Every day, high school students are inundated by piles of mail and numerous emails from colleges.  The sheer number of letters, postcards, magazines, and merchandise is ridiculous, not to mention terrible for the environment.   The emails overflow inboxes, most of them not even getting marked as spam because they come from reputable sources, and make it difficult to stay organized.

Most people do not realize that every time they provide their email or address, whether it’s during the SAT or ACT or even AP exams, they end up inadvertently agreeing to have their information be made available to colleges.  As a result, colleges are able to send emails and mail to millions of students across the country.

It is possible to unsubscribe from email lists, usually by clicking a link at the bottom of the page, but there is no way to prevent universities from sending physical mail.  It can get annoying to find a mailbox stuffed with unwanted and unnecessary information on a daily basis.  It eventually gets to the point when anything with a college’s name on it is automatically thrown away without even being read.

Anything that a university could possible send in the mail can also be found on the school’s website, which students definitely visit if they are actually interested in the school.  If a student has no interest in a particular college, sending them brochures every day is not going to make much of a difference except maybe causing them to begin actively disliking the school.  What’s even worse is when extremely selective colleges send mail to people who have no real chance of getting into their school.  Then, a student feels like they might have a shot at the school and applies just to get rejected and make the school appear even more selective.

Schools should just stop sending mail after students have clearly demonstrated that they are not interested in the school.  If a student wants to attend the university, they will make an effort to contact, research, or visit the school and do not need to be overwhelmed with information.  Colleges, save the environment and students’ sanity, send limited mail and emails only to those who will actually pay attention!