<p>Most eighteen year olds are persuaded by the dumbest things in this process. Being “delighted and flattered” actually goes a long ways with that age group. I know my friends and I agree on this when we talk about our decisions on where to attend many years ago; most of us picked schools for reasons that are dumber than a box of rocks. All of our kids are capable of doing the same. And U of Chicago knows it (hence the “stripe of love”, as they call the scarf they sent). For a family that is close to full pay, it is a $250,000 decision on where to attend. It is astonishing to me that more parents DON’T look beyond the marketing of any school, and just take a blind leap of faith. This is not specific to U of C, of course. And the colleges make it hard to find the down side of each one. And of course every current student and parent out here wants to validate their choice.</p>
<p>All I am saying is that U of C is trying to tip the scales in an eighteen year old’s mind with this mailing. I don’t think we are jaded and unappreciative at all. I mean… should I appreciate a scarf, three t-shirts, two hats, a pen, and a decal in return for a commitment to spend $250,000 at their institution?</p>
<p>Like you student, my kid will attend admitted student days at her top choices. And then we will decide based on both her feeling from those visits and other metrics/facts we have been gathering. But no one will be wearing t-shirts from any the colleges she applied to while we are doing it (she does not weat the t-shirt they sent her, either, by her own choice).</p>