So then, with @sushiritto’s theory, my D would have a better chance of acceptance at Yale over Harvard, since she didn’t receive much (anything?) from H. She shouldn’t bother to apply to Notre Dame, since she didn’t get any mail from them, but perhaps should apply to WashU instead, since she got dozens of mailers from them.
Could we stretch the theory that far?
Here’s the other thing…applications at Ivy League school or Vandy or ND at $70-90 generates over 2M dollars for the school and isn’t a nice revenue stream for those schools and no doubt is much more revenue than the cost of the mailers.
S18 submitted the Georgia Tech application tonight! Now I wait for his Georgia Virtual grades to close, and submit his updated transcript.
@melvin123 , no standardized testing of the college sort until a single ACT in Sept of Junior year. Prior to the freshman year mailings from ND, she had only taken the regular state standardized testing required by her public middle school (though had to take HS level standardized testing in Science in Math due to her track).
They were the only college sending anything at all in 9th grade and I had originally assumed that ND targeted all HS freshman. When I learned from another parent who has a DS at ND that her younger daughter (10th grader) was not receiving solicitation, I was really perplexed as to how my D got on their list. Could ND have access to the HSPT (high school placement exam used for private schools) or GIEP reports such as IQ tests and proficiency exams? I cannot come up with any other explanation, but I do find it interesting trying to put the clues together.
@burghdad Stanford has 28 admission officers. Considering all the additional costs (office space, administrative staff, postage for all those mailings…) none of the selective schools are using admission fees as a revenue source.
@ShrimpBurrito I really have no idea. But, I do think it’s interesting that your D got a mailer from Yale, but not Harvard. So if this were my D and she didn’t have an opinion one way or another, yet wanted to take a stab at a HPYMS, I’d tell her to apply to Y. I would think there’s got to be a reason why Y sent stuff to your D but not H, and the other way around over here, where H sent stuff to my D but not Y.
@Kayak24 I can’t imagine that a college would buy a list for the HSPT or GIEP. But how would they get your D’s info? So interesting.
Stanford received approximately 4 million ($90 X 44,000) from app fees last year…
Well, I don’t have access to D’s emails, but from a mailer standpoint, I don’t believe Harvard or Yale gave my D any love. So, “no soup” for them. They’ll get no app from D. Not that she had a “snowball’s chance” anyway. Obviously, a student still must execute a great app, LOR’s, and essay, but I’ve got this gut feeling that there’s some programming and filters to get the outcomes to lean towards the school’s ultimate plan.
@ollie113 so maybe not making money but maybe paying for an expense they otherwise have. Just saying the apps fees are not an inconsequential amount. And I am sure that Stanford, hyp, mit doesnt need to send out mailers to pump up apps but others schools even some top notch privates may make money on apps by sending out mailers. They sure as hell are doing it just for the heck of it.
Yes; I think the high top schools are making bank off of application fees. There is no way they are paying their “people” upwards of 2-3 million/year.
Our mailings have trailed a bit although we did get that Dartmouth mailer this week as well. I have taken to tossing the ones that aren’t on the list at this point and there is a decent pile of the ones still in the running all over the floor of D18 room. Sigh.
As far as the fables, I STILL remember the one I read at a friend’s house:
Here comes a Nanny to put you to bed,
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head.
WTH???
Oh @sushiritto I agree about the snowball’s chance for my D too. The odds are staggering. But I agree with you about some kind of filter. Just wish I knew what it was.
If you ask me, it’s not the app fees they are after (though I’m sure they don’t mind the several million they get from them) but rather the prestige boost they get by having as many kids as possible applying to their institution. That’s worth a whole lot more to them and justifies the expense of the mailings exponentially.
Consider all of the kids who don’t know any better and don’t realize that some of this solicitation is rejection bait. Like it or not, prestige has a direct correlation with acceptance rate in this rat race among elite colleges seeking rankings and even donations.
@melvin123 - I really wish I was a fly on the wall at the who to target and why meetings, too. It definitely isn’t completely geographic because ID got a ton of stuff from the East coast and we are in AZ. Not nearly as much from CA but maybe that’s because they already have so many people in CA they don’t need to do much marketing OOS. Who knows? One of the mysteries of nature for sure.
DD judged an elementary (4th&5th grade) science fair this weekend. They no longer do the science fair in person, it is all online! She was originally supposed to judge 2 projects but in the end she was sent 6. The only words of advice for judging were that they should be gentle in their critiques because the school district wants to encourage the kids to keep going in the sciences!
I thought it a fun way for her to get some service hours in For Science National Honor Society. She said one project was outstanding she graded it a 97(something about inflating footballs) and another she was being generous with an 82. But I had to laugh at the thought of DD judging a science fair, she is not exactly what I would classify as a STEMy kid! She said she enjoyed doing it.
I misspoke and said revenue instead of income, it’s obviously revenue :"> .
Using Stanford as an example, at $75k per officer that’s $2.1 million. They also travel, need computers and IT support, coordinate 100,000 visits per year, send all the junk mail…
When it’s all said and done, that $4 million (at most, lots of applicants have fee waivers) might cover half the expenses of the admissions office. Would they have thousands more apps if the fee was lower?
Anyway, the app fees are mere pennies to Stanford:
https://news.stanford.edu/2017/10/05/annual-financial-results-investment-return-endowment/
S18 got that mailer from D as well. He is regretting not applying there early as it has steadily climbed in his regard from 0 interest junior year to mild interest over the summer to high interest this fall and now very high interest. The first profile of the MechE major modified with History and Arabic is almost exactly what he wants to do so that just made him want it even more!
@MomOutWest - it’s my alma mater as well! He is our class’s first baby and he is applying. Everyone is very excited.
@Kayak24 - I’m with you; I don’t believe the app
fees are what the schools are after. The fees are chump change to them, it’s all about building prestige. The more applications they get the lower their acceptance rate, thus increasing their selectivity.
We survived Nutcracker! Well, more importantly, I survived. At some point, when I was eating a PBJ in my van in between shows, I marveled at the things we do for our kids. :x
I thought she’d be a little misty-eyed, but she wasn’t. It was a frustrating production, so I think she was glad to have it behind her. I think it will be a very different ballet season for a lot of reasons, and maybe that’s a good thing. The program is changing in ways neither of us is happy with, so she feels she has been able to participate in many good years and leave on a high note.
She is taking the morning off school with my blessing, sleeping late, catching up on the little bit of homework she has, and going in for physics. To steal someone’s phrase above, it’s always physics … :))
D finally checked the portal for Temple. Knew she accepted but now had the official letter: accepted to honors program with President Scholarship, full tuition. I think I was more excited than she was. It’s not at the top of the pile for her but if none of those lottery chances come through in March she will be glad to have some choices.
I also don’t understand the mailings. D is actually apply to one super reach that has sent her nothing so I hope that targeted theory isn’t right… she has the stats and has heard from other ivies, including the Dartmouth book which she was happy to get