In my quest to find a good grad program, I submitted requests for information from many different schools, including some of the top programs. Or so I thought they were top programs... I got an email from MIT today:

Dear Mr. Priestley:

Thank you for your continued interest in MIT Sloan School of Management. We have enjoyed hosting you in our Ambassador's Program, meeting you at an MBA Fair or Forte Forum and hosting you at a MIT Sloan on the Road presentation. Hopefully we have been able to answer all of your questions and give you a glimpse into what we feel is so special about MIT Sloan.

We hope that you are well underway with your application and that you have taken your GMAT test. The Round I deadline is November 2, 2005. Below is a short check list to help you stay on track with your application:

1. Please focus your essays on specific examples and share with us your thoughts
and feelings. Answer our questions and focus more on process than outcome.
2. Please remind your recommenders about the application deadline date.
3. Remember your cover letter is your introduction of yourself to us. Be
succinct.
4. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

If you have had technical difficulties with the application, email: i-support@applyyourself.com. If you have other questions you can contact our admissions office at: adcom@sloan.mit.edu

We look forward to receiving your application.

Sincerely,

MBA Admissions Committee
MIT Sloan School of Management

Um... When the heck did I meet you? Here was my first response:

Actually, I never came to any of those things that you mentioned. Do you keep track of who you host at your functions? I was not one of them.

Thanks, though. Clearly a school who runs a business like that deserves my time and money.

-Matthew

I revisited the email again a few minutes ago to give a more thorough response than that. I'm over the top sometimes, but I think I have a point:

Committee,

In addition to my previous email, I'd like to point out that I also have not received any mail correspondence from you in the form of, say, a viewbook. Yes, I did, in fact, order one. So as far as my questions, no, you have not answered them. For that matter, you've raised a few more questions:

1. How does a business school with such unorganized marketing, gain such high ranks among the nation's most credible ranking systems?

2. Is there another Matthew Priestley going to these functions of which you speak, or worse, is someone posing as me?

3. Should I just get my MBA online at the University of Phoenix since perhaps people choose MIT for the name, and the University of Phoenix is a heck of a lot cheaper?

The only reason I'm bringing up any of this is that it makes people feel extremely average and overlooked when you claim that you've met them, and while I'm glad you spelled my name right, my first impression of MIT is that you really do not connect with your prospective students, nor do you communicate with each other behind the scenes to effectively market your program.

If you'd like to offer an explanation and redeem yourself (unlikely), feel free to email me here, or call me at (602) 515-****.

Regards,
Matthew Priestley (the one and only)

So do you think that was too much? Because I don't.