<p>My daughter received a letter from Harvard saying they will send her an application. I was wondering how many letters they sent out.</p>
<p>My D got the letter a few days ago.</p>
<p>short answer:...a lot. ; ) I got one too...
longer answer: Many, but still only to relatively promising students. Your daughter must have done something right.</p>
<p>Actully, I did not expect Harvard will send her a letter becaue her ACT score is only 32. However, her weighted GPA is 4.43. Unweighted is probably 3.98 (she only got one B+ on AP English and no one got an A in her class). Her GPA is a little bit low because they are not allowed to take AP class until 10th grade and they can only take 2 in 10th grade. She took 5 AP classes and passed everyone of them. Her rank is #1 out of 400+ students. Still, how many letters they sent out - 10,000 or 5,000? Any one knows?</p>
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<blockquote> <p>30000-60000 direct mailings I thought? still cool if you realize there are ~2.4 m graduating seniors</p> </blockquote>
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<p>This thread pops up every year... do not take letters from Harvard, Princeton or any other top school personally. They are buying names from College Board in bands of SAT scores/grades. It is mass marketing -- junk mail. They want lots of kids to apply -- it raises their perceived selectivity when they reject 95% of the applicants.</p>
<p>If you like what a college sends you, visit the website. If you're still interested, visit the campus. In addition, take the time to read the other college mail you get. The college that's the best fit may be sitting in a pile of envelopes waiting for you.</p>
<p>My S got 124 pounds of college mail between junior and senior year. We kept track. He weighs 115 lbs. You get the idea! :D</p>
<p>Based on Harvard's SAT (or ACT) range, I would guess they like students in top 2% of the test. If they select 2% of 2 million students to send out the letter, that means there are 20,000 letters.</p>
<p>While Harvard does send out lots of these letters, they are only sent out to athletes, special situations, and a top percentage (unsure of the number). We were told this at a Harvard informational meeting last year. My son also received one and we thought they just sent them out to almost everyone, but the rep said "not everyone". </p>
<p>My son was accepted to Harvard in April and will be attending in the Fall.</p>
<p>Keep the faith!</p>
<p>The only reason I can think of for my D getting the letter is that the second time she took the SAT she got a 2300 overall. Otherwise her test scores and grades are not exceptionally high and she does no sports.</p>
<p>chen1111,
And 95% of those 20,000 are here on CC... ;) But seriously...S got a personal recruiting letter from a big name school last fall after winning a big award. (The text of the letter made it clear it was a personal recruiting effort and referenced specific info.) Said school was trying to improve its outreach to students in certain competitions. S applied -- was deferred and subsequently waitlisted.</p>
<p>Yes, students who get a letter from Harvard have some characteristic that H thinks makes one competitive for admission. However, recognize that many students with records that would blow off your socks are also rejected.</p>
<p>Apply wisely and well, and don't be seduced.</p>
<p>I thought harvard sent that stuff to 75,000 people...</p>
<p>Well, not to me, and I got a 2300 SAT :(</p>
<p>Its random. They get lists. I got one, was accepted, but I don't think there is much of a correlation. I had a sub-2300 score.</p>
<p>Acutally, for one point I was thinking to drop the school from my list because it seems its requirements are high. I am always wondering how schools decide who to send the letter. If they get the information from College Board etc., what they can get is SAT (or ACT) and AP scores. However, it seems if you have high SAT/ACT score is not the only criteria for receiving the letter. This puzzles me because colleges have no idea if you have specialty in sports or other talents and I am sure they don't contact high school for your GPA.</p>
<p>Geography/ethinicity/family income/other criteria they can glean from your
info available via CB may be the driving reason?</p>
<p>The letter depends on whether your PSAT score exceeds a certain threshold and whether you confirmed that it was okay to be part of the Student Search Service when you took the PSAT. That's all. No grades or real SATs... </p>
<p>I'm guessing it was sent to about 42,000 kids, or the top 3% of the PSAT. It is the same thing you get from a zillion other schools.</p>
<p>I believe for Harvard it is 70,000 letters sent. That number was referenced in an article I read somewhere...</p>
<p>My son's letter from Harvard said "based on lists received from SAT and ACT". I don't think it was the PSAT.</p>
<p>I don't think it is based on PSAT because my daughter's PSAT is only around 93%. However, her ACT score of 32 is 99%.</p>
<p>It is 70,000 laststopfor me, but it is not totally based on SAT/PSAT/ACT scores. My friend got one from Harvard and he only scored a 1800.</p>