<p>The Admissions Office here at Lehigh University has shared some of your
application material with me and I write to commend you on your strong
preparation for college. The College of Arts and Sciences is the very
heart of Lehigh, offering a diverse array of undergraduate programs that
will excite and challenge you. As the Associate Dean for Undergraduate
Programs in the college, I am eager to assist you with the important
decision-making that lies ahead. Please feel free to contact me at this
e-mail address if you have any questions about your possibilities at
Lehigh. Your strong application is the first of what will be many
successful college endeavors. I congratulate you on all your achievements. </p>
<p>You will most likely probably get in. No one would waste their time writing that if you weren’t in. And thats similar to (although uses less powerful language as) a likely letter I got a while ago.</p>
<p>Sounds like a likely letter. Why else would they write you now saying what they did? It’s not as if the letter were asking for more info so admissions could make a decision. It was filled with compliments, and is their way of saying that you are a strong applicant, one whom they want to eventually accept their forthcoming admission offer.</p>
<p>I believe this shows that they are definitely somewhat intrigued by what you submitted to them, so I’d say it is probably a likely letter. That being said, I would find it incredibly annoying to recieve such an indecisive, unclear letter.</p>
<p>That’s the nature of likely letters – not promising definite admission since the letters are sent before the colleges’ official notification dates. Most people would prefer to get them than not to get them. :)</p>
<p>It’s not a likely letter: more of a plea for you to stay interested. Likely Letters say that based upon review of your app, it will be likely that you will receive an acceptance from us officially on our notification date. Yours doesn’t say this.</p>
<p>^^^Dartmouth’s LL says that there is “no question” that those who receive it will be admitted. That sounds like a promise of definite admission to me.</p>
<p>Ok so maybe it isn’t a likely letter but in the subject of the email, it said “strong students”. Couldn’t I still consider this an extremely positive sign?</p>
<p>THe letter writer invited you to do the following. If you want to know if you’re likely to get an acceptance, ask the person. Only if an applicant is likely to get in would an administrator send such an invitation. </p>
<p>" Please feel free to contact me at this
e-mail address if you have any questions about your possibilities at
Lehigh."</p>
<p>Maddening language there. It sounds like a way to screen strong applicants (who would be admitted) for interest in the college (so that the college can NOT offer admission to students who don’t show interest). The process isn’t supposed to work that way, but if you want to go to that college, now is the time to show interest by responding to the email. </p>
I believe the typical likely letter is usually rather transparent with its wording. This does seem like something Lehigh would do - not write a likely, per se, to its strongest applicants, but to write a letter that almost serves as a gauge in interest. If there’s any school that’s well known for protecting yield by waitlisting its strong applicants who are also unlikely to attend it’s Lehigh (it’s pretty clear once you see some Naviance data).</p>
<p>Well I got a letter from them today about a diversity weekend that they want me to attend so I think this is a very good sign. I’m interested in lehigh so I’m going to that. But I have another question: since they consider me a strong applicant, is it safe to say that I’m strong in the eyes of the other schools I applied to such as brown, Penn, or Cornell? Just wondering…</p>
<p>^ No, and that’s not even because Lehigh is less selective than those schools - It’s simply a guessing game to predict where you’ll get in based on one school’s LL, barring a few rare examples (you’re probably sitting well if you have a non-athletic LL from Harvard - but even then there are examples of Harvard LLs not getting into other top schools).</p>