I can completely understand one’s disappointment regarding the flier, but I truly believe that it was an oversight by Clemson. My guess is that the flyer was sent out by a completely different office than admissions and they did not know who was accepted when they were mailed out. In a school as large as Clemson with a number of different departments unfortunately mistakes and errors happen. My son had a disappointing experience last year from
Furman in that less than 24 hrs after being told he did not receive a 35,000 scholarship, he received a letter informing him of what his bill would be if he attended the university . Was it harsh ? did it sting ? Was in insensitive ? Yes, but the reality of the situation is things sent out by different offices crossed in the mail. Because of situations like these, I tell my children and my friends, do not assume acceptance or read anything into mailings until you receive the actual acceptance letter in your hands.
It was sent from the admissions office.
@honeysucklerose my son will be in a wonderful college situation regardless. However, as an educator myself, when I see an institution act mindlessly and with blatant disregard towards prospective students, it is concerning to me. I would expect such an institution to act more responsibly when dealing with the minds of these kids/young adults. In the very least, I would’ve expected a brief letter of apology via email from the Director of Admissions to the prospective students affected by this action. It appears the Admissions office remains insensitive to this issue. Wherefore, although I appreciate your opinion on this matter I respectfully disagree.
@xaviermom2017 I agree with you. I think an apology letter to non-admitted students would be the professional response from Clemson. I discussed with a corporate marketing executive friend who works with me in Charlotte banking and he couldn’t believe it. @honeysucklerose while it was my daughter’s first choice, and she was little bummed and frustrated with the whole situation, she is all good. Thank you for the concern, though. She has scholarship offers at other schools for business. Actually, while Clemson is a very respectable school, I wasn’t as impressed with the business school as much as I was with USC’s, but Clemson focuses more on STEM programs and is very strong in that respect. She will end up at the best place for where she wants to focus in a career versus going to a school that she is familiar with for the friends and football.
I may be the only one with this opinion but, we didn’t think the brochure was a big deal. Yes, our son was accepted (early) but, he is still waiting on three more school decisions right now. They are all still sending marketing material. He has never thought that the constant mail equals a forthcoming acceptance letter.
Seriously, we’ve been through this with multiple kids and none of them felt like the constant mail meant they would get in. The students should know that, once they apply, they get on the mailing list.
Could Clemson re-evaluate their timing on this? Sure. Is it a crisis that should bring a formal apology or media attention? That thought is embarrassing. There are lots of selective schools that send mail right up until the decisions become available. Time to focus on greater things. -like celebrating the opportunities that do come their way!
@PokeyJoe I completely agree. While it is unfortunate, this hardly is equal to Tulane’s mishap earlier this year erroneously admitting a number of ED applicants only to tell them 3 hrs later a mistake had been made. That deserved an apology, IMO this does not.
I’m sure that the Admissions Office at Clemson employs quite a number of people. I find it hard to believe that the same person who is responsible for send acceptance, deferrals and rejections is responsible for mailing generic fliers regarding clubs and campus life. I don’t work in a large institution, and I don’t know what everyone is doing daily as part of their job. I only hope that this is the biggest disappointment that any of these students face during their college career. If it is, they will have a truly wonderful experience.
@PokeyJoe and @carolinamom2boys I actually feel the same way. My son got mailings from Harvard and Yale and doesn’t have the stats at all for there. He got mail form New England Institute of Technology and Nova southeastern in Florida. Totally rand because he checked the box on the ACT. He got marketing about for summer programs at Stanford and Harvard, but we never in a thought that corresponded to an admission promise. The Clemson brochure was one of many marketing brochures that came the same day from many colleges. I stop at my recycling bin on the way in the house and toss most of them right away.
@honeysucklerose I love your thoughts on using whatever may come to empower our students to o after whatever may be next. Well said.
We know a girl who was told she was a finalist for a scholarship at Wofford, and then told oops, no you’re not. That is maybe worthy of an email apology, or we could just acknowledge that mistakes happen and teach our kids to be gracious.
@carolinamom2boys I am curious…are you employed by Clemson? Or USC? or COC? Just wondering because you seem to be an expert on each forum. What is your experience with the appeals process at each of those institutions?
@lopeztlo7 I don’t work for any institution . My info comes from repeated visits to Clemson, Wofford, Furman and CofC . We navigated the application process last year . I did my homework by reviewing the CDS for each school, attending multiple info sessions and relying on experienced parents who have been through the process. I also attended info sessions at my son’s HS. The info is there . You just have to look for it. As far as USC, I know nothing about that school as my son didn’t apply to that school. I do have friends who have a child in the Honors program that I have referred people to to have questions answered . My son did take a SAT class from a former admissions counselor who was also helpful in answering questions. I don’t purport to be an expert. I’m just trying to pass on info that may be helpful. In terms of appeals process, the info is readily available on each school’s website .
It just changed our opinion on Clemson entirely. This marketing packet was aimed at accepted students and our daughter had not been accepted yet but she took it as a good sign and said “Why would they send this to me if I wasn’t accepted”… it stings and whoever sent these out should be reprimanded. Basically the packet is intended to show all the ways to be involved at Clemson once you get there. Our daughter was denied - fine- she and we will get over that, but we won’t get over the way this was handled. It comes off as kind of cruel when it didn’t have to be that way. We know it is a mistake now but at the time it seemed very encouraging and something to get excited about. Our Son was accepted two years ago and was not sent this prior marketing brochure before he was accepted, so we are familiar with how they have handled their marketing in the past. Our daughter has a lot of other great offers with scholarship… onward and upward.
