Sooo, you just took your PSATs, and now you're getting letters from all of these schools. Pretty neat, huh? Well, it's a catch. Seriously. The letters do two things that benefit the colleges: 1) lower admission rates (more people apply) and 2) bring in an additional $50 for the application (if you're interested in the school because of the e-mail). Still, it's nice knowing what's availble...

Since January 31st, I've gotten e-mails and letters from the following:
Alfred University
Allegheny College
American University
Beloit College
Brandeis University
Brown University
Caltech
Capital University
Carleton College
Case Western Reserve University
Centre College
College of William and Mary
Colorado College
Cornell University
Dickinson College
Drexel University
Drew University
Eckerd College
Elon University
Emory University
Fordham University
Florida International University
Franklin College in Switzerland
Frostburg State University
Gettysburg College
Goucher College
Grinnell College
Hamilton College
Hampden-Sydney College
Hofstra University
Hood College
Ithaca College
Kalamazoo College
Kenyon College
Lafayette College
Lebanon Valley College
Lenoir-Rhyne College
Lewis and Clark College
Mount St. Mary's University
New York University
Northeastern University
Oberlin College
Olin College of Engineering
Pratt Institute
Providence College
Randolph-Macon College
Roanoke College
Rollins College
St. Andrews Presbysterian College
St. John's University
St. Mary's College
Stanford University
Temple University
Tulane University
The United States Naval Academy
The University of Chicago
The University of Delaware
The University of Georgia
The University of Maryland - Baltimore County
The University of Maryland - College Park
The University of Miami
The University of North Carolina - Greensboro
The University of Washington
University of Richmond
University of Rochester
Vassar College
Virginia Commonwealth University
Washington and Lee University
Washington University in St. Louis
Wesleyan College
Winthrop University
York College

And others in the mail...

It's still accumulating. I get about 7-8 on average each day...

Some of these have programs that don't even interest me (and they KNOW what I'm interested in. it's part of the PSAT form and it's always included in a "reply back" card) but I'm still getting 'em. I wonder why...

I've gotten around 12 so far.

I never got that many





*to corner*

I dont remember ... I know I didn't get that many ... maybe like 10!

Har!

I think I'm going to frame the University of Chicago letter

I haven't gotten that many by mail. Most of 'em from e-mail...

How many did you get by mail, torrino?

I haven't gotten any. Yet.

My PSAT scores suck. Heh. We wont talk about that.

I dunno. I've tossed so many of 'em...They're still coming on a regular basis. I JUST discovered a pile of other schools (Marist, Macalister, others) that I didn't know I got letters from. It's like they're flying out of my ass and I can't even keep track of them anymore...

zach and Zingy, you guys are sophomores. That's why

Damn who even reads those. I get atleast 12 a day through the mail and like 30 a day through email.

Post the list. Then we can see if we're getting the same ones and if the contents are (almost) the same...

Hmm...I remember getting a lot of stuff from colleges, and it sort of helped me decide on which to attend. I actually never got anything from the college I'm going to, but the letters and e-mails (Not a lot, but some) opened the door further for me. I dunno if you guys know about these sites to look up college information, but a few good ones are:

http://www.princetonreview.com
http://www.collegeboard.com

They give you any info you want; Average ACT/SAT scores, GPA, cost, etc...

Your such a show off Torrino



Anways...where you thinking of going?

Cornell. UNC (Chapel Hill). Michigan. Northwestern. NYU. One of 'em (I hope).

I have a cousin that goes to Michigan....and I have heard great things about NYU(hard to get accepted though)

Northwestern is pretty badass, Ross. Great journalism school, which I believe is what you're into, right?

Nope. I'm thinking Business or Communications (other forms outside print).

I focus too much on the wallet, and, journalism is a pretty shitty job. You meet a lot of interesting people, but it's hard living on the amount your paid. Plus, if what recently happened (a feud between me and "the man" - she changed my oscar article even though it had already been edited. she added paragraphs. she removed my opinion. she put in her own. and she didn't notify me and I'm uber pissed. She tarnished the whole thing. Hell, somehow, a thing about Vera Drake garnering a nomination for Best Picture was in there...) is any indication, I DON'T want to make a living out of it...

I enjoy journalism though, and I'll probably do something for the paper while I'm there...

Wake Forest has a kick ass Communications Dept....I almost went there


Loyola has a good Buisness Dept as well

Aren't those both Jesuit schools? I really don't want any religious affiliation (unless Jewish! ), which is why I'm not considering Georgetown...

^^^^I guess...it really does not matter....Neither of them are religious at all.

Same here Torrino. Our school took the PLAN test (a pre ACT for a parallel) and since then, my inbox has recieved spam attacks 48 emails over the past two weeks. Plus my actual mailbox has recieved 28 over the same period.

And so it begins...

Wow, marketing sure has changed in the past 20 years. When I was in high school, we had to seek colleges out. I didn't realize that college juniors are now a desirable target demographic. But, I should have known that the info you filled out on the PSAT form is now on a mailing list. Congratulations, hon. They want your $32,000 per year. And of course they want good students. Not only do good students raise a college's average student SAT score (nice little selling point), but good students are also more likely to stay for the degree and pony up the full $128,000.

ADVICE -- TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

If you're going to major in Business or Communications, make it half of a DOUBLE MAJOR. Business and communications are seen as "easy" majors, and a default major for undecided kids who are know they have to pick something fast. The end result is that there are a ton of graduates with these majors. They are good at "managing," but what do they manage? Unless you have a connection with somebody who can get you a job, you will be like millions of other kids with "only" a business degree. At that point it won't matter what school you went to. (actually, at undergraduate level, the prestige of the program matters little. You still need a connection.)

If you really want this degree for a high-paying job, please, think of majoring in something in addition to business. I cannot stress this enough. Not only can you "manage," but you will have something the manage. Economics is good, or history, or finance, or -- and this is the best -- science or engineering. If you have a business degree paired with, say, civil engineering, you will find a job very easily, and that job will pay MOOCHO BUCKS.

People are going back to college for an MBA for a REASON. You know this, torrino -- you've seen all those ads on the Metro. If you get the undergraduate business along with your other degree, you will be far far ahead.

While I'm handing out advice, I'll say that you are better off getting two degress at a state school than you are getting one degree at a prestigous private school. You may need five years to get those two degress, and it will much cheaper. Two degrees at a "lower" school with high grades and some connections from the faculty will put you much farther ahead than just a raw degree from a big-name school.

Thanks! I don't know what I want to do with Business, but I am aware that it's a broad major and can easily be paired with something else. We'll see how Economics goes - I think I'm taking a Microeconomic class this summer...

Obviously, money is an issue. I'm looking at State schools and although I don't particularly want to go to one, I realize that money doesn't just fly out of a slit in a door. I also know that the workload at say, Chicago or Cornell, is excessive. I'm already piled up as it is and I won't survive if I've got 200000x as much. Then again, bad grades in a big state school with two degrees doesn't do much good. Unless you've got an interesting resume in terms of the other factors.

It is harder to establish relationships with professors at say, Michigan, Maryland, or North Carolina. Although there's always some, class sizes at the schools with 20000+ kids are often too big...

I say screw it all, become a bricklayer and get into a union.

I've got a couple words to leave you with: Retirement, Social Security, Bush.