Why do selective schools market?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a hs freshman and must have signed up for some lists, because he's getting marketing material from schools he doesn't have a chance of being admitted to - but because they're advertising, he thinks he does. I know we're not ready for the college search yet, but it's pretty upsetting to me as well. Why do they do this?

It's University of Chicago, right? They're relentless and shameless.

He didn't sign up for anything. He probably took the PSATs, and maybe some AP tests, and indicated that he was open to receiving materials.

Yes, University of Chicago in the mail. He's had two other schools that are slightly less selective pop up in Facebook ads (for their pre-admission summer programs, but still - why bother advertising those when your admit rate is less than 20%?)

They make money off those programs and people might want to attend, even if they can't get into (or aren't interested in) the school as a regular student. When I was a kid, I did a summer program at Wellesley, a school for which I was biologically ineligible to attend as an undergrad, because it seemed interesting.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a hs freshman and must have signed up for some lists, because he's getting marketing material from schools he doesn't have a chance of being admitted to - but because they're advertising, he thinks he does. I know we're not ready for the college search yet, but it's pretty upsetting to me as well. Why do they do this?

Outside of a very select few (like HPYS), most schools don't have amazing universal name recognition and really do want more and different applicants. Schools like Chicago, WashU, Emory and top SLACs don't just want more DC prep school applicants since they obviously know those elite schools well. One of my funnier college-related memories was overhearing MIT interactions at a college fair in the middle of the US where several students clearly didn't know MIT and asked questions about "mitt" while making the rounds

Yes, when I did college fairs for as a Purdue alum, people thought it was Ivy League. Point is, Purdue and most other colleges still get more than enough applicants to fill every single spot. HYP is turning down qualified applicants. So is Chicago.

And Arizona State also gets more applicants than they could accept. Should they stop marketing?

Uh, yeah.

And there we have it folks.

All colleges should stop all marketing because my kid might not be able to get in.

Absolutely ludicrous. But at least you admit it.

Not might not. Will not.

Right, so screw the kid that gets the mailer who WOULD get in but wouldn't have applied otherwise. Because yours can't understand a common data set and for some reason you are unable to explain it to him. Participation medals for all.

Give me a break. Your hypothetical kid has heard of U of C and West Point.

Who is ignorant now?

And I didn't say they hadn't heard of it - I said they wouldn't have applied otherwise.

Why not? Why does a brochure make it for them? Sounds like the type of student no college would want.

This is so silly.

My kid had heard of Swarthmore, and what he had heard was it was "the place fun goes to die". (Same thing gets said about UofC also). He had no interest in it. They sent him letters. The letters were whimsical and fun and definitely changed his opinion of the place. (He was accepted elsewhere ED).


When people get coupons for Domino's in the mail, do you think they say "Wow, I am learning about this food establishment I have never heard of" or do you think people who like Domino's but weren't specifically thinking of ordering one are prompted to? Of course there are those of us who would NEVER order Domino's for any reason, but certainly we are not "offended" that they are sending us mail. We simply put it in the recycle bin.

This is how advertising works.

This is a good analogy. It's not that your family never heard of these schools. But they may not have thought of them as appealing or a good fit.

Most folks are going to throw out the mailers. The school is hoping some don't. They take the College Board or whoever's data, and they target the students who may fill the institutional priorities they need. And they can't know until they get apps. While it's true these schools could "fill their classes X many times" with qualified students-- they actually can't do that and get everything they are looking for in a class. That's why some people get in and some don't.

I'm not saying they are the most moral actors in the world. But it's better to think about this logically then paint them will a broad nefarious brush.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a hs freshman and must have signed up for some lists, because he's getting marketing material from schools he doesn't have a chance of being admitted to - but because they're advertising, he thinks he does. I know we're not ready for the college search yet, but it's pretty upsetting to me as well. Why do they do this?

It's University of Chicago, right? They're relentless and shameless.

He didn't sign up for anything. He probably took the PSATs, and maybe some AP tests, and indicated that he was open to receiving materials.

Yes, University of Chicago in the mail. He's had two other schools that are slightly less selective pop up in Facebook ads (for their pre-admission summer programs, but still - why bother advertising those when your admit rate is less than 20%?)

They make money off those programs and people might want to attend, even if they can't get into (or aren't interested in) the school as a regular student. When I was a kid, I did a summer program at Wellesley, a school for which I was biologically ineligible to attend as an undergrad, because it seemed interesting.

DS didn't get into the program in question, though. Seeing it pop up on Facebook was upsetting. I know. Thicker skin and all. But I see why he's hurt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a hs freshman and must have signed up for some lists, because he's getting marketing material from schools he doesn't have a chance of being admitted to - but because they're advertising, he thinks he does. I know we're not ready for the college search yet, but it's pretty upsetting to me as well. Why do they do this?

