Reaching Out to Siblings

Just back now from Maine, and lighter pursuits, and I find a front-page story in the Boston Globe that reports that colleges are providing programming for the siblings of candidates when the families come to campus. The motivation is really not about giving mom and dad a break from babysitting. Or entertaining the younger members of the family so the older ones can better focus on college selection issues. It is, rather, a boldface way to create an early and positive impression on the younger siblings that, admissions staff members hope, will stand them in good stead as these youngsters begin the college applications process.

I appreciate that middle school students and high school freshmen and sophomores might find visits to colleges interesting and if presented with any combination of programs—educational, cultural, athletic, or social—could well benefit. Indeed, students of these ages often find themselves on college campuses during the summer pursuing just these sorts of activities. Such students are—without question— put on the institution's mailing lists and are part of its outreach in the years that follow.

But the article reporrts a more blatant approach and although it makes sense from a marketing point of view, it just feels a bit slimy to me. The reason it doesn't sit right is because these siblings really haven't signed up for the program; with any luck at all they have yet to drink the college admissions Kool-Ade and are still leading normal, happy lives. They haven't signed up for the SummerMath Program at Mount Holyoke. They just got in the car with their parents and older brother and off they went, perhaps because their plans to stay with friends fell through. Next thing you know, they are the target of the admissions officer. If BU and the other institutions that are initiating this practice were genuinely interested in reaching out this youngsters, without a marketing component, because that is what insitutions of higher education do, that would be lovely. But this feels more like kids having to sit through the sales pitch to get a free dinner. It isn't that—I get it—it just feels that way.