@Baxter126 We received tons of brochures, but I think the one that people on the tread is referring to is the one specific for accepted students. If I could, I would post a picture but we threw it away. My daughter has basically forgotten about it and I could personally care less. Should Clemson email an apology? It might not hurt, especially considering who could be on the receiving end of the admitted students brochure one day and denial a week later. Could be a kid who has a parent that is on a committee of a large corporation that is responsible for the recruitment college interns/grads from Clemson :-). You just never know…
@SCLADY12 We received that same brochure. We talked about it as a family and read the names of activities that we would never have known existed. We marveled at the number of offerings but we never thought of it as marketed towards accepted students only. We viewed it as just another marketing brochure highlighting things, the same as we have received from many other schools. It just wasn’t that different from ones we’ve been receiving since my kids started standardized testing. I’m not discounting anyone who was disappointed by it. But I am saying that many of us saw it in a different way.
Well this wasn’t our first rodeo with slick pamphlets and marketing brochures, but it had a different slant to it which created more excitement than was necessary. It was the timing that was way off. Had it come a couple months earlier, we would have viewed it in a different light. When parents come on these threads to voice concerns like this, let them. We’re not asking for an email or a public apology but someone needs a “good talkin’ to” as we say in the South.
@Baxter126 You are right, it had many different interpretations. I agree with TellMeAStory --timing had a factor as well. Hopefully someone communicated to Admissions for them to maybe rethink for next year.
@carolinamom2boys I hardly believe you are in a position to evaluate a prospective student’s disappointment in receiving such a mailing in relation to their college career. I understand that this is most likely not the worst card dealt from the deck with respect to life in general. That is not the point. And as far as a huge department with admissions employees and marketing materials - nice point, but I do work in a large institution and someone needs to be in charge of coordinating the two and if not, then I question the integrity of the Institution as a whole. My point quite simply is that for an institute of higher learning, I expect more. Perhaps, I am used to a greater level of professionalism.
Honestly I don’t see why people are so worked up over a brochure. I’m a young adult (19) who applied to Clemson as a transfer student this year. I was accepted to Clemson last week , but I went through what your kids are going through now in my senior year of high school.
It was just advertising. It showed what clubs and other stuff they offered Right? I’ve gotten plenty of brochures regarding many subjects from college’s I applied to (past and present). Once you apply or show interest you are usually put on a mailing list from what I understand. You might not see why they whould send advertising to a non admitted student, but I do . In my eyes all students who potentially show interest are canidates no matter what their final letter said . Some students who get rejected the first time might feel that since it’s there top school they might want to transfer there later on. Or they feel like they made the wrong decision after a year or two at the school they were admitted to and want to transfer to another. The point is, even rejected students are still potential future students. They just become potential transfer canidates instead of freshman applicants . It only makes sense to advertise the school to them.
I don’t see it as a tease . I see it as a brochure they sent with the intention to educate me more on there school. If I really want to go, I’ll work hard at a school i get enrolled in and later apply for a transfer. If I don’t want to have anything more to do with the school, i will throw it in the trash. Simple as that.
@xaviermom2017 I truly hope that you get the answers that you are looking for so that you can focus on your student’s transition to their school that they will attend. In terms of my ability to evaluate a prospective student’s disappointment , I’can certainly have an opinion regarding a response. @TellMeAStory while you may not have been asking for a “email or public apology” , some are even wanting a news story . In terms of someone needing a “a good talkin’ to” , I agree that the situation needs to be addressed , and I wouldn’t assume that it isn’t .
Our household did think it had an accepted vibe to it. Clearly for our house that was not the case. Their marketing department probably either should have sent it earlier or they used the wrong list to send it out. It can be very disappointing if it was your child’s first-choice school. I feel for kids (and parents). It is a stressful time for them. Don’t agree with what was done but I am hoping that Clemson has learned from their mistake and put better marketing techniques in place. At least the mistake wasn’t as big as Tulane’s! They sent accepted emails when they were not to a group of students.
Good luck and best wishes to all!
Colleges buy student databases and mailing lists all the time. Marketing is big business now for colleges, with enrollment management departments becoming an important part of the admissions process. Its possible that the marketing brochures were supposed to have been mailed out at a different time and were perhaps delayed or what have you. Perhaps the goal was to let prospective students know that Clemson has a strong alum network. IMO the stress surrounding the college admissions process for students is the bigger issue. This marketing brochure just happens to be the current focus for some applicants and their families. It really shouldnt be that big of a deal. Bad timing? Yes. But like @Claire5005 said, its just marketing. It is not a likely letter. LIkely letters come from the admissions office. I do not believe marketing is part of most admissions office’s responsibility.
In years past people railed against Wash U in St. Louis for killing so many trees with their massive marketing. Colleges have made “oops” email mistakes in years past. This year was Tulane, last year (IIRC) it was Vassar and Carnegie Mellon. In years past similar errors were made by MIT, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, UC Davis, UGA, etc. IMO parents can help their kids more by helping them put it in perspective and take a deep breath, rather than get all up in arms about the timing (accidental or not) of a marketing brochure. IMO there are bigger things to get worked up about.