<p>I see people posting about how a school “courted” them, particularly safety schools, etc . . . If you’re not a recruited athlete or something like that, how do you the difference between the emails that are sent to all students within a certain PSAT range, and a school actually individually courting you?</p>
<p>Lesser named schools do “work the lists” – trying to keep them in your sights. EVeryday mailings are not evidence of courting. Personal letters and invitations to visit (on their dime) are definitely evidence of courting.</p>
<p>A mass mailing is not courting. If that mailing came in a big envelope with glossy pictures, and nothing specific about you or your interests, then it’s a mass mailing.</p>
<p>OK: I’ll make clearer distinctions: there’s “courting” and there’s “prospecting”. The generalized email cited in post #3, all the mass emailings and mailers you or your kid is getting – that’s prospecting. Your name made it to a list which the college bought and now you’re getting mail.</p>
<p>Courting is when an actual individual initiates contact. Maybe a coach for stand out athletes. Maybe an admissions officer for other schools who are actively trying to bring in top scholars. </p>
<p>There’s a quantitative difference between courting and just marketing. If you can’t tell, then you can be 100% sure it’s just plain marketing. Courting: You KNOW you’re being courted – actual phone calls, offers of plane tickets and housing to visit, personal invites to info sessions, etc.</p>
<p>If none of this is happening, that’s fine. No one ever “courted” me but I applied to a good selection of schools and was successful.</p>
<p>WaitingforIvy: that’s just a mass email – very commonplace. You’re not being courted yet. Would they love for you to apply? Sure. But it is NO indication whatsoever your actual chances of being accepted.</p>