<p>I've heard about these "likely" phone calls and letters that other colleges issue, but does Yale do one also? Does anyone know anything about this? Or has anyone actually received one?</p>
<p>I know a girl who got an early phone call for MIT, saying she was pretty much in--but I don't know about Yale.</p>
<p>yeah...they do.</p>
<p>Only for athletic recruits, I believe.</p>
<p>no... they also do it for academic reasons to rd applicants:</p>
<p>Yale</a> Daily News - ‘Likely letters’ part of Yale’s admit strategy</p>
<p>OOh... won't be gettin one of those, haha</p>
<p>i wish i were rui bao. =(</p>
<p>do they do likely letters for scea as well?</p>
<p>i dont think so... the reason for the likely letters seems to be that the admissions people want to separate their school from the others and show that they have a specific interest in you. </p>
<p>By applying SCEA, Yale doesnt have to deal with this competition, for they are all there is at this moment.</p>
<p>Yes for scea student/athletes, and as early as October. Don't know about other targeted students.</p>
<p>Please listen to the voice of experience here. Do not get focused on likely letters. If you start watching these boards in February you will start to feel like EVERYONE has received one. DD did not and she was accepted HYP and other top schools. As the time for EA decisions nears and later when RD are imminent, limit your time on the boards. It will only increase your anxiety if every time you log on another kid is jumping up and down with excitement (and understandably so) because he or she got a likely letter or early write.</p>
<p>My son did not receive a likely letter (though some athletes at our school apparently did) and he was still accepted SCEA. So don't worry if you haven't received one.</p>
<p>In past years, Yale has only sent out around 100 likely letters. I suspect more will go out this year to woo people because of H and P dropping their early programs. Some athletes may get assurances from coaches that do not result in likely letters. Point being, VERY few people get likelies, so don't stress. Also, although I may be misremembering, I think I saw a top science student get a likely in the early round a couple years ago (if it wasn't during early, it was RD), so I'm not sure it's just for athletes during the early period.</p>
<p>My friend got deferred from SCEA last year and got a likely letter and got accepted...she was Asian and not an athlete/hook candidate at all</p>
<p>I'd be happy to get a "we think you're pretty cool" letter... and not attached to a rejection :-)</p>
<p>I agree totally with worknprogress on this one. My daughter went to a very small private high school and although no one that I know of received a "likely" letter, a number of kids started to get early writes in mid-march. The stress level went way up and in the end, my daughter was accepted to all of the schools she applied to, even the ones some of her classmates received early writes from. (She is now at Yale.)</p>
<p>I agree that you can't pin too many hopes on likely letters. I've received several from Harvard, Princeton, and Cornell, and I'm pretty sure I have very little chance of acceptance there. I think a lot of people receive them.</p>
<p>skp: perhaps you are confusing general recruitment letters with the so-called "likely letter". The Likely letter is a direct letter to a highly-sought after applicant basically saying "we foresee granting you admission imminently, thank you for applying, don't fail out or commit any felonies, and ignore similar appeals from our competitor schools" LOL</p>
<p>It's a pointed marketing item since the Joint Ivy-Plus agreement not to offer formal admissions until March (RD). It's very important w/recruited athletes because they need to follow other NCAA rules at other non-Ivies. It's as close to an offer you can get without it being "official". It allows athletes to really compare choices because they are being asked to commit to other schools earlier than March.</p>
<p>You'd only get ONE from the school that wanted to reserve a spot for you -- not several.</p>
<p>and you usually get a phone call as well.. so you would know it was really an admissions offer in all respects except they can't send you the admissions letter yet</p>
<p>I agree with T26E4; skp has received recruitment letters IMO. Harvard sends out 75,000 a year according to many sources; I received one over the summer (and one from Yale too). The schools receive lists from the College Board (for a fee!) based on test scores. One adcom admitted publicly her job includes getting as many people to apply to her school as possible.</p>
<p>I also received a "Likely Letter" (academic) last week from a non-Ivy where I applied EA.</p>
<p>There are several discussion threads about these letters; use the search option to read.</p>