Likely Letters for Penn Class of 2015--Daily Pennsylvanian story

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>From the DP web site:</p>

<p>
[quote]
**Video promises admissions</p>

<p>The Admissions Office sent out more than 200 academic likely letters to outstanding applicants**</p>

<p>by Seth Zweifler | Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 1:56 am</p>

<p>Regular decision applicant Omar Sobh thought he would have to wait another three weeks before finding out his college admissions fate.</p>

<p>But last Friday, Sobh — a senior at Shelton High School in Fairfield County, Ct. — learned of some good news much earlier than expected. </p>

<p>Sobh was one of a few hundred students who received a “likely letter” from Penn informing him of his upcoming acceptance to the University.</p>

<p>Last year, Penn sent out approximately 200 likely letters to top applicants — an increase from 120 the year before. Though Dean of Admissions Eric Furda would not provide an exact count for this year’s likely letters, he said there were “significantly more” than last year. </p>

<p>“Even in an applicant pool of 31,000-plus, some candidates are going to stand out to the highest degree,” Furda said. “We’re identifying those students who are going to have a lot of options when decisions roll in.” </p>

<p>Currently, all Ivy League schools utilize some form of academic likely letters. Harvard College Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William Fitzsimmons told the Harvard Crimson in mid-February that Harvard will send out approximately 300 likely letters this year.</p>

<p>In past years at Penn, likely candidates have received a more-or-less generic note from the Admissions Office with news of their impending decision. This time around, however, Penn decided to change the game. </p>

<p>Friday evening, likely candidates received an e-mail from the Admissions Office with a link to a website where they were greeted with a video from Furda informing them of their likely status.</p>

<p>Early in the video, Furda tells applicants that “you’re among a small group of students who are designated as likely candidates, meaning that on March 30 you’re going to be admitted to the University of Pennsylvania.” </p>

<p>The video goes on to feature input from members of the Admissions Dean’s Advisory Board — a newly created group made up of 17 undergraduates. ADAB representatives began meeting with Furda last December to provide input on various admissions initiatives. In the video, ADAB students talk about what their “Penn experience” has been like.</p>

<p>This marks the first time that Penn has reached out to likely candidates in nontraditional ways like a website and video. Furda said he hopes that this year’s efforts “provide richer opportunities for high-achieving students to learn about us … in more authentic ways.” </p>

<p>Sobh said his likely e-mail was “the best news [he’s] received so far this year.” He added that he has since received a physical copy of the letter in the mail. </p>

<p>For Charlene You — a senior at Bergenfield High School in Bergen County, N.J. — receiving a likely e-mail on Friday “has definitely increased my pull to Penn,” she said. </p>

<p>However, Jacob Feldman — a senior at R.J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, N.C. — said he wished that his likely letter had come in the mail before it came online.</p>

<p>“It seems a bit less collegiate … and less official to first share that news through a video,” he said. </p>

<p>While Feldman considers Penn a top choice, he is still waiting on decisions from Harvard, Northwestern and Yale universities. Though he is more likely to attend Penn now that his acceptance is a virtual certainty, Feldman’s mind is far from made up. </p>

<p>Tim Lear, director of college counseling at the Pingry School in Martinsville, N.J., said that Penn’s experimentation with new strategies to inform likely candidates is “the first of its kind [he’s] ever seen.” </p>

<p>A video is “so much more effective than a piece of paper,” Lear said. “If I’m a likely candidate, I’m going to be excited because Penn made an extra effort to reach out to me.”</p>

<p>Lear speculated that more peer schools may begin to implement similar strategies to keep yield rates high among likely letter recipients.</p>

<p>“Nothing is ever done in a vacuum in the Ivy League,” he said. “When a school like Penn makes a change, it’s going to create a ripple effect in policy at other institutions.”</p>

<p>Last year, Furda told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the Admissions Office sometimes uses likely letters to target students in “under-enrolled” majors like physics and chemistry. </p>

<p>Director of Hernandez College Consulting Michele Hernandez added that she has seen likely letters used as a way to bring more minority applicants to campus. </p>

<p>“A school like Penn doesn’t necessarily look at likely letters as a way to increase yield in general, but rather as a way to increase yield among a very specific group of applicants,” Hernandez said. “Either way, likely letters take a lot of the uncertainty out of a very uncertain process.”

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Video</a> promises admissions | The Daily Pennsylvanian</p>

2

<p>interesting, especially the bit about there being “significantly more” likelies this year, wonder how many more?</p>

3

<p>yeah i was wondering that too…</p>

4

<p>

Hopefully “significantly more” means 600 and not 1,500.</p>

5

<p>well that makes it even more depressing that i didn’t get one lol do you think there is a possibility that they still haven’t gotten to my application?</p>

6

<p>That’s interesting, I recieved an e-mail notifying me that the decision would be available March 30th @ 5pm Eastern Time that same night he received the “likely” letter. I wish I would have got his email ha</p>

7

<p>Since the number of likely letters increased from 120 in 2009 to 200 in 2010, a “significant” increase could mean that there were as few as 300 or so this year (a 50% increase), or even fewer. It’s really hard to tell, at this point.</p>

<p>I don’t understand why Dean Furda wouldn’t reveal how many were sent this year–he revealed the number last year, and other schools (e.g., Harvard) have revealed their numbers. Perhaps the DP will get it out of him when publication resumes next week after spring break.</p>

8

<p>Were likely letters sent out to international applicants or limited only to american citizens?</p>

9

<p>read to the end of the article, they are sending out likely letters to target specific groups, likley minority, athletes, or students to who claims they want to study in certain unpopular majors. I think that has always been the philosophy behind Ivy likely letters.</p>