Yesterday I received a handwritten letter from Assistant Director of Admissions Kathryn Andersen, congratulating me on my acceptance and making specific comments about my application. Just out of genuine curiosity, I was wondering if the admissions department goes through the work of handwriting letters to all the accepted students, or if there is only a smaller group of students to whom these letters are written.
I also received one
S got one, as well as an invitation to a reception for accepted students next week at the local Archdiocece. Guessing it is protocol for the family that is ND.
The university could be trying to increase its “yield” – the percentage of students offered admission who actually decide to attend there. As students have begun to apply to more and more universities each year (in part because of the Common Application), it has become more difficult for universities to figure out the right number of students to admit to wind up filling their class in the fall. They can’t assume you will accept their offer, so the sales pitch is still on until you do. That could explain the hand-written letter.
Is it bad if we did not get one? I sent a hand written thank you letter the week of my acceptance to my adcom
Don’t worry about it. An acceptance is an acceptance. @mommyrocks is correct, this is almost surely a yield protection tactic. That doesn’t mean the letter isn’t sincere, of course.
I wouldn’t worry about it. My son got one, but since I’m an alum and know the rep, I think it was courtesy. I;m sure the admissions reps wish they could write everyone a personal note, but that would take a really long time! Enjoy your acceptance, and know that the university really wants you to come, or they wouldn’t have admitted you! Congrats, and welcome to the ND family!!
@originalposter1 As long as you have an acceptance in hand, I wouldn’t worry about the handwritten note. Congratulations.
I just got my second hand-written letter, not from my admissions counselor (in which that was the first one I received), but one from my regional director or something. Anyone else got another one? Can I infer anything from this?
Yes, we’ve gotten two letters and a phone call and you can’t infer anything whatsoever. It’s all good. Not sure why folks get competitive about this – what else is there to get beyond an offer of admission that really makes any difference? What could be inferred? You are going to get the perfect roommate in the best dorm with best room layout? They’re going to trot you out at halftime of the Stanford game as one of ND’s most promising students? They’re going to give you a better FA deal than the other EA folks? I guess the O’Reilly weekend is nice, but not sure it actually means anything, ie, don’t put it on your LinkdIn profile. Hesburgh Yusko is huge, but it’s a separate thing. I think it’s safe to say that if you get an offer of admission at any time, the school actually hopes you’ll go there.