@jym626 I think you are assuming that parents are somehow involving their kids in expressing their own frustrations about the situation on this site. I’m pretty sure not many parents on here lack the skill set necessary to reinforce among their children the best way to handle rejection and or develop appropriate coping skills. Hopefully, this is not the first time their kids are having to deal with rejection or failure in their life, as they are in for a big shock come college and entering the workforce if that is in fact the case. The issue was the nature of the brochure which was sent from the admissions department. Now, you might not think this is a big deal and quite certainly, there have been issues that seem like bigger “deals” associated with other colleges, as expressed throughout this thread. However, as stated earlier, I would expect more accountability from such an established secondary educational institution. These prospective students do not take these schools for granted and likewise, they deserve the same level of respect. This opinion does not limit itself to what happened at Clemson and in fact, includes all of the other ridiculous, negligent happenings listed by other contributors herein. With the demands that these institutions have both with respect to academic resume and tuition, I think it is reasonable to expect way more accountability from them. Perhaps, it really would make for a good story because until I read this thread I was unaware of the other incidents at the other Universities, and I’m sure there are many more, but two wrongs don’t make a right, as my mom would always say. Maybe stuff like this should be publicized more often, so as to educate the public and perhaps demand a little more accountability from these higher learning institutions that like to place such high accountability on their prospective students. That is all I am saying.
@xaviermom2017 Well said!
There has been publications regarding the other episodes already discussed here. That is how @jym626 and myself were aware of them in the first place. The circumstances described upthread were far more serious than someone being accidentally sent a marketing brochure , and then deferred or rejected. They involved situations where students were actually informed that they were accepted to an institution in error .
@xaviermom2017 - no I am not assuming what you think I am assuming. But that is not the point so not worth discussing. You probably don’t recall this, but when Harvard first sent out acceptances by email, many went to students’ spam filters and they weren’t aware of their admission. That was BIG news back then. It was… in 2001. Funny, I looked for an article on this, as it was pretty big news when it happened, but all I could find was a citation in a book https://books.google.com/books?id=IjKRjVzQtOIC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=When+was.+the+first+year+Harvard+sent+out+admissions+results+by+email.+went+to+spam&source=bl&ots=8TLjDFcCPZ&sig=T2YIFaM8CCw6UHhmhHIDH9SnGlQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9wP-u2ZjSAhWMwiYKHYm2CwkQ6AEIIjAJ . There may be articles out there, but it will require more time to look than I care to spend on this issue.
Some of us have been following college admissions for a very long time. We have seen lots of things happen. For those relatively new at this process, they may be unfamiliar or less familiar with the many aspects of enrollment management, big data, data mining, marketing , etc that colleges use and the metrics they use, often with outside enrollment management companies, to meet established admissions and budget/revenue goals. The reason this is important is that, as mentioned above, the marketing side of the house is most likely separate from the admissions side, just as the admissions office is separate from the financial aid office or bursars office. If you work in academia you are likely familiar with this.
So, if some outside company handled marketing mailers, it is possible, as many here have suggested, that either the mailers got delayed, a wrong list was included , or what have you. But does this rise to the same level as the errors some other schools have made in sending out accceptances and then saying “oops we didn’t mean that-- sorry, you weren’t accepted”. IMO, no it doesn’t. In past years, some students declined other acceptances when they were sent the erroneous acceptances from their choice school, which led to messes to clean up, and attempted to recapture the acceptances they turned down. It was discussed here on cc, so threads about this are likely able to be found.
So, while the marketing material may have been encouraging and gotten students’ hopes up and temporally very bad timing, as other have said, it was not an offer of acceptance. So does the school need to apologize? IMO, no.
