My son got a lot, lot of mailings like this after his ACT test. I think he checked the box that make it OK to share his scores with colleges. I was really grateful for all of the mail actually. We aren’t very well versed in all of the colleges and universities and it was educational to have the info in our mailbox (full disclosure - we are driving 1200 miles next month to drop the kid off at Tulane!)
I have been in info sessions where reps from schools imply that everyone in the audience has a real probability of getting financial aid. They go on and on about how they award aid to people in all income brackets and that you should always apply to see what you can get.
At the risk of setting off a firestorm of negative comments, I must point out that this is, in fact, truthful. Everyone does have a real probability of getting financial aid. In fact, everyone who is eligible to file a FAFSA, files it, and complies with the school’s requests for additional info (if any) will receive an unsubsidized loan, at the very least. This IS financial aid, regardless of personal thoughts on whether or not it should be, and therefore the truth is that they do award aid to people in all income brackets. I prefer not to talk about aid opportunities in that manner, but it’s not untruthful for a school to do so.
The one that really rankled me was the letter my D received from Harvard. I don’t remember the exact wording, but it was something like, “Based on your academic record, we think you’re the kind of student we’re looking for. We’re writing to ask you to apply to Harvard.” Total b.s. They send out tens of thousands of these, presumably to everyone with test scores above a certain numerical cutoff, knowing full well that the vast majority of those they target have little or no chance of being admitted. But the letter is deceptively worded to make it appear to the naive that someone in the admissions office has already assembled a dossier on the recipient of the letter, and is practically begging that student to apply, so eager are they to recruit her. Nothing illegal about it, but you’d think this sort of thing would be beneath Harvard’s dignity. Apparently not.
@kelsmom:
It might be truthful in an absolute sense, but what they are doing is playing a semantics game since unsubsidized loans to most people are not aid (no kind of loan is, since you have to pay it back), it is in a way stretching the truth, it is too bad the federal government hasn’t made rules that they cannot claim student loans as aid, because in the real world application that is not aid, that is simply allowing them to take out a loan to pay that they pay back, with interest.
Schools make statements like “80% of students receive financial aid”, even if most of them are basically token aid, to get kids to apply there so when they publish stats it makes them look like they are really popular (the idea being, if you see “wow, 80% of kids get aid, maybe I can afford to go there”:, including kids taking a shot figuring “hey, if it is that affordable, maybe I’ll shoot for the moon”…which would decrease the all important acceptance rate…
Music schools do this a lot, a lot of the upper tier programs tie both FA and Merit aid to what they consider family need, and they put out statements like “90% of our students receive aid”, when for kids who don’t get FA, they get a token merit aid and unsubsidized loans,), they basically bank on kids and parents being so enamored of going there that they will pay pretty much a full ride if they get accepted, even if they sort of applied under false pretenses shrug. It is part of the game, and believing the marketing bs they send out reminds me of Goldy Hawn in “Private Benjamin” when she gets to boot camp, wondering where the condos are lol.
To mention the difference between American and Canadian schools again. McGill sends out no mailings. In fact there is no viewbook. They have an oversized brochure that is available at college fairs and school visits.
Printing and postage cost money!
@bclintonk --call me naive, but I do believe that at least that’s partially because there are millions of students outside the usual suspects who might have a shot at H because they’re off the beaten path, but wouldn’t think of applying for the same reason. And they might just be the ones adding geographical or class or ethnicity or screwball-interest or just plain different-ness that WILL make them the person H may choose. I don’t think they’re casting a wide net just for the numbers.
I have no problem with Harvard casting a wide net. I do have a problem with the way the letter was worded to make it sound as if someone in their admissions office had reviewed the academic record of the particular recipient of the letter and had flagged that particular student as someone they were especially interested in. Total crock of you-know-what, and intentionally misleading. Fortunately my D was savvy enough not to be taken in by it; she literally laughed it off. But I suspect there were thousands, possibly tens of thousands of gullible kids who read that letter and naively got their hopes up, thinking Harvard had singled them out and was actively recruiting them. In fact, if memory serves, there have been posters on CC who asked whether this sort of letter was what’s called a “likely letter,” a pre-admission signal from the school that admission is likely. Not. Again, nothing illegal in it, but Harvard should hold itself to higher standards.
So do you want to receive letters and postcards that say: “Take your time applying, because we give everyone a free application and we consider everyone for merit aid. You’re not special, preferred, or getting a deal at Tulane”?
How is this any different than when people go to admissions and get the tour and the free chapstick with the logo but they have no hope of ever being admitted to Harvard, Duke, or ND? The schools are marketing, they want the big pile of applications, they do want that one student who might never have heard of the school. They are nice to everyone, even the ones with no chance.
We went to school fairs for our city when my kids were little. There were a few schools there that always have a waiting list, that are almost impossible to get into. They still want to promote their schools, to keep their names out there. Sometimes the school will have a down period and those prior years of marketing help the school fire up quickly, fill those few spots in grades 4, 7 and 10 because you saw them at the fair when your child was going into K.
Our take on my daughter getting that Tulane mailing was - great! We know it’s marketing, but since it’s a school on your list, take it as a positive. So my daughter did and had a reason to email her rep. (even said she knew it was marketing), but introduced herself and told the rep. she’d be applying EA, and chatted a bit about what she liked about Tulane. The rep. responded, and they will meet when the rep. is at our high school in the fall. Keep whatcha like and pitch the rest in the trash!