My child received a letter from a certain department at Stanford asking her to apply. She never considered applying there but decided to submit an application. We have not heard of anyone else getting a letter from a department head from any university.
Last year, my S received a letter from the Head of Stanford E. Asian Studies Dept.
Did he apply there? Did he get in?
I don’t remember if he applied; I have a feeling he didn’t, if he did, he didn’t get in! If you don’t mind sharing, which dept. did your D receive a letter from? I’m just being nosy, please don’t feel obligated to divulge 
Hopefully he is happy at his current school. My daughter has some great options already but still waiting for her top choice USC.
My S is very happy - he took an Academic Gap Year and is headed to his top choice in the Fall.
Good Luck for USC! Did your D apply to Stanford?
She did but we will see.
Please be aware that it is simply a marketing tool. If it makes the student aware of Stanford and applies as a result, then the marketing worked. But read nothing else into it.
My S received a letter that was very specific to the 2 majors he is interested in. No other student in his class received one. I also wondered how they found him.
Would be interested to hear more. Can you cut and paste the contents of the letter here? Obviously redacting names, etc.
How would they know your dept interests? Unless you stated it to them, it sounds like the same post PSAT marketing colleges otherwise use.
In a rational assessment, do you feel your child’s accomplishments are so very strong that a dept head would know it?