Why colleges recruit students only to reject them

High school seniors are receiving a blast of emails this week from colleges urging them to apply and reminding them that application deadlines are early January.

The colleges sending out the reminders can be Ivy League universities that admit 9 percent of applicants or little-known campuses that accept almost everyone. The emails may even offer application fee waivers with the explanation, “A successful student like you deserves an edge when applying to college.” (Application fees are usually $50 to $75.)

Many parents assume these emails mean colleges have somehow sorted through the 3.3 million seniors who will graduate U.S. high schools this year and discerned the tremendous potential in their child. That is not the case; these emails have more to do with inflating college rankings than helping teens find the right college fit.