Kid got a likely letter. Maybe I’m mercenary, but money will make the difference on whether or not kid attends the school. I find a more interesting question is whether the mini-rejections kids get from schools make a difference in their decision making----overlooked for a scholarship, not offered honors college—it leaves a bad taste in your mouth even when the school accepted kid.
I got a “likely letter” (mosaic invite) from vanderbilt this year, and I will admit it made me feel pretty good. I know college admissions aren’t supposed to reflect you as a person, but when you pour that much effort in essays and your entire high school has led up to it, knowing that you were lucky enough to be selected (let alone early) does make you elated.
If it comes to down to vanderbilt vs HYPS or something, i’ll probably go with the latter, but for most other colleges vandy has been given the “edge” in my eyes from that letter.
I think the key purpose of a likely letter is to move that school to the recipient’s top of mind. Before the letter, the school was, perhaps, one of a half dozen or more in the “maybe if I get in” category. With the likely letter, the school now becomes a more viable option. If the school sending the likely letter was already the applicant’s first choice, that school now has many weeks to lock in its preferred position. Now, the student can actually start imagining going there in the fall.
The schools themselves probably have good data on whether likely letters work. It would be simple enough to do a large statistical comparison of similar applicants who did or did not get a letter. I’d like to think that the schools that send these letters do so because of sound research. Could just be tradition, of course.
You have to wonder about a school like UC San Diego though. They don’t send out likely letters but do call a subset of accepted applicants a week or two before decisions go out. What is the point of that besides worrying people who don’t get the phone call? Why not just let the process take its course and everyone find out at the same time, since we’re only talking about a week or two?
Speaking as a college freshman who severely messed up my college decision, twice -
Nope. I got a likely from NYU, and completely forgot I had even applied there when I got into Cornell and Dartmouth a month later. However, in retrospect, I think likely letters are a good sign that the college really wants you and feels like you would be a good fit.
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I was sent a likely letter from Columbia, and I’ll agree that it did make me want to explore the school way more. I think it has made me much more “likely” to go there (it was initially my second choice) by showing me that they really wanted me to go, but I’ll have to see if my first choice school comes through as well. So no, I wouldn’t say it changed my mind altogether, but it sure has made the school much more attractive, especially considering I applied kind of on whim and am met with such a great response.
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This one is a definite no. As long as the letter has no bearing on scholarships, an acceptance is still an acceptance.
There are more ways than likely letters for a college to acknowledge a special interest in a particular student.
My son got likely letters from the top two LACs, Williams and Amherst, which rather surprised us due to the narrow timing window; he was a 3-year high school graduate with a number of outside credits from college and online courses not recorded on his official HS transcript until mid-semester reports went out, which was weeks later than most schools across the US. Absent these recorded credits, it might have looked like he was mathematically unable to meet his high school graduation requirements in time, making him a less-than-ideal candidate for an early write.
But 3 other colleges added sweeteners to their normal acceptance dates. Brown sent him a personalized letter mentioning what aspects of his application most impressed the admissions committee; this was followed up in short order with an offer for a free airplane ticket to attend ADOCH, the weekend presentation made to accepted students who had yet to make a final choice.
Northwestern accepted him into its elite Integrated Science Program, which only had room for a handful of students each year. One of the top deans at our state flagship UIUC sent him a $10,000 a year 4-year merit scholarship, followed up by a couple of honors recgnitions, followed up by two more stackable scholarship offers. The dean even offered via email correspondence to push the entire package forward one year so my son could take his desired gap year. UIUC has been a significant force in my son’s intended major of computer science since at least the 1960’s, so this was more than just a fallback safety option.
So all 5 schools demonstrated special interest. Two of them offered the small-school experience which would be ideal for a hardworking introvert not prone to self-promotion. Two of them offered a sort of elite school-within-a-school camaraderie with special access to top professors and research opportunities, again ideal for a hardworking introvert not prone to self-promotion.
My son did take Brown up on its offer of a free flight to attend ADOCH – and fell in love with the place. The opening presentation was a 15-minute collection of TV and film clips mocking Brown. That alone appealed to his quirky sense of humor and soothed his fear of ending up in a place of indoctrination, where prestige and image-building mattered more than exploration and opportunity. Other elements, including the open curriculum, showed Brown to be the best option for an independent-minded type who preferred to make his own path.
Perhaps likely letters are a subtle way of telling budding adults, ready to leave home for the first time, that “we’re family.” Yet families can be supporting and nurturing or they can be manipulative and controlling. In my son’s case, he decided to value the independence and flexibility option over the hand-holding and strict guidance option.
