Wednesday, April 20, 2011

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?

Monday, April 18, 2011

Photo of the Week--4/18/11


It's April in Michigan, and I'm looking outside at SNOW. To counteract this, I give you a picture of SUMMER. Granted, it's summer in Denmark, so it wasn't that warm, but at least there's SUN and not SNOW.