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Now that dd has taken PSAT, here come the e-mails...


Ginevra
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What does your DD want to do?

We have not found the emails to be very helpful. Most are from schools she would not consider, and they all claim to be the greatest school and best fit anyway. Just a higher form of spam, really.

I'd first have the student think about her goals and preferences:possible major, 2 year vs 4 year degree, small school vs big school, rural s city, private vs public. Then I'd look up a few schools.

Why would you want to request brochures? All the actual data are on the school's website anyway.

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What does your DD want to do?

We have not found the emails to be very helpful. Most are from schools she would not consider, and they all claim to be the greatest school and best fit anyway. Just a higher form of spam, really.

I'd first have the student think about her goals and preferences:possible major, 2 year vs 4 year degree, small school vs big school, rural s city, private vs public. Then I'd look up a few schools.

Why would you want to request brochures? All the actual data are on the school's website anyway.

 

 

Thanks. That helps me. At this point, she does not have a well-developed plan. I know that she prefers a smaller school and is mostly thinking about this region: MD, VA, PA. She is a humanities gal. I think going to community college is an acceptable option to begin, but I don't know how to weigh the pros and cons of that approach.

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I second Regentrude. Ignore, ignore, ignore --- unless it's a place your dd is already interested in and they are offering an application fee waiver. In that case, save the e-mail, because it can save you $50 or so.

 

Literally none of the info that was useful to us came via e-mail. My dd had an idea of what she wants to major in, so she researched schools known for that. We used the College Board search feature, talked to people in her industry, and read these books:

 

Debt Free U

http://www.amazon.co...rds=debt free u

 

Insider's Guide to the Colleges

http://www.amazon.co...to the colleges

 

The Insider's Guide is good for getting an idea of what campus life might be like.

 

HTH

Enjoy the ride! I am right there with you with dd#2 - a sophomore!

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My ds is receiving these emails himself. He is both aware that they aren't targeting him in any meaningful way (so don't get your hopes up) and as I related in another thread on these emails, he is very aware that not all schools are the greatest (his standard question to us is now, "Is this a real school?").

 

I've always wanted him to shoot high, but he has somewhat staggered me by telling us that of all that have come so far, he thinks he is only interested in Columbia!?!

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For the most part, I agree with the ignore, ignore, ignore advice. However, ds did get a handful of meaningful e-mails from smaller schools with good reputations who expressed interest in recruiting students who received "very, very good" as opposed to top PSAT scores. Unfortunately, with one exception, the schools were either too expensive or further from home than ds wanted. I'm thinking it was at most 3 or 4 that we culled out of the whole group. We might have missed some because we were having all sorts of "other things" going on during that time, but my recollection is that it was mostly spam.

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I'm just having way too much fun trying to track what kind of list each school bought. Is this e-mail based on geography? PSAT score range? Projected college major?

 

And are some of these colleges ever relentless! The kid has gotten an email every day from one particular school for the past two weeks. Even if he had been interested in that college, such aggressive marketing would probably have turned him off entirely.

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My son received a few (via regular mail) that offered a short application. Those are worth saving, too.

 

We also discovered that if you request information, some schools send you an application fee waiver. That is definately something to keep in mind when it comes time to fill out applications.

 

Nan

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