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Call it the science of small gestures: Each spring after acceptances go out, admissions officers do much to woo high-school seniors and their parents, with follow-up letters, e-mail messages, telephone calls, big receptions, small gatherings, and various on-campus events. All this is meant to ensure good feelings among applicants and, in turn, a good "yield" (the proportion of admitted students who enroll) for the college.
<p>Just tip of the iceberg. If only students and their families could fully appreciate just how much is marketing, PR, and facade behind all that they see at the colleges they investigate. What a college says or does in the process of wooing students, from start to finish, from the words in its brochure, to the classes you get to sit in on, to the manicured nature of the garden: has not necessarily anything whatsoever to do with real attributes of a college, and everything to do with selling a product, just like any other.</p>
<p>If one school remained silent, but all the others showed that the accepted student were wanted, would the one silent school stand a chance? “If they don’t want me, I don’t want them.” </p>
<p>It’s all part of yield calculation; most schools would be in big trouble if everyone admitted matriculated.</p>
<p>Oh it’s all completely understandable! And rational on the schools’ part. But all this song and dance from start to finish tells consumers very little about the real product. That is the point. </p>
<p>One might dismiss a school by the tour guide, the website, the garbage bins, way some person answered questions or how long some staffer took to return an email. And likewise, feel wowed as if a school will offer a particular culture based upon completely fabricated manipulation during the recruitment process. </p>
<p>No one seems to look at these institutions with the skeptical eye that they would if they were watching a TV commercial for bleach, listening to an insurance salesman or going to a timeshare breakfast. They should be.</p>
<p>My niece was just admitted 2 weeks after her late application & given a $12K/year merit award. She’s probably going to attend that U, which she only applied to after she was turned down by her dream U & also rejected from 2 others Us (for incomplete apps). She’s much happier now that she won’t HAVE to attend in-state flagship U.</p>
<p>One of my schools came on WAY too strong at it had me seriously reconsidering whether or not I wanted to go there. My admissions councilor has probably called me four or five times on my cellphone to discuss various topics (my FA package, my merit award, the benefits of XYZ program, etc.) and emailed me numerous times.</p>
<p>My S’s wooing consisted of my chatting with the admissions counselor & her offering a bit more merit aid than was originally offered, to match a competitor’s offer. S had been leaning toward the U but adding more merit aid sweetened the offer and helped us out. D was not wooed as accepted transfer but was very happy & is now completing her 3rd semester there.</p>
<p>My kids would not have known what to make of having anyone from the school call them multiple times on their cell phone. S was NOT interested in a school that made several attempts to contact him, including having a HI family who had all its kids attend that U contact him.</p>
<p>I had my Dad call the admissions officer and tell him to back off. He then apologized, claimed that his overbearing actions must have “ruined the school” for me, and then proceeded to call me two more times (albeit a month later). They also upped my merit aid by a nominal amount. </p>
<p>While I was somewhat flattered by all the attention, we got the impression from all this wooing that I’d be THE top student at this tiny LAC. My mom was like “You would be the best in everything! All the other kids would follow you around like little duckies!”</p>
<p>I also stopped answering my cell if I didn’t recognize the number. </p>
<p>Ironically, I’m ending up at the school that wooed me the least, my state’s flagship.</p>
<p>My S1 got called several times by the local parents of a current U student offering to “answer questions”. It was sweet, on the one hand–after all, this parent was not working for the U and was genuinely enthusiastic because his D loved it there. On the other hand, we did not feel comfortable explaining just why my S was going to turn that college down to a complete stranger! My S felt bad dodging these phone calls, but felt it was really awkward. So perhaps it wasn’t so persuasive after all.</p>
<p>^^Just wanted to add (I can find a pro to match any con–even my own) that I did feel it was nice, for a change, to have the shoe on the other foot. After months of hoping one of S’s colleges would admit him. ;)</p>
<p>I was thinking of starting a thread about ‘wooing’ that doesn’t work.</p>
<p>D has gotten the least amount of attention from her favorite school. Little do they know that the lack of personally addressed letters and special mail has put them even higher on her list. She can’t stand the ton of wasted paper that is coming from the other schools. </p>
<p>Personally, I think that phone calls to prospective students are intrusive.</p>
<p>Its a bit like dating, isn’t it? You want to be wanted…but if they act desperate, it doesn’t exactly make you drawn to them. The Woody Allen line, about not wanting to belong to a club that would have you, comes to mind here.</p>
<p>The President of one LAC called my son to tell him how much he was wanted. Now THAT got my son’s attention, although he decided to go to a different school in the end.</p>
<p>Money does grab our attention (at least it did when S was offered a lot of merit $$$). Schools that didn’t offer $$ weren’t in the picture at all & S tossed their acceptance letters. It was very attractive to others I’ve spoken with as well, even when their family has a good education fund.</p>
<p>Not this year (he just graduated from college), but before he had accepted, my son got all kinds of goodies. On Valentine’s Day he got a package of candy hearts with messages like “We want you” and other words to that effect. In addition, they sent a photo of all of the people he had met at the on-campus interview, all gathered around an empty chair, with the message “This chair is for you” (or something like that). And the wooing continued until he finally accepted.</p>
<p>I like the wooing post acceptance better than the disingenuous wooing pre-acceptance that is used to increase applications for the school’s benefit so that the school can boast about the number of applications it received.:rolleyes:</p>
<p>It seems like the schools spend a lot of time “marketing” to kids who have no intention of attending even if they apply and get accepted. Examples include “VIP” applications, free applications, etc…</p>