Jean in Newcastle Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 PSAT results must have all been released to the colleges at the same time? Dh is getting one email after another this morning - all from small private colleges (Oberlin was the first one). So. . . do you just fill out their form and send it in? Is it worth being picky at this point? Some of these colleges are ones I've never heard of before though maybe I should have. . . Hamline University apparently is one of the best universities in the Midwest according to the Princeton Review. But I'd never heard of it since we don't live there. But this makes me wonder. . . if a young person goes far off to college what are the chances they will come back to live in the "home" state? All of these just seem to be asking for information so they can send out brochures. What do we do next? Collect them and start to sort through them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 You can wait and not do anything.. the brochures will arrive anyway. In large numbers. DD has a large laundry basket full of college advertisement mail. You can start sorting and reading. We just put them away to weigh at the end of the process, as we used other criteria for college search. The chances of a student coming back to his home state depend largely on the field he wants to work in and the job openings. In some areas, the student gets to pick location; in others, there is no choice as jobs are highly specialized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 There's no way I'd be requesting info from all of the colleges that send mail. I would, however, start doing research about them or have my kid do it if they wanted to - mine didn't, nor did they have time. They usually wanted me to do the preliminary research to see if I thought the schools would be decent for them, then they looked at all of those that made my cut. What sort of school/major/location are you looking for? All three of mine are going to schools I hadn't heard of... none will likely return "home," but we raised them to feel the world is their "home," not any one place. Neither hubby nor I returned home either (nor care to). Some of that is opportunity as mentioned before, but a bit of it is personality. We moved to a good "fit" for the two of us and expect our kids to do the same either for themselves or with their spouses if applicable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 About 99.999 percent of the mailings DS received went straight into the recycle bin. I wouldn't fill out anything unless it's a school your DS is truly interested in and wants to demonstrate interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 About 99.999 percent of the mailings DS received went straight into the recycle bin. I wouldn't fill out anything unless it's a school your DS is truly interested in and wants to demonstrate interest. But how do we know if it is a school he's interested in? I know that sounds like a stupid question but other than the universities that dh and I went to (both local) we really don't know anything about these schools. The websites all paint glowing pictures. Ds is having fun pinpointing what academic interest he put down that might have prompted them to e-mail him based on what the school seems to be famous for, but really most of these schools offer the basic majors. To answer another question: Ds is interesting in engineering, computer science and music. But really, he is undecided because he doesn't even know the full possibility of what is out there that he might want to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myra Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 It is overwhelming to start the college search process. Since my youngest was undecided, we narrowed our search by geographical area (within 6 hours drive), size of school (wanted a smaller size), location (not in a overly large urban area), type of college (liberal arts focus), and had to have a men's crew team (not club team). Next, based upon those requirements AND then his SAT scores, we looked for two reach colleges, one safety college, and four "just right" fits (where he would possibly qualify for merit aid scholarshiop). After visiting each of the six colleges (touring/and interviewing with admissions if required) we prioritized our narrowed down list and applied. The mail was exciting at the beginning, but quickly my son got disgusted with the "Spam"! Now we're waiting for acceptances (!) - Myra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilliums Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 But how do we know if it is a school he's interested in? I know that sounds like a stupid question but other than the universities that dh and I went to (both local) we really don't know anything about these schools. We are in a similar situation. We did not attend local schools, but we both went to state schools for undergrad and grad school. DH now has an appointment at the flagship state U. The state U would be an easy option for the kids but I believe they might have a better experience at a school more tailored to their interests. How to find these schools feels like a daunting task though. My son has looked at a few mailings to get an idea of they type of student the school is trying to attract. The mailing from Reed College, for example, did not resonate with him AT ALL, with talk about group structured acrobatic activities and re-enactments of myths. Presumably they are trying to convey the school's "quirky" nature, but no emphasis on academics came through in the mailing. While a mailing itself wouldn't rule out a school, perhaps it can provide one tidbit of info (small clue or glimpse) into the image the