- I'd still want my first choice, despite the other choices showing interest (or extreme interest, in the case of the Likely Letter). I actually had been flown in by my second choice college (after applying), for free, for a couple days, which seems to me to be an obvious show of interest. Despite this, I knew what I wanted, and stayed the course.
- Nah, I'd just be happy to be admitted. To worry about "why didn't my number one school send me a likely letter," even if they already accepted me, would be a little shallow, in my opinion.
Is there a limit to how many likely letters a school can send? Hypothetically, could an Ivy circumvent the common notification date by sending likelies to most of the admitted students?
It’s nice to feel wanted and in a special “club.” But it’s not nice knowing they are out there and you didn’t get one. Why do the likely letter at all? Why not just give decisions to everybody a little faster?
By the way, I love the cover photo for this thread on the home page. It’s great.
My son didn’t have a clear #1 choice as he didn’t want to fall in love until he knew where he was admitted. But then he got a likely letter from Columbia about a month before hearing from other schools, so he had a month’s head start to fall in love with Columbia. It helped that he was in NYC and had friends already at Columbia - he visited pretty regularly over the course of the month and really started to picture himself there. He ended up getting in everywhere he applied (including Harvard), and still chose Columbia. There were a number of specific reasons for the choice, and in hindsight I’m confident it was the right choice for him (and more importantly, he is confident of that as well), but I do sometimes wonder whether he would have made the same choice if not for the likely letter.
My two likely letters have had a huge impact in how I view the schools that sent them, Harvard and Columbia. I’d had my heart set on Yale, got deferred in SCEA, and had been waiting until March 31st to see what would happen. Then I suddenly got a call from Harvard, and then an email from Columbia the next day. Knowing that I have a spot for me at Harvard has dramatically increased my excitement for it. Ever since then, I’ve been watching videos, reading old CC threads, and essentially doing everything I can to learn more about Harvard, and I’m absolutely falling in love with it. Before, I would have picked Yale over Harvard in a heartbeat. Now, I’m honestly almost hoping that Yale rejects me so I don’t have to make that horrible choice between them!
Son got a Likely Letter (video actually) from Penn; it did not affect his final decision, but did make him more hopeful he would have other good choices.
For our family, money would have trumped, but fortunately, he did have several good choices with similar FA.
My son got a likely letter from Columbia, where he ultimately attended. It definitely made it easier for him since he was deferred from SCEA at his first choice. Columbia was 3rd on his list, but getting the LL and attending the accepted students weekend helped leapfrog it over his 2nd choice, where he also got in regular admission.
Columbia ended up being 3 grand cheaper per year for him than his second choice, which helped. But he had a full ride at Flagship State, and he was conflicted about choosing a school that would cost more, he understands our financial situation and the important fact that he has 2 younger sisters. Finally, we were able to convince him that if we would have had a problem with any of the schools he applied to, we would have said something to him before he sent in the application fees. It was pretty clear to us that he would be set for financial aid at the Flagship State school, but we believe strongly in fit, so much so that we were prepared to spend what was set aside for him and his sisters by his grandparents.
I am convinced that for him, the likely letter helped him feel more comfortable about his last few months in high school, and it gave him the time to help decide what was important to him. He had already been very much the top of his class in high school, and he figured it would be similar at Flagship State, so he wanted a new experience. In this process, he realized that he wanted to be around people like himself who loved to learn about everything, but even if they were studying different majors, they would still have a lot in common, and the Core at Columbia was a great way to get that.
My daughter has received likely letters from Yale, Brown, Cornell, Wellesley, and Smith. She did not expect to get in to all of these, but she has taken Brown and Cornell off of her list, as when she applied she had those lower on her personal list than Yale. She is awaiting financial aid from the others and admission decisions from Harvard, Stanford, and Williams.
Since Yale invited her to YES-W, she was able to get a much better sense of the school than on a regular tour, but she won’t say much about how her personal list has been affected by the likely letter. Clearly for her, the likely letters from Brown and Cornell haven’t had their intended effect.
The fact that she is still considering Wellesley and Smith is interesting to me, and I can’t help but wonder if they hadn’t sent her likely letters, would they still be on her list?
She is very busy with her senior year classes and EC’s, so I don’t know for sure how much she’s really reflected on all of this yet.
We are fortunate that in our family situation, she will get significant need-based financial aid wherever she goes. We full understand that after next year, her aid will change as her brother will not be in college anymore. But we have learned from her brother’s situation that the aid calculators are pretty good, and we can run them with multiple scenarios to try to get an estimate as to the future aid.
