A Tirade against College Letters

*fun fact: i spent at least 5 minutes finding an antonym for the word 'ode', just letting you know

One of the reasons I'm excited for college is so that I can finally stop being bombarded with letters and emails from colleges. I understand that this is a problem that not every high school student deals with, and I am grateful that for some reason colleges deem me worthy of their flyers, brochures, and emails, but it's so annoying. Now, if these colleges were throwing money and scholarships at me, I'd be over the moon, trust me.

I can not tell you how many letters I've gotten asking me to confirm my information so a college can send me "(insert number here) tips to surviving (high school/ college/ the college application process)" or the amount of emails telling me to come visit their campus in The Middle of Nowhere, USA. The worst ones are the emails with the subject line "Are You There, Toyosi?" or "Toyosi, is This Your Correct Email?" Those ones are moved to trash ASAP. Yes University of (insert city here), you have the right email, I chose to not respond to you because I had no interest, and guess what? I STILL HAVE NO INTEREST. Considering that these people are trying to further my education, they really don't know how to market to prospective students like me.

With awesome resources like the Collegeboard, it's a whole lot easier to define what you're looking for, and find schools that match your criteria. Obviously, a large chunk of high school students don't know what they're looking for, but in my opinion bombarding them with flyers and brochures doesn't necessarily help, it only adds more confusion. I've spent a lot of time researching schools and programs via, the Collegeboard, Tumblr (I religiously stalk the NYU tag), and the actual school's website. I have learned more from the internet and college information sessions than all these little flyers and booklets, even the super thick ones from Yale and Columbia.

I know everyone has different preferences on how information is presented to them. Personally, if a brochure isn't aesthetically pleasing, I probably won't look into that school. If they have too many words, and not enough pictures (I'm looking at you, Yale) I doubt that i'll read more than two sentences.

If you're coming to have an info session nearby, feel free to tell me about it. You have an awesome business program? Tell me all about it. I requested information? Well, you better be sending me stuff. Don't fit any of that criteria? Well don't bother sending me anything.

I really don't know why I wrote this. This post has no point. I'm really congested. Don't mind me.

 So good they had to send it twice? On the bright side, they have a lot of cool artwork in them, I could probably make another banner!

 These things are the size of actual books. I'm only holding on to these because it feels weird to throw out an entire book. Also worth noting,  I don't even make time to read books for pleasure, so what makes you think I'll read a book all about a school I don't plan on applying to? They should really  post summaries on spark notes.

Williams College wins hands down on the best college brochure I've ever seen. This thing is a design masterpiece; their website, however, needs some work.

*end rant*

*drops mic*