<p>tiger: I'm suspect you got something more than the usual likely letter. Did they mention interviewing for a scholarship? If so, you're up for the University Scholars program or some other scholarship.</p>
<p>This would be different than the standard likely letter, I think.</p>
<p>No....a subset of these will be sent a separate interview invitation by overnight mail in the first week of March. Then they wouldn't go to Duke-up-close weekend.</p>
<p>simba, then anyone/everyone admitted is offered a free flight and a stay at Duke?</p>
<p>No joemamma. The free flight/stay is only for early notification students. It's basically a recruiting ploy.</p>
<p>Thanks. Wish I was one of the chosen few.</p>
<p>joemama and the rest, I'm going to put all of this to rest by just posting the entire text of the letter. I don't know a whole lot more about it than anyone else:</p>
<p>Dear (my name):</p>
<pre><code>Greetings from Duke University! I am delighted to tell you that the Admissions Committee, has recently reviewed your application, and we want to share with you the good news that we consider you one of our very best candidates this year. Indded, as long as you maintain the academic and personal standards reflected in your application, the Admissions Committee expects to formally offer you admission later this spring.
We will be mailing our decision letters in early April; between now and then you can expect to hear froma number of members of the Duke community by both letter and email. I hope you will use this time to consider all of the exceptional opportunities that Duke has to offer you as a student, as a scholar, and as a member of an exceptionally vibrant and stimulating community.
Later in the spring you will also be invited to visit the campus at no charge to you. You will receive more information about your visit by the middle of March; in the meantime the enclosed Frequenty Asked Questions sheet will answer a number of your questions about what to expect in the coming months.
I want to add my personal congratulations for the accomplishments that have made you such and outstanding candidate for admission to Duke. We received over 18,000 applications this year, and to be considered among the very best of those is a singular accomplishment. Well done!
Sincerely,
Christoph Guttentag
Director of Undergraduate Admissions
</code></pre>
<p>The FAQ talks about the visit, fin. aid, and the like. It says most people who got the letter will be invited to campus simply to get a feel, while far fewer will be invited to scholarship competitions. That's all the info I have to offer. Wow, my fingers hurt now haha.</p>
<p>Question: Are people who DON'T get likely letters EVER merit-scholarship finalists?</p>
<p>This is important!</p>
<p>jellybean- I seriously doubt that not getting a letter would disqualify someone. I would think that the merit scholarships would be available to all of the admits in some way, shape, or form. I could be wrong, but most of the early admits aren't even in the running for the scholarships. Sorry I can't be of more help.</p>
<p>why is anyone surprised with the timing of the early likely letters? they're supposed to technically come before march. i got one around presidents day which yes, is later on in the month, but still! duke wants to attract you EARLY to make you reconsider duke, push it to the top of your possible school list, so that you matriculate when you're accepted. they don't want to lose their best applicants to ivies. </p>
<p>also- you are still eligible for a merit scholarship even if you don't receive a likely letter.</p>
<p>I Want One!!!!</p>
<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>Yes. They exist. I got it this Monday and was surprised beyond belief. I didn't know such a thing as a "likely letter" existed. </p>
<p>Duke was the first "big" school I have heard from, and this is definitely a factor that will lead me to give more consideration to Duke. They even sent a nice letter to my parents.</p>
<p>Well to those who got it, see you at our visit in April. :)</p>
<p>ookatneyoo- I totally agree. I was very very impressed with the letter they sent my parents- the only other schools that have done things like that were the LACs I applied to (Macalester and Pomona), which is part of the big appeal of those schools, very personalized and human interaction with the school. I don't want to understate Duke's appeal to me in the first place (it was always in the top 2 or 3), but the letter definitely makes me even more interested, though there is still a very good possibility that fin. aid will play a large role in my final decision. Right now, though, Duke is probably the frontrunner, assuming I don't get into Stanford, where I was deferred EA. We'll see! Hopefully the visit will be after April 5th, because I'll be in Costa Rica from March 28-April 5. I definitely don't want to miss out on that, but I also don't want to miss out on the Duke Up Close event. I called the office today and they don't have a date set yet, so keep your fingers crossed for me!</p>
<p>tigerfan17- That's awesome you got it too. I'm new to these discussion forums; I was introduced to it after a friend of mine was obsessing over it. Haha. I can't say that I'm quite hooked...but it's amusing to find such a community of college obsessed kids. </p>
<p>That sucks for Stanford; Yale is my #1. I doubt I'm getting in, but hopefully you get into Stanford. Duke wasn't very high on my regretfully long list of schools, but this new "personal interaction" contact is slowly changing that. </p>
<p>Among your LACs, I'm definitely gung ho for Pomona, as well as Amherst and Williams. </p>
<p>And for the trip, it better be before April 5th for me, or I'd be missing a convention that I've been planning for year round (and it couldn't happen with out me either :) ).</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I'm hoping for one like crazy. 1530 2350 3.88 So Cal I dunno if I have a chance</p>
<p>When do you guys think people should get them by?</p>
<p>Mine's dated Feb. 10th, I got it on the 14th. That means it was probably mailed on the 10th. The parent one is dated on the 14th and it got here today (the 16th). I would say most people should have them by now if they were sent the 10th but I wouldn't stop hoping until at least Friday. Good luck guys.</p>
<p>ookatneyoo- I applied to pretty good number too, Stanford EA, Duke, Harvard, Penn, Columbia, Brown, Pomona, Macalester, and Rice, though that was a bit of a rushed judgment (the first really selective college to open up applications last fall) and probably not the best choice considering my left-leaning ways and my Political Science major, but it's a great school regardless. I know you're probably asking, "What the hell is Macalester?" No one really knows about it, but something about it has always appealed to me--really supportive community, great academics, international flavor/focus, and right up my alley politically. I'll just be happy if I get the option make the choice between any 2 of these schools, I really want Pomona so I can decide ultimately between a top-tier university and my favorite LAC. We'll all end up somewhere great, so why stress?</p>
<p>tigerfan17- Of course I know Macalester. Come on now. Haha. A close friend of mine is going there.</p>
<p>Pomona is great...but too local. And it's in the crappiest part of SoCal ever. Haha. Good luck anyways.</p>
<p>No stressing here!</p>
<p>if they're sending out likely letters this early, does that mean that they've glanced at every application?</p>
<p>^^^i don't know how that could be true. the only thing i can think of is that they use some computer thing to do gpa and sat calculations and look at those applicants first to send them letters if they're good enough. i just can't imagine them already reading 18,000 apps</p>