school is trying to cultivate. How useful their desired image may be in evaluating the school, is of course questionable! For us though, it is basically a sliver of info for the monumental question of whether or not our kids could see the school as a potential good fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 If your son doesn't have a strong interest in particular schools at this point and he is interested and intrigued by gathering information, I would encourage him to collect and sort through as much as he wants. My DD got repeated mailings from a few schools that she would have have never been interested in and did not seem to be good matches for her; so, just because he is receiving mail from a school, it doesn't mean that the school matches any of his criteria. Schools will vary in their marketing budgets and their strategies from year-to-year. For example, they may be wanting to increase their male, out-of-state applicant pool and will market strongly to that group one year without too much discretion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 For example, they may be wanting to increase their male, out-of-state applicant pool and will market strongly to that group one year without too much discretion. That's the thing too - depending on what racial options they list, ds is considered a minority by some and not others. (Which leads to interesting discussions on what to put down when you are biracial plus come from an ethnicity that is not easily categorized.) On one level, I absolutely hate the fact that race might open up doors for him but on the other hand, it seems to be an integral part of how these schools go about recruitment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 But how do we know if it is a school he's interested in? I know that sounds like a stupid question but other than the universities that dh and I went to (both local) we really don't know anything about these schools. The websites all paint glowing pictures. Ds is having fun pinpointing what academic interest he put down that might have prompted them to e-mail him based on what the school seems to be famous for, but really most of these schools offer the basic majors. To answer another question: Ds is interesting in engineering, computer science and music. But really, he is undecided because he doesn't even know the full possibility of what is out there that he might want to do. Have you visited any schools yet? At our school they often take juniors around to visit the local colleges so kids can get a feel for schools by type (urban/suburban/rural, state/private, large/medium/small, LAC/research U, etc) and, of course, many just visit with their parents (as we did - though youngest did some of both). After a few visits most kids start to get a feel for what they like - where they can picture themselves for an enjoyable 4 years. Each student is different. Some do, indeed, focus on the non-academic stuff like dorms and gyms. Others enjoy sitting in on classes. Most enjoy talking with other students (if possible). Some enjoy seeing projects that are being worked on. Some need a particular diet. In general, there are so many schools, sorting by some of these things - even non-academic things - is perfectly fine. Once you have a feel for type, then start comparing schools. When we'd get mailings in I would look to see where the schools were and general SAT/ACT scores for my "first sort." Were they located in a place my guys (each one) would like? For youngest, wanting TROPICAL marine bio, this eliminated a LOT of schools. For middle son who was far more open to places, it eliminated very few (he didn't want BIG cities like NYC). Were their SAT/ACT scores putting them into a correct caliber? I wanted mine in the top 25%, but not SO FAR in the top that they were likely to be bored. This eliminated a ton of schools for each. Then I looked at finances - did the school offer merit aid (a MUST HAVE) for us? If not, they were axed. If so, did they tend to offer enough to make a school affordable, and if so, with or without need based aid as a supplement? Naturally, I also looked at majors - actually a little higher up because it was pointless to look at a school that didn't offer what they thought they were interested in studying. I also had the kids check with people in their desired fields for advice on schools to consider. They usually had to locate these people via google and contact via e-mail. We never had anyone refuse to offer their two cents. If the same school came up over and over again from people in the field (all three of my guys eventual schools did), we knew it was a school worth considering. Eventually we had schools more sifted for our purposes. Then they started deeper searches and I started planning visits... It does take some time as a guidance counselor, but I found most of it to be fun and got into a bit of a routine with it. I also learned a bit about many schools - esp those more local to us. It would have been fun to visit all of them to know them more personally, but alas, we only ended up visiting true contenders at the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Hear me chuckling? We had a thread or two around this time last year about the enormous amounts of mail our students were receiving. To answer your question, I couldn't even get ds to toss them all in a box I provided. I had to do it myself. Eventually, dh sat down with ds and they picked maybe 10 to consider. At most, ds (or I?) sent away to 2-3 schools for more information. To be fair, ds filled out plenty of athletic recruiting questionnaires from schools we discovered by means other than mass mailings. You've gotten good advice on how to narrow down the list