I’m curious whether those “defending” Clemson on this point have children who attend (or attended) Clemson and are, for whatever reason, worried about potential adverse publicity. My son received the mailing that is in question. (Clemson is not his top choice, and he only glanced at it – so no skin off his (or my) nose and I don’t really have a dog in this fight.) But I read it. I am a successful lawyer and I’d like to think I have some skill at critical reading and practicing objectivity. This is my third and youngest child doing the college application routine, so it is not my first rodeo. I’ve seen many mailings from many schools, all over the country. And I am even a fan of Clemson – I have several relatives who are graduates and I have occasion to visit Clemson with some regularity. But I don’t think there can be serious argument (after an objective reading) that this particular brochure did not have a “slant” or “bent” that would, especially in light of its timing of delivery, stoke the hopes and expectations of the applicants who received it (including those who would be denied admission a few days later). Have worse things been done by other schools at some point in history? Sure. Do kids need to learn how to handle disappointment and even some “unjust” things that come their way in life? Sure. But should any of that serve as an “excuse” for Clemson in what seems clear to be an unfortunate “screw up”? Absolutely not. Most of the “excuses” offered on this thread are in the vein of “the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing.” That is not an excuse, folks. In the world I live in (albeit, publicly traded, global companies), that is an “excuse” that will get you (the institution) indicted, lol. Perhaps the most troubling point I’ve read on this thread is from post #66, where carolinamom2boys noted that apparently the same brochure was sent out by Clemson last year, at about the same time and just in advance of the admission decisions. If the tenor of the brochure was, in fact, the same, was there no hue and cry last year? Or did last year’s mailing only go to applicants who were going to be accepted? If it was sent out to all applicants last year, even those soon to be denied, and then it was done again this year, then what will it take for Clemson to learn some sort of lesson in this and perhaps modify what is unarguably an “insensitive” process (at best)?
The new posters should read some history to see this in perspective. Can’t speak for others, but I have absolutely no connection to Clemson. Dont give a rat’s patoot about their publicity- good or bad. So please stop with the implication.
In “your world” this would get someone indicted? Where exactly is the crime here? If stupidity was a crime, there would be a lot more jails.
FWIW, I do have connections to more than one school that has made the “oops we didnt mean to send out those email acceptances- never mind” schools. Their public apologies were warranted, and necessary.
The fact that some readers here noted that they were unaware, until reading the posts in this thread, of other schools’ bigger screw ups seems to suggest that even the bad publicity those schools got (they did have serious egg on their faces) was relatively unknown or quickly forgotten. May be true for this “unfortunate screw up” too, even if someone does feel the need to apologize for the bad timing or what have you.
When my son was applying a couple years ago he got a personal invitation to an accepted students’ weekend at one of our state schools that was quickly followed by an apologetic retraction because no decision had been made on his app yet. He shrugged it off. He felt that until he had a formal acceptance with a financial aid offer, everything he received was marketing. Had he been upset, I would have encouraged him to contact the school and tell them so.
In our experience, brochures intended for accepted students arrive in their acceptance packet. They aren’t sent piecemeal. Clemson likely has no idea how these brochures are being interpreted, and unless families who’ve received them speak up it probably won’t occur to them. If everybody waits for others to say something, then nobody addresses it. That doesn’t help next year’s applicants.
This may bring some needed perspective this morning. I doubt any of these students would be sympathetic to the overreaction about an ill-timed brochure…
https://www.google.com/amp/www.nydailynews.com/amp/new-york/manhattan/columbia-university-accidentally-sends-277-acceptance-letters-article-1.2975845?client=safari
Bingo, @PokeyJoe. This grad school program retracted the errant admissions email within an hour and apologized. . As it should when an erroneous acceptance is sent out. They news report also mentioned that U Buffalo and Fordham also made the “sorry, you weren’t really accepted” boo-boo in years past. Oops.
@Pokey-Joe @jym626 It’s frightening how a push of a button to send out important information can damage a brand in an instant. Perhaps colleges/universities should institute better internal controls over issuing marketing materials, especially, if the issuance of the materials is from a 3rd party vendor.
Meh.
@SCLADY12 The thing is most of these “brands” aren’t permanently damaged. If the brochure was so offensive last year, why was there a 3000 application bump this year at Clemson? Why does Tulane continue to be a highly sought after school every year? Why do students seek out the Ivys and selective schools at record numbers? I’m not an expert, nor do I claim to be, but for those people who continue to chase these schools have kept things in perspective and overlook the errors. Those students who are truly unable to overlook the errors will no longer apply. That said , my guess is that there will be others to fill that void. Applying to a college is a personal choice . People have to determine what they consider reasonable and act accordingly .
Penn State’s image and football program was appropriately tarnished for a while after the well deserved bad press it got after the Sandusky mess. And probably alum donations dropped. But students still apply. In droves. Did Stanford suffer after the swimmer’s easy sentence after the sexual assault? Probably minimally if at all. If these egregious situations don’t cause severe damage to a “brand”, then ill or insensitively timed marketing will not likely cause the backlash some seem to want. Feel free to complain to the school. Give them feedback. Maybe they will listen… No one here is saying the timing of the mailer and possible emotional roller coaster it may have caused those who were subsequently denied felt, but many here are suggesting to look at it in perspective. That is all.
MODERATOR’s NOTE:
I think we’ve answered the OP’s question. Closing thread.