I have been getting information together for a selection of a PhD program. NCU was one of the school's I requested an information package from. I have been getting a number of e-mails froom them ever since. They are generic, and almost seem like spam - e-mails like, "enroll before the end of the month, get $50 off your application". I have tried to get off the mailing list, but with no success. More than 2 a week for over a month now. Is this normal? It makes me think of a degree mill when these types of e-mails are given. Any thoughts?
I get e-mails from Walden and Stevens Institute regularly, evn though I only checked for information once over a year ago. Welcome to the world of e-mail lists.
How about plain, regular, old, lousy, junk (snail) mail? My son took the PLAN a couple of months ago and I would estimate, conservatively, that he's received 40 mailings from various schools. Washington U in St. Louis was one of them and that's not exactly a degree mill. ?????
I still get special offers from Liberty although I enrolled in 91 and graduated in 93. Guess some schools just don't give up.
Homer - Good point. I have never had any school pursue me with e-mails and snail mail before (except University of Phoenix, which was a real turn off - they had my work number and would not stop calling). If it happens at a great number of schools, which it looks like from the above postings, it is not a determinent of quality. Thanks to all, sorry for the neive posting - but I love this group!!!
Gee, I emailed & spoke to Kennedy-Western a few years back and I still get both email and snail mail missives from them. (They are still are standing by, waiting for me to take advantage of this educational "opportunity".) I get mail from them at work. I never gave them my work address, so the mail I get from them there has to be from some other direct marketing source. I believe that they are buying mailing lists from trade magazines, because some people in the lab have been receiving K-W mailings at work. For profit schools can run aggressive marketing schemes. Some of them are even RA. Life in the 21st century. I thought we would have flying cars, but instead we have more junk mail.
I find SPAM coming from an academic institution for enrollment purposes to be quite unprofessional and giving the impression (if not reality) that anyone is accepted as long as the fee/tuition is paid. Students are treated as "clients" and the client is "always right." Any thoughts? Eli ABD, Touro University International
I agree with you about the impression, but I'm not sure about the reality. All schools need to attract students or else go out of business, even the non-profit institutions. The marketing you see is a reflection of that. Some schools attract enough students without much effort, others need to get their message out there. In the 1980's I went to DeVRY, an agressively marketed, for profit school. Once enrolled, we were treated as students, not clients. We were not always right, and were told so. Repeatedly. From what I experienced, academic standards were upheld. It worked out well for me.
Re: Re: NCU's spam It does give that impression, no doubt, but the motivation depends on the institution. I find it even more reprehensible that the likes of Columbia (with an acceptance rate of around 12%) would send out promotional material in what can only be an effort to bolster the number of applicants they can eventually reject (thus maintaining their low acceptance rate).
