<p>Just looking for some input from prospective parents about the types of Marketing Ploys, Colleges and Universities have been most effective with reaching both you and your child. What specific types have been helpful and which have not.. What type of content made you say "WOW", so and so should check this place out?</p>
<p>Thanks so much</p>
<p>[ul]
[<em>]Likely letters/"top candidate" letters and invitations
[</em>]Mailed course catalogs
[*]Phone calls and handwritten letters[/ul]</p>
<p>Thanks Mallomar, so have there been many schools that have mailed Course Catalogs to your child? What are some schools that have been effective in doing so?</p>
<p>UChicago, Wellesley sent course catalogs. They were really nice--they looked like books. Even if they weren't uniquely selling the school, they were fun to look through and left a good impression of the school.</p>
<p>Likely letters, calls . . . yes, but what works even better is scholarship letters!</p>
<p>Absent that, Chicago did a great job with my kids -- lots of stuff, including the catalog, but low-key rather than hard sell. It used to send my daughter cute postcards with sayings on them, and she really liked that, but I don't think it's using the postcards anymore. It helped a lot that she was pretty favorably disposed toward Chicago from the get-go, but the mailings moved it up from a possible to a high choice.</p>
<p>Bad websites are a huge turnoff--especially for a kid who has a business in cyberspace already. Keep the websites easy to use and keep them up to date and slick. Spend the money. It's worth it.</p>
<p>My sons got their information off the websites. Any ocnversation we had about different programs at different schools happened in front of a screen. The brochures went into the filing cabinet. </p>
<p>They didn't sign up for brochures on the SAT so we didn't get much mail.</p>
<p>Other than great websites, we appreciated the opportunities our sons had to sit in on classes. Those class visits made the defining difference.</p>
<p>My sons went on the tours and info sessions alone--and were bored to tears by the accompanying over-striving boomer parents. Adcom could do those poor kids a favor and put the Boomers into their own tour/info sessions. That's what happened at the secondary level and there were far fewer 'cringe' moments for the kids to endure.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd's letters were really, really funny.</p>
<p>As an applicant, I'll second what cheers said about the websites. I fell in love with MIT primarily due to its website, the brilliant blogs, and the sense of community that pervaded the entire area. (Though of course, I was rejected, but that's another story entirely)</p>
<p>The Website's probably the primary source of information and contact that the colleges have with their applicants. Messing up in its design is simply unpardonable.</p>
<p>I agree, I liked MIT because the website, mailings, and campus were really cool.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree Shrivats, especially if you are interested in a technical field...a shoddy website makes you question lots of other things about the school.</p>
<p>I agree about Harvey Mudd- my sophomore got a letter from them and it's one of the few that made her say "wow, I might like it there!" She had heard a presentation from one of their professors at a math conference- he's a "mathemagician" - Arthur Benjamin- and liked his style but the letter really made her laugh and take note that the school might be a fit for her. Chicago is still using the postcards--or will be, it seems.</p>
<p>So what are some of the best, slickest sites you've seen and why?</p>
<p>For my kids the only "marketing thing" that really worked was personal attention when they went for visits. Both made their final choices because they felt "at home and welcome" by the colleges when they went for after acceptance visits. For DS, it was a full day 1:1 of planned activities within his major (orchestra rehearsal, classes, instrument coaching, lunch with the music adcom, invitation to the brass jury, time with the teacher, time to visit with current students). For DD it was an overnight where she was made to feel welcome, and treated like she was already a student...friendly people, folks answering questions AND asking about her. Both kids got tons of mail and almost all of it ended up in the garbage. Agreed too...websites can make a huge difference. There were some schools DD would not even visit because their websites were either not very inviting or were difficult to navigate.</p>
<p>I found colleges that gave the impression of wanting to connect with their applicants whether through blogs, or any other means to be very attractive. MIT was particularly brilliant in this regard.</p>
<p>^I agree. Personal connection was most important. Wellesley = handwritten letters to all accepted Early Evaluation applicants, UChicago and MIT = blogs.</p>
<p>I agree MIT's blogs are an unbelievable source of information... I haven't seen anything close to that quality on any other school's sites.. Have You</p>
<p>Joe-- I haven't seen anything that comes close to MIT. The MIT Home page changes daily, I think (student-designed page-of-the-day). The Blogs really help you see the school, and the process as human. The admissions people acknowledge that they are real people, with real lives, and really try to put useful and timely info there. Too bad it's so dang hard to get into!!!!</p>
<p>Yes, it is wonderful the "realness" of the admissions team, Ben Jones is one of the best.. So are there any other schools that even come close to MIT in terms of getting into the lives of prospective students as people rather than a number?</p>
<p>JHU does a pretty good job, they've got an excellent set of admissions pages and blogs that give a pretty good look into the University.</p>
<p>Part of the reason I looked for the manner in which colleges interacted with their applicants was the idea that through this I could gain some (just a little, but some) idea as to how they interacted with their students.</p>