<p>Are universities sending out likely letters already??</p>
<p>My friend told me she got one from Harvard this summer.
I am so excited for her, but I didn't know schools sent likely letters so soon...</p>
<p>Never heard of likely letter that early before you even apply unless the student is a recruited athlete. It is possible your friend just got promo letter inviting application which schools send to thousands, many of whom are then rejected after applying.</p>
<p>Is your friend a recruited athlete?</p>
<p>no she's not a recruited athlete... does that mean she just received a promo thingy?? We were all so happy for her.. darn.....</p>
<p>A likely letter basically states that unless dramatic issues occur, they will very probably offer you an admission slot. This is a lot different than literature which asks for you to apply. If your friend has one of the former, nice job for her. It seems too early in the admissions season and they generally go to people whose applications have been reviewed.</p>
<p>Likely letters usually go out to people who have submitted the application.</p>
<p>Not a recruited athlete? From Harvard? I'm betting on a semi-mass mailing. What does the letter say exactly?</p>
<p>Very peculiar. I'd like to know as well.</p>
<p>This summer? That's odd. I thought ADCOMS were too busy traveling in august/september/october to even get started with applications. I know a kid who got a dartmouth 'likely' but that was not until very late november. What was special about your friend that warranted such an early letter?</p>
<p>Likely letters are usually sent out in the winter -- December-February. She probably just received a letter inviting her to apply.</p>
<p>I would guess that your friend got a promo.</p>
<p>actually, she hasn't showed me the letter yet... she just told me that she received a likely letter from Harvard... She said she would show it to me sometime this week... maybe tomorrow...??</p>
<p>What is a likely letter?</p>
<p>It would be very weird for a likely letter to precede submitting an application. In the time frame the friend describes, Harvard was sending out thousands of letters inviting students to submit applications. A likely letter, in the normal meaning, is a letter from an admission office before the official acceptance announcement date telling an applicant that it is very likely (= all but certain) that the student is admitted. Historically, that was used to keep the interest of athletes who might receive offers from NCAA Division I colleges that request a firm commitment to attend and play at their college. These days all the major colleges with a March notification date send out some likely letters so that outstanding students (academically or athletically) don't commit too soon to some other college that would like them to enroll. </p>
<p>Here is a link to a Business Week article about Harvard's recruiting practices. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_34/b3998441.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_34/b3998441.htm</a> </p>
<p>Lots of students get letters from Harvard. At this time of year I doubt that they are likely letters. Rather they are invitations to submit an application.</p>
<p>from article:Schools' 'Love Notes' Quietly Say, You're In</p>
<p>Grinnell College in Iowa began sending out "wink" letters, which assure recipients that they are "one of a select number of applicants" whose accomplishments "merit special recognition." Translation: You're in!</p>
<p>"If you're among the first colleges to admit the person, there's a higher level of excitement," says Jim Sumner, dean of admission and financial aid. Nearly one-quarter of students who have received a "wink" letter end up enrolling at Grinnell, a number Mr. Sumner is pleased with, given that they're a tougher group to recruit.</p>
<p>Other schools are moving in the same direction. Barnard College in New York City says it is "strongly considering" sending out "likely" letters either this year or the next. Barnard would join Dartmouth, Smith, Clark and many other colleges that also rely on some version of the early letter.</p>
<p>Most Ivy League schools generally send out such letters only when pursuing an athlete who may be getting sports scholarships from non-Ivy institutions. In fact, all the Ivies are bound by a rule that requires them to mail out their acceptance letters no earlier than April 2. Dartmouth says its "likely" letters aren't a violation because they don't outright admit the applicant, they just hint at it.</p>
<p>All of this presents high-school seniors with some new options as they're shopping around for colleges. Earlier this month, Kyle Breidenstine got a letter from Clark saying he had been admitted, although the Worcester, Mass., school typically doesn't send out acceptance letters until the end of March. Mr. Breidenstine, the letter went on to say, is eligible for at least $44,000 in scholarship money from the school.</p>
<p>Now the Shoemakersville, Pa., senior says he will use that letter as leverage to get more aid from his second choice, Elizabethtown College -- and Elizabethtown is all ears. "There are many occasions where we will see offers from other institutions" that beat Elizabethtown's, says Kent Barnds, dean of admissions and enrollment management, "and we have a committee that assesses how badly we want that student and how we might want to react."</p>
<p>Still, students who get promises of acceptance as well as scholarship money should be careful not to accept too soon. Wait until the other schools send their offers and then "fax them the original offer from the likely letter and see if they can match it or do better," says Francine Block, a private college counselor in Holland, Pa.</p>
<p>The letters come in many different flavors. Williams College sends out what it calls "early write" letters. Shipped to students at least a month before the rest of the admissions results are circulated, these letters are the equivalent of an acceptance.</p>
<p>Every March, Smith College contacts its best candidates with early scholarship notices. In addition to all but promising admittance, they offer $2,500 a year in scholarship money and a paid campus research job.</p>
<p>That was enough to sell Jaci Eisenberg, now in her first year at Smith. She had been leaning toward the University of Chicago in the early part of her senior year of high school, until she got the scholarship letter. "That kind of cinched it," she says.</p>
<p>I think I got the same thing from Harvard in late June or early July...it was a beautiful 50-page brochure/magazine and a free application and a letter saying that I "was among the top few high school scholars in US" and that i'd "be a great fit at Harvard" or some fluff like that. I took it to mean "Hey, come get rejected!!!"</p>
<p>There was a topic on this last year. Search the CC database. The girl who got one was like beyond belief.</p>
<p>That's nice</p>
<p>It's too bad my son is not an athlete. He'd have a better chance getting into one of the top schools.</p>