<p>For your own peace of mind, it would be better if you stop isolating single remarks and generalizing to the whole. Remarks that are publicized are also part of the whole marketing gig. And btw, the institution that is most misleading in this regard is, imo, not any of the aforementioned U’s, but rather U of Chicago. Often, they make it sound as if they want weirdos instead of brains. That’s not true, but an overemphasis, in print or on the web or orally, can imply an imbalance that does not correspond with the reality of the admitted pool.</p>
<p>Well, I am clearly not part of the target audience for the marketing–i.e., the audience that would be attracted by having a top skeet shooter on campus. (That’s ok, my entire extended family is close to the point where the only college prospects are the as-yet unborn 3rd generation down, so it would make no sense to market to me.)</p>
<p>I find most people interesting, once I get to know them, even when they have no quirky side interests at all.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I expected people to find the rutabaga-grower uninteresting–just shows that you never know.</p>
<p>Also, without writing a book [QuantMech’s Commentary on Admissions Philosophy and Assessments of the Entering Classes at All “Top” Universities, projected to be #260,175,948 on Amazon’s best sellers list! Possibly read by my spouse and no one else! . . . hmm, spouse fell asleep in the midst of Chapter 3], perhaps I can’t clarify my viewpoint. I am not saying that Stanford is full of students who stand out in odd ways. I am not suggesting that the students who stand out in odd ways are not superb in the conventional ways. I am just questioning the wisdom of advertising a few who do–but again, I am not the audience for their marketing.</p>
<p>The skeet-shooter was a world champion. World champions in just about anything are impressive in my book. I’d rather hang myself than play chess or go to the opera, but I’d still be impressed by and interested to know a world-champion chess player or a world reknowned opera singer.</p>
<p>Interestingly, if announcements and certain admissions are to be given weight to, Yale has been trying to corner the market on STEM geniuses in the last couple of years. They admitted and matriculated several high profile award winners last year in various science competitions (someone posted their names and stories a few months ago). The recent speech mentioned the captain of a US olympiad team that won the world title in chemistry (?).</p>
<p>Both chess and opera seem to me to be more closely related to the academic mission of a university than skeet shooting. On the other hand, I don’t think voices usually develop fast enough for a world-renowned opera singer to be in the applicant pool–definitely not basses, probably not any voice.</p>
<p>So do I, but OTOH, I worked in a very large advertising firm for 3 years, and I know what copywriters are paid to do. Perhaps that’s one reason why I’m able to look beyond the marketing materials. Sometimes they say things to be provocative. Apparently it doesn’t dissuade too many people from applying to Stanford.</p>
<p>You seriously don’t think that Stanford’s publicizing the championship skeet shooter is PRECISELY part of what the brand image is that they’ve cultivated and continue to cultivate? Anyone can own “smart.” Yawn. That’s not distinguishing or differentiating vs similar caliber schools in the least, and frankly it’s boring.</p>
<p>There’s no accounting for tastes: Caltech a few years back sent out a recruiting letter that announced, “Richard Feynman is dead.” I forget whether it was the very first sentence, or just the first sentence of the second paragraph of the letter. It probably attracted some interest. </p>
<p>The Rose-Hulman advertising campaign of the same era featured a cartoon that I took for a stereotypical elderly librarian (with apologies to several of my friends, who are librarians, and look nothing like that). Again, it appealed to some.</p>
<p>How incredibly helpful at move-in day. Need to open cartons? Hey, Mozart, can you do some cutting here? Need to adjust bed legs? A couple of zigs and zags and you’re all set. </p>
<p>And it no doubt turned off others. That’s ok. One of the first rules of marketing / advertising is that positioning involves sacrifice. You can’t be all things to all people. I think it’s very evident what various elite colleges see themselves as (from a values and vision standpoint) and how that comes through not only in who they tend to admit, but all of their materials and how they talk about / position their programs.</p>
<p>Texaspg, your post #636 strikes me as a “well, duh.” Elite colleges say some version of this again and again and again – I don’t know why it seems such a surprise that when you’ve got 20,000 or 30,000 smart candidates knocking at your door, the vast majority of who could handle your academics, your attention is going to be taken by the people who (relatively speaking) stand out from the crowd. This doesn’t mean that they carve manger scenes into rutabagas just to carve manger scenes - but it says that you don’t just present credentials, you weave a story. This is common sense 101, whether you’re applying to college, applying for a job, or trying to land a date with that cute guy / girl you have your eye on, and I’m just not getting why it’s so difficult to absorb.</p>
<p>Do colleges like PR, good or bad, and seek mentions in the media???
(back to OP…! Thanks, Shelby! and a huge thank you to College Confidential!!))</p>
<p>Of course. But that’s because you’re equating marketing with advertising. Any organization – whether it’s a toothpaste brand, a university, or a candidate for public office – needs to identify who they consider their most important constituencies, identify what those constituencies value and how their brand equity compares in the relevant competitive set, and then make changes to its products, offerings and / or positionings to tell that story.</p>
<p>Do you think it is any accident that U of Chicago has quirky, faux-coffee-stained mailings that are designed to appeal to students who think of themselves as both off the charts academically and off the beaten path? Why do you think they have the “where fun goes to die” t-shirts and so forth? It’s all part of a very specific brand positioning that they have very consciously cultivated over the past x years (and done a good job doing so, IMO). Why do you think that by contrast, its northern neighbor of NU has big purple billboards on every major highway in Chicago proclaiming NU to be Chicago’s Big Ten team? That’s part of their brand positioning too - which is, we’re elite academically, but we’re kind of earnest and midwestern and we go in for all the trappings of a stereotypical college experience which includes watching football on a crisp fall day. They are differentiated from one another. That will attract some and repel others. That’s ok, because again, positioning involves sacrifice.</p>
<p>performersmom, I hope you’re joking. Most every college, whether it’s Podunk State or Harvard, is going to have media relations people who seek to plant positive stories in the media, whether it’s a celebration of the football team, a press release about the prof who won the Nobel Prize, or a human-interest story. Those efforts may be also tied in with development efforts and alumni outreach efforts, among other things. Why would they leave those things to chance?</p>