<p>The nose knows. Or so officials at Georgia's Agnes Scott College are hoping. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education:</p>
<p>
[quote]
The womens college, in Decatur, Ga., will soon mail a booklet containing scented pages to its 800 accepted applicants. The smell of pine accompanies a photograph of campus trees. A few pages later, an aerial shot of the Quad comes with a whiff of freshly mowed grass. The idea is to convey the experience of strolling through the campus, especially to students who have yet to visit.
<p>The article also notes that accepted applicants at Agnes Scott will receive a pair of purple cotton gloves designed to protect their hands when ringing the bell in the bell tower--a tradition for Agnes Scott seniors who receive a job offer or an acceptance to grad school.</p>
<p>Question for parents and students:</p>
<p>(Those of you who are currently in the build-an-addition-on-the-house-to-accomodate-the-college-propaganda phase or who are receiving admission verdicts with accompanying enticements):</p>
<p>a) increase your interest in a college (i.e., "They're creative and caring")?
b) decrease interest ("Gimme a break ... spend your time & effort keeping costs down.")?
c) make no impact ("Whatever. We have other fish to fry.")?</p>
<p>Actually, a good portion of the effect will be unconscious. Adding the scent will make the brochure and college more memorable, though I wouldn’t count on a huge lift in apps from that.</p>
<p>Better “freshly mowed grass” than “stadium locker room at half-time” I suppose. Or “frying fish,” to continue your sensory metaphor. :)</p>
I’m pretty sure Reed’s scratch n’ sniff would cause application numbers to go sky high.</p>
<p>Sometimes I think that if a college really wants to increase their application/enrollment numbers they should just have a few pictures of what really happens on Friday or Saturday nights. </p>
<p>In all seriousness, in Hendrix College’s application, they ask students what their favorite candy bar is. I put down Twix, and a few weeks later, after I was admitted, a king sized bar of Twix came in the mail. Even though it was clearly a gimmick, Hendrix immediately moved up on my list.</p>
<p>Personally, my favorite college marketing gimmick was getting ACTUAL INFORMATION about the colleges. A few schools (Chicago, American), sent thick, novel-like viewbooks that were packed with statistics, interviews with students, anything you could think of. Getting a “scratch and sniff” viewbook wouldn’t affect my decision at all. I already know what grass smells like.</p>
<p>I am not sure about how the kids would feel. I suspect the smell of pine might remind them of Christmas. I live where we don’t have pine trees anymore. When we go back and visit family in some summers, we spend a lot of time outside, where there is a definite smell of pine. I miss it. We went hiking last week, and I really have been noticing what I miss. </p>
<p>I do think the post acceptance part does make a difference. I cannot stand the college I went to. Perhaps if they made any effort at all for students (such as having advisors, or orientation, or anything else) then I would have good memories. Everyone I know who went where I went hated it there, including my brother and just some old friends. I think any effort is great. As an alumni, if anyone asked me, I would not recommend my college. I greatly value alumni opinions. Also, our children can change their mind up to May 1. If the school makes no effort to get them excited, they just might not show.</p>
<p>In fact, just reading about the brochure they sent out and the gloves, I want to go read more about this college! It sounds very nice!</p>
<p>Over the top but effective: a college rep hand-delivered DD’s acceptance and scholarship offer to her, at school. The college is about 4 hours away. My DD has never felt so wanted. Moved the school to the top of her list. </p>
<p>I prefer actual information personally. The colleges that have sent me real factbooks and real information have gotten actual looks, while the crappy pamphlets that are more ads than info have been ignored.</p>
<p>I don’t think we ever got any mailing from D1’s college. But man oh man, when we visited, the open door impressed her and me. It was a unique weekend, but we were so encouraged to visit any class, explore any aspect, ask any questions - so un-gimmicky that we both immediately suspected it was the real deal. And it turned out to be that and more.</p>
Exactly. That’s the point of most advertising. No one, for example, is going to get a Verizon cell phone plan because they bought the Verizon Center. But it’s going to make people think about Verizon more.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>My allergies would make me hate myself for accepting. Anything scratch n’ sniff reminds me of fingernail scratching on a blackboard + scented trash bags.</p></li>
<li><p>What would urban schools send out? The wonderful smells of the sewer/subway in New York?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>That might have worked in the old days (though I’m thinking Southern Comfort rather than pine scent, if you’re really going for “memorable”). But, today, with everything being electronic, it could do some damage to your hard drive, when you try to pour the stuff onto your Common App. ;)</p>