<p>I've been getting VIP applications in my email and physical mail that say:
"you've been chosen!"
"apply now!"
"No long essay!"
"Automatic scholarship consideration"</p>
<p>All these applications are legit but I'm wondering how and why they chose me. Does everyone get these "VIP" applications? If not, how do they chose who gets VIP apps? Is this a college marketing technique to get me to apply there? Wouldn't the "no long essay" part hinder my college admission chance? Automatic scholarship CONSIDERATION sounds gimmicky to me. Sounds like my parents...</p>
<p>I mean i’ve gotten hundreds of letters from random schools in the mail, I’m pretty sure other people get tons of it. Yay, what a great way for these schools to waste tax dollars on paper</p>
<p>DO WATCH OUT for the ones that say that you can use the VIP letters or invatations and use a code on it for applying there for free. (then again you still have to pay to send your transcript and letters and AP scores)</p>
<p>aseraph: you may feel it’s a waste but colleges see their marketing plans as vital to future financial viability. I guarantee you that whatever college you eventually attend, you’ll be very grateful that you have tons of classmates paying lots of dollars to maintain the college.</p>
<p>@asereph - most of the schools (and all the fast track invites) that my daughter gets are for private schools. For the public - she does get a lot from out of state - they want to improve their on their applicant pool and possibly get some OOS tuition.</p>
<p>It is silly to just use that ‘waste tax payer dollars’ argument for everything. Careful analysis is necessary.</p>
<p>BTW, don’t send APs until the end of senior year - and then only to the school you choose. If you take your senior year APs, then you can do it for free. And some of those fast track applications do make you send your SAT scores if they are part of your official transcript. </p>
<p>To the OP:
My daughter has received 5, and one was from a school that was already being considered as a potential safety. She sent in her application this weekend. It will be great to get a possible first acceptance. She has a 237 PSAT and a 2380 SAT, so I am guessing it has something to do with that :-)</p>
<p>Another way to look at it: Every university benefits hugely from increasing their applicant pool. It increases they final yield, which makes them more ‘selective’ which is a key driver of moving up in the rankings. </p>
<p>A focus on rankings takes away from education. And the vast majority of rankings have more to do with smart marketing than actual educational differences. I know, I’ve seen it in action as a professor. </p>
<p>The US educational system is seriously messed up on a lot of dimensions, and this is just a tip of the iceberg of one such dimension.</p>
<p>Yield is the precentage of students who choose the school after being admitted…</p>
<p>I think when a school tries to attract high achieving students who might not normally apply to the school, then they run the risk of lowering their yield (since they are less likely to actually attend.) What statistic that might improve is selectivity - since they will up the number of applicants.</p>
<p>But, more likely, they will get a more high achieving students, who, for whatever reason, do poorly in the regular admissions procedure (maybe because they have poor support from home and school.) Or they will get students who appreciate the merit money they might not get at more selective colleges. That will help the school in a real way.</p>
<p>I’d say it gets sent to many people. I have gotten 20 or so “selective special applications” in the emailz0rz and in the mail and I am by no means getting into half of the schools that send me stuff. 2.7 student.</p>