<p>so I haven't seen any Columbia posts yet... I got it by email and the subject was "Columbia University Admissions Decision" which sounded so official it made me think...shiitt I was rejected but then you open it and:
Dear so and so, </p>
<p>Congratulations! The Committee on Admissions joins me in the most rewarding part of this job informing you that you have been selected for admission to Columbia University in the City of New York. As a member of the Class of 2010, you will be a participant in an academic community wealthy in intellectual and personal talents of every kind. We are fully confident that the gifts you bring to our campus will be unique and valuable and that your abilities will be challenged and developed here. </p>
<p>You and your family have every reason to be proud of the great achievements that we acknowledge today with this good news. We hope you will share your joy and excitement with the faculty at your school who have helped you reach this happy day. </p>
<p>The Columbia faculty, students and administration look forward to welcoming you into a community that thrives on our combination of a demanding curriculum, a diverse and talented student body, and a college town abundant in dynamism and opportunities. We know that you will contribute to the academic and personal excellence that has been the hallmark of Columbia students since 1754. The coming years at Columbia promise to be lively and joyful ones indeed as we continue to celebrate over 250 years of achievement and distinction. </p>
<p>It is our great pleasure to congratulate you on the successes that have earned you this fine honor, and we eagerly anticipate the successes that you will no doubt enjoy at Columbia. If any member of the admissions staff can assist you in the days ahead, please do not hesitate to write or call. </p>
<p>Warmest Regards, </p>
<p>Jessica Marinaccio
Executive Director
Undergraduate Admissions </p>
<p>P.S. Please note that a hardcopy of the above was mailed out this afternoon. </p>
<p>and then a nice FedEx package came a couple days later.</p>
<p>Yale's acceptance was beautiful in my opinion... you click the Decision button and get a strange blue screen with a bulldog. I was confused at first but my heart started going nuts when I realized what it was.</p>
<p>Brown's was the first Ivy I looked at... remembering reading those words of acceptance made me start tearing up. I was so happy to have gotten it. It had a nice letter too, very well-worded.</p>
<p>Penn's was actually very boring... I ended up attending regardless :P</p>
<p>UC Berkeley's was really funny... it had this velcro button and inside it was like "That is the sound of your future unfolding!" or something like that. Maybe it was UCLA, I don't remember. But it was a cool... velcro thing.</p>
<p>Georgetown's was freaking scary. The letters came in small envelopes, but one is from the financial aid office, which makes you wonder why they'd care about finances if you were rejected. But alas :P</p>
<p>Columbia's was boring in my opinion :/</p>
<p>UVA's was in an email and I found out by my Gmail Notifier popping it up in the lower right corner. I was still pretty happy :P</p>
<p>Tufts' acceptance was boring and was made worse by a crappy financial aid package.</p>
<p>I was rejected from Princeton and actually found it quite depressing. It made me feel like they were saying "A lot of people were great but you weren't as great, sorry. Thanks for applying!" Mehhh</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Send an admissions officer to ring your doorbell and laugh when you open the door. [extra points if he starts tearing and rolling around on the floor]</p></li>
<li><p>Mix up your transcript with some delinquent and then rejecting you because of "your" insanely low GPA.</p></li>
<li><p>Send you an email with the subject "Congratulations..." and the body "...on your REJECTION! HA"</p></li>
<li><p>Email you stating that your application was received 0.00000000003 seconds after the application deadline, and would therefore NOT be processed.</p></li>
<li><p>Keep telling you they did not receive payment until you end up sending them a total of $1,467,870 in online payments.</p></li>
<li><p>Change their minds about the essay topic. The day you filled it out, it was about diversity. The day they accepted it, it was about unity. Uh oh!</p></li>
<li><p>Send you an acceptance email, only to follow it with an email titled "Incorrect admissions emails were just sent out..."</p></li>
<li><p>Call you up and ask you why you wasted the four stamps and $60 applying.</p></li>
<li><p>Put you on their waiting list and keep telling you to have hope. </p></li>
<li><p>Send you a big envelope on Dec. 15 with nothing inside but a small card saying "Haha. Gotcha!"</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
[quote]
10. Send an admissions officer to ring your doorbell and laugh when you open the door. [extra points if he starts tearing and rolling around on the floor]
[/quote]
LOL :D That'd be awful...</p>
<p>They could just send out t-shirts that say "I got rejected from X University's Class of 2010!" Or something. Then you get a rejection letter that you can wear. I'm a bit obsessed with t-shirts, I think.</p>
