<p>My D is going to be taking the PSAT next month and I am uncertain about how to advise her on if she should have her results sent out to some of the schools that she is interested in or not?</p>
<p>I have not seen the PSAT form, but my understanding is that the students can list a few colleges that will receive the results of the test. Is it generally a good idea to have the college board send the scores or would it be better to not list any schools and wait till one gets a chance to see how they did?</p>
<p>My sister has told me that if you list your top school in the first position that sometimes that school may offer more merit money if you do well on the test. Can anyone enlighten me on this ?</p>
<p>Also, I've read here on CC that there is a box to check "yes" if you want your information to be available to schools. </p>
<p>PSAT seems, in part, to be little more than a means to collect data for the college board's data base so that they can sell the information to colleges. A money maker for college board no doubt.</p>
<p>----"The College Board makes about 65 million name sales a year. It charges colleges a $185 "participation fee" each time they order a batch of names, plus a per-name fee of 24 cents...."</p>
<p>We will develope our own target schools over the coming year and do not want mass/junk mailings filling up the mailbox from schools we have never heard of or have no interest in. Is there any downside to not "checking the box" so that ones personal interest and other data entered on the PSAT form will not be available to every school that wants to purchase it?</p>
<p>I am trying to learn more about the above issues and hope to hear from many of you that have already been through this.</p>
<p>The junk mail is sort of fun, and very occasionally, it inspires a student to apply to a college or program that he might not otherwise have considered.</p>
<p>One of my daughter's closest friends was among the masses who received a mailing from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. Most kids threw this mailing out (and that includes my daughter, who was already applying to a different school at Cornell). But this girl was intrigued by the unusual program described in the mailing. She did some further investigating and decided that the program was an excellent match for her interests. She applied, was accepted, and is now a freshman there -- and the recipient of a special community service-oriented fellowship.</p>
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** I know to each his own. I released no personal info and still at my school they rolled in jumbo hospital size trash bins such that we could pull the propoganda from mailbox and put directly into the hopper. Way big problems. Way too much trash. Way too many trees wasted. It was a total blizzard of unwanted mail.</p>
<p>Hmmm...I don't recall that the PSAT had a spot on the order form so that you could send the results to colleges already. In the late spring after you take the test, if you score high enough so that you will be either Commended Status or Semi-final Status for the National Merit, you can designate two schools to receive your scores.</p>
<p>ellemenope: It doesn't. The check box is whether or not to include your name and information on lists of students in certain score ranges given to colleges interested in wooing prospective students.</p>
<p>I'll have to agree with hazmat. The tower of college mail remained in my son's bedroom until the day before he left for college. It was a fire hazard.</p>
<p>Having one that graduated from high school in 2006 and one who is a senior this year , I can tell you that the little check box works wonders. My oldest d started getting tons of mail by January of her junior year. Everyday the mailbox had more ! By the end we had to recycle boxes of stuff - it kind of hurt when I thought about all of those booklets she hadn't even opened. </p>
<p>D2 opted out , and though she scored higher than D1, we received virtually nothing. After she took the sat for the second time in June, we started to receive a few pieces of mail . In the last couple of weeks she has started to receive those "priority application" e-mails. </p>
<p>So, if you want the mail - you'll get it. If you don't - you won't!</p>
<p>Don't check the box but do sign up on the website for colleges that seem interesting. The websites are much better conduits of information.</p>
<p>Eventually, with respectable scores, a student will hear from all kinds of colleges, but perhaps not as early in the year. Ninety percent of the direct mail is irrelevant or a duplicate; what a waste.</p>
<p>DO NOT CHECK THE BOX. If you check the box and score well you will recieve moutains of mail. It's an extreme waste of paper and money and 99% of it goes unread. If I read all the mail I got from checking that stupid box, it would take me about 20 minutes a day. Just figure out what colleges you're interested in and sign up to be on their mailing list. It's so much easier, effective, and shows interest/initiative.</p>
<p>Just check the box. I had some of that college mail work out for me. I learned about some interesting programs at colleges that would work out for me.</p>
<p>Why doesn't someone fill out the address including "Suite J" and see just how much Junk can be attributed to that one particular check box? I don't have a volunteer to try it this year ...</p>
<p>My D took the PSAT in 9,10,and 11 grades. Every year, she would put in some weird major--one year it was Russian. Got lots of mail from schools with Russian programs!</p>
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<p>Why doesn't someone fill out the address including "Suite J" and see just how much Junk can be attributed to that one particular check box?<<</p>
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<p>I've subscribed to magazines in my dog's name to see who is selling my name to whom. Looks like the subscriber list to the Smithsonian is highly prized by people who want to market higher end goods...</p>
<p>I could be wrong, but commended or merit scholar is based on your performance, not whether or not you check the box. If you DO score well enough to be commended or merit and you DO check the box, I believe that all the schools that specifically give money to merit scholars will then send you the info (as well as all the other colleges in the U.S....as noted above). There are a number of schools Univ of Texas--Austin, University of Arizona (or was it Arizona State), Univ. of Oklahoma, etc. offer full tuition to merit scholars. However, even if you don't check the box to send your info out, if you get to merit scholar level, you can seek out the schools that woo the merit scholars. Not checking the box won't hurt your chances for admission.</p>
<p>astro - You are correct about checking the box. My d did not check the box and was still contacted for commended status in the spring. It was then that she was given the paperwork to notify 2 schools of her status. Unfortunately she missed the cut-off for semi, but at least she did get to notify 2 schools beforehand!
Only recently has she begun receiving prority apps and such and it is no where near the number as when her sister ( who did check the box ) was at this stage. Her scores were higher than sisters as well, so I woud venture to say checking the box does matter if you want the loads of mail.</p>
<p>The point I was making about checking the box and merit money was NOT that you would be more likely to be commended or NMSF if you checked the box; I was trying to point out that checking the box assured that you got the "junk" mail with the NMSF scholarship offers. My son was NMSF and did check the box--and got at least four full-ride offers.</p>
<p>On a side note, for a child who is starting the search from square one, what is the right time to begin signing up to receive information/brochures?</p>