Emails, Letters, and Brochures, Oh My! (College Mailings)

A friend of mine has a son in 10th grade who recently took the PSAT. She shared a screen shot of his inbox yesterday, which prompted me to write this entry. The picture shows a slew of emails from colleges. Some of the subject lines:

"You've impressed us"
"___ University has selected you"

"An exclusive invitation from ____ College"
"Great work, [Student's Name]!"

"[Student's Name], you've caught my attention."

If you're a senior, I'm sure you roll your eyes at some of this stuff by now, but for a 10th grader (and a 10th grader's parent), it can be kind of exciting! Some of those subject lines sound pretty awesome.

I applied to college before email (I got my first email address in college!) and I still remember the first brochure I got. I don't remember the name of the school, but the brochure had a pile of beautiful, red apples in a silver, Revere bowl. It made me feel special and wanted. A month later, the brochures were coming daily. I'd flip through some and recycle others without much more than a cursory glance.

Can we go outside to play instead of reading all that mail?

What's point? Well, obviously there are schools with which you might not be familiar sending you things in hopes that you'll take a look at what they offer. Then there are the schools that get lots of applications that might want more students from certain places or with certain interests (maybe that's why two schools known for engineering came after my liberal arts-loving heart when I was in high school!). Still others might have been charged with increasing their overall numbers so they can be counted among the most selective schools in the country.

Technology has improved so much over time that many colleges can personalize what they send you, which can do two things: catch your eye (how did they know that about me?) and creep you out (wait...WHY do they know that about me?). Most of this info comes off your PSAT registartion and is given to the schools when they buy mailing lists from the Student Search Service. There are other sources of mailing lists for students, but SSS is the original and still dominant one.

In undergraduate admission at UVa, we have a publication budget that allows us to send some mailings, but not as many as some of our peers. We do send emails, since the cost is an upfront investment in a communication system. We try to keep them reasonable (monthly newsletters plus application announcements), but feel free to tell me otherwise and I'll share the feedback. There are always links at the bottom of the emails that will opt you out of future communications.


Anyway, seniors, it might be a nice time to reflect and share some advice with the students who are coming behind you. Juniors are starting to make lists and sophomores are starting to do their research. They could benefit from what you've learned!

They think students are narcissistic now?

I was going to post my reaction to a recent study about narcissism and American students. The AP wrote an interesting article about the study and if you caught me on the right day, I'd agree with it, but would probably disagree with it the next day.

It seems that some schools are developing marketing plans to cater to the new "me" generation. Wilkes University in PA is taking out ad space (billboards, kiosks) in public places targeting specific students. Not specific groups of students, but one student. The New York Times business section has an article about this. Interesting that it didn't show up in the education section. I imagine that marketing firms will jump on the bandwagon, proposing this strategy to clients, but from the education side, I'm a little disturbed by it. Will students see things like this as evidence that a school "wants" them more? What are those of us at schools with modest admission budgets to do?

An ad on Facebook:

Admission Bribes

I'm sure you're thinking this is going to be about people trying to bribe admission officers. It's not, though we get our share of chocolates, cookies, and fruit baskets. This is about bribes in the opposite direction.

It came to my attention today that two schools, Saint Joseph College in Connecticut and University of Alabama, are offering students free iTunes downloads in exchange for either adding their names to the school mailing list or applying for admission. UofA supposedly offered extra downloads to those willing to give their friends' email addresses as well. Alabama's law school is offering downloads to applicants, too.

In my Google searching about this, I came across more than one article from the business media praising this innovative marketing strategy. Now, I don't fault those groups, as they have a corporate mindset and probably don't understand our environment. But I can't understand how admission officers at those schools reconcile what they're doing.

Those of us in admission roll our eyes when we see the armed forces recruiters at college fairs giving out all sorts of gadgets and nick knacks. Giving out these sorts of things is expressly forbidden by our professional organization, NACAC. I usually console myself by thinking that the students gathered round the recruiter wouldn't have been interested in my school anyway. Of course, these iTunes downloads aren't being given out at college fairs, but they are being used for the same purpose.

It's amazing to me that some schools are resorting to a bribe, of sorts, in order to get students to sign up for a mailing list. The investment seems a bit foolish because (I imagine) students wouldn't really be impressed by the offer. If anything, it might devalue the schools reputation, as evidenced by this message board conversation about Alabama Law's offer.

According to an article in Bama's student newspaper, Mary Spiegel, the Director of Undergraduate Admission said this was an attempt to use methods that high school students "associate with". Associate with what? An instant win game in a candy wrapper? A prize code under the lid of a soft drink? The student paper also points out that the recruitment website

is written with young people in mind. After prospective students give their information, the site asks them to tell friends about the offer, "Because that playa, is just how you roll."

I love quirky marketing, but isn't the goal is to be humorous and clever?





The email from Alabama Law (sent last spring and again in November):

Admit it! You are an outstanding student. For a select number of students like you, The University of Alabama School of Law is still accepting applications.

Your special application deadline is April 15, 2006.

To encourage you to consider Alabama as your law school, we’re making two special offers:

1. We'll waive your application fee, and

2. We’ll present you with 5 free music downloads on iTunes® if you apply now!

To receive your iTunes codes, you must apply online at http://www.law.ua.edu/apply/.

No purchase is necessary. If you apply by April 15, your music downloads on iTunes will be available until March 17, 2007. (Info about the school follows)