I keep getting letters and prospectus’ and applications from all these colleges, including Harvard, Yale, and Williams. What does that mean? Are they interested in me? Are my chances already boosted? Or do they send it to everyone…I should mention I got a 224 PSAT; I think that’s how they got my name.
<p>its called marketing. </p>
<p>Colleges are interested in having as many students as possible apply so that they (the college) have the biggest possible pool to choose from. Hence they engage in programs to raise their awareness and encourage kids to apply.</p>
<p>Your chances are not "boosted", nor has any living person connected with the college ever heard your name. You simply matched a profile they submitted to the college board and they sent some literature out.</p>
<p>Think of it being the HS equivalent of the dozens of credit card apps and other junk mail your folks get each month. Just because Citibank writes regularly to implore them to take their credit card doesn't mean some banker there is desperate to have dad as a client, nor does a stack of mail from the colleges. Put a box aside for WUSTL; they're notorious for sending literally pounds of mail.</p>
<p>It really is an ugly form of marketing. Many of the letters seem personal and kids believe them. I think WUSL is the worst. They are sending my 10th grader mailers several times a year! They can not happily state that they reject three-forths of all applicants.</p>
<p>Check the mail for postmarks. We found mail from west coast schools postmarked on the east coast and vice versa. Obviously, the mail was not coming from the schools, but from mailing companies the schools had hired. </p>
<p>Much of the college literature is sent bulk mail. You can easily surmise how personalized that is.</p>
<p>Spin, you are correct that they got your name from the PSAT, if you signed that you would like to have your information released to colleges. They all like to increase their yield, and the glossy come-ons are one of the best ways to do this. Just use the stuff you want to learn about the schools already on your long or short list, and recycle the rest. :)</p>
<p>The good news, spin, is that your PSAT puts you somewhere in the range of an admittable candidate for these colleges (assuming it translates into appropriate SAT scores, your GPA and ECs are of equivalent caliber, etc.) The bad news is that the overwhelming majority of admittable candidates get rejected, simply because there are so many of them.</p>
<p>Even the most elite colleges have gotten hooked on direct marketing to build their applicant pool. Face it, what admissions director wants to tell the college president that this year had fewer applicants than last year, much less issue a press release to that effect? Plus, the more applicants the school gets, the better their selectivity numbers look.</p>
<p>Harvard et al could build great classes of students with half the number of applicants, but ever-rising app numbers look good to the trustees, help the USNews rankings, and are great marketing tools in themselves. Hence, the flood of direct mail will continue. (That's not to diminish your PSAT achievement, though, Spin - congrats!)</p>
<p>congratulations! you are probably a national merit finalist!</p>
<p>
[quote]
It really is an ugly form of marketing. Many of the letters seem personal and kids believe them.
[/quote]
I agree 100%. Boards like this are a blessing if they help get the word out what a scam these mailings represent.</p>
<p>Kids have a refreshing innocence about many things, and the people writing the mail aim to take advantage of just this. Receiving a letter on impressive college stationary from one of the "dream" schools that congratulates them "on their impressive accomplishments" and notes "we are looking for students like you" and bearing the signature of a dean or other impressive-sounding person is a shock to many kids who have never received mail except from relatives in their life. And they read a lot into it, just like the senders intended. While it doesn't SAY they'll be admitted, they sure go to a lot of trouble to drop hints that sound like that's why they're writing.</p>
<p>Yeah, most of it is just from marketing companies. When you go to the web page listed, it is not even a part of the school's web site.</p>
<p>your chances are not boosted, and (not to be rude at all) they have no idea who you are..</p>
<p>If I wanted to go to this school I believe this e-mail that I (and I'm sure a million other kids) received would give me false hope, even though I know it is a marketing ploy. This is why the whole process has turned into such an anxiety filled activity. My parents say it will be good practise for buying a car someday. You can assume that NO ONE is telling you the truth and you just have to keep shopping, digging for the right information and not be persuaded by what anyone says until you get the right deal for yourself.</p>
<p>"Greetings from <strong><em>, I hope this letter finds you well!
My name is *</em></strong>**** and I am a Student Ambassador in the ****
Admissions Office. I am originally from ***<strong><em>, and I am a
rising junior at *</em></strong><strong>. I play on the varsity *</strong> team and
report for the **** Daily News. I am writing you because you have been
identified as a successful student from ******** High School, who
could be a competitive applicant for the Class of 2010. </p>
<p>As the summer begins, I invite you to explore **** and its endless
offerings as a next step in your education. We don't have many
applications to **** from your high school and your area - through
talking to students such as yourself, I'm hoping to make sure that we
have the strongest class for the next year and to ensure that you have
all the information you need about **** College.</p>
<p>I would also be happy to talk with you personally at some point this
summer about ****. "</p>
<p>when they flooded me with all that junk i usually ignored it and threw it away without a second thought unless i had specifically asked for the info. saves a lot of time.</p>
<p>hahaha I still get junk mail from colleges and I applied for admission in Fall '05 :p</p>
<p>My college incidentally never sent me anything of their own volition and had to be poked and prodded endlessly before they deigned to send me a viewbook :p</p>
<p>....Damn. ;) I figured as much, thanks for the verification, all.</p>
<p>where will you be going, sucharita?</p>
<p>I always like it when they thank me for my "interest." What interest? I never asked for this stuff!</p>
<p>Princeton...</p>
<p>It is my understanding that the amount of paper used in mailings by Wash U in St Louis is the equivalent of 3 forests in South America.</p>
<p>DID YOU KNOW that forests are being depleted the quickest in Asia and second most in South America? It's just because we use South American forests and the resources are more limited than in Asia that people make a huge deal about it. Plus, forests are actually GROWING in North America. Can you say selfish?</p>
<p>We also have Oil in the SouthWest AND in Alaska...and our prices are still soaring...and no one does anything about it.</p>