Question about rise in college solicitations after PSAT

[Anonymous]

DK scored 99% on the language portion of the PSAT this year - sure wish it counted as a valid college entrance test as I'm not sure that will be repeated on the SAT/ACT! Math was lower so no NMSF for DK.

College Board says schools do not receive this information but I remember DK started getting junk mail from colleges last year after the 10th grade PSAT in FCPS. Can anyone who's been through this let me know if it appears colleges do somehow get this information and if it's evident by the quality of the junk mail? Or do they just appear to sell lists to random colleges/universities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DK scored 99% on the language portion of the PSAT this year - sure wish it counted as a valid college entrance test as I'm not sure that will be repeated on the SAT/ACT! Math was lower so no NMSF for DK.

College Board says schools do not receive this information but I remember DK started getting junk mail from colleges last year after the 10th grade PSAT in FCPS. Can anyone who's been through this let me know if it appears colleges do somehow get this information and if it's evident by the quality of the junk mail? Or do they just appear to sell lists to random colleges/universities?

I believe there is a box that the students need to check to opt in or opt out on the test that allows some of the data to be shared.

After my 9th grader took an AP exam last year he got a lot of college email. He remembered the box and said he wanted to get the info.

[Anonymous]

They don't get the specifics but I believe they can purchase mailing lists for specific demographics - kids with over xx score on the test, etc. My DC did reasonably well on the PSAT - commended but not NMSF - and got mail from all but 1 Ivy League school and many other top tier schools. It was flattering but that's about it.

[Anonymous]

It's just junk mail. Hit delete or toss it out. Why does it upset folks?

[Anonymous]

My DC put my email instead of his on the form. O.M.G. I told him I would disown him if he did this year.

[Anonymous]

Yes, my sister recommended setting up new emails which of course we forgot to do before the PSAT. Have them set up for future testing though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, my sister recommended setting up new emails which of course we forgot to do before the PSAT. Have them set up for future testing though.

Before DC even took the first practice test, we created an email exclusively for college information. It's been flooded but DC can look at emails at leisure without flooding the personal email.

[Anonymous]

DS scored nowhere 99th percentile and was flooded with junkmail...most notably from the University of Chicago, which sent mail a few times a month for an entire year. Even though there is not a snowball's chance in hell DS would be admitted to Chicago. WTF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They don't get the specifics but I believe they can purchase mailing lists for specific demographics - kids with over xx score on the test, etc. My DC did reasonably well on the PSAT - commended but not NMSF - and got mail from all but 1 Ivy League school and many other top tier schools. It was flattering but that's about it.

I should add - my other DC did not score well on the PSAT and got mail from a completely different set of colleges. So the mail is definitely connected to scores (as well as probably income - we are in a high SES zip code).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS scored nowhere 99th percentile and was flooded with junkmail...most notably from the University of Chicago, which sent mail a few times a month for an entire year. Even though there is not a snowball's chance in hell DS would be admitted to Chicago. WTF.

It is all about USNWR rankings. These schools don't want your kid. They want his application, so they can appear to be highly selective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS scored nowhere 99th percentile and was flooded with junkmail...most notably from the University of Chicago, which sent mail a few times a month for an entire year. Even though there is not a snowball's chance in hell DS would be admitted to Chicago. WTF.

It is all about USNWR rankings. These schools don't want your kid. They want his application, so they can appear to be highly selective.

This +1
As a junior be prepared for the onslaught of "preferred status" applications to start arriving. A Google search will tell you it's an awesome marketing tool for the college to up their apps and "selectivity" ranking.

[Anonymous]

Make sure you go through these emails in the beginning of senior year. DC almost discarded fee waivers to Swarthmore and Washington and Lee (we dont qualify for any waivers, thought it was junk) .