The effectiveness of an administrative technique that sought to persuade students to reapply to college after dropping out for 1 year was tested. A sample of 1,620 students who were eligible for readmission were mailed two different types of letters from the university regarding possible reenrollment. One of these letters emphasized the intellectual benefits of college, while the other appealed broadly to utilitarian reasons for return to school (e.g., success in the real world, credentials). Some of the students received business reply envelopes with their letter; others did not. The control group of 4,176 students were eligible to enroll but were not contacted by the institution. The results support the value of prompting students to reapply. The strongest effect was the letter that emphasized the intellectual benefits of college, rather than vocational possibilities of college attendance. It is suggested that the letter appealing to the intellectual and scholarly benefits of college may have been more effective when a business reply envelope was not included (i.e., the various stimuli in a prompt should not be at cross purposes but should be consistent in the motive to which they appeal). It is proposed that the promptings probably work best when customized to certain student groups. (SW)