Outside of a very select few (like HPYS), most schools don't have amazing universal name recognition and really do want more and different applicants. Schools like Chicago, WashU, Emory and top SLACs don't just want more DC prep school applicants since they obviously know those elite schools well. One of my funnier college-related memories was overhearing MIT interactions at a college fair in the middle of the US where several students clearly didn't know MIT and asked questions about "mitt" while making the rounds

Yes, when I did college fairs for as a Purdue alum, people thought it was Ivy League. Point is, Purdue and most other colleges still get more than enough applicants to fill every single spot. HYP is turning down qualified applicants. So is Chicago.

And Arizona State also gets more applicants than they could accept. Should they stop marketing?

Uh, yeah.

And there we have it folks.

All colleges should stop all marketing because my kid might not be able to get in.

Absolutely ludicrous. But at least you admit it.

Not might not. Will not.

Right, so screw the kid that gets the mailer who WOULD get in but wouldn't have applied otherwise. Because yours can't understand a common data set and for some reason you are unable to explain it to him. Participation medals for all.

Give me a break. Your hypothetical kid has heard of U of C and West Point.

Is West Point really sending mailers? The only ones we've ever gotten from any of the academies were related to their lacrosse prospect days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a hs freshman and must have signed up for some lists, because he's getting marketing material from schools he doesn't have a chance of being admitted to - but because they're advertising, he thinks he does. I know we're not ready for the college search yet, but it's pretty upsetting to me as well. Why do they do this?

It's University of Chicago, right? They're relentless and shameless.

He didn't sign up for anything. He probably took the PSATs, and maybe some AP tests, and indicated that he was open to receiving materials.

+1 My kid received a handful of beautiful brochures from U Chicago and many, many postcards. He had virtually 0% of being accepted. I think the combination of his indicating openness to receive materials and out zip code made him an easy target.

"Easy Target?" You mean a college knows a kid is preparing to go to college so they sent him a brochure educating him about the school? What could you possibly mean by "easy target"? Who are they supposed to send their brochures to?

U Chicago sends their marketing to anyone who checks the SAT/PSAT/ACT box "willing to get info". Ideally they should be targeting only those with at least 1400+. Sending info to a kid who got 1100 on the pSAT is not someone with any shot at UChicago.

My kid got an 1130 on his PSAT and got into UChicago. Granted, by the time he took his SAT, he had taken a prep course and got a 1540 on his SAT. I also think it's wasted energy for people to get mad that their kids get brochures from long shot colleges. Just toss them in the trash or opt out. You can choose not to get worked up about it.

[Anonymous]

It seems like all schools are doing this - in the past two months, we have gotten letters/mailers from anywhere from Christopher Newport to Yale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like all schools are doing this - in the past two months, we have gotten letters/mailers from anywhere from Christopher Newport to Yale.

Enrollment cliff happening sooner than predicted?

[Anonymous]

Also, the Yale letter was kind of sneaky. It looked like a genuine letter- not your typical advertisement. At first I thought they were inviting my kid to apply to a summer program or something like that.
The letter started off by stating "Congratulations" as if it was an acceptance letter. Is Yale getting desperate to reduce their already impossibly low acceptance rate even further? Is less than 5% not low enough?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, the Yale letter was kind of sneaky. It looked like a genuine letter- not your typical advertisement. At first I thought they were inviting my kid to apply to a summer program or something like that.
The letter started off by stating "Congratulations" as if it was an acceptance letter. Is Yale getting desperate to reduce their already impossibly low acceptance rate even further? Is less than 5% not low enough?!

Would love to see a picture. Sounds super slimy.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, we got one from Yale too. Threw it into the garbage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, the Yale letter was kind of sneaky. It looked like a genuine letter- not your typical advertisement. At first I thought they were inviting my kid to apply to a summer program or something like that.
The letter started off by stating "Congratulations" as if it was an acceptance letter. Is Yale getting desperate to reduce their already impossibly low acceptance rate even further? Is less than 5% not low enough?!

Meanwhile, I heard they were trying to encourage some kids that were supposed to start this fall to take a gap year. These schools are disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like all schools are doing this - in the past two months, we have gotten letters/mailers from anywhere from Christopher Newport to Yale.

My graduating senior is still getting mail from colleges that she didn't apply to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like all schools are doing this - in the past two months, we have gotten letters/mailers from anywhere from Christopher Newport to Yale.

My graduating senior is still getting mail from colleges that she didn't apply to.

Same

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More apps = lower acceptance rate = more selective

Seems unethical to get kids' hopes up in order to lower your admissions rate.

Sigh... they are not doing this for same nefarious data point manipulation.

They market because they have no idea if you kid has a chance and they want as many applicants as possible to build the class they want.

End period.

Easily the dumbest comment of the year.

End period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, we got one from Yale too. Threw it into the garbage.

This is the logical approach to receiving mass-market advertising for a product you are not interested in.