<p>sacchi, me too! I am filtering her e-mails and forwarding ones I think she might be interested in. At least with e-mails, many of them have an “unsubscribe” link at the bottom. I think the flood is giving her a big head - suddenly it looks like all these schools want her!</p>
<p>We loved getting them too - especially the ones from Macalester. After receiving dozens of letters that sound all the same, how can you resist one that says:</p>
<p>Blah blah blah Macalester College, blah blah blah “Mac,” blah blah, blah, high PSAT scores, blah blah blah, great academic match for your interests, blah blah, blah, a college with a commitment to the world community, blah, blah, blah, internationalism, blah, blah, multiculturalism, blah, blah, community service, blah, blah, blah, in two of the most “liveable” metropolitan cities in the US, blah blah blah.</p>
<p>(By the way - I left out about a dozen 'blah’s!)</p>
<p>My twins were high school class of 2010. One checked off the “yes” box on the PSAT’s, one checked off the “no” box. Guess who was deluged with mail? 
Guess who was not? :)</p>
<p>attention parents of students with suddenly full mail boxes-
it is NOT the college admissions offices that are emailing your S/D - its the ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT COMPANIES that the colleges hire to seek out potential students. So take a really deep breathe, let it out, and tell your kids that these emails are essentially just ADS designed to entice your kid, which is all they REALLY are, and carry on. These emails DON’T MEAN that the college admissions office WANTS your kid- it just means they WANT YOUR KID TO APPLY.
been there, done that and now know the difference…</p>
<p>My son is a HS freshman who got the chance to take the PSAT this past October. He checked the box to allow schools to send him information. When he got the first envelope, it brightened his semester and made him work a little harder in his classes.</p>
<p>My daughter started receiving them also. She did not take the PSAT(not offered at her HS). She took the PLAN(ACT) at the beginning of the school year. Once they get your email address the onslaught begins.</p>
<p>“These emails DON’T MEAN that the college admissions office WANTS your kid- it just means they WANT YOUR KID TO APPLY.”</p>
<p>Agree. But, they can also be helpful to introduce the kids to new possibilities. The one benefit that my D got out of them was that she was able to find out about schools that she (and I) had never heard of. The annoyance for us was when the same colleges sent multiple letters, brochures, etc. We also did not appreciate the many telephone calls.</p>
<p>I have to say that my B+ son proudly announced last night when I arrive home that ALL the mail was for him that day, and he showed me the pile of mail from several engineering colleges. Just that in itself seemed motivating, because one or more of them mentioned his strong PSAT score. While I hate the waste of trees, I really do, for that one moment of seeing him so proud I forgot about all the recycling that I’ll be doing in about a year.</p>
<p>The snail mail avalanche has started now, but I don’t think it’s going to catch up to the e-mails.</p>
<p>my son is a high school sophomore who took the PSAT and the emails started a couple of weeks ago and now the mailbox is full everyday. He does find it exciting.</p>
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<p>Why give up a practice that has worked wonders?</p>
<p>I don’t think there is any number of postcards that will make me feel victimized. As long as they don’t start calling on the telephone. (D did receive one phone call.)</p>
<p>New (to me) snail mail marketing trick ‘Take our online E quiz!’</p>
<p>Every college must have bought the same marketing plan.</p>
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<p>I think there may be as many as 2 or 3 of companies doing this, but they’re all pretty similar. And there are only a certain number of brochure and postcard designs. My D1 used to collect and sort them, matching up the identical brochure and postcard designs with only the name of the institution and a few pictures changed. Pretty funny stuff once you put them together that way.</p>
<p>I agree with those who suggest there’s some salutary effect, though. My D2 is a HS sophomore, took the PSAT this fall, and is now being inundated with both e-mail (which she deletes) and snail mail (most of which she recycles). But she likes the attention, and it does have her thinking about getting ready for college in a more serious way. It’s even opened her eyes to a couple of colleges not previously on her list, which she’s then investigated more thoroughly online. So I guess it’s having its intended effect from the colleges’ point of view, at least in a limited way.</p>
<p>I tried to make a point to open and read/skim everything; I didn’t want them to have totally wasted time/money/paper on sending me things.</p>
<p>One that always stuck out was Loyola Maryland. They would send me a lot of postcards and packets, and they would always, always be badly battered/beaten/bent/water-damaged. What goes on in their mail room??</p>
<p>
Even after their deadline had passed, they kept emailing me saying things like “You started your Chicago application, but haven’t completed it, we’re extending your deadline by two weeks…” even though I never started their application.</p>
<p>I believe the only ones to send me full applications were Harvard and Washington University in St. Louis.</p>
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<p>Ah, yes, the old “Harvard really wants me” gambit, the full application following closely on the heels of a letter saying something like, “We’ve been searching the country, and we think you could be the kind of student we’re looking for.” My D1 almost fell for it. I told her I’d read Harvard sends out about 70,000 of those things. She was no longer so impressed, and in the end she didn’t bother to apply. I have to say it takes some cheek on the part of Harvard and/or its marketing firm; they push the rhetoric closer to the line of outright deceit than just about any other school, and it takes some really careful reading of those letters to see that they’re not really saying anything except that they want you to apply—so they can collect your application fee, reject you, and then count you in the denominator of their phenomenally low admit rate.</p>
<p>What about the scholarship offer? Does it have any substance? My D is now getting letters that she may get scholaships. She hasn’t gotten any full application yet.</p>
<p>My son filled in my email address, not his, on the PSAT this year, so I am the one getting inundated with college emails. I can also report that I have clicked on several of them, clicked on the “take me off your list” button…and received more emails and snail mail afterwords!</p>
<p>The good news is that listing my email address this year has cut down on the snail mail recycle pile as compared to last year. And even though my son made up his mind 4 years ago as to where he wants to go - and he’s on track to get there - it’s still always good to cover all the bases, and have a ready source available to pick out some safety and reach schools to go with his dream school. </p>
<p>And I think that’s just one more reason that the schools hire the marketing companies.</p>
<p>My son took the PSAT in October and got a 240, but he hasn’t gotten any extra mail or emails (yet). I suppose that’s just fine, since he’s a 3-year graduate whose college apps have already been submitted. He also took the ACT last June and got a 36 – no mail from that either. His APs did result in a small flow of specialized material directed to strong math/science candidates.</p>
<p>We’re feeling a little bit unloved by College Marketing Inc. right now. :-(</p>
<p>If he got a 240 on the PSAT as a junior, and isn’t getting mail, then he must have not have indicated on the test that he wanted mail. Or maybe they have the wrong address.</p>