Beyond the mailbox: What actually influences a college decision

As part of my college search process, I received massive amounts of mail and emails from various schools. However, after making my college decision, I realized that those communications had very little impact on my search process. Here’s what I noticed:

1. The amount of mail sent by a school didn’t impact my thoughts on the school. It showed me that a school was interested, but I ended up recycling most of the mail from schools I didn’t already have an interest in. I knew the mailer wasn’t giving me a good idea of what the school was like, so I usually disregarded it.

2. Personalized items and notes mattered more. Whenever I received something personalized in the mail, it made me more likely to look at it. It showed more time and attention than the bulk emails or printed notes.

3. The most impactful thing to my decision was visits. I decided to go to Kansas State University thanks to the great experiences I had on campus. I played with their orchestra and did a musical theatre camp, but the cherry on top was a great tour with their school of education. Each time I went to campus I enjoyed it very much, and those experiences couldn’t be replaced by anything online. I went to multiple other schools where I had great tours, but the experiences and people I met at K-State put them over the top when all was said and done.

My advice? Take advantage of every opportunity to go to a college’s campus. It’s so beneficial to meet the people face to face and see the buildings in person. Ultimately, the mail and emails did very little to help me make my decision. It was the personal experiences that helped the most.