I'm guessing I got them because I took the GRE and indicated an interest in molecular biology type programs. I don't know if ets is allowed to share your performance with programs who probably pay a lot of money for a list. It's a nice ego boost to get some of these emails, whether it's warranted or not, but when they say things like, "We were impressed with your academic history.", I have to think to myself, "How the hell did you get my academic history?".
Any one else have experiences with programs that invited them to apply? Most of these programs have websites that look legit but I have to wonder if it's a red flag in most cases. Still, I went ahead and applied to a couple of them; UAB and Penn State-Hershey.