Managing College Mail

Yesterday I talked about the principle of Only Handling It Once to help you stay organized.  Would you like another example of where this principle can be helpful?  College Mail!  It is hard to find many high school students who have taken the PSAT, Pre-ACT, ACT or SAT that haven't started receiving mail from colleges. 

At first, when students start receiving letters from colleges there can be a rush of excitement to learn about different colleges. Lots of students will pour over the different brochures, booklets, or information packets sent from various colleges. In time though, most students get frustrated and overwhelmed by just how much mail comes from all of the different colleges. This is a perfect reminder that colleges are a business and so they are marketing themselves to all potential candidates. When you get the mail from the colleges take a few minutes and look it over - remember, they are not saying you will be accepted, but it can help give you an idea about the characteristics and features of that college so that you can compare them with what you are looking for in a college.  Go ahead and keep any mailings that look particularly appealing to you, but don't worry about throwing the rest away... after all, you won't suddenly decide you want to pour through stacks of college brochures later for schools that didn't appeal to you when you received the information the first time.