<p>Is it true that all acceptance letters are larger and heavier than a normal envlope, while rejection letters are lighter and normal sized? I need to know what to expect when I open the mailbox in April!</p>
<p>In a word: yes.</p>
<p>not always true</p>
<p>some colleges know what this "legend" does to kids' nerves, so think of different ways to reduce the stress</p>
<p>For example, I've heard of: an acceptance that came as a light-weight one-page letter, promising more info (housing forms, etc.) under separate cover later. But the college put the one-page acceptance letter in a big flat envelope, 8 x 11 inches.</p>
<p>Another place wrote: You're IN!!! all over its outside envelope</p>
<p>So hold your breath until you actually read the letter. Good luck.</p>
<p>p.s. You might want to talk to your folks about what you'll do if the letter comes into the house before you do that day.
A long time ago, my Mom was sitting cool as a cucumber (unlike her) and pointed to the sealed letter, which turned out "good" once I read it.
Looking at the envelope closely, I realized she had steamed it open, then resealed it. It was funny and dear to me that she did that, but I didn't want to repeat it for my own kids so told them the story. They found it hilarious and told me I could do same, but still I didn't and waited for them to come home. I did watch them read each one, however; some letters happy, some not, but it ALL worked out anyway.</p>
<p>Not necessarily. :]</p>
<p>Of course, this is ED...but my college only sent me one letter. I was pretty freaked out, but I got in. No big envelope. Just their regular size envelope, with one letter. Disconcerting. Check out the standards for each of your schools separately.</p>
<p>The honors college I applied to send a one-page letter in a teeny envelope and I got in. Frikkin' scared me to death! Although it was nice thinking I wasn't going to get in and reading that first line...We are please to admit...</p>
<p>But the big envelope thing sometimes is obvious. UofA sent me an envelope that said "You're In!" all over it. And MSU sent me one saying," Congratulations! You're a Spartan!" Wasn't too worried opening those.</p>
<p>Many schools don't want to waste a lot of copying charges and postage, so they only send the large packet of forms after the student has committed to attend. So, while it's a pretty good bet that a large envelope means acceptance, a small one can mean either.</p>
<p>My d got a small thin envelope and her name was on an address label slapped on it. Not even typed onto the envelope. Definitely looked like bad news. She came home from school, saw it and said, oh well. Opened it and read "we are pleased to offer you admission to..."
We laughed and laughed and didn't even finish the letter. About an hour later I picked it up to read it completely and I almost fell over, it included a very generous scholarship offer.
So, no, sometimes very good letters come in small envelopes!</p>
<p>the msu acceptance comes in a huge envelope with a big green congratulations on it !!</p>
<p>I think alot of the UCs come in big enevelopes</p>
<p>i got a call from admissions telling me i got in! then i got a big acceptance packet with a dancing eagle on it saying congratulations.</p>
<p>but u know, some schools do it via the internet now.</p>
<p>I've gotten accepted to 7 colleges so far ( I applied to 9). I can tell you from experience that the acceptance from my first choice school came in a tiny envelope, and had only one sheet of paper in it. to say the least, i was petrified. it was good news though. so in short, no. don't believe the old wives tale. big envelope is always good, small envelope can go either way.</p>
<p>Yeah, some colleges like to make a huge deal out of their acceptence letters- one of mine came in this huge blue folder.</p>
<p>However, acceptance letters are usually a little bit thicker just because (at least from my experience) they sometimes also send a form for you to check off about whether you're going there or not, plus a postage paid envelope.</p>
<p>But thick letters/big envelopes are always good news.</p>
<p>Haha, I love the MSU envelope. Anyways, to echo some others, I've also gotten both. Small-envelope acceptance and large-envelope acceptance.</p>
<p>The UCs come in big envelopes. For other colleges it depends, but the rejection letters will always come in regular-sized envelopes. Honestly though, most people find out online way before they receive their letters.</p>
<p>I think it just depends. When I got accepted to Western it was a big envelope. When I heard back from Redlands though it was this small little envelope, but it was also an acceptance letter.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Honestly though, most people find out online way before they receive their letters
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Many schools don't post admissions decisions on-line or via e-mail. A significant number of schools still use snail mail only.</p>
<p>Most students will know of the admission decision via email much before the post arrives. I also fail to understand how the size of envelopes correlating to acceptance/rejection can affect an applicants' stress levels. Are you trying to say that an applicant will be more stressed out if he realizes that he has been rejected before opening the envelope as opposed to realizing the fact after opening the envelope? How much extra stress is this creating? Probably just the extra ten seconds it takes to open the envelope.
To sum up, its not an important issue.</p>
<p>badman, you are apparently very lucky that anticipation does not add to your stress level. It may not be important to you, but judging by the number of threads created on these boards asking this very question, it is important to others.</p>
<p>My acceptance letter from Stanford had a big red "CONGRATULATIONS" written on the front.</p>