<p>Just wondering how they work, someone brought up the topic at the Harvard Info Session..thanks.</p>
<p>I think top non-athlete applicants also receive likely letters (think Olympiad/research winners and scholar recipients), but these are probably few in number.</p>
<p>Also, the timing may be different. Athletes often get likely letters very early, because otherwise they would need to sign a national letter of intent with another D-I institution of in some cases apply ED to a competitor. Recruitable athletes really don’t have the luxury of waiting to make a decision, because rosters and scholarship slots fill up. Academic stars don’t face the same kind of pressure. For them, the likely letters are essentially marketing materials. Those seem to come out in late winter.</p>
<p>Nope, applicants they really want to recruit early receive them as well. I got one in early february/late january last admissions cycle, but i believe those likely letters are on a different schedule and have different wording than athletic likely letters.</p>