9 ms·

My kid took psat (preparatory SAT exam) and she had to register with College Board (SAT admins). Now she’s getting tons of spam from all kinds of schools, both

by ssttoo 8y ago

My kid took psat (preparatory SAT exam) and she had to register with College Board (SAT admins). Now she’s getting tons of spam from all kinds of schools, both email and US post. They say they got the address from College Board. :(

gumby 8y ago
Yep, College Board has been selling your info pretty much since founding in the 1950s.
TuringNYC 8y ago
There used to be checkbox on the PSAT form that enables/disables this. Not sure, however, if this is opt-in or opt-out.
- applecrazy 8y ago
  High school student here. The box is opt-out (your are opted in by default)
tropo 8y ago
You opt in for this, and it's kind of the whole point of the PSAT. You're taking the test so that colleges will send you discounted offers. There isn't much other reason to take the PSAT.
- moioci 8y ago
  It's the PSAT/NMSQT, which means it's also the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which is an excellent reason to take it besides increasing your spam burden.
  - hopler 8y ago
    95% of test takers know before they start that they aren't in the running for the NMS.
applecrazy 8y ago
I have at least 20 pounds of college mail over the course of three years. As a high school senior who is almost done with the college app season, I kind of miss the incessant spam.
- glup 8y ago
  When my high school friends and I finished the process, we had a giant bonfire. Good for the story, but the fumes were pretty nasty b/c so much of it was on glossy, heavily inked papers.
therein 8y ago
Someone actually flipped the tables around and used the eagerness of the colleges to get a bunch of t-shirts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNki8vIBXpE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNki8vIBXpE
uberman 8y ago
College Board is but one vector. Everyone from Naviance and SAT (college board) to grade 12 personality and career testing sells your children to aggregators who then resell to colleges. This is the domain I work in, and while I empathize that getting spam sucks (digital and physical), in this case I think you can likely leverage it. Every student should have a set of safety colleges. My guess is that among the detritus, there are some colleges that might fit the bill. Finding a set of reasonable safety colleges is a good thing. [Heads up, your child absolutely needs a safety college both as a fallback and as a bargaining chip] Secondly, and more importantly, some (but not all) colleges can be bargained with using offers from these colleges. Some colleges will respond with counter offers if you you can show them a better offer even from a college you are not all that interested in. My recommendation is to look through the junk and make sure you have colleges of interest in three buckets "safety", "comfort", and "reach". If they are sending you junk mail then they are already interested in you. Select a few and see if it can work to your advantage. The company I work for deal exclusively in this area and our negotiation tools and strategies save candidates $5000 a year ON AVERAGE.
- hopler 8y ago
  Or skip the nonsense and attend an affordable public college and let these junk third teir private colleges die.
  - uberman 8y ago
    We don't help students apply to junk for-profit colleges. They are almost always open admissions colleges anyways so there is nothing to help with. On the other hand, the UC Berkeley sticker price (just tuition and fees) is more than $38k a year should you happen to be from someplace other than CA. They reject 83% of their applicants. This is a great college, with a high price and high selectivity. We help students optimize their chances of admission and aid packages.

by ssttoo 8y ago

gumby 8y ago

Yep, College Board has been selling your info pretty much since founding in the 1950s.

TuringNYC 8y ago

There used to be checkbox on the PSAT form that enables/disables this. Not sure, however, if this is opt-in or opt-out.

applecrazy 8y ago
High school student here. The box is opt-out (your are opted in by default)

tropo 8y ago

You opt in for this, and it's kind of the whole point of the PSAT. You're taking the test so that colleges will send you discounted offers. There isn't much other reason to take the PSAT.

moioci 8y ago
It's the PSAT/NMSQT, which means it's also the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which is an excellent reason to take it besides increasing your spam burden.
- hopler 8y ago
  95% of test takers know before they start that they aren't in the running for the NMS.

applecrazy 8y ago

I have at least 20 pounds of college mail over the course of three years. As a high school senior who is almost done with the college app season, I kind of miss the incessant spam.

glup 8y ago
When my high school friends and I finished the process, we had a giant bonfire. Good for the story, but the fumes were pretty nasty b/c so much of it was on glossy, heavily inked papers.

therein 8y ago

Someone actually flipped the tables around and used the eagerness of the colleges to get a bunch of t-shirts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNki8vIBXpE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNki8vIBXpE

uberman 8y ago

College Board is but one vector. Everyone from Naviance and SAT (college board) to grade 12 personality and career testing sells your children to aggregators who then resell to colleges. This is the domain I work in, and while I empathize that getting spam sucks (digital and physical), in this case I think you can likely leverage it. Every student should have a set of safety colleges. My guess is that among the detritus, there are some colleges that might fit the bill. Finding a set of reasonable safety colleges is a good thing. [Heads up, your child absolutely needs a safety college both as a fallback and as a bargaining chip] Secondly, and more importantly, some (but not all) colleges can be bargained with using offers from these colleges. Some colleges will respond with counter offers if you you can show them a better offer even from a college you are not all that interested in. My recommendation is to look through the junk and make sure you have colleges of interest in three buckets "safety", "comfort", and "reach". If they are sending you junk mail then they are already interested in you. Select a few and see if it can work to your advantage. The company I work for deal exclusively in this area and our negotiation tools and strategies save candidates $5000 a year ON AVERAGE.

hopler 8y ago
Or skip the nonsense and attend an affordable public college and let these junk third teir private colleges die.
- uberman 8y ago
  We don't help students apply to junk for-profit colleges. They are almost always open admissions colleges anyways so there is nothing to help with. On the other hand, the UC Berkeley sticker price (just tuition and fees) is more than $38k a year should you happen to be from someplace other than CA. They reject 83% of their applicants. This is a great college, with a high price and high selectivity. We help students optimize their chances of admission and aid packages.