What's the oddest college recruiting mail your student has received?

[KarenNC]

As my daughter is a junior, college recruiting mail isn't lacking around here, but sometimes you have to wonder what was in the marketing person's head. Yesterday, Bennington College sent her a two-foot long mailing tube. Inside was one item---a 2x3 foot poster of a reading list compiled from suggestions by students and a link to their Tumblr page.

 

What's the oddest thing your student has received?

[teachermom2834]

That's an odd one. I can't think of anything that odd older ds got but my second son gets regular mailings from University of Chicago. I find that pretty odd! I love my ds to bits and I have every confidence he will be successful but there is nothing anywhere in my son's profile that indicates he would be a candidate for admission there.

 

It annoys me because I know many students and parents that think their dc are truly being recruited by these elite schools. Lots of wasted money and disappointment in the end.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

One from a tech school that was really badly done. Too many fonts and off font/color choices. Poor grammar. It was really off putting and ds made jokes about it for a while.

 

Sarah Lawrence sent one that stuck out. It described a classroom exchange that seemed weird in a presumptive and judgmental way. Then pronounced it as "So Sarah Lawrence!" Good messaging I guess as we quickly concluded it wasn't a match.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Ds2 hates mailers that don't have much info.

[TCB]

As my daughter is a junior, college recruiting mail isn't lacking around here, but sometimes you have to wonder what was in the marketing person's head. Yesterday, Bennington College sent her a two-foot long mailing tube. Inside was one item---a 2x3 foot poster of a reading list compiled from suggestions by students and a link to their Tumblr page.

 

What's the oddest thing your student has received?

 

My dd got one of those from Bennington yesterday too! She thought it was extremely weird and a waste of money on the part of the college.

[Nan in Mass]

Youngest received one that struck us as odd in its effectiveness. We deep in complicated applications and had every surface covered with piles of papers to be mailed or emailed, when RPI sent something saying that he was eligible for their short application. It was, indeed, very short - one page of general information like address and birthday, his transcript, and an essay with an exceedingly general topic. My son immediately filled it out and sent it off. That is NOT how his other apps went.

 

Nan

[Julie of KY]

Oddest has been when my preschooler was on the mailing list. Nothing like a mailing tube yet.

[lewelma]

Can't get anyone to send us anything. 😥 Have put ds's name on lots of lists and we have yet to get any college mail.

 

Ruth in NZ

[Nan in Mass]

Can't get anyone to send us anything. 😥 Have put ds's name on lots of lists and we have yet to get any college mail.

 

Ruth in NZ

That is sad.

[historically accurate]

Not my student but 25+ years ago, I made it to round 2 at the Naval Academy. The weird part? I never applied in the first place - I did talk briefly with a recruiter while I was waiting for the recruiter at the table next to him to open up. I got a letter congratulating me on making it to the second round of applications a couple weeks after that college fair. It stated that they just needed a few things from me to finish my file. Strangely, an application wasn't listed on the form.

 

Does the ACT/SAT trigger college mail? My upcoming sophomore will be taking the ACT next year, so will we be getting mail starting next year?

[daijobu]

Can't get anyone to send us anything. 😥 Have put ds's name on lots of lists and we have yet to get any college mail.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

You're outside the US right?  I'm not sure, but I think it's pretty expensive to mail things overseas.  And I think there is a special low mailing rate for junk mail, that may only apply to US mail.  

 

Don't think you're missing anything, now that we have the internet.  Just imagine their websites full of happy multi-ethnic good-looking students studying under shade trees ... in paper form.  

[Arch at Home]

A pair of VR glasses from Grinnell.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Photos of the hind end of the duck mascot from U of Oregon featured prominently in several mailings.  There have been many jokes made by my kids over these photos.  U of O didn't come off looking cute or smart.

[GoodGrief]

A heavily packaged frisbee (wrapped in cardboard and plastic) from Carleton College touting their "green" reputation right on the frisbee! This was a school in which she had indicated zero interest.

[KarenNC]

Not my student but 25+ years ago, I made it to round 2 at the Naval Academy. The weird part? I never applied in the first place - I did talk briefly with a recruiter while I was waiting for the recruiter at the table next to him to open up. I got a letter congratulating me on making it to the second round of applications a couple weeks after that college fair. It stated that they just needed a few things from me to finish my file. Strangely, an application wasn't listed on the form.

 

Does the ACT/SAT trigger college mail? My upcoming sophomore will be taking the ACT next year, so will we be getting mail starting next year?

 

I think the PSAT was our biggest trigger.

[KarenNC]

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Edited June 26, 2017 by KarenNC

[Arcadia]

Can't get anyone to send us anything. 😥 Have put ds's name on lots of lists and we have yet to get any college mail.

Ruth in NZ

 

My relatives gets from U.K. And Australia. My friends siblings did get college mail from US and Canada. Maybe it cost less to mail international mail to Singapore than to New Zealand.

 

Does the ACT/SAT trigger college mail? My upcoming sophomore will be taking the ACT next year, so will we be getting mail starting next year?

There is a box to check when registering for ACT or SAT to opt in to get spam from colleges.

[rbk mama]

 

My relatives gets from U.K. And Australia. My friends siblings did get college mail from US and Canada. Maybe it cost less to mail international mail to Singapore than to New Zealand.

 

There is a box to check when registering for ACT or SAT to opt in to get spam from colleges.

 

I've been wondering this, too.  We usually are in Asia, but we've been in the US for this whole past year, DS's junior year.  He took the PSAT and the ACT here, and in May a slew of APs, and has not gotten a single piece of college spam.  He never checks boxes asking for it, though.  I remember getting inundated after the PSAT, so I was expecting that and was surprised.  He's says he'd rather not get any, so he isn't complaining.  But I was sort of looking forward to it!  :laugh:   I'm just assuming that those boxes are more effective than I thought.

[TwoEdgedSword]

Letters from Dordt admissions which were overly aggressive and a bit tone deaf.