@milee30 I don’t think it is quite as random as that, but it certainly isn’t personal. I believe the information that came for our son was based on the questions he answered when he took his ACT. As his ACT score improved, the amount and type of mail we received changed. More selective colleges/universities sent mailings compared with those that sent mail earlier in the process. He was never going to get into Vanderbilt, despite a good ACT score. We just laughed it off.
I’m just always surprised people believe the college junk mail is personally crafted for their particular child. Do they really think that college heard about their kid and was so impressed that they just had to make contact with this gifted scholar? Is it really that shocking that colleges do the same thing that other businesses do and buy lists of potential “customers” to send general marketing materials to?
@milee30 At Vanderbilt’s “PreVU” this summer - in a room filled to the brim with the parents of rising seniors - a mom raised her hand and said “Well WE’VE been getting a lot of mail from Vanderbilt, so that means he has a good chance of being admitted right?” I could almost hear all of the eyes in the room rolling simultaneously.
@milee30 there is definitely a learning curve for parents new to the process. I have a gap of 7 years between my 1st and 3rd and despite having done this 2x before, I have seen considerable changes in “recruitment” of kids to attend schools for this last one. Loyola of Maryland must have an enormous marketing budget. 
The really funny thing is that my son knows how I feel about junk mail - I get the mail from the box and throw 95% of the mail away before it even comes in the house, including college junk mail, so he doesn’t sign up for any mailing lists. No point. Even so, a small amount of college mail still made its way to our house and was unceremoniously dispatched with the carpet cleaning ads before it even came in the house. I think he got a few mailings from UChicago, but nothing like the deluge other people describe receiving. Didn’t matter - he was still admitted. Further proof the mailings have nothing to do with admissions.
Does anybody remember the post from a few months ago when the mom posing the question made a comment about how her daughter was being wooed by many Ivy League colleges based on the mail they were sending her? If this site had an eye roll emoticon, it would have been used then, judging from the responses people wrote.
@milee30 Some of that junk mail SEEMS to be “personally” crafted. We got two letters from different department heads at Stanford that were “personalized”. I have no issues with junk mail that is not personalized, but I don’t like the gimmick of sending a kid a letter explaining how they are such a great student and a perfect fit for highly rated U. It seems like a shameless ploy to get more applicants and their application money. Some people are not that savvy as indicated by @Gatorjaw 's story. We had a good laugh about the Stanford letters.
@milee30 Perhaps “courting” is the wrong word. I by no means meant to say that anyone at U of Chicago even knows who my son is, and as I said, he is not going to get into a school like U of Chicago, but in the eyes of a 16 year old kid getting personalized mail twice a week sure feels like courting.
As the mother to two successful college students, I have done my own research and I get the game these schools play, and you know what? In my opinion it’s still wrong. No reason to be such a jerk about it in your reply.
I don’t think it’s funny when people who don’t know better assume that a barrage of communication from a school means something. It doesn’t take much character to laugh at them.
If your kid is this vulnerable and trusting, use it as a teaching moment. If your kid believes this stuff is personalized and directed especially for him, he’s in for a world of hurt in the future when real scams arise. Use this as a chance to explain mass marketing, to help him understand how advertising works.
You both need thicker skins. Or you’ll fall prey to one of the millions of scams out there. Which wouldn’t be funny at all.
How would a college even know enough about a student to send them mail? Everyone knows (right?) that they don’t have kids’ transcripts unless the high school has sent them and they (usually) wouldn’t know the student’s EC list unless they are an athlete and then it would be a coach calling, not some look book from the college. The only thing a college COULD have is the band of scores a student falls into for the PSAT, like if they’ve scored above a certain score. They don’t even have any student’s personal score. So, how could anyone believe that the mailings are specifically for their child when the colleges don’t have any info until you apply? For the parents who maybe thought the mail really was a sign of interest, what did you think the college really knows about your student?
@milee30 You assume a lot. It must be nice to know everything.
eyeroll
No, it’s awful.
- Holly Hunter
@homerdog I think it’s based off of PSAT scores. If you fall into a certain range it must trigger something.
@milee30 skinned knees good, noted. Next contestant!
I’d also like to remind students and especially their parents who are going through stressful waiting periods, that the hate has just begun and this is the place to share it.
It’s not you, it’s them!
I really think the best thing to do is not answer all the questions when registering for the SAT/ACT (not mandatory) and don’t check off the box that gives the standardized testing companies permission to sell your info to colleges. The whole thing is a $$ machine. Save some trees and pick up a copy of the Fiske guide instead and do your own research based on fit.
And please recycle. 
“If this site had an eye roll emoticon, it would have been used then, judging from the responses people wrote.”
They do actually! 8-| 
@homerdog --College Board sells data to colleges. I do not know how finely they slice the info they package, but students can self-report grades, level of courses taken, clubs & ECs when they register on the College Board site. I recall seeing mailings that referenced my son’s clubs.
Chicago seemed to send more mail to my older son, who was not as strong of a student as the younger one. I wondered if they didn’t bother targeting at a certain level. I expected that younger son would see a lot from Chicago, but he didn’t. That may be because we visited, but I would be really impressed if their direct mailing was culled that closely.
Also agree that some mail is targeted. A piece Columbia sent to my older son had a line at the very bottom in tiny print referencing NMSQT. He was Commended, not NMF, but clearly they had purchased score data and were targeting their marketing.
So many parents are overwhelmed and misinformed about the process, because let’s be honest, it’s become very overwhelming and confusing! I’m not surprised that there are people who “fall for” the marketing tricks employed by colleges. After all, that’s exactly how marketing works, isn’t it? If people have misconceptions and think that receiving a lot of mail means a college is interested in their child, why not just kindly explain how that isn’t the case? I’ve always found that people are relieved and grateful to hear from those of us who have been through the process already!
"And please recycle. "
Now that’s something I’m annoyed at the colleges and other junk mail senders about. All that glossy paper and color ink doesn’t make for good mulch or compost! If you’re going to spam us with your mailed junk, please at least do it on nonglossy paper and print with soy ink so we can use it in our garden. TYIA.
I agree it’s PSAT. My daughter’s school administers PSAT starting in 9th grade (in lieu of other standardized testing) and we started getting mail immediately thereafter. In addition, I have a friend whose uber-high scoring son gets lots of fancy school mail - despite the fact that he is essentially flunking out of high school.
I don’t think it’s anyone’s intention to disparage anyone else (at least it’s not mine). This is, in fact, my first rodeo but I’m quite aware that all of this mail is an attempt by these schools to get more apps and appear more selective.
Sometimes there are codes for free applications in that junk mail, so you might be throwing $50 away.