Are the college mailings targeted?

[Anonymous]

Got a slew of college mailings soon after the first time DC took the SAT (and didn't pay attention to opting out).
Lots of colleges we've never heard of.

A few weeks after we got the score back, the mailings turned to more selective schools.

Now a few months later, he is getting mailings from more selective schools advertising his intended major, which he has only entered in the few schools that we have toured.

Where is all this data connecting from?
There's the college board for one.
Then scores?
Then what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Got a slew of college mailings soon after the first time DC took the SAT (and didn't pay attention to opting out).
Lots of colleges we've never heard of.

A few weeks after we got the score back, the mailings turned to more selective schools.

Now a few months later, he is getting mailings from more selective schools advertising his intended major, which he has only entered in the few schools that we have toured.

Where is all this data connecting from?
There's the college board for one.
Then scores?
Then what?

Yes, they're targeted at driving up application numbers in order to drive down acceptance rates in order to make the school look more selective and prestigious.

[Anonymous]

They buy names within pretty wide score ranges. Pretty meaningless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Got a slew of college mailings soon after the first time DC took the SAT (and didn't pay attention to opting out).
Lots of colleges we've never heard of.

A few weeks after we got the score back, the mailings turned to more selective schools.

Now a few months later, he is getting mailings from more selective schools advertising his intended major, which he has only entered in the few schools that we have toured.

Where is all this data connecting from?
There's the college board for one.
Then scores?
Then what?

Yes, they're targeted at driving up application numbers in order to drive down acceptance rates in order to make the school look more selective and prestigious.

[phone]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Got a slew of college mailings soon after the first time DC took the SAT (and didn't pay attention to opting out).
Lots of colleges we've never heard of.

A few weeks after we got the score back, the mailings turned to more selective schools.

Now a few months later, he is getting mailings from more selective schools advertising his intended major, which he has only entered in the few schools that we have toured.

Where is all this data connecting from?
There's the college board for one.
Then scores?
Then what?

Yes, they're targeted at driving up application numbers in order to drive down acceptance rates in order to make the school look more selective and prestigious.

Some target certain areas where they've not met goals before. They could be trying to bring in more people from certain places, people with certain academic interests, races/ethnicities, etc.

Obviously, the WashU and Chicagos have got to buy anyone and everyone. I don't think they are necessarily normal.

[Anonymous]

It’s not some secret conspiracy to get their admissions rate down.

They want as many applicants as possible to build the class they want.

That’s a goal if every admissions office on the planet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not some secret conspiracy to get their admissions rate down.

They want as many applicants as possible to build the class they want.

That’s a goal if every admissions office on the planet.

They mail to people who can't get in. So don't fall to the trap.

[Anonymous]

Is it unusual to get mailing from Harvard
Or OOS public like UCLA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not some secret conspiracy to get their admissions rate down.

They want as many applicants as possible to build the class they want.

That’s a goal if every admissions office on the planet.

They mail to people who can't get in. So don't fall to the trap.

So nasty and pathetic. Grow up!

Agree with PPs. They mail to a wide range of students. Each university has different budgets and different parameters. I work at a university in marketing. It probably seems so exciting to parents to get these mailings at first, but not every mailing really means anything for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it unusual to get mailing from Harvard
Or OOS public like UCLA

No. It means nothing. They are trying to draw more applications, so they can reject more applicants and appear more exclusive. Yes, even prestigious schools do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it unusual to get mailing from Harvard
Or OOS public like UCLA

My son has received mail from Harvard. I don't remember UCLA, but there was some from USC, Stanford, and CalTech. He will not be applying to any of those schools.

Are they targeted? They don't seem to be for my kid who will probably not apply to any of the schools he gets mail from. He's interested in SLACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not some secret conspiracy to get their admissions rate down.

They want as many applicants as possible to build the class they want.

That’s a goal if every admissions office on the planet.

They mail to people who can't get in. So don't fall to the trap.

Yeah, and we all get advertisements for stuff we can't afford. Is that some kind of conspiracy, or just "marketing"?

Hint: it's "marketing", as are the emails. It's not a "trap". Those emails assume you know your stats (which they DON'T except one vague SAT range) and can judge your own chances accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not some secret conspiracy to get their admissions rate down.

They want as many applicants as possible to build the class they want.

That’s a goal if every admissions office on the planet.

They mail to people who can't get in. So don't fall to the trap.

So nasty and pathetic. Grow up!

Agree with PPs. They mail to a wide range of students. Each university has different budgets and different parameters. I work at a university in marketing. It probably seems so exciting to parents to get these mailings at first, but not every mailing really means anything for your child.

Exciting? 🙄 no. Annoying? Definitely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it unusual to get mailing from Harvard
Or OOS public like UCLA

Not unusual to get mail Harvard and similar. My kids got tons. They were not going to be accepted to those schools.

[Anonymous]

We got a box full of mails, and didn't look targetted.

My kid got well over 1500 SAT, yet shit shcools kept sending mails LOL