I’ve seen a few people post questions on the various college specific forums as to whether they were accepted or not based upon a communication from the college and have thought to myself “how is it not obvious if you were accepted?”. But my son just got an email from Lafayette College that I had to read through more than once to decide whether it was an acceptance notification. The subject of the email is “This is our hometown” which doesn’t seem to be indicative of any acceptance. But when you open the email you see a large graphic that says “Welcome Home” with then a link to a page titled <son’s name="">.imaginelafeyette.com. Not sure it is in a college’s best interest to send out communications that at first glance might seem like an acceptance notification but are actually just more marketing material.</son’s>
That would be confusing.
An email like that would be appropriate after receiving an offer of admission. The school would be trying to make the accepted applicant enroll.
Congratulations, <>!!! You will love sunning in sunny Cancun at the Hotel ___…
It made you open the email and read it. The marketing department did their job.
Did your son even apply to Lafayette? Wouldn’t he have to apply to have an acceptance show up?
@justonedad Yes, he did apply.
@JustOneDad: My son was accepted to a college to which he never applied. My daughter will apply in earnest next year, and we hope she does at least as well as he!
If he already applied and hasn’t even been accepted yet, I think it’s likely it was just a mistake on their part.
When my D was accepted to Lafayette just a few years ago, they used snail mail.
My S also received that email. It was just another of the “Imagine Lafayette” emails he has been receiving since we signed up for a tour over the summer. Nothing in the email made me think it was an acceptance. To be fair, I have been through this process already with my D who was accepted to Lafayette via snail mail as happy1 mentioned. Also, none of her acceptances came directly through email. She did receive some emails that told her to check her portal, where she then found the acceptance.
“If he already applied and hasn’t even been accepted yet, I think it’s likely it was just a mistake on their part.”
I don’t know. I really don’t think marketing gets the memo that a student has applied. My D has been receiving marketing for colleges that she had applied to for a few weeks. I’ll have to pay attention as to whether they stop for the schools she has been accepted to.
The email was one in a series that had been sent out with the same personalized email address. If it was a standalone email, I could see your point. As one of a series with the same theme, it does not look like an acceptance.
Well, that may be the mistake I was referring to.
My kids got marketing materials from schools once they applied. Basically the schools building their of why you would want to attend (if you are accepted). I don’t see why that would be unusual.
I’m not questioning the practice of sending marketing materials to kids who have applied. I guess my point is that perhaps there should be a different tone to marketing materials that are sent prior to acceptances and those sent after. And in Lafayette’s case they haven’t released any acceptances so the marketing group should know that anything being sent now is being sent to a kid who hasn’t been accepted.
My D has received materials urging her to apply after she sent in her EA application. One came in a large thick white envelope and she actually got excited thinking that it might be her acceptance. No - it was just more glossy thick “instructions” on how to apply. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.
^^^^That happened to my S as well, also from an EA school. Trust me, that mailing did not make him like that particular school more…