I have gotten about 2-3 letters from colleges to apply early and that they will make my application free, no essay required either . Is this sent to everyone or ?
It is just marketing material. Why not offer a free application to someone who might pay you $100,000 plus to attend? Don’t let it turn your head, it doesn’t mean anything.
On the other hand, if it’s a school that you are interested in, take advantage of it. My daughter ended up with free apps to 4 of the 6 schools she applied to.
They’re trying to get your attention. Colleges want applications. They want as many as possible to increase their chances of landing the best (in their eyes) possible class they’re trying to assemble. You might even get a letter from a school you never heard of, and end up liking it. 
Lots of colleges will send messages like this. In most cases it will be because you a good GPA/Test score. Personally I would research the school and see if it’s a place you could see yourself in and if it is take advantage of the free application because applications can add up and become very expensive. But if it’s a place you know you wouldn’t go to and you’re only applying because it’s free then just focus on the schools you do want to attend and don’t waste your time.
It depends. The school can buy the mailing list by region or by performance tier in PSAT for instance. Most of them are just advertisement. Some offer free application and essay waiver to high performance students like NMSF. My D got the Golden Gopher application package from UMN.
@itsintheprocess They would not know your GPA or exact score unless you submit to them. They can only send you promotional material by categorized mailing lost. All private information are protected by law.
I just received a lot of mail once I took my Ap exams and there was an option to receive mail/emails so I figured CB had released my information/scores to different schools
Apply only to the ones you would actually consider attending. You still have to send in SAT, AP/IB scores, and transcripts so the costs will still add up. Some schools do this if you show interest or if you send them your PSAT schools, others it is just the policy of the school, others yet receive very few applications and are very desperate for applications, they will do anything to get your attention.