from pp here so I won't repeat. I heard about this on the news tonight. I found it very interesting. I may start a new thread about it after I whittle down my "to-do" list. How Admission Offices Use Big Data to Track Students Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 But how do we know if it is a school he's interested in? I know that sounds like a stupid question but other than the universities that dh and I went to (both local) we really don't know anything about these schools. The websites all paint glowing pictures. Ds is having fun pinpointing what academic interest he put down that might have prompted them to e-mail him based on what the school seems to be famous for, but really most of these schools offer the basic majors. To answer another question: Ds is interesting in engineering, computer science and music. But really, he is undecided because he doesn't even know the full possibility of what is out there that he might want to do. Because Calvin and I both prefer planning to serendipity, we started by thinking about what was important to him. He wanted: - academic excellence - not too close to home - university in a smallish town, rather than an enormous city or an out-of-town campus Then we looked at his interests (English and Classics), found lists of the best universities for those subjects, cut out the ones in big cities and too close to home, then investigated this shortlist. Good luck! L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elisabet1 Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Hamline must be one of those regional universities because they only rank against other regional. Or it ranks in a specific catagory. I have heard of Hamline. I grew up in the midwest, but I cannot imagine that they would rank above so many other schools in the midwest. Oberlin is great though! Your son must have put down a major interest or something. My daughter originally put down Asian Studies. A lot of her literature came to us revolving that topic. Honestly, I have been concerned over whether my child would ever move back toward where we live if we let her go far away. That has been a huge factor. I flat out said that if she cannot show that she will get something out of a far away college to make it worth going far away, she must stay closer. I know some people would disagree with me on that. But, I had a family for a reason. I want my family to continue on. I have little interest in having all my children scattered across the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Ds put down computer science as an interest. A lot of the colleges reflect that. He also put down music - I think that is where Oberlin came into the mix. He's now saying that he's interested in engineering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 The literature will likely come if you request it or not. It did years ago for ds - unless colleges are more expense-conscious with postage :). In the end, the kiddos will probably sit down and look at majors and their preferences or do a community college run to take classes to sample. I would not stress over it just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 Yesterday I got our first cold call from a college (Champlain College)! I didn't have anything to say or ask him because it took me aback and I couldn't for the life of me even remember anything about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorningGlory Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Yesterday I got our first cold call from a college (Champlain College)! I didn't have anything to say or ask him because it took me aback and I couldn't for the life of me even remember anything about them. A phone call????? Please tell me no... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted February 8, 2014 Author Share Posted February 8, 2014 A phone call????? Please tell me no... Sorry. It was a phone call. I have no idea if this college is an anomaly or not. I hope it was because being put on the spot like that did not help their case! The caller sounded like a college student who was hired to make calls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 DD got a phone call this week from some school she had no dealings with and never heard of, urging her to still apply. Nope, she's done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 The phone calls are not anomalies unfortunately. We've received several over the years from colleges we've never heard about to places like Temple. As far as I know, none were from expressed interest. For many kids, getting a phone call makes them feel special and really take a look at a college. I suspect marketers have discovered that. They probably produce far more interest than generic mailings. When I look at the list of where our public school students have been accepted - or see listings from other local schools in the paper, I see many of the phone calling schools on there. I seriously suspect many of those students would never have heard of those schools aside from the phone calls. (They aren't necessarily local schools.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Ds ever only got one phone call from a very large in-state public university that he had no interest in, but we had visited since it was convenient one summer. To quote Jean, " The caller sounded like a college student who was hired to make calls." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorningGlory Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Okay, a handful of phone calls would not be *too* irritating (really it would...I'm just trying hard to be generous... :)). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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