So as the mom of a junior in HS, we see tons of college mail (and he gets tons of email, most of which I probably don’t even know about). But I was really surprised to see a packet (letter and 8.5x11 brochure) from Harvard in the mail the other day! Is this something Harvard is doing now? I’m assuming, like all such mailings, it is meant to increase applications, protect yield. etc. etc. - but why would the big H need to do this? Any thoughts?
Mailings often come after the PSAT. I am assuming Harvard isn’t blind mailing all juniors but for sure these schools like to ensure a lot of applicants, for every sceptical parent who bins the application, there are starry eyed suckers who think they have been picked out for their potential. I do wonder if there is any money making potential in the application fee?
Absolutely. D got it too. They probably target top level students so they can brag how many SAT 2400 kids got rejected.
Yeah, I figured it was that kind of thing. Nonetheless, he hasn’t received any other HYPSM mailings. The only other one even close to that would be the UChicago mailings, which I know are very common. Maybe there was one from Caltech. (Does the AMC/AIME give out information?)
My DH was comparing the actual letter from H with the letter from UCh and said it was qualitatively different, with H saying essentially, “maybe YOU could come to a school like H” and UCh saying, “learn about how great we are”
“My DH was comparing the actual letter from H with the letter from UCh and said it was qualitatively different,” In the end, it’s all a marketing person’s hope to get your kid to consider them if they hadn’t before. You’ll probably not see 5.9% anywhere on the brochure (their admit rate).
I suppose it makes sense to the admissions folks at these schools, but to us on the outside, it can seem rather random. My sons got unsolicited mail from some top schools but not others. Yale, yes. Columbia, yes. Chicago, yes. Harvard, no. Other folks receive a different mix.
Don’t worry, no one in our household was influenced. 
@notjoe - I guess we still have some time to see if Yale/Columbia will send anything. We did get something from Princeton, but that was after a visit and being on a list for material, so I am assuming it does not count. I am surprised that we have not gotten anything from Cornell, after a similar visit.
I know if D gets something from Stanford she will pin it to the wall above her bed. Did not happen yet.
Columbia and Princeton seemed to have a specifically crafted letter to address the families that would never qualify for FA. Or did I imagine that? Is the letter totally generic?
Our Princeton letter and brochure emphasized need-based aid. Did you get something else?
I have binned it now, but it seemed to push buttons for the non FA crowd. Like it was meant to make you think twice even if every NPC you had run just LOL’d at you on the last page of the calculator.
I think Yale and Stanford are the only above mentioned schools that haven’t sent stuff here. Columbia sent reams. The Princeton and Harvard ones that you described seem similar to what came here. And I think Chicago sends to any kid who actually writes a name on the SAT answer sheet.