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I received a likely letter from Cornell University, but it is not one of my top choices due to its rural location. It does not make me more likely to attend, but I certainly feel lucky and special knowing that a selective school like Cornell wants me there. I don’t think the letter is a swaying factor, however. For me, it’s more of a trophy and I’m honored to have received it. I would prefer a more urban institution.
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An acceptance is an acceptance. If I didn’t receive a LL from a university that I really wanted to attend, but I prefer over Cornell, then if would go with that university.
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I got a likely from Cornell, which I wasn’t expecting at all, and it definitely moved Cornell up my college list. It’s now one of my top 3 where it was maybe in the middle of the pack of 11 before. I did some research on the school after getting the LL and I think it’ll be a good fit.
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My top choice currently doesn’t do LL’s, but if they accept me and the money works out, I’d still choose them over Cornell despite the lack of LL.
My original post speculated that the school which sent me the LL will move up the ranks.
Now that I received a LL from Duke, the school certainly moved up in its rank BUT did not top over my dream school, Princeton. Granted, I am definitely motivated to do more research regarding Duke and the decision will be much easier BECAUSE I had more time to “fall in love” with the school.
Of course, everything is contingent upon the financial aid.
D received an early-write from Smith and it definately jumped a few spots up on the list. It came the same day as a “possible” from Wellesley so it lessened that impact a bit. Its still on the fridge, like a report card from Pre-K lol. She’s very proud that they wanted her enough to select her early, after a couple deferrals and a rejection she wasn’t sure if she’d even get in.
I second @viphan post.
I never really considered Duke in my top ten because I mostly dismissed it as a likely rejection. I can’t believe I just got a likely letter! Duke has leaped to the top of my list now that it’s a tangible possibility with only a very select few ivies ahead of it. The likely letter has definitely increased my likelihood to attend tenfold.
I third viphan’s post. I thought if I ever got a likely letter, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. I thought some of you people were crazy for getting excited over a school you never cared too much for just because they showed some interest in you.
I was wrong.
Duke sure knows how to pull at one’s heartstrings.
In response to the questions posed:
- Lol nah
- Lol nah
Holy crap, I got my first 50-like post. I need to do something to celebrate this occasion. It has to be something momentous and unforgettable… um… well… hmm… Ben and Jerry’s, maybe?
Ummm, yes. I am amazing and I enjoy it when others recognize how amazing I am…
I think that sums it up.
- If you receive a Likely Letter from a college that’s NOT your first choice, do you think that being clearly “wanted” might bump this school ahead of the initially preferred college(s)? For instance, if your heart is set on Dartmouth (and you do get in), but your Likely Letter comes from Penn, which university might you ultimately choose?
I got a likely from William & Mary, which definitely did make me more inclined to view them higher in my rankings. It didn’t replace my first choice (Brown), but it definitely moved up among the others that I wasn’t as set on. It was mostly because they seemed to think I would be a good fit at their school, and the way that they said it seemed to confirm that- the sense of humor they used was very much like mine.
- If you DON’T receive a Likely Letter from a first-choice college-one which you know for sure does use Likely Letters--but you do eventually get admitted, how might this affect your final decision? Will the lack of a Likely Letter move this college LOWER on the roster because apparently this school isn’t as keen to get you as it is to get some of your fellow applicants?
I mean, not really. Most likelys from schools I’m looking at use them to recruit athletes or super geniuses. I’m smart, but I haven’t like, cured cancer or anything.
I really don’t think it is mercenary to want to keep your children out of debt. What seems mercenary to me are all of the commenters (mostly in threads about the motives for choosing “elite” colleges) arguing that the reason to attend ivy league schools is to make contacts for jobs in investment banking. One of the reasons I am concerned about financial aid packages is that I want my son to have the freedom to choose a major and, eventually, a career that truly interests him and that he finds intellectually and emotionally fulfilling. I don’t want his choices to be driven by how much debt he is accumulating and the likelihood of being able to pay it back with one career over another. So in a way my own “mercenary” focus on FA and Merit Aid is driven by an idealistic belief in intellectual curiosity and fulfillment.
As for likely letters, I suspect that the more an applicant has focused on one or two “dream” schools, the less likely a LL is to be persuasive, if not from one of those schools. For those applicants who have chosen to apply to a variety of schools that could be good fits and are waiting offers of admission and financial aid to be persuaded, the likely letter will probably have a little more influence–at least until the FA information arrives.
I received a likely letter from Columbia and yet I am still going to stick to Harvard or Stanford if they accept me. But that does make me more ‘likely’ to pick Columbia out of all other potential Ivy acceptances, but I value the quality of the program over the degree to which I am ‘wanted’.