College applications back in the old days

[melindawarren]

Originally Posted by LAblondeGPhi

I remember that my acceptance letter from Cal started off saying something like "This is it, you got the big envelope. The one with the acceptance letter."

Of course, I had already checked the website, so I already knew. Oh, and it was a spring semester admission. I understand that's somewhat unique among universities. I know the other UCs don't do it.

We've got 'em, too. I actually think it's a decent concept. But I wonder how it is for PNMs.

[LAblondeGPhi]

Originally Posted by melindawarren

We've got 'em, too. I actually think it's a decent concept. But I wonder how it is for PNMs.

Oh, actually, I do recall that USC has spring admits.

I know for Berkeley, the spring admit students have the option to attend a fall freshman program on campus through UC Berkeley Extension. This gives them the opportunity to go through fraternity and sorority recruitment with the rest of the freshmen, take classes toward your degree, and participate in most of the campus activities available to the rest of the students. I think the primary difference is that you're not guaranteed housing on campus.

I'm curious if the spring kids have a bias against them during recruitment, though. At least they don't have to wait until sophomore year to rush.

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by melindawarren

When I got into UCLA, I just didn't have the same feeling. For everyone I've heard saying that the switch to email-only admissions is the way to go, I have to strongly disagree. There is nothing like the feeling of getting the "big envelope" and knowing that you're in.

Agreed.

When I got my acceptance letter from MIT, it came in a thin envelope. Apparently it's their practice to send out the "big envelopes" to both early and regular admits at the same time, in the spring, but I didn't know this.

I'd given my parents strict orders not to open any letters from MIT because I wanted to be the one to open the letter. The day my letter arrived, my mom had arranged to pick me up at school after track practice. She handed me the thin envelope without a word. My heart SANK. I opened the envelope, opened the letter, got as far as "Congratulations! You are admitted to MIT." - and ran back into the school building screaming to my coach and teammates and anyone else in earshot, "I GOT INTO MIT! I GOT INTO MIT!"

The letter explained that I would get my packet in the spring, along with the regular admits, but dammit, I wish they sent big envelopes early to the early-action admits. How many other early-action admits felt that "rejection" feeling on seeing the thin envelope?

</threadjack>

[aggieAXO]

Most in my class either went to A&M or UT. Rarely, did anyone apply to more than one college. Same for vet school. If you lived in Texas -you applied to Texas A&M. Now, college students are applying to numerous vet schools at once and if they don't get into a state side school they apply to schools in England, Australia or the Carribean. The amount of loans they are taking out are astronomical-some up to 300,000$-committing financial suicide IMO. They will never be able to pay that back unless they marry rich or hit the lottery. I have tried to talk with students about the amount of debt they will soon be taking on but they have thick rose colored glasses and only see unicorns and rainbows.

[DubaiSis]

Regarding the fancy packaging, I know I'm unnecessarily practical, but that stuff is EXPENSIVE. With the costs as they are, I think I'd be pretty annoyed to get some $10 packet that says "Yeah! We waste money and we're going to take an insane amount of it from you over the next 4 years!"

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Regarding the fancy packaging, I know I'm unnecessarily practical, but that stuff is EXPENSIVE. With the costs as they are, I think I'd be pretty annoyed to get some $10 packet that says "Yeah! We waste money and we're going to take an insane amount of it from you over the next 4 years!"

I'm OK with my school spending it on nice mailers, because I know that's one way they reel in students/parents/alumni. But I dislike how much they spend on palm trees and landscaping, and stupid stuff like speakers in the planters around campus!

[chi-o_cat]

I graduated from high school in 1990. I still remember handwriting my essay for my Ithaca College application over Christmas break.

[IUHoosiergirl88]

In the 2006-2007 admissions cycle, I applied to 4 schools: Purdue, Miami of Ohio, IU, and Yale. I got in to 3 of the 4 and made an easy decision to go to IU. The Yale admissions decision was months after my other one, so I waited to commit until I heard from them

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

How many other early-action admits felt that "rejection" feeling on seeing the thin envelope?

</threadjack>

I did!

[TriDeltaSallie]

I've really enjoyed the discussion!

I agree with the points made that the solidly middle class will struggle the most. I grew up in a GM family as did my husband. None of our parents graduated from college and my grandmothers didn't even finish high school. My husband and I are both college graduates and own our own business after working in the marketplace for quite awhile. I don't think we will achieve what either of our sets of parents did. I look at where we are now and where they were at our age and just don't see it happening.

