a couple of weeks ago I received an envelope from Yale that congratulated me on my standardized testing scores and urged me to apply.</p>

<p>Then this week I received a big, thick packet from Harvard containing three pages of paper detailing how Harvard is amazing, a little glossy pamphlet about Harvard, and a stapled thick packet that was the paper copy of Harvard's supplement & the new (!) version of the common application. (side note: there have been some changes to the common app from last year).</p>

<p>I'm just wondering if Yale ever sends me a paper copy of their supplement and the common app? Or am I expected to download the forms online?</p>

<p>It was a nice touch for Harvard to send me a paper copy of their app/supplement, makes things a lot easier :) But I really love Yale and I'm hoping they do this too? </p>

<p>I'd also like to get started with my essays earlier so I'm wondering what the essay prompts for Yale are? I looked on Yale's website and found <a href="http://www.yale.edu/admit/freshmen/application/pdf/yale_supplement_paper.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.yale.edu/admit/freshmen/application/pdf/yale_supplement_paper.pdf&lt;/a> but I can't tell if that's from last year (09) or this year (10). </p>

<p>Thanks in advance if anyone can answer these questions!</p>

<p>Considering you should submit the applications online (as its easier for both you and the colleges you are applying to), you shouldn’t really be waiting for Yale to send you a paper version of their application. If you are really set on doing them through paper, wait until Yale releases its application, and download it form their website from the same place you found the the supplement you linked to. That supplement is from 2009, though, not 2010. They should post it sometime around July 1.</p>

<p>With that said, I don’t think the supplement is drastically changing, so you’d probably be safe gathering ideas based on the questions you found from 2009. I wouldn’t start the essays until you know what the questions are, but starting the prewriting steps would be a good idea.</p>

<p>I really, really, really, really hope that you are submitting your application online. The vast majority of Yale applicants fill out their application online, and in my case, even the recommendations are sent through the internet. </p>

<p>The Common Application will be used whether you are applying to Brown, Harvard, or Yale, etc… the Yale supplement will be used to augment your application. So Yale not sending you a copy of the Common Application online should not be taken as a lack of interest in you being a potential applicant. And plus, we all agree that those mailings hold no connection with your actual chances of acceptance. </p>

<p>Yale’s essay prompt is exactly what is written on the PDF. Of course, you still have to do your Common Application essays.</p>

<p>don’t be fooled by all the packages Harvard sends you…lots of people I know got those letters last year too and weren’t accepted…its all a gimic to get you to apply. Yale might send you a color photo booklet about the school…i got one last year…and some stuff about summers at yale…but i read an article about their efforts to try to conserve paper and help the environment, so i doubt they’ll send you that kind of stuff.
don’t let that be the determining factor in your choice though! yale is the best! woooo</p>

<p>Is it frowned upon if you file a paper application? I planned on filing all my applications on paper. It’s just… so much easier.</p>

<p>LOL, paper apps are SOOO not easier, what world are you living in?</p>

<p>Paper apps are much easier - I can keep everything together and submit everything at once, plus I an have everything proof read. Since I have to send teacher rec and counselor rec forms back and forth to my school on paper, it’s better than having to transcribe everything to the internet. Filing an application online means everything is half paper, half electronic, among other things. Ugh.</p>

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<p>Do what you want, but online, everything is together without a chance of being lost, and is easily submitted with the click of a button. Plus, you fill out one form, you fill out them all; there’s no writing your name, address, etc. fifty times. Trust me, you think you’re being smart now, but when your friends are finished with their apps and you’re still busy meticulously copying your parents’ full names onto the eighth application, you’ll regret it. Majorly.</p>

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<p>Teacher and counselor rec forms can be filled out online.</p>

<p>Do your apps online. If not for convenience’s sake, then please, at least think of the environment.</p>

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<p>Don’t your counselor/teachers send recommendations on their own? There’s no need to transcribe them online. Trust us, online is much easier.</p>

<p>As other posters have pointed out, it’s vastly easier to apply online using the Common App than to use paper. If you log onto the CA website, you can experiment a bit and see for yourself that how easy it is to update and edit, and what a benefit it is not to have to provide the same information over and over in different formats to each of your colleges. What’s more, colleges vastly prefer online submissions. Here’s what the Yale Admissions website has to say about it:</p>

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<p>Your teacher recommendations should be sent directly from your teacher, and your transcript directly from your guidance counselor. Even if you apply online, those parts of your application can be on paper–mine were, and it’s not a big deal. But for the part of the application that YOU submit–the activities list, the supplement, etc.–it is SOO much easier to submit online. When you do it online, you get automatic confirmation that the school received your app–whereas if you apply on paper, it could take days to find out whether or not they’ve received it, and on the off chance that it gets lost in the mail… oh, god. It makes me shiver just thinking about it.</p>

<p>i remember getting a paper application from yale…so they might send one to you…but i would definetly do it online…</p>

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<p>Nope, I go to an online school. Everything will be sent to me and then I’ll have to send it out - plus I have two different schools to send information from. I’ll take these suggestions into account, but it still sucks to have to file online - especially if Yale disproves.</p>

<p>Why does going to an online school mean teachers can’t directly send their recs to colleges? Beware that if you are transcribing the recs yourself, you will not be able to check the box waiving your right to view your recs. I honestly don’t know if it makes a difference, but it could be viewed with suspicion.</p>

<p>If you want an alumni interview, submitting by paper COULD hurt your chances as the person who coordinates interviews in your area will receive your name weeks after other applicants’ and therefore all the interviewers may already be booked.</p>

<p>does this “packet” give you an edge in admissions? </p>

<p>:( I didn’t get one</p>

<p>The policy of the school is that all counselor and teacher recs are sent to the students.</p>

<p>Like I said, you’ve all given me plenty of reasons to consider submitting my application online . It doesn’t sound right for me at all (honestly, it sounds awful… won’t you be sending things from five different sources?), but I can look into it, definitely.</p>

<p>Don’t let those packets get your hopes up too much.</p>

<p>When I was searching for colleges to apply to, I got tons of glossy viewbooks and flattering letters from HYP, and so did my classmates. I fell for the gimmick and applied to HYP + Darmouth, and was rejected from all 4.</p>

<p>They send those packets to almost everyone who has decent standardized test scores, to students they never had any intention of accepting. It’s just to get more people to apply. So give it a shot if you must, but don’t let the packets delude you. Good luck.</p>

<p>My son received paper applications from Harvard and Princeton but not from Yale. He applied online to Yale, used paper for Harvard and Princeton. Was interviewed at all three schools, accepted to Yale and Princeton, waitlisted to Harvard.
Yale did send him their viewbook and some other printed matter but never any applications, so if they sent applications out at one time, I’m not sure they do so these days. I’d go ahead with online if I were you.</p>

<p>Thin envelope vs thick package. Nice to see Yale is a bit more environmentally responsible than Harvard.</p>