Why do selective schools market?

[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?

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there really someone here who is defending University of Chicago’s transparently sleazy marketing practices?

What is "transparently sleazy" about their "marketing practices"?

Sending weekly mailers to kids who they know they’d never admit in an effort to boost the number of applications they get is clearly sleazy. Come on.

How do they know they would not admit ANY of the kids that get their mailers?

Point is they can fill a freshman class without advertising.

No, that is not the point. The point is can they build a better class easier if they have a larger cohort to choose from.

So again your claim was they know they'd never admit any of the kids they send the mailers to. How do they know that?

If a school only admits 10-20% of applicants, yeah, they're not going to admit most kids they send mailers to.

Not MOST. How do they know they would not admit ANY of the kids they send mailers to. And success is based on kids they would consider accepting.

.5%-%2 conversion is generally considered successful in a direct mail campaign.

https://www.themailshark.com/resources/articles/direct-mail-response-rates-and-how-to-improve-them/

You don't think these email campaigns get them at least 1%-2% qualified applicants?

[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?

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?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there really someone here who is defending University of Chicago’s transparently sleazy marketing practices?

What is "transparently sleazy" about their "marketing practices"?

Sending weekly mailers to kids who they know they’d never admit in an effort to boost the number of applications they get is clearly sleazy. Come on.

How do they know they would not admit ANY of the kids that get their mailers?

Point is they can fill a freshman class without advertising.

No, that is not the point. The point is can they build a better class easier if they have a larger cohort to choose from.

So again your claim was they know they'd never admit any of the kids they send the mailers to. How do they know that?

If a school only admits 10-20% of applicants, yeah, they're not going to admit most kids they send mailers to.

Not MOST. How do they know they would not admit ANY of the kids they send mailers to. And success is based on kids they would consider accepting.

.5%-%2 conversion is generally considered successful in a direct mail campaign.

https://www.themailshark.com/resources/articles/direct-mail-response-rates-and-how-to-improve-them/

You don't think these email campaigns get them at least 1%-2% qualified applicants?

All I'm saying is that it's cruel and unethical to get kids' hopes up. Have some freaking empathy.

[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?

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there really someone here who is defending University of Chicago’s transparently sleazy marketing practices?

What is "transparently sleazy" about their "marketing practices"?

Sending weekly mailers to kids who they know they’d never admit in an effort to boost the number of applications they get is clearly sleazy. Come on.

How do they know they would not admit ANY of the kids that get their mailers?

Point is they can fill a freshman class without advertising.

No, that is not the point. The point is can they build a better class easier if they have a larger cohort to choose from.

So again your claim was they know they'd never admit any of the kids they send the mailers to. How do they know that?

If a school only admits 10-20% of applicants, yeah, they're not going to admit most kids they send mailers to.

Not MOST. How do they know they would not admit ANY of the kids they send mailers to. And success is based on kids they would consider accepting.

.5%-%2 conversion is generally considered successful in a direct mail campaign.

https://www.themailshark.com/resources/articles/direct-mail-response-rates-and-how-to-improve-them/

You don't think these email campaigns get them at least 1%-2% qualified applicants?

All I'm saying is that it's cruel and unethical to get kids' hopes up. Have some freaking empathy.

And all I'm saying is that they are doing no such thing, certainly not intentionally. Have some freaking common sense.

[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?

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.

[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?

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there really someone here who is defending University of Chicago’s transparently sleazy marketing practices?

What is "transparently sleazy" about their "marketing practices"?

Sending weekly mailers to kids who they know they’d never admit in an effort to boost the number of applications they get is clearly sleazy. Come on.

How do they know they would not admit ANY of the kids that get their mailers?

They send the mailers based on demographics and scores. They have a very good idea of who is receiving the mailers and who they might admit. We

You don’t seem to understand how sophisticated targeted marketing is.

You don't seem to understand how any of this works. I guarantee plenty of people who qualify for admission receive those mailers. And there is no way for them to know without the application itself. The testing people don't sell names connected to individual scores, just pools and ranges; and test optional makes it less important if they did.

You are just ignorant. You have no idea how any of this works.

Well since you provide so much evidence that I don't know how this works, I guess that is hard to argue.

Facts:

- There is no way for any college to know the likelihood of admission for any individual applicant.
- The college board does not sell individual scores, and in a test optional world it wouldn't matter if they did
- They are marketing a product just like people who send me mail for cars I would never buy and cruises I will never take
- Your idea that it is nefarious and cruel is preposterous absolutely without evidence.

I have never said it was nefarious and cruel. It’s another poster talking about that. It is sleazy, though, and brand-weakening behavior.

And you are obviously ignorant, and out of your depth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there really someone here who is defending University of Chicago’s transparently sleazy marketing practices?

What is "transparently sleazy" about their "marketing practices"?

Sending weekly mailers to kids who they know they’d never admit in an effort to boost the number of applications they get is clearly sleazy. Come on.

How do they know they would not admit ANY of the kids that get their mailers?

They send the mailers based on demographics and scores. They have a very good idea of who is receiving the mailers and who they might admit. We

You don’t seem to understand how sophisticated targeted marketing is.

You don't seem to understand how any of this works. I guarantee plenty of people who qualify for admission receive those mailers. And there is no way for them to know without the application itself. The testing people don't sell names connected to individual scores, just pools and ranges; and test optional makes it less important if they did.

You are just ignorant. You have no idea how any of this works.

Well since you provide so much evidence that I don't know how this works, I guess that is hard to argue.

Facts:

- There is no way for any college to know the likelihood of admission for any individual applicant.
- The college board does not sell individual scores, and in a test optional world it wouldn't matter if they did
- They are marketing a product just like people who send me mail for cars I would never buy and cruises I will never take
- Your idea that it is nefarious and cruel is preposterous absolutely without evidence.

I have never said it was nefarious and cruel. It’s another poster talking about that. It is sleazy, though, and brand-weakening behavior.

And you are obviously ignorant, and out of your depth.

Your ad hominem attack is telling.

If you had evidence to refute the facts posted, you would have.

[Anonymous]

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.

[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.

Who is ignorant now?

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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.