Email overload- but should we take a closer look?

Anonymous
Parents of a rising senior here - our oldest so we're brand new to the college scene. She/we keep getting multiple emails from 3 colleges in particular that due to their private or OOS status, we'd normally not consider.

However, I'm wondering if their persistence means that maybe the colleges think they'd be a good fit for our child and therefore might be worth exploring further. I'm not saying merit would be involved but more that maybe it's opening our eyes to places we'd not considered could be good contenders.

Is this thinking correct? Or are they just playing the numbers games and repeatedly emailing to try to boost their application numbers?
Anonymous
They’re not considering fit at all. They’re emailing as many students as they can. Names bought from lists.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Parents of a rising senior here - our oldest so we're brand new to the college scene. She/we keep getting multiple emails from 3 colleges in particular that due to their private or OOS status, we'd normally not consider.

However, I'm wondering if their persistence means that maybe the colleges think they'd be a good fit for our child and therefore might be worth exploring further. I'm not saying merit would be involved but more that maybe it's opening our eyes to places we'd not considered could be good contenders.

Is this thinking correct? Or are they just playing the numbers games and repeatedly emailing to try to boost their application numbers?


If by "good fit" you mean "they need our money," then yes, these colleges think your kid would be an excellent fit.
Anonymous
More applications make a college look more selective. Anything their marketing department can do to bring in those applications helps those numbers.
Anonymous
Any of those Elon, Richmond, or Chicago?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Any of those Elon, Richmond, or Chicago?


OP here. No! Ha!

Wooster and Drexel. I can't remember the other one.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Any of those Elon, Richmond, or Chicago?


OP here. No! Ha!

Wooster and Drexel. I can't remember the other one.


Drexel wooed me back when I was a college senior many moons ago. They did have a very strong program for my area of interest, so I did give them a chance and applied. I did get in, and they offered me a little financial aid, but I ended up going to a different school that was a little stronger in that particular major.

So.. if those universities are otherwise interesting to your DC, it may be worth a bit of a look.
Anonymous
"unsubscribe"
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Any of those Elon, Richmond, or Chicago?


Richmond doesn't need to spam.
Anonymous
They buy names using parameters that are pretty loose, so they suspect the kid could be a match, but they don’t really know.

They use things like region (this can be really specific), a score range, academic interest (entered by the student), GPA (entered by the student), etc.

The College Board doesn’t give them enough information to truly know if the kid is admissible.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Any of those Elon, Richmond, or Chicago?


OP here. No! Ha!

Wooster and Drexel. I can't remember the other one.


They both need to boost enrollment to stay financially healthy.

To fill a class, these colleges need to increase awareness. So advertising is part of what it takes.

My great-aunt and uncle met at Wooster so I don't have prejudice against it. Their childless son donated some money to it. I think though, that it is kind of too small town for some students. My son knows someone who left after freshman year.

We are interested in showing Drexel to our younger son. But it's not likely he would go there. I've heard they do have some financial challenges.

Why not check them out and see for yourself.

CWRU mailed both of my kids due to AP tests in 9th & 10th grade. We don't live in Ohio but we are somewhat logical targets. I think CWRU is a great fit for some types of students. My Bethesda-residing manager sent his kid there.
Anonymous
Some of the track demonstrated interest schools track the clicks and the amount of time spent looking at whatever you're looking at.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Any of those Elon, Richmond, or Chicago?


OP here. No! Ha!

Wooster and Drexel. I can't remember the other one.


Wooster does give excellent merit aid, up to maybe $40K, so if that's interesting to you, definitely worth considering.

Were you not considering private schools just based on cost? I'd run the net price calculators, since many private colleges are less expensive than public universities out of state.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Any of those Elon, Richmond, or Chicago?


OP here. No! Ha!

Wooster and Drexel. I can't remember the other one.


Wooster does give excellent merit aid, up to maybe $40K, so if that's interesting to you, definitely worth considering.

Were you not considering private schools just based on cost? I'd run the net price calculators, since many private colleges are less expensive than public universities out of state.


+1 Wooster was sort of a likely/soft target for my kid but she engaged with them quite a bit to keep them honest for demonstrated interest. They offered a pretty sizable merit aid award and I bet we could have gone to them for more if they ended up being in the running. It’s ranking is what it is but like many SLACs they do pretty well with grad school admissions and have some nice STEM programs. Even if it’s not a top choice, it’s a good option for creating a balanced list if gunning for top 15ish LACs
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