Over the past few months, I’ve received a variety of print ads and emails that have amounted to say, “We want you!” Schools have a way of expressing interest in you by making you feel that you are being hand picked. They are able to shuffle around a couple of words and stick your name right in a generic form to create a more personalized email for their list of “subscribers”. On top of the emails, they send you print ads and letters. The longer you stay with them as a subscriber the more they send and the bigger that informational packet gets. I have colleges create usernames and passwords for me so that they can generate traffic on their website by getting students to respond to them. On average I probably receive six to seven informational packets, print ads or emails a week. This eventually piles up and I tend to stash it all away for later reference. However, every day I look at that overflowing pile of mail on my desktop I can only imagine how difficult the decision-making process will be for me. Luckily, I would be in the school’s system so that when I submit my application they will find that I am not a complete stranger. Although at times you may feel victim to “junk mail”, you could potentially be seen as a prospective student. Maybe one day you might receive mail from a school of your choice and I recommend that you take advantage of that opportunity. When the time comes I hope to as well.