What’s the point of this letter?

[Anonymous]

DD has gotten similar letters (and texts and emails) from two schools that she has in her Common App dashboard but hasn't applied to yet. She is not a rockstar applicant by DCUM measures, but would definitely be a strong candidate at these two places.

The messages say something like "Thanks for starting your application!" and then the rest sounds similar to what OP posted, with encouragement to get in touch. I think what a PP posted about schools still needing to win over applicants is the best explanation.

DD has already applied to a safety that is probably not as good as these two, but that she likes much better, so she's just been ignoring the messages. I worry that could hurt her if she does end up applying, but maybe not if they're so desperate to hear from her?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges, even highly selective ones, advertise to their applicants to improve yield. It's just spam. No need to get excited about it.

I’m not excited about it. I just don’t understand the point unless their goal is to determine interest by follow up—and posters are suggesting not to follow up. Weird.

Look, it would probably cost them more to go through that mailing list and take off the names of people who have already applied. That's all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges, even highly selective ones, advertise to their applicants to improve yield. It's just spam. No need to get excited about it.

I’m not excited about it. I just don’t understand the point unless their goal is to determine interest by follow up—and posters are suggesting not to follow up. Weird.

Look, it would probably cost them more to go through that mailing list and take off the names of people who have already applied. That's all.

That doesn’t make any sense since they are clearly circulating a cover letter that says thank you for applying—meaning it is strategically being sent to those who applied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d discourage you from reading anything into such letters. After my son applied to Virginia Tech, a specific program invited my son to apply for a scholarship and requested/reviewed his portfolio. Then they called him on his cell phone to set up an interview time. The day before the interview he got a rejection notice.

I'm sorry that happened to your son, I think I rememberyou posting that (but you ommitted the school name) a couple years ago. My son had something similar happen at a different VA public.

Thanks. He is very happy at another, very different school, so it all worked out. I hope the same happened for your son.

But yeah…imma hold a grudge against VT for a while.

[Anonymous]

Is this a highly competitive college? Reach out. Surprise….the student reaching out can also improve your chances of getting off the waitlist. Shows initiative. Speaking from experience.

[Anonymous]

To improve yield and develop connection so parents will CTC (cut the check).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some schools (not many, but some) care a LOT about demonstrated interest. They have low yields that they want to increase by only admitting the students that really want to go there. Tulane is an example. If they say to reach out, I'd reach out.

Case Western does the same. They want to know the applicant is serious about their school.

[Anonymous]

DC got a lot of mail from the colleges she's already applied to. Why? They probably don't coordinate their mailing lists. It means nothing OP. Don't reach out unless your child is excited about this school and wants to increase interactions. Otherwise, it's a waste of time.
For example, I get daily emails from UMW, where my kid applied EA, asking her to apply! She's already visited too, but she gets emails asking her to visit. Daily! Crazy. I also get daily emails from Clark U where my kid is not applying. She put Clark on her EA list, then removed it, but Clark didn't get the memo, so the emails pour in.
U Chicago sent DC a letter asking her to apply after she'd already put UC on her EA list, and days before she completed her application. I've heard UC sends these letters out to just about anyone trying to increase their applicant pool. Sleazy, but that's the way it is.
I very carefully instructed DC not to put her email in the SAT's mailing list, yet she gets at least 50 emails every day from colleges that she'd never apply to! We get weekly postcards from colleges she would never apply to. They go directly into recycling. I don't know why they waste their money mailing cards to kids like DD who is not going to go to Bumfeck U in Middleonowhere!!
College is a marketing scam these days.