Why do selective schools market?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Merit aid is part of an overall marketing scheme. It’s part of the “soft sell.” Read the article—it explains.

No, sorry, I did not see anything in the article related to this thread, and I have seen this article before.

Most of the schools being complained about in this thread do not give any merit aid, so this article is largely off-topic, unless you can point to something specific.

[Anonymous]

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%?)

[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%?)

To clarify, obviously the Facebook ads happened because he was surfing their websites. But still, neither of those schools need to advertise.

[Anonymous]

NP. University of Chicago’s marketing is ridiculous. Has completely lowered my opinion of the school. My kid got weekly mailings from them.

[Anonymous]

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.

[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.

+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?

[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.

+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?

NO ONE.

They will have enough applicants without advertising.

[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%?)

To clarify, obviously the Facebook ads happened because he was surfing their websites. But still, neither of those schools need to advertise.

How do you know if they "need to advertise" or not? You don't think they have data about the benefit of advertising on the cohort of applicants? You think their marketing people don't know what they are doing?

They do, and they advertise because it works for them. It's not nefarious, has nothing to do with your kid specifically, and is just a good and effective business practice. Nothing more.

[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?

NO ONE.

They will have enough applicants without advertising.

And you get to decide they have "enough applicants"? Why do you get to decide that? That's a ridiculous position. I suppose McDonalds should stop advertising as they have sold "enough hamburgers".

The larger the number of applicants the better chance they have of building the class they want. That's it, whether you think they have "enough applicants" or not.

There are dozens of books written by ex-college admissions people. Read one. Any one. Then come back and post here.

[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.

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%?)

To clarify, obviously the Facebook ads happened because he was surfing their websites. But still, neither of those schools need to advertise.

How do you know if they "need to advertise" or not? You don't think they have data about the benefit of advertising on the cohort of applicants? You think their marketing people don't know what they are doing?

They do, and they advertise because it works for them. It's not nefarious, has nothing to do with your kid specifically, and is just a good and effective business practice. Nothing more.

Getting their name out is generally a good thing too--it builds brand recognition. Also the main reason they do these mailings is because they want to increase certain subsets of applicants but it's easier/cheaper to just send to all people with a PSAT over a benchmark than do targeted recruiting of sub-groups.

[Anonymous]

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.

University of Chicago does this. My 23 did not apply for that reason. Not gonna help Chicago’s acceptance rate go even lower.

[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.

University of Chicago does this. My 23 did not apply for that reason. Not gonna help Chicago’s acceptance rate go even lower.

So, no school should market unless they have an open enrollment 100% acceptance rate?

Is this really a reasonable position?

[Anonymous]

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?

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?

NO ONE.

They will have enough applicants without advertising.

And you get to decide they have "enough applicants"? Why do you get to decide that? That's a ridiculous position. I suppose McDonalds should stop advertising as they have sold "enough hamburgers".

The larger the number of applicants the better chance they have of building the class they want. That's it, whether you think they have "enough applicants" or not.

There are dozens of books written by ex-college admissions people. Read one. Any one. Then come back and post here.

Speaking as a former admissions person, the bolded is categorically not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

University of Chicago does this. My 23 did not apply for that reason. Not gonna help Chicago’s acceptance rate go even lower.

So, no school should market unless they have an open enrollment 100% acceptance rate?

Is this really a reasonable position?

I’m not that PP but my kid’s weekly mail from University of Chicago made the school seem desperate and slimy.