<p>Bill5-Last year UMiami sent a big colorful viewbook-like folder with congrats letter, scholarship info, decal for parents and coupons for the bookstore and dining halls during an admitted students visit. It was a very nice package with alot of info about the school and what to do next.</p>
<p>A few years ago my oldest S got a t-shirt with his admissions packet from Norwich U in VT.</p>
<p>Swarthmore's was very nice. I had to read it a couple times before I 'got' it. I was so happy. It came in a small, plain envelope that said "Admissions Office" on the front. It said,</p>
<p>Dear X:</p>
<p>Congratulations! It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Swarthmore College Class of 2010!</p>
<p>Your application for admission was quite impressive. The students we have selected for early decision possess exceptional intellectual abilities as well as remarkable personal qualities. You bring valuable talents, experiences, and views to your class, and we believe that you will contribute greatly to the Swarthmore College community. I feel confident that the abundant energy, accomplishments, and potential of your classmates will excite and inspire you.</p>
<p>As you know, the terms of the Early Decision Program require that you withdraw any other college applications you may have filed. Please notify any such colleges as soon as possible regarding your decision to attend Swarthmore. In addition, please submit a non-refundable deposit of two hundred fifty dollars to hold your place in the class. We should receive your deposit by December 22, and it will be credited to your account. You will receive more information from the College in the months ahead, specifically from the Office of the Dean of the College next summer regarding course selection and housing.</p>
<p>Your admission is contingent on the successful completion of your senior year and graduation. Please arrange to have your final secondary school transcript sent to us as soon after graduation as it is available.</p>
<p>I hope you are proud of this tremendous achievement. You can look forward to a challenging and enriching college experience, and we are delighted that you will be joining us here at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Sincerely,
James L. Bock 90
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid</p>
<p>I'm just curious...do most people read the online response first and then wait for the letter a few days to a week later? It seems a lot of you guys get excited (or disappointed) by the letters, but how can you not check the online reponse when it's RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU..literally seconds away?</p>
<p>ny, your number 4 actually happened a few years ago. I saw it on one of those morning shows like The Today Show. She was interviewing this girl who was one of 1500 or so who received an e-mail from a school (starts with a C) saying they were accepted. A few days later they received another e-mail saying that there had been a mistake and they had been denied.</p>
<p>My acceptance from Tennessee came in a nice orange folder with the school seal on the front. Then it had my letter, which was very personalized and a certificate of admission. Then a sheet with deadlines and one to send my enrollment deposit. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, no t-shirt for me, not that it matters, I have tons of UT shirts as it is. And no syrup either!</p>
<p>If I worked for a college, I would send out to accepted students small envelopes that had the word "Sorry" printed on them in large print. Inside there would be a piece of paper that would say something like "We know that you were expecting a large envelope from us as your stats are great. . ." and all the junk that is in rejection letters and then after all that write "Unfortunately, you are just going to have to deal with a small acceptance letter, congratulations." Because it feels all the sweeter to be accepted if you thought you were rejected.</p>
<p>Back when I was applying to High Schools, my school had two assemblies, one third period for people who were rejected from the top schools (to make them feel better) and one fourth period for people who were accepted to at least one top school. My third period teacher messed up the lists and sent the accepted people (including me) to the rejected assembly to hear the speech on how we didn't make it but it's not the end of the world, etc. Only at the end of the assembly, when they didn't have our rejection letters but had the ones from the people on the fourth period list, did we find out there was a mistake. When we got back to our classroom we were absolutely nuts going from complete devastation to euphoria in under 15 minutes.</p>
<p>Sidenote: None of these "tricks" (especially the mean ones) would work for long because people would quickly post them on CC and other forums so future classes know what to expect.</p>
<p>Sidenote2: In my opinion, there is no such thing as a good rejection letter - or a bad acceptance letter.</p>
<p>Well in that case it's their own fault - and they will find out their mistake only when they hear about the letter on the news and then will feel like idiots and go searching through the trash for it. Just the thought of that makes it worth it, haha.</p>