<p>Now that the dust is about to settle (with all applications almost in), my question is this: Does Dartmouth send likely letters? (Colombia likely letters have been circulating in my area.)</p>
<p>Yes, I believe they do</p>
<p>mostly to athletes right?</p>
<p>No, most athletes were admitted ED. They send likely letters to unhooked applicants.</p>
<p>A lot of athletes do receive likely letter even though most apply ED. The few that don’t usually do get likely letters as well as those applicants that Dartmouth just wants to target.</p>
<p>I seem to recall that last year a poster’s son applied RD as a recruited athlete (With a 29 ACT, if memory serves. But I’m sure he had good grades. :rolleyes: ) and got a likely.</p>
<p>Really? I’ve never heard of a college sending out likely letters to unrecruited applicants. I’m assuming it would be to the applicants at the top of the admissions pool?</p>
<p>The kids they especially want–those that will get into HYPS, top URMs and of course athletes who come later–exciting candidates to them in general.</p>
<p>Anyone know when they send them?</p>
<p>Last year they seemed to trickle out.</p>
<p>Can marginal unhooked applicants (hanging somewhere beween the accept/reject lines) have any hope of getting a letter, or are they only sent to the tiptop HYP potential crossadmits? I shouldn’t be getting my expectations up, I know…</p>
<p>I thought they were sent to hooked applicants(URM and whatnot) along with top scorerers they want.</p>
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<p>I strongly doubt it. Most of the accepted students don’t get one.</p>
<p>There may also be a timing issue. In other words, if you are a top candidate and they finally read your app and make a decision on you shortly before the notification date, there isn’t much point in sending you a likely. But I don’t know–maybe they send them anyway just to create that good feeling.</p>
<p>I’m fairly sure that “top scoring” is not the only criteria they use. I certainly know kids with 800s who didn’t get a likely, although they got in.</p>
<p>It is my belief that Likely Letters are used almost exclusively in the ivy league for recruited athletes and super-exceptionally gifted/talented applicants. The reason they are used so frequently for athletes is that, for some sports, the signing date for Div. 1 non-ivy university athletics is before the ED date. Thus, the Likely Letter can be sent to the highly desired athlete so that their acceptance, and therefore the athletic commitment they make to an ivy, is as sure a thing as an early decision. It is the biggest way the ivies (particularly H & Princeton, with no ED/EA) can compete for athletic recruits - otherwise they would lose the majority of their recruits to non-ivies who can guarantee a sure thing (& will give the athletic scholarships the ivies cannot) before regular ED dates.</p>
<p>@ mayhew - While you’re correct in your analysis of likely letters, the fact of the matter is that Dartmouth sends likelies to about 25% of it’s admitted students over three waves, and most of the athletes go ED. As a result, a large portion of likelies are sent to URMs and top scorers which Dartmouth would really like, but often loses out to HYPSM in the cross admit. Naturally receiving a letter depends on when your file is reviewed, your stats, etc., but Dartmouth still gives out many more than the other ivies.</p>
<p>I am a non-athlete, non-legacy, white middle class girl from a public high school who did not get in to any Ivies besides Dartmouth and Cornell (Waitlisted Brown, didn’t apply to Penn, deferred than rejected Yale, rejected Harvard, Princeton, Columbia), and I got a likely about 3 weeks before admissions decisions. Take that for what you will.</p>
<p>Two sons; oldest son got a likely to DArtmouth on the first wave got rejected at Yale and waitlisted at Harvard and then rejected. Second son never got a likely letter to Dartmouth, was accepted , but is now at Harvard. The likely is fun to get-but not necessarily an accurate predictor of things to come.</p>
<p>b’smom, are you saying oldest got likely letter from Dartmouth then rejected from Dartmouth??</p>
<p>^ I think she means waitlisted at Harvard and then rejected from Harvard.</p>
<p>Does Dartmouth phsyically mail the letters too? I got an email from admissions confirming that I was going to get one, then they emailed an attachment of the actually letter itself a day later. So will I get one in the mail too?</p>