<p>I grew up poor, in a district with lousy guidance counselors.</p>
<p>The mailers were the only way I found out about schools other than the local U to which the counselors sent everyone.</p>
<p>New to CC. By checking the box on the PSAT , or other tests, is this the only way that colleges know that you exist?</p>
<p>I think getting a new email for this purpose is wise. Something that you can complete ignore when you go away for college.</p>
<p>Both my kids (college senior, college freshman) are still receiving junk from the armed services offering them exciting positions that will help pay for their college education after they have served their term. They’d rather get college mail than that!</p>
<p>We had an email file for College Mail. Dumped it after DS sent in the last of his applications – over 800 emails. </p>
<p>Our worst offender: Hampden-Sydney. He’d unsub and they’d keep sending us email. </p>
<p>I posted this on another thread, but DS weighed his college mail. The first time he hauled a box of it out for recycling, it was so heavy he wanted to weigh it. Thus began a tradition: weigh the box when it’s full, then recycle. At last count, he had 112.5 lbs of college mail. By the time April is done, it’ll be more than his total weight. I kind of wish we’d saved it all, took a picture of him with all of it and then dumped it, but there was just too much stuff.</p>
<p>DS1 didn’t read too much of it (he knew where he was looking from the get-go), but I’ve seen DS2 pulling stuff out and looking at it with interest, so some of the mailings have proved useful.</p>
<p>S2 is a HS sophomore and has received hundreds of emails and and a similar amount of snail mail. He loves it. He reads each one and compares the pitches, return surveys, etc. He finds many are nearly identical which leads one o believe that one company is handling this for many companies. Some stand out and are actually entertaining. So far, however, he is without interest in any of them. He has no favorites and up until all the mail no interest at all. At least now he is thinking a little about college. He reports feeling no pressure, though he has high scores, takes a demanding curriculum, has some great ECs, none of it has anything to do with college. I just hope all that mail doesn’t change that.</p>
<p>One school positively hounded DD. Sent her material every few days, then emails, then started calling. Waiving fees, offering scholarships. Even after she repeatedly told them she was not interested and would not apply. I had to get kind of ugly about it in the end. Kind of wonder what they think they accomplish when they keep trying after they get a “no”.</p>
<p>I skimmed this so not sure if this was mentioned - the reason why even highly sought after schools hound students with email is for USNews & Report Rankings. The more applications, the most selective they are, the higher the ranking, and this follows through to yield. Some are also quite keen on filling nearly 1/2 the class with ED applicants, which requires a student to be wowed by them early. Another reason why they bombard the kids with email is to attract applicants from underrepresented categories, who may not know their school or may feel they have no chance or opportunity. Most kids have email accounts even if they don’t have parents on CC (smile) so it is a good way to reach all kids!</p>
<p>I strongly recommend using a parent email box when you start this process or getting a “neutral” email box. I left the email management to my son until I realized one day that he never checked it and when he did, he found something from his ED choice school looking for documents in the junk email. Also, he ignored many emails that were not marketing emails but were related to his applications because he had seen so many marketing emails, he presumed that’s what all of them were. </p>
<p>BTW, he is also innundated by emails from the Army, Navy, Marines, etc. If you think the college ones are over the top, you should read the ones about the tropical islands he will visit when he tours the world with the Army or the Marines!</p>
<p>
[Ding</a>! Ding! Ding!](<a href=“http://www.royall.com/]Ding”>http://www.royall.com/) They’re quite good! We don’t use them, but I’ve been at schools that do. I was shocked once to see a mailing presented that looked exactly like something I got when I was a wee sophomore. They’ve been around for about 25 years, so I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised. :)</p>
<p>idad - wow, I can’t believe your son reads everything. My son briefly reviewed a few pieces when they started but then tuned out quickly when the volume increased (5 - 10 pieces per day). We had to invest in a much bigger trash can! I played the role of “mail sorter”, putting aside anything that looked like more than the standard marketing pitches (hey,there were some decent scholarship offers in those piles…one school offered to pay HIM $2000 per year to come - with all other expenses paid- LOL).
