<p>I got an early write (they sent me my acceptance packet 3 weeks early) from Bowdoin, which is apparently only for top-notch students in the applicant pool. How does this relate to my chances at Harvard?</p>
<p>It means your chance is at least probably 10-20%, but it doesn’t necessarily mean anything more than that. My impression is that non-athletic likelies tend to go not just to the best students in the pool, but the students in the top of the pool that they think they might need extra wooing for some reason. (And the reasons vary.) The only person I know to have gotten non-athletic LLs from a school besides Harvard was a friend who got LLs from Dartmouth and Columbia, ended up at Yale as an EA-deferred admit, and was waitlisted at two of HPS and rejected from the other. So it can be a bit random.</p>
<p>Feel free to be cautiously optimistic (it’s definitely an honor!), but given the uncoordination between top schools sometimes, it’s still not a sign that you’ll more likely receive an acceptance than a rejection.</p>
<p>Congratulations, though! You have at least one awesome college choice that really likes you :)</p>
<p>Well as I have heard many times in other threads, ivy league and top colleges look for similar applicants. So i guess it means you are probably a strong applicant. 
But then again Harvard probably gets a ton of strong applicants. Just cross your fingers, say your prayers, and i’m sure it’ll all go well. (Okay so i’m not SURE…but I hope it will.) :D</p>
<p>Alright! Thanks … I like the idea of being cautiously optimistic :)</p>