Why do the Ivies need to send email to ask kids to apply?

My kid asked me why these “rejective” colleges are sending him emails inviting him to apply. I have no answer - I mean they get so many fantastic applicants anyway, right? Especially from unhooked ORM kids from upper middle class areas in NJ!! But they want even more? For the RD Hunger Games, no less.

These universities have enough resources to target “diamonds in the rough” that may not be likely to apply. But I guess they play the same game that the students do - send out an email and see if can get another one to apply so that they can reject them. I really can’t think of any other reason. We can be cynical as adults, but I do feel this is playing into the emotions of a teen. This whole process is so stressful for the kids without them having to wonder “but what if?” We have stressed fit and looking at past acceptances from his school. But still - the kid is wondering - because they did send him a nice email and one very rejective Ivy even sent a well produced booklet via snail mail!

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It’s all marketing. Throw it in the trash.

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Marketing. Pure and simple

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I get that it’s marketing - and it doesn’t cost them much. Still makes no sense. They do know how to “get” to a teenager though. Maybe that’s the idea!

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They obviously figured out that it does make financial sense for them. They wouldn’t be doing it otherwise, would they?

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Marketing, of course…and even more perversely, making the college appear as selective as possible.

The higher the denominator gets, but with the numerator staying the same: Cha-ching! The college is more “selective” and “elite” with that very low fraction of admittees/applicants. And watch all that cash come in!

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They send mailers to anyone who meets a certain threshold on the SAT or ACT, for the most part. I really laughed when they sent one to my son. His test score was great, but his GPA was a Galaxy away from what they would have considered.

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This comes up every year, a few times. Ivies are not really “inviting” your son to apply. These mailings are automatically generated after the SAT’s. You can avoid them by not checking a box on the test. My oldest got mailings and then we got smart and the others never got a single mailing because they didn’t check the box.

These mailings mean nothing honestly. A benign interpretation is to let students know they can apply and can get financial aid, who might not otherwise consider it. But of course you are right, it is marketing and it is a way to increase selectivity in the rankings.

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I agree with all of the above- marketing and brand building! But also, the full-on acceptance that if you aren’t keeping your brand front and center you are somehow losing.

One of the things that sticks out about Vassar is their old-school Yankee rectitude. They do pretty much nothing to “sell” themselves. They make you welcome (though with almost Quaker-like simplicity) if you want to come visit & learn more, but even the “accepted student” visit days are low key. They do what they do, and if it suits you- wonderful. If not, that’s fine also.

Once upon a time “a respectable Republican cloth coat”* was a thing. Not so much these days!

(Nixons “Checkers” speech)

eta: props to @Tigerwife92 for the on-point link!

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https://www.fastcompany.com/90557723/the-man-who-invented-college-spam-and-created-a-monster

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True with respect to schools but don’t you then confront complications re: National Merit, Presidential and other potential scholarship/recognition opportunities?

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Just ignore it. No Ivy mailers here but my kiddo gets a daily email from UChicago and JHU asking him to apply. We are savvy enough to know it means nothing (and he isn’t applying to either having zero chance of admittance).

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My daughter did not check the box and her email in-box is full. Not with Ivy League for the most part though admittedly, mostly with mid-tier schools she has never shown the slightest interest in. Which suggests that the schools themselves are selling the lists of students that express interest? She has kept the hard copy mail to a minimum though - she gets plenty from schools where she specifically signed up to show interest (though some of those have been off the list for months now) but not a ton from other schools.

Yes, have been really struck by this! They are the one school that sends almost nothing. Yet they were one of the best visits by far.

I recently heard someone who should know better talk about how a school (not an ivy) really wanted her child due to all the communication they’ve received. The school is a good match for her child and maybe it’s true, but color me cynical.

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It’s been awhile so I don’t know how email lists are generated.

I don’t remember any of my kids losing out by not checking the box but who knows. Maybe someone else can clarify that.

At least at that time we saved some trees- and the mail person’s back!

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Oh, agreed! It’s why I told her not to check the box - it would have made me sad to get all the mailings thinking of the trees cut down for nothing! And she missed out on nothing - she did a very thorough search and signed up for mailing lists at the schools she was interested in - I cannot imagine any scenario where a mailing sent to the house would have sent her in search of a college not previously on her list. But she had very specific wants/desires - maybe for a more undecided kid it would be more useful?

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This must be it. Keeping the brand at the forefront. JHU is the worst, followed closely by UChicago. Well, it will soon come to an end.
I teach at a regional third tier university which uses a lot of direct mail and branding. I understand their need for more applications; our budget depends on enrollment figures. I agree the motivation for the more elite institutions is keeping the brand going. It’s not about $$ as they are quite wealthy and don’t desperately need to get the students in the door.

OP, if this article doesn’t fully explain it, read Selingo’s book. The first chapter explains it all.

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Well I think all schools want to be in a position to select their best class (however they define that). Reaching out via mailers to a wide net of students helps them to connect to more potential students. At this point, they don’t have all the information that you do about your students, they just have some test scores and very basic demographics. You may know your kid has very low chances, that their high test score will not be matched with a very rigorous academic schedule and fantastic GPA, stellar ECs and recommendations, phenomenal essays, etc, but they have no way of knowing that at this point, so why shouldn’t they try to inform your student about their offerings? Your kid could be a great match for them, for all they know. Or conversely, with students with lower test scores but still in the (lower) realm of what they accept, they can’t at this point differentiate between lower test scores with an incredible package (the grades, recs, ECs, essays, and ability to overcome adversity) and lower test scores without that, so the only way to reach those gems is to mail to all of those kids. I don’t think it’s necessary to be quite so cynical as to think they are literally only mailing to get kids with no shot to apply to collect fees and increase the denominator, I believe they do think they’ll find some potential admitees through their marketing efforts. It’s up to the students/families to protect their mindsets by either not checking the box to get excessive mailings, or just have realistic expectations of where the students should be applying.

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Reminds me of confused recipients of Cornell College (Iowa) mailings many years ago asking why an Ivy League had to solicit applications.

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And Columbia College Chicago!

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