Mr. Popularity....

So six months ago I reviewed the pile of college advertisements Boy had begun getting. Six months later, he's almost done with his junior year and has a good ACT score to his credit—and the pile is becoming a deluge, so it's time to wade through the mail again ... because he doesn't care to. The numbers in parens indicate what number mailing from that particular school.

Kentucky (5): Newsletter style this time, what's new on campus and new academic program.
U of Chicago (4): Another foldout postcard, touting overseas programs.
Kentucky (6): New school year starting, think of us!
Kentucky (7): Letter pegged to fall activities.
U of Chicago (5): Foldout postcard on fun school scavenger hunt.
Iowa: Glossy brochure. Smallest Big Ten school, small faculty: student ratio. No mention of cows.
Kentucky (8): I know it's homecoming week, but your stalking is starting to freak me out.
U of Chicago (6): It's a race to waste the most paper!
Kentucky (9): I didn't mean it, really. Stop it.
U of Chicago (7): Summer high school program, but still. Stop it.
U of Evansville (IN): PSAT scores earn you this letter and shiny brochure!
Wayne State (2): "See it to believe it" ... um, we've already been to Detroit.
Missouri S&T: Go to a specialized university! But there are clubs, too!
Rochester IT: I didn't even know there was an Insitute of Tech in Rochester. And I don't want to know why Admissions is in the "Bausch & Lomb Center."
U of Rochester (2): Do they use the same mail service? They give a login and password for an "academic guide!"
Washington U in St. Louis (2): We'll match your online service and raise you an SASE.
Washington & Lee (VA): We're like Harvard, Northwestern, Notre Dame, & Duke, except you've heard of them!
Drexel U (PA): If our online quiz doesn't tempt you, maybe our dragon logo will!
U of Miami (FL, 2): Another online quiz, helping you figure out who you are and where to go...
Kentucky (10): Spring semester is starting, and these winter months bring challenges ... like figuring out which season it is.
Carnegie Mellon: In big letters: "Are You Technology?" In fine print: "Yet we're about so much more than technology."
Kettering U (MI): Check us out! We have a smart phone code!
U Detroit Mercy: Postcard personalized with name and interest! Someone's been reading their PSAT list!
Illinois Wesleyan (2): "What's the big deal about small colleges?" Hmm, who will tell me?
Swarthmore (PA): "within easy reach of the excitement of Philadelphia!" We do like our ratings, don't we?
Carthage (WI): Another fan of touting college ratings.
Rensselaer Polytechnic (NY): "Galileo ... Fahrenheit ... Edison ... Gates ... Boy?" Are you the next great mind?
Case Western Reserve (2): a letter this time, and invitation to "how to choose the ideal college" ... and that might be ... CWR?
Tulane (2): Wow, you've been selected to take part in the online quiz!
Bellarmine U (KY): Another free guide "Where to Hang Your Hat" ... people still wear hats?
Wittenberg U (OH): Not just a guide ... a free checklist!
CO School of Mines (2): Focus on engineering and science ... in the Rockies ... and a career center to find you work.
Columbia Engineering (NY): "You may be competitive for admission" ... we're Ivy League, we don't beg.
Bowdoin College (ME): former home of Longfellow and Hawthorne. We hope you know who that is.
Penn/Wharton: summer program, management and technology?
Missouri S&T (2): Come fly in and visit!
Carnegie Mellon (2): summer "pre-college" programs ... is it "pre-college" tuition?
DePaul (IL): Hmmm ... are they in Chicago? I can't tell from the dozens of pictures.
Oberlin (OH): What liberal arts education should be ... did they read his areas of interest?
Northeastern (MA): online quiz, "Find out why you are a high achiever!" Good genes?
Macalester (MN):  A big glossy brochure and no pictures of snow.
Norwich (VT): Offers to look at "working life of an engineer."

I'm not even two-thirds through the stack, so I'll save the rest for later, and get some totals together then. I don't remember getting this much mail when I was in high school ... are there more colleges than there used to be, or do they just want our money that badly?