My approach with my daughter will be to do my best to prepare her for college AND for owning her own business. As certain skills and gifts begin to show up consistently in her development, I want to help her understand how to develop those abilities to make them marketable. I do not want her to think of only college, but that college is just one small part of preparing for life. I think those who have a diverse set of marketable skills that cannot be outsourced are those who will stand the best chance of making it.

So we will do whatever we can reasonably do to prepare her for higher education and keep her debt free. But I would rather invest more time and money helping her develop marketable skills and business savvy, than invest a lot of time into trying to get her into a top tier university as opposed to a solid school.

Just my two cents. Your mileage may vary.

[Still BLUTANG]

in 95-96 i applied to maybe 8 or 9 schools. I attended a public school with a fairly competitive magnet program. I was middle of the pack in that program, but when compared to the total school population I was high achiever (by no means top 10, though).

I paid application fees and test reporting fees out of pocket, and recall thinking I have to really pick carefully where I'm applying...this isn't free! It was easy to get carried away because we started doing online applications around that time - otherwise I probably would have applied to 15 schools.

random side note: I also recall friends who applied to ~30 schools just so they could SAY I was admitted to X, Y and Z... and I was awarded ____ in Scholarships. Some classmates (including my godbrother) were offered totals of close to $1M. I'm still salty a little bit about that. LOL.

[melindawarren]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

I'm OK with my school spending it on nice mailers, because I know that's one way they reel in students/parents/alumni. But I dislike how much they spend on palm trees and landscaping, and stupid stuff like speakers in the planters around campus!

Yeah. Mailers need to stand out. I saved every piece of correspondence I received from colleges--even schools that just sent me lookbooks and such--and I got rid of over 300 pieces of mail when I finished high school (not admissions packets or anything. Just "come check out Hole-in-the-Wall U!" stuff). There were only a few schools that sent truly nice-looking mailers. One looked like another and another after that for the most part (I could only tell schools apart if they had snow/sun/mountains). The more a school can do to make printed information stand out, the better. My favorite was CalArts. SOOO pretty!

My other favorite, in a humorous sense, was a school in a beachy climate. They sent out a packet that said "live at the beach!" Instead of showing a beautiful sunny day, they sent a photo of this little bungalow with rain clouds or something really gloomy in the sky. *facepalm*

ETA: Speakers in the planters, really? Now THAT'S a waste of money.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by melindawarren

My other favorite, in a humorous sense, was a school in a beachy climate. They sent out a packet that said "live at the beach!" Instead of showing a beautiful sunny day, they sent a photo of this little bungalow with rain clouds or something really gloomy in the sky. *facepalm*

ETA: Speakers in the planters, really? Now THAT'S a waste of money.

I think it was Harvey Mudd who used to send out fliers that said things like "Don't come to this school!" to attract attention.

[pshsx1]

I think it's really weird that most students at my school (Lawrence Tech) did not research any other schools nor apply to any other schools.

I did research on 30-40 schools and applied to 5 (Lawrence Tech, Michigan State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor) with a wait list from A&M.

I wish school was a lot less expensive, though. I have had a rough undergraduate experience (from an academic stand point) with two major changes and I feel nothing but pressure to graduate right now. I want to enjoy my experience and take my time to absorb as much info as possible so I can make an educated decision about what I want to do for the rest of my life.

But that's not an option. I just need to get a diploma, pay my debts, and suffer. I wish colleges (and families, for that matter) realized that the incentive to finish college becomes lessened as the financial burden makes it seem like it isn't worth it. :/

[LAblondeGPhi]

Originally Posted by melindawarren

Yeah. Mailers need to stand out. I saved every piece of correspondence I received from colleges--even schools that just sent me lookbooks and such--and I got rid of over 300 pieces of mail when I finished high school (not admissions packets or anything. Just "come check out Hole-in-the-Wall U!" stuff). There were only a few schools that sent truly nice-looking mailers. One looked like another and another after that for the most part (I could only tell schools apart if they had snow/sun/mountains). The more a school can do to make printed information stand out, the better. My favorite was CalArts. SOOO pretty!

Oh man, at one point in high school one of our teachers had us fill out some kind of college survey something, and from then on I was DELUGED in random mailers from every random college. I think I got the most mail from St. Olaf College, which I had never heard of, and have heard very little of since. I vaguely remember being sent random bits of schwag, too. I think St. Olaf sent me a compass key chain. Ya, not winning any points with that one.

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

I'm OK with my school spending it on nice mailers, because I know that's one way they reel in students/parents/alumni. But I dislike how much they spend on palm trees and landscaping, and stupid stuff like speakers in the planters around campus!

But the Pepperdine campus is goooorrgeous, and I can't even imagine the landscaping costs for that big lawn off PCH. I especially think the national flags display every fall is very pretty.