How to Stop Getting Emails from Colleges

Introduction

If you recently took the PSAT or SAT, your inbox is probably flooded with emails from colleges you've never heard of. You're not alone, and there are a few ways to stop them.

There are a few ways to stop them:

• Unsubscribe from individual college emails
• Use Gmail filters to auto-delete or archive them
• Opt out of College Board's Student Search Service
• Use a tool like Block Sender to block them

In this article, we'll show you how to stop each one.

Why You're Getting These Emails

One of the most common reasons is the College Board's Student Search Service. If you opted in during PSAT or SAT registration (or didn't realize you had), colleges may receive your contact information and begin sending recruitment emails.

Method 1: Unsubscribe from Individual College Emails

The first thing you should try to stop college emails is to unsubscribe from each email. The way to do this is to use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email.

Make sure that the email is legitimate before clicking the unsubscribe link, as it could possibly be a scam email. If you're unsure, block the email instead of clicking any links.

Note that you may still receive emails from a college even after unsubscribing. And if you're receiving emails from 50+ colleges, the unsubscribe process can take a LOT of time.

Method 2: Block College Emails in Gmail

If you're getting emails from dozens of different colleges, blocking them one by one isn't practical. A faster approach is to create a Gmail filter that automatically deletes or archives any email containing words commonly used in college recruitment emails.

Here's how to set it up:

1. Open Gmail and click the Show search options icon on the right side of the search bar.

2. In the Has the words field, paste the following:

admissions OR "apply now" OR "undergraduate admission" OR enrollment OR "prospective student" OR "campus visit" OR "financial aid"

3. Click Create filter.

4. Select Delete it or Skip the Inbox (Archive it) depending on your preference
5. Click Create filter to save

Once the filter is active, any incoming email containing these phrases will be automatically deleted or archived without hitting your inbox.

Note: A few of these phrases like "financial aid" or "enrollment" could also appear in emails from schools you're actually enrolled in or applied to. If you want to keep those, consider removing those specific phrases from the filter, or whitelist those senders first.

Method 3: Opt Out at the Source

The methods above help you deal with college emails that are already coming in. But if you want to reduce the number of emails you get in the first place, you'll want to opt out of the programs that are feeding colleges your contact information.

To opt out of College Board's Student Search Service:

1. Log in to your account at my.collegeboard.org/profile/privacy.
2. Navigate to the Privacy Settings tab.
3. Find the Student Search Service option and turn it off.

If you took the ACT, it's worth opting out of ACT Recruit Me as well. You can do this by filling out the opt-out form at act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/opting-out-of-eos.html.

One important thing to keep in mind: opting out stops colleges from receiving your information going forward, but it won't stop emails from colleges that have already downloaded your data. If you're still getting emails after opting out, that's why - and the methods in the previous sections will help you deal with those.

Method 4: Block College Emails with Block Sender

If you're getting emails from 20, 30, or even 50 different colleges, blocking them one by one isn't ideal. That's where Block Sender comes in.

Block Sender is a Gmail extension that lets you create blocking rules based on keywords, phrases, sender addresses, or domains and apply them to every incoming email automatically. Instead of hunting down each college's email address, you can create a phrase-based rules for keywords like "admissions" or "apply now" and Block Sender will catch any email containing that phrase before it ever hits your inbox.

Here's how to set it up:

1. Install the Block Sender browser extension and link your Gmail account.
2. Click the Block button in your Gmail toolbar and select New Block.

3. Choose Phrase from the dropdown and enter a keyword like "admissions" or "enrollment"
4. Select your preferred action Delete or Archive and save the rule.

You can repeat this for as many keywords as you want. A handful of well-chosen phrases will cover the vast majority of college recruitment emails, regardless of which school is sending them.

One other useful feature: if you have more than one Gmail account, say, a parent who wants to manage both their own inbox and their child's, Block Sender lets you link multiple accounts and share blocking rules between them, so you only have to set things up once.

Note: The ability to link additional accounts is available only for Plus and Pro users.

Conclusion

Whether you unsubscribe individually, opt out of Student Search Service, or create Gmail filters, each method reduces the number of college emails you receive. If you're dealing with dozens of different colleges, Block Sender can automate the process by filtering future messages based on keywords, senders, or domains.