In fairness, I’m sure that for colleges like Chicago that do not have the kind of widely recognized street prestige they think they deserve, part of the strategy is to spread brand awareness generally. It’s not just to generate a bunch of applications from almost-but-not-quite qualified students. It’s also to foster the situation where when superqualified Student A says, “I’m thinking of applying to UChicago,” all of her friends say, “Yeah! That’s an awesome school! You should definitely go for it.” As opposed to “Huh? Where?” or “Why are you applying to some third-tier state school in Illinois?” Which are still common reactions, but up until a few years ago they would have been the most likely reactions. A decade of mail campaigns has made a real dent in that.
The friendship circles of the applicants these colleges most want probably consist of people who are also good students with good scores, etc., even if they are not really candidates for the most selective colleges. Their opinions have a lot of impact on the top students’ choices.
@3puppies: They can know if the student checks off Black/African-American, or Hispanic, and further that, yes, said student would like to have colleges contact them and gives permission for the College Board to forward their names. This is one box, per/ethnic URM.
No, they do not. The only things students must provide are name, address, (maybe school), and of course the credit card number to pay for any test they are registering for. CB trys to make their “profile” info look like it’s required - it pops up automatically - but students are absolutely NOT required to fill all that personal information in.
I love that there are these forums, and that CC exists, mostly because it provides the opportunity to dispel some of the nonsense that gets passed around in our small circles and closed communities as gospel truth.
In this thread, I think some of us are talking past each other, and that is an opportunity lost.
Your child actually made the smart choice. She can then more precisely control what comes to your house. While it is definitely an ego boost to get swag from top schools (with top scores, she would have received some), there are better ways of developing one’s school list. The mailings don’t stop in December, April, or even May although there is a definite drop off. We even got the random brochure last month (yes, even after kids have matriculated into the colleges of their choice!)
Worst I’ve seen is a small LAC college sending every kid on our swim teams a letter saying something to the effect “you have been recommended as an outstanding student-athlete”. Some of these kids could barely finish their events let alone resemble a college (at any level) swimmer. They just went on the Section’s web page and got the names of every kid on the roster & sent the letter to them at the school.
We hadn’t been getting many for a while until son made NMSF. Of course with his GPA he wouldn’t have a prayer of getting into a top college, nor would he particularly want to.
My Junior is getting a lot of mail but most of it is from the schools that have one of the interests that he checked … “theater”. I haven’t heard of most of these school before…
What is really strange is that he is getting some mail that states that they are looking for outstanding STEM students like him…lol. DS is NOT a STEM student.
It’s important for the schools to have lots of applicants with no shot at admission to boost the myth that acceptance rates are really low. Then the top students are told that admission rates are - gasp! - 5%, when in reality it is more like 35% for them. Helps with their angst and keeps the college admissions portfolio frenzy alive when everyone wants to be the world leader by age 17 and do something really earth shattering that no one has done before. It also helps with maintaining the holistic admissions myth when the top kids walk in based on stats alone.
I felt like I’d gone through a big break up when Washington U in St. Louis stopped sending us stuff - DAILY. It was a slow week if we didn’t get 4 brochures, letters, post cards, or special announcements. Daughter had zero interest in that type of school, didn’t know where it was, didn’t want to know. Sad.
She also received a lot of invitations to go to pre-med weekends and camps when she was in high schools. Engraved invitations, lots of fancy stuff. She’s never been interested in anything medical. Ever. She did take chemistry and liked it, but she doesn’t really like biology.
The PSAT, SAT, ACT: During that test there was probably a little box that said “I would like to receive information from colleges”. If you left that little box checked off, you gave that testing service the right to sell your name and contact information.
They have gotten better…but Wash U St. Louis was the worst here. My daughter got at least thirty mailings from them starting in ninth grade. Let’s just say…she didn’t have an ice cube’s chance in hell of being accepted there.
I quipped that she should apply and include all the letters saying how she would be ther perfect addition to their school…and put in her letter. “I with to apply to your school. I agree with your letters…I am the perfect student to add to your incoming class.”
Almost all of it is marketing, they make it seem personal, like a personal invitation. Daughter unsubscribed from so many schools unsolicited email. It is misleading but apparently part of the game for the schools. There are several full tuition scholarships worth of paper, fancy printing, photography and mailing. It sure confuses things for some families.
My son, a NMSF whose SAT I and II scores are all high 700/800 (with the exception of one SAT II outlier that is still 700) never checked any of the boxes on the PSAT or SAT, never filled in anything but what was required for college board. He receives no mailings other than from schools that he has visited (and registered) or signed up online to be on mailing list.
@SlackerMomMD: One would think that the flow would pick up, but no. At this point all she has left to do is interview with her schools. Perhaps it is for the best, still it feels a little odd. I am on a first-name basis with an admissions rep at UChicago, and I suppose he will recognize her name when it comes to the 2nd reader/committee review that they do, as he is not the reader for our area, but things have even been but a “hello” from that highly prolific paper slapping institution.
TiggyB62: Your construction is strange to me. So to clarify, my daughter did not check that the College Board could have colleges contact her. Your statement seems to be addressing a box that is pre-checked, for which one must opt out of (“checked off”). I am sure we are saying the intention and outcome were the same, however we’ve worded it.