<p>Don’t forget about the application fee, they collect thousands of dollars on application fees.</p>
<p>mommy rocks you have every right to be a proud parent of a fine student but the schools send this stuff because parents like you continue the drink the kool-aid. At the the very top colleges NMSF are a dime a dozen and unless your daughter has a hook gaining admission to one of these schools is a big challenge no matter how many pamphlets you receive in the mail. The truth about admissions is that most of the students who get accepted at the very top schools have a hook and very few indeed get in purely based on stats and regular EC’s. A notch down and top level stat’s and EC’s will usually do the trick but most of the kids getting into HPYS/Williams/Amherst and a few others have managed to get themselves on one of the many special admission lists that exist in all the top schools. </p>
<p>My son has the stats that would be normal at any Ivy, but over the last two years, we’ve found that there are so many excellent LACs and public institutions that he doesn’t care that much if he gets into an Ivy (he applied for 2). I find it interesting that these Ivies and almost-Ivies charge at least double the money for applications that other colleges and universities charge. We crunched some numbers and figured that these “non-profits” make their entire admissions office budgets from admissions fees alone. So sad, considering that a lot of those who apply are not anywhere near the 1% income bracket. Stanford cost $90! </p>
<p>@mukamalk makes a great point about the “unsubscribe” feature on the emails. The fact that there is actually an “unsubscribe” link should tell you something…the email is NOT personal!! How many times do people have to hear this?</p>
<p>The ones that get me are the colleges that email me when they don’t have my intended major. I’m going into aerospace engineering and I noted so on my PSAT, but I got emails from colleges that I know don’t have that. The funniest one was the email that read something like, “We see you have selected aerospace engineering as your major. _____ University has one of the strongest liberal arts colleges in the nation. Our college’s emphasis can help you achieve success, blah blah blah” So obviously a form letter - they would have sent the same email whether you put down journalism or zoology! </p>
<p>The University of Dubuque (which I have no interest in going to) was quite persistent, emails every day for weeks, mail, even phone calls. I just ignored them and the barrage finally stopped. I actually don’t recall getting any emails from my top choice college - I found it on my own. I did get a couple from my second choice, but they weren’t obnoxious about it. </p>
<p>The WHOLE application system is one gigantic marketing scheme. Every elite school wants EVERY student with elite academic credentials to apply so as to suppress acceptance rates as much as possible. When you read school execs bemoaning the “sad fact” they have to reject so many hyper-qualified applicants, see it for what it truly is; a marketing message that that institution is JUST SO DAMN special it must reject thousands of kids with top 1% academic credentials each year. Meanwhile, virtually every educational institution in the country is, at least indirectly, taxpayer subsidized – so none are “truly” private actors. I’ve never been big on government intervention, but if ever there was a segment of the economy that cries out for some uniform regulation, it’s the admission system in higher education as it is far to arbitrary and subjective. The prices are astronomical and the social engineering component that infects the whole process is biased and unfair. I’ve never had all that much respect for the academy, but having just navigated the application process for the first time, I am stunned by the institutional arrogance that permeates it. </p>
<p>i think college will appreciate her boldness and writing style. I thought that the article was very well written and I could truly hear her voice speaking through.</p>
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Not to mention the tube which is eminently hackable.</p>
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I’ve sort of enjoyed going through the list, finding out about colleges I had never heard of before.</p>
<p>@pizzagirl Well I can tell you my S has some underachiever friends who make much more money than us, and they don’t even get 1/4 of the mailings we do…it’s not about money…they do want the best students to check them out. I mean sure my son was pleased to get things from Princeton, Yale, MIT, Stanford, etc (no Harvard though)…but he didn’t apply to all of them that’s for sure. I overanalyze everything anyway, and sure it was interesting trying to figure things out, especially when you see they know more beyond your name and test score.</p>