Throughout the application process, there are several points of contact with potential universities. Signing up for newsletters, registering for a campus visit, and applying to pre-college programs are all considered touch points before students actually submit their applications. At each of these touch points, including the application itself, there are little tick boxes that most people don’t even think about. 

• YES I consent to being contacted by the university and its staff.
• YES I opt in to receiving text messages from the university and its staff.
• YES I am interested in receiving more information about this program.

Checking yes is a no-brainer: of course you need more information, and you want to show interest in the university (this is tracked, folks!), so you opt in.

But then, months down the line, when you’ve received your acceptance letters and Senioritis has set in, you forget. You start receiving text reminders about things like registering for preview days, or orientations, or placing your deposit to secure your spot. The messages sound like they are automated, from bots – maybe you and your friends decide to goof around with it, treat it like ChatGPT just to see what will happen. So you say something funny, yet inappropriate – who cares? It’s a bot!

And then your acceptance is rescinded, just like that. Poof.

An applicant to Chapman University experienced just this last application cycle. A Reddit user posted an exchange they thought was with a bot, reminding them to accept or decline their offer of admission by the deadline. After a wildly inappropriate, flippant response the user thought was being sent to some never-checked automated response bin, an admissions officer replies: “I suppose that means you will be attending another school. We’ll go ahead and close out your file.”

Now, we don’t know whether this applicant was intending to attend Chapman or not, but the fact of the matter is that the option was rescinded, and you’d better believe this interaction was recorded. Two years down the line, if this Reddit user would like to transfer, they can count Chapman out.

Treat these texts and emails as if they were from a phone bank. Sure, the first text might come from a bot – but each reply spawns its own, human-based interaction, whether that means replies are landing in the admissions team’s inboxes or it’s an actual student representative doing a work-study. 

The point is, be kind, be respectful, and remember: if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

Never miss a beat: