<p>I just recieved this email from Bryn Mawr College, one of my top choices. </p>
<p>Hi Claire,
I hope this email finds you well. As your regional recruiter at Bryn Mawr College, I was just recently given your file to review and just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading your essay on choosing the perfect backpack and how it was a blank canvas that allowed you to express yourself. I remember how important it was to choose a backpack that reflected who I was! I hope your senior year has continued to go well! Happy Spring!
Best, Julie ChapmanAdmissions Counselor</p>
<p>Is this bryn mawr's way of hinting that I will most likely be accepted? I'm only asking because I really really want to get in and it'd be kind of cruel of them to reject me after complimenting my essay. haha.</p>
<p>I have heard of kids getting emails/letters from admissions officers complimenting them specifically on their essays…and then getting rejected. There was some outrage over this - but it happened.
From another post on CC:“This is a different level of college marketing, but what about those letters sent by colleges after the student has applied (and then is ultimately rejected)? Last year this happened to someone I know. The college sent the parents a letter about how much they liked her child’s essay. I believe the student was also sent a letter about how much the admissions committee liked their application. The same college misled others on CC. That sort of thing is wrong. Jockeying for position in a student’s preference list when the student will be rejected?! There should be no communication between a college and student (or their parents!) once the student has applied unless it’s a likely letter and the student will be admitted! Something like notification that all parts of the application are complete or information about filing for financial aid are okay, of course.”</p>
<p>That’s not the text of a likely letter. It does mean that the admission officer appreciated your essay and hopes you’ll enroll IF you are admitted.</p>
<p>But would an admissions officer send such a message if the application was already in the “reject” pile? Who would think that was a nice thing to do? I can’t think of any cynical reason to do it, either.</p>
<p>If you look on the Bryn Mawr board, there’s a thread for Class of 2013 applicants. One poster says she got a note complimenting her essay, and seven or eight others say they got no such note. So clearly, it can’t be a bad thing - BMC Admissions doesn’t appear to have a marketing policy of blanketing applicants’ mailboxes with insincere complimentary notes!</p>
<p>Claire…My daughter received a similar letter. On the other board…I’ll try to find it …a member of a Bryn Mawr class said everyone who received such a letter last year got in. Her only caveat was to those who didn’t receive such notes since plenty didn’t and got in, too.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine that admissions as Bryn Mawr has so much free time that they can jot off notes like this on a whim. There has to be a reason. We’ll see on March 26th. Have faith!</p>