I was slow to embrace email. A few of my high school classmates used email (this was late 80s/early90s), but I really had no idea what it was or what it might be good for. When I got to college, I knew a lot more people who used it, but they mostlywent to the school computer lab to use it. I don’t remember anyone having their own modem in a dorm room. By the time I finished college four years later, email was much more mainstream. One of my last acts as a college student was emailing a paper to a professor instead of taking a hard copy to their office. It felt very cutting edge. But I sent it using my mother’s email, because it would still be years before I would bother to get my own email address. I was…not cutting edge.

Of course now email feels very out-of-date. I’ve had many students and clients tell me they almost never use email. There are so many messaging apps to choose from, and email only gets used for “official” things. College admission, it should go without saying, is a very official thing. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to get through applications effectively without using email.

So for those who may not be adept or enthusiastic about email, let me give a few brief rules that will make it more efficient and effective. But probably not more fun.

Have an email address you can use for colleges. Some people will advise you to get a new email address for college admission. They usually say it should have your name and graduation year, or something similar that isn’t already taken. Like “Benjamin.Holloway.Class.of.1992@gmail.com.” Then you use this email address—and only this address—for all your college admission activity—and only college admission activity. I don’t think this is a bad idea, but I also don’t think it’s necessary. You’ve probably already got a few email addresses to juggle. I’ve seen students set up a special email for college admission, use it with a few colleges…and then forget what the special address was. I’ve seen students set up a special email address, use it with a few colleges…and then forget that they even set it up.

I’d recommend something simpler.

1. Don’t have an address that’s embarrassing or offensive. Don’t send a college email and expect them to reply to “drunkandsexy420@email.com.”

2. Use an email address that won’t be taken away from you or that is owned by someone else, like one provided by your school.

3. If you already have an email address you’ve used for a College Board or ACT account and it doesn’t violate rule 1 or 2, keep using that one.

Join mailing lists of colleges you’re interested in. If you go to the admission page of any college, there will probably be a place to “join our mailing list,” “learn more,” or “get more information.” This is where you give them your email address and they send you information. If you’re interested, let them know. If you want to know more about a college, let them send you information. Even if you’re already get marketing emails from the college, actively sign up so they can see that you’re interacting with them.

Organize your email. If you do have a college admission-specific email address, then maybe you don’t need to do any more organizing. But if your college admission emails are coming into the same inbox as other emails, then do something to separate them. It doesn’t need to be complex or time-consuming. Just a folder you can put your “college” emails into is fine. Once you’re really into the process of applications, you may set up separate sub-folders for individual colleges. If you get emails from a school counselor (or an independent consultant) about college applications, you might want a separate folder for that. The key is to make it easy to find college-related mail amidst all the other stuff. A simple folder or label goes a long way.

Unsubscribe. When you’re getting email from a college you’re definitely not interested in, take a moment to unsubscribe. Lots of times people find it easier to just hit “delete” or “archive” rather than go through the sometimes multiple steps required to unsubscribe. At some point, though, unsubscribing takes up less time than repeatedly getting emails and deleting them, or trying to search for a specific email in a sea of junk. If you’re getting a lot of emails from someone you don’t want to hear from, unsubscribing saves time in the long run. Plus, you want your college inbox to be a trove of exciting possibilities for a future you, not a pile of junk mail with maybe some good stuff hidden in there. As corny as it sounds, do what you can to make your inbox reflect your goals and aspirations, not a depository for other people’s cold marketing.

Check your email regularly daily. Maybe you don’t like email. Maybe it’s not your preferred app for communicating. Maybe because colleges like to have a presence and advertise on other apps, you think you don’t need to really bother with email. That’s putting yourself at a major disadvantage. Email is the primary and preferred way colleges interact with prospective students. If it’s from a college and important, it’s probably going to be in email. So you have to use email. The more up-to-date you are with your email, the more up-to-date you will be with your applications. There’s no way around using email, so make it a daily habit. Ignoring email from a college you’re interested in is the same as ignoring the college itself. Don’t send mixed signals. If you’re going to apply to a college, make sure you get email from them, open the email, click on links within the email, and reply when appropriate to email. This boosts your “odds” of getting into a selective university as much or more than a “strong hook” at the beginning of your essay.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

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2. Read these related posts:

   Postcards and envelopes

   Please, please, please answer your email!

   What to do with all that mail you’re getting

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