College Fan Mail

Did you notice after taking the SAT/ACT that your student has all of a sudden received a ton of fan mail from a variety of colleges and universities?  Could it be that he scored so well on the test that schools across the country are courting him?  I hate to burst your bubble, but no.  The schools don’t all think your child is so incredibly bright they’ll move Heaven and Earth to count him as a future Alum.  It’s marketing. What happened during the SAT/ACT is that your student indicated they wanted to receive information from schools and now you are inundated with college information.

College acts like a business and you are safest keeping this in mind as you go through the college application process.  Like any big business, schools have large marketing budgets to entice clients through their doors.  What better way to market then to appeal to you as parent, reinforcing that you raised your kid well?  Who hasn’t looked through those beautiful glossy brochures and envisioned their prodigy walking through that flowering cherry tree quad, carrying their back pack as they laugh with a group of other very happy, well adjusted students? 

Why do schools do this?  Because they want your student to apply!  Even if he has no chance of getting into the school, it helps the school’s quantitative numbers.  The more students that apply increase their numbers.  The college can report 100,000 students apply but only 2,000 get in.  Sounds like a very competitive school doesn’t it?  Wouldn’t it be an honor if your student was selected to attend?!  The question we should be asking ourselves is of those 100,000 students, how many were in a position to even be accepted?  The schools also are looking for families that will pay full price.  They are fishing for students that will attend the college for the prestige, yet the school doesn’t want the student bad enough to entice them to attend. Meaning they’ll happily admit your student because he meets their standards, but they are expecting him to drop out after one year and/or for you to pay full price. 

So, what do you do?  How do you choose which schools to pay a little closer attention to?  It’s all about student positioning.  You need to research the schools to determine where your student is a great fit.  Look at average GPAs and test scores on the SAT/ACTs.  You need to market your student to the school instead of the school marketing to the student.  If you do this right, the school will give you money (in the form of aid) to get your student! 

As a general rule, schools want students in the top 25% of their class.  But this isn’t just referring to GPA. It’s also referring to SAT/ACT scores.  Which test the student takes can greatly impact how he ranks.  Taking a diagnostic test to identify his stronger test taking option will allow your student to study for just one test and do really well on it.  And that’s the key.  STUDY for it!   If your student has already taken the test, consider taking it again (after studying of course) and improve that score.  Students need to market themselves to these schools!

Crystal Anderson is the president of Crystal Clear College Planning, which helps Seattle-area families plan financially and academically for college. Learn more about our free local workshops on planning for college.