<p>Hey, does anyone know what the whole “likely letter” thing is about?
What do they say?
When would you get one?
Are they only for RD or for ED too?</p>
<p>Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Likely letters are extremely rare, and if they are sent, they are usually, but not exclusively, sent to athletes. Some outstanding students have gotten them in the past, and there is a thread from two years ago or so that talks about a likely letter that a non-athlete received.</p>
<p>Ahh, okay! Thanks!</p>
<p>They are typically for regular decision, with the exception of athletes in the ED round. They are sent only to exceptional students, usually a couple weeks before the RD date. Of course, Brown can change that policy at any time.</p>
<p>In fact, I think the policy is a "pilot" one at this point and has never been sent to more than 50-75 students (non-athletes) and it has not been done each year.</p>
<p>As everyone else in this thread has said, it is mostly used for athletes. To combat full ride and guaranteed admission offers from other non-ivy athletic schools, ivy league schools have used likely letters as a kind of "you're basically in, so please consider us" I will hopefully get one in the next week :) This would be the best Thanksgiving every, if I did.</p>
<p>
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I will hopefully get one in the next week This would be the best Thanksgiving every, if I did.
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Well, I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving, but likely letters for RD are not sent out until early March, if at all! I have never heard of a likely letter for ED. Good luck, in any event!</p>
<p>^ hah, he's an athlete.</p>
<p>If the purpose of the likely letter is to persuade an accepted applicant to choose a particular school, it wouldn't make sense to send a likely letter in the ED round. It's binding!</p>
<p>But its also as a kind of reassurance to the athlete. I know a lot of Ivy league athletes who applied ED the first day or in the first couple of weeks of being able to submit their application and the likely letter comes in the first week of October so it is a really nice feeling to get one and is more symbolic (in ED at least) It is a sign that the recruiting process is basically done.</p>
<p>Machiavelli turned down a full ride to Stanford just for CONSIDERATION at Brown. I have respect for that.</p>
<p>My brother got a likely letter from duke and dartmouth (and is going to brown :) ) and wasn't an athlete. It basically said you're definitely getting an acceptance, but this isn't the official letter.</p>
<p>I've heard Cornell likes to give out likely/probably/unlikely letters. I even spoke with an admissions officer who said there are times when unlikely people get in, and likely people get rejected. Although I guess it would be more meaningful at a place where they only send them out if they're fairly certain. </p>
<p>I"d never heard of other schools sending them out though. That's good to know.</p>
<p>What kind of students would receive a likely letter, considering they were non-athletes? What kind of academic achievement are they looking for?</p>
<p>na-- the main take home from this thread is that they're very rare, not even consistently done year to year from what I can gather and you're not likely to be one of the 50-75 non-athletes of 20k to receive a likely.</p>
<p>Machiavelli12: You turned down a full ride to Stanford for Brown? Cuz that would be reassuring for me. I get **** at my school for applying ED Brown.</p>