Getting In
College Spam Mail
I randomly received an email from the U of Portland (never been to their website or sent them my information) offering me a priority admissions application due to my “accomplishments throughout high school”. At the bottom in fine print it says “I received your contact information from the National Research Center for College and University Admissions” which I have never heard of, and the only thing I can think of is that this is somehow affiliated with the College Board website, which I am a member of. I have no intention of answering it, but it looks legit and I was just wondering if you have any insight into why I may have received this. Thanks!
rosemary | age 17 | September 12, 2009
Janet says...
The National Research Center for College and University Admissions is a company that offers matching services for both college admissions professionals and high school educators/counselors. So basically you've ended up on a list that indicates that you are a high school junior or senior, your data on that list may include your SAT scores, GPA, some of your extracurricular activities, and possibly even some of your demographic information (age, sex, race, and etc.). Sometimes high schools will subscribe to these services, other times the student may have unknowingly signed up for it while registering for the SAT, registering for the CollegeBoard's site, or even attending a college fair or informational session. The reason the school sent you that email is because enough of your criteria met the criteria of the University of Portland's admissions staff as a desirable student to have on their campus. Whether that match was done electronically without human review or with careful review by an admissions officer with a few spare moments is unknown. However, it certainly does mean that the university is interested in you and it is not uncommon at all for colleges to pursue specific students that seem extraordinary. If the University of Portland is a school of interest to you it wouldn't hurt to get in touch with them as this email does give you something of a bargaining chip for things like financial aid, especially if there are other schools that you're much more convinced about attending but issues like money, faculty, residence halls, and etc. could sway you. However if you're thoroughly not interested in the school you should probably let yourself feel flattered and forget about the email. The former suggestion is an important one. While it's basically form mail, you got it out of recognition for how awesome you must be.Tags: getting in, university of portland, national research center for college and university admissions, scores, admitted without applying
Published on September 12, 2009 by Janet | Read all recent Getting In articles.