Finally, seniors across the country will have a moment to relax as the college application process comes to an end and final deadlines come and go. While the stress of being accepted to their dream school is still high for many, seniors have a moment to reflect on their application process as they anxiously await their acceptance letters. 

For many seniors, especially those aiming for a more selective school, the biggest challenge faced in the college application process is trying to make themselves stand out from other potential applicants. No longer can just having good grades get you into a top school; extracurriculars, internships, sports, etc. are all needed on top of the outstanding grades. 

With thousands of students applying to colleges each year, the need to stand out from other applicants is crucial. While this might seem like a problem only students face, colleges too are struggling with the same issues. 

There are thousands of colleges to choose from, each offering vastly different courses, clubs, and environments across the country. It can be hard to find a college that stands out amongst the crowd, and even harder for some of these smaller colleges to make their names known. 

To combat this, colleges and universities from across the nation have been sending students thousands of advertisements in the form of emails, flyers, pamphlets, text messages, and even phone calls. Instead of students trying to showboat in their applications, colleges are now trying to court the students instead. 

But is it worth it? 

To conduct some research on this topic, 108 senior students from Patchogue-Medford High School participated in a survey inquiring about their experience with college marketing and the college application process. 

Within that amount, 6.5% of students claimed that the mailing they received from colleges made them highly consider applying to said colleges. 

“Colleges reaching out, although sometimes annoying, helped me get greater access to colleges I may have not known to apply to. They provide information about what the colleges offer and are overall helpful in being another outlet for information pertaining to the college application process.” says senior Julia Dreyhaupt. 

In comparison, 17.6% of students claimed that the mail they received from colleges either did not factor into their application process at all or barely influenced them. 

“I am usually overwhelmed by the amount of emails and flyers I get related to college” states senior Nicholas Rota. “In reality, I really prefer researching colleges on my own time by going to their websites, searching for the programs that colleges offer, and sometimes using the mail for motivation.” 

Unfortunately for the colleges, many students claimed that receiving more mail actually persuaded them to NOT consider applying. Shocking, right? 

One student, Dwayne Senior, stated that, “All the mail was honestly more annoying than helpful, and it doesn’t make me consider it [the college] at all.” 

Another student, Isabella Mastrangelo, stated that, “I get obsessive amounts of emails from colleges which is really annoying. It distracts me and blocks out the emails from acceptance emails I actually want to see.” 

But despite the students’ annoyances, colleges still feel a need to send all this information to potential applicants. What the colleges don’t realize, however, is that most potential applicants have already done their own research and know where they want to apply. Additionally, with so much college advertising being thrown at them, students are more susceptible to simply ignoring it all. 

Senior Kyla O’Sullivan states, “I find the emails that I get from colleges annoying. The majority of them I don’t read because I’ve already done my own research about the colleges I want to attend.”

While physical mail or emails are the most common forms of harassment chosen by these colleges, phone calls are another surprisingly popular choice. One senior, Ryan Daly, said, “I have received over two hundred voicemails from a single university in the span of three months.”

There are countless ways for students to learn about new colleges and opportunities. Whether it be from teachers, family, or some of the several events hosted at the high school throughout the year, including college fairs or on-sites, different colleges are being shoved down student’s throats at every step of the process. 

“I found the college fair most useful, for college information and wanting to apply.” says senior Kate Marin. 

Instead of spending the money to send out thousands of physical mails, colleges should keep the money and can instead lower their application price. The average cost of applying to college is $50, and fee waiver codes can be hard to come by. This is why many students find that even though they might find a certain college appealing, they decide not to apply due to the application fee. 

Senior Ella McCann stated, “Collectively, I feel like I am only convinced to apply somewhere besides my list if I am given a fee waiver code.” 

Considering many high school students have a small budget, it doesn’t matter how appealing the college looks from the email if the student cannot afford the application cost. Some of the brightest students of our generation are being blocked from attending high-end universities simply because of their financial situation. 

“I wish that the colleges sending emailing me would actually offer me scholarships instead of wanting me to pay full tuition.” says senior Raymond Velez, who alludes to a key problem in the college marketing experience: an informational letter does not equal an acceptance. 

Many colleges do not offer fee waiver codes or scholarships in the mail they send out because the colleges are not actually interested in the student yet. Just because a college has sent you twenty emails does not mean that you are guaranteed acceptance into that college. 

In fact, many colleges send out mail to students just because they have a certain score on the SATs or ACTs, they’ve taken AP classes, or meet the general grade requirements for that college. Plus, commonly used organizations such as College Board could also be used by colleges to connect with students that meet their application requirements. 

Another reason you could be receiving information from a specific college is that you happen to live close to it. Most commonly, students receive college information from the places nearest to them the most, rather than colleges across or out of the country. 

For some students, college advertisements have proven themselves to be a valuable tool in their college research journey. But for the rest of us, those hundreds of unread emails we receive daily will likely never be opened.