Hi tellm3more; can I personal message you ? how do I do so?
- Son received a likely from Penn which definitely has raised the school up on his personal rankings. In our opinion the LL had the exact effect expected, he has begun thinking more seriously about a school that potentially was lower on his radar.
- While it has been nerve wracking watching others get LLs (before he received one) it certainly did not affect our family's opinions of those schools. The SCEA deferred, on the other hand....
The timing of the likely letter was a factor for my D. Had it arrived late January/early February, it might have had more of the desired impact. Receiving it just a couple of weeks before April 1 just felt silly.
- I've received a likely letter from The College of William and Mary, and this does bump them above some of the other schools I've applied to, but not my top choice (UVA)
- Not sure if UVA sends out likely letters or not, but if I was accepted I wouldn't care if they sent me one or not, I'd drop everything else and enroll there.
As a student whose dream school is Columbia, but has received likely letters from Duke and USC, it is sort of a double edged sword.
On one hand, I wasn’t really considering Duke and had applied because the supplement was easy (Just a paragraph on ‘why duke’). Now that I’ve received a likely letter and I am finalist for a merit scholarship, out of the 13, top 25 schools I applied to, Duke is a top choice.
On the other hand, I’m still hoping for Columbia, and if anything the likely letter has made me desire Columbia more. But It is a more ‘healthy’ desire because I know that if I don’t get in, I have an amazing alternative.
To sum it up, for students who applied to many schools they were ambivalent about, a likely letter may produce this response, “Wow, wasn’t really thinking about this school before but I;m excited now! Still hoping on X school but this is a clear #2( or #3, etc)”
Is a handwritten postcard from the admissions office saying “I loved your essay” a likely letter?
Our situation was very similar to @TellM3more a year ago. It was nice to get a Likely Letter being from the west coast, and we were also wondering if that meant other similar offers to come. Also, making travel arrangements early on was very nice, as my son had not visited Dartmouth. In the end, he received 2 Likely Letters, one from a top 10 LAC and offers of admission from a top 5 LAC and another ivy. As others have mentioned, cost was a big factor, and we were taken somewhat aback when Dartmouth point blank told us upon visiting that "the only other college we would consider matching FA is “the other ivy” " Additionally, the welcome for my son was much warmer at “the other ivy” than at Dartmouth (in spite of the fact we called and told them we were coming. No preparations for accepted student, and no info session or tour other than the standard one for high school juniors and their parents - very different from the “other ivy”), and I think that was a huge factor in his decision. I believe if colleges send a likely letters, they should be willing to follow up with some kind of recognition of that should a student visit. All in all, though, I think the Likely Letters are a benefit to families from far away. Finding out about admission with only one week to plan in order to visit over the student’s spring break (the only real option for us prior to the May 1 decision date) is a little harsh.
@Sally_Rubenstone As someone who got a likely letter from Dartmouth, it didn’t change how high it was on my list. If anything, it only made me research the school a bit more. If I like what I see, it helps, but if not it doesn’t. It’s not as clear cut as you make it. I don’t think a likely letter would ever decrease my odds of enrolling there, but it certainly CAN help if things look good.
@vegemama , a handwritten note from admissions often is a follow-up to a likely letter. Of course, it varies depending on the school, but either way, congrats.
I never thought that I was capable of getting a likely letter, so imagine my surprised when one came in the mail from Kalamazoo College. I applied to 10 schools, and Kalamazoo never stood out among the pack. Now that I got a letter, however, it has been bumped up to my top 5. It’s still not my first choice, and since I’ve already gotten a huge scholarship from College of Wooster, my number 2, so I’m not sure that I will attend. But it’s still in the running and I will never forget the feeling of being genuinely wanted by a college.
Wow, so many mercenary people here.
At what point is FA “not good enough”? I agree that a LL is very nice, assuming we are talking only about academic LLs and not athletic LLs which are different, and may sway an applicant towards a school as in “they think I am a great fit”.
If the FA difference is large, or the FA need is high, yes I can see money mattering, but there must be a lot of kids who can get large merit scholarships but did apply to Ivies too. Why bother to apply to Ivies if the money is your concern? They have decent packages but many with high stats can get a lot of free money elsewhere.
2 of my 3 received likely letters. Was helpful in relaxing the process as they knew that they already had a great place to go to school. They would begin ranking their options based on acceptances but when the final decision was made whether a likely letter came or not had no impact.