Now we always got a lot of junk mail, but nothing like this. A few times, our mail man would have to come to the door because the stuff didn’t fit in the mailbox. There should be a “DO NOT MAIL” list that you could sign up for. What a waste!<br>
I didn’t notice if the stuff looked the same (LOL) since we didn’t even open most of the packages. I’m not surprised that there’s a preferred vendor involved here…</p>
<p>Some positive aspects: Chicago and Harvey Mudd have risen to the top of my D’s college list mainly because of their very interesting mailings. She gets really excited when anything from Chicago comes. When she’s had a bad day at school I can always try cheer her up by saying that Duke or NYU or another prestigious school sent her an email. The odd thing about the emails we’re getting this spring are that they all offer some sort of usual guide such as tips on interviewing or tips on selecting a school. But it seems like we’ve yet to actually get any useful tips. My D thought the emails asking students to IM or text the colleges seem kind of weird, like too personal or something.</p>
<p>My friend’s D has been contacted personally by students (work-study kids probably) from several schools. Apparently, if you ask for their information, the school connects you with a current student. Could be a wonderful thing, depending…</p>
<p>I did like getting a phone call from a mother of a student at a school my S was considering. But that was after he had already applied and been accepted. The woman was a real people person, and just the right sort to do that job so that it felt warm and welcoming–not pushy.</p>
<p>The phone call after acceptance sounds nice and useful also. Not so sure I would want phone calls before that. </p>
<p>I remembered another odd mailing we received was the latest brochure from Harvey Mudd. All the pictures except one had girls in them. Not that many girls go there so it seemed like we got a special “girl mailing.” </p>
<p>Sorry for all the typos in my earlier post. I’m trying to type quickly and not spend all day reading CC. My family is starting to complain about my new “addiction.”</p>
<p>Funny, being environmentally sensitive, at first I thought it was good to get the info via email. At least if we deleted it isn’t wasting tons of paper.</p>
<p>BUT a few weeks after the emails started flowing, we started receiving hard copies of the exact same solicitations – now that really bugs us!!</p>
<p>We never got the flood of emails, but a lot of schools sent mail that was of little or no interest. I was amused by some of the prestigeous schools that tried to woo them. But there is one school that we visited and was not a good match that sends emails frequently…still time, not too late please apply.
It had nothing to offer for her intended major.
What bothers me is the solicitations from the army…don’t think so.</p>
<p>“Years ago, my first was innundated to the point of numbness with email and postal mail - huge packages of pretty pictures - from a school that was then famous for it. NOBODY in her class paid attention.
School in question: WashU in SL.
Now you won’t get that. They don’t have to.
Now everyone knows how good they are.”</p>
<p>My current senior has received just as much mail from then as his sister, four years older, ever did. But it did get him to go to a presentation and that did get him to apply.</p>
<p>“I strongly recommend using a parent email box when you start this process or getting a “neutral” email box.”</p>
<p>For some reason, my son put my e-mail address down when he took the PSAT in 10th grade. I don’t think he regularly checked e-mail back then. It proved to be a great move. The brunt of college e-mail came to my inbox and I was able to sift it pretty easily as I was far more familiar with schools and the process than he was. I forwarded everything to him that I thought he should see and/or that I thought would interest him and if he responded to a school he gave them his address. I have no doubt he would have massively hit the delete button left to his own devices but I think he read the more limited material I sent him. Of course, he used his own e-mail address when it came to applying, etc.</p>
<p>I agree with using parental email to control the flood, but this also means that we control the information and have to be careful that we do not steer towards what we think is right for our kids. Remember that some teens are constantly changing their thoughts on what they want to focus on, and there are those that have no idea what to focus on, so how can you “disregard and discard” any one school. My S started off thinking he wanted to go to one of the military academies, then business, then writing, then political science. Now that the dust has settled, he has applied to several diverse colleges. Just be certain when we are filtering, that we don’t close any doors.</p>
<p>Our situation is even more comical - my D is still a freshman, didn’t even take PSAT yet, but we went to one college fair where it was mandatory to put down email address to just gain admission to the fair. Luckily, I had the sense to provide just my email. About a week later, I started getting a lot of email starting “Dear X, thank you for expressing an interest in our college…” !!! There were lots of them, but Seton Hall is the most persistent. We also received a full blown brochure from PACE that came in a big packet by mail, despite the fact we are overseas. Not to mention, D never expressed interest in ANY specific school yet. The fair organizers must have sent everyone’s email addresses to all the colleges. At least all this junk lands in my mailbox where I can safely delete it.</p>
<p>“I agree with using parental email to control the flood, but this also means that we control the information and have to be careful that we do not steer towards what we think is right for our kids.”</p>
<p>Absolutely! And it is the kid who should decide which e-mail address is used. I mostly weeded out volume – i.e. I would send him an informative e-mail from a school but spare him from the plethora of follow-up e-mails that said exactly the same thing. His applications are over with but there are still e-mails coming in about Honors Day at this school or a scholarship at another and I know he is Done Done Done considering further options, so I just hit delete.</p>