<p>What exactly are likely letters? Are they really sent in mid february to regular decision applicants who are extremely likely to get in? Have there been students who were accepted but didnt receive a likely letter? If so, what percentage of the students that were accepted? </p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>A likely letter is just basically saying that you haven’t been accepted yet, but you are going to be accepted. You don’t find out on March 30, though, you find out three weeks prior. Columbia issues somewhere around 300 likely letters. This is from a friend of mine who was accepted last year to Columbia.</p>
<p>The vast majority of admitted students never get a likely letter. It’s not something to worry about (:</p>
<p>Likely letters are (as previously stated) a sort of informal agreement that says “you can expect to receive favorable word in December” assuming you maintain a “strong standing -academically and civically- in your senior year.” Each Ivy gives out roughly 300 Likely letters a year of which 200 go to athletic recruits and 100 go to applicants who are so outstanding that the admissions department wants to make sure that the applicant knows they are very interested in them. Generally speaking, the majority of the 100 non-athletic based likely letters are given to under-represented minorities, but that is not always the case. Likely Letters are usually given out in October and in February/March, but the VAST majority of accepted students don’t receive them and they almost never give any out academically to applicants who apply ED because they don’t need to.
Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Oh ok thank you! you guys completely cleared it up</p>