Anonymous wrote:I have half a mind to send a link to this thread to the Director of Admissions at Chicago.

I think they are well aware, and have made the decision that it's worth it to them to incur the wrath of parents like us. There are lots of posts on College Confidential (which is very widely read by college admissions people) about this going back many years.

It doesn't mean they really want your kid, it just means they just want your kid to APPLY (so they can reject).

I have half a mind to send a link to this thread to the Director of Admissions at Chicago.

Anonymous wrote:Take note, UChicago!

Yes, UChicago was the greatest culprit at our house. I found it infuriating, actually, especially given the fact that my DC didn't have the test scores to be admitted to UChicago (which they very well knew).

I am not impressed at schools' email tracking, including some of my kid's top choices. My son got his applications in early in October, got confirmation emails from the schools including portal log-in information, and this past week he got emails from 3 of his schools asking why he hasn't yet applied and that the admissions team can't wait to hear from him.

How hard would it be to move an applicant's name to a different list?

Anonymous wrote:Wash U And U of Chicago in our kids case - makes Midwest look desperate and I too hate the waste.

Those are my son's 2 biggest spammers too.

The mail is an on-going effort for the schools to juke their admission stats for the USNWR ratings. Schools are marketing to students they will not admit because the admit/application ratio is a big part of the USNWR methodology.

American universities have the largest endowments and fundraising capabilities worldwide, even lower tier schools, yet their academic standards are not that great compare to other top-notch universities elsewhere.

Because they overspend on everything.

And then expect parents to foot horrid bills.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take note, UChicago!

+100 2 kids and least 500 pieces of mail. neither one was even close to being able to apply there. What a scam.

Oh God, UChicago was the worst.

Wash U And U of Chicago in our kids case - makes Midwest look desperate and I too hate the waste.

I agree on both Vanderbilt and UChicago. To make things worse, DD has a formal name (think Jennifer) and a name she goes by (Jenny) and every single day she gets two pieces from Vanderbilt, one addressed to each name. Makes me ill and it turned DD off to them, even though she is a decent candidate.

Anonymous wrote:Take note, UChicago!

+100 2 kids and least 500 pieces of mail. neither one was even close to being able to apply there. What a scam.

Take note, UChicago!

Just be thankful your DC didn't use your email when he took the PSAT. I am still getting 10-15 emails a day.

We have received a piece of mail from this school, literally every day since the middle of summer. The emails are one thing...those can be deleted. The waste of paper is another thing. It makes them look bad. I know my kid could call and ask to be removed from the list but it is one he is planning on applying to so he feels he cannot.

Therefore, I will vent on this anonymous board and call out Vanderbilt University for being wasteful.

Phew. That feels better.