Hi EA applicant here to an Ivy League. I found something seemingly unusual and I don’t really know what it means. I was going through the mail today after school and found this thick envelope (well, not that thick, it was a regular envelope, but you could tell it held like a two or three page letter) from the college’s Office of Admissions addressed to my mom. I didn’t open it of course, but was completely taken aback. My mother is a graduate school alumni of the college who just recently went to visit it to work with a professor regarding her work (completely separate from the university, she works in a private company unaffiliated with higher education). She doesn’t have any connections with admissions or even the university itself aside from that professor. I’ve never heard of parents receiving letters from the office before, so I have no idea what to think.
I also have an unusual personal situation I wrote about in the additional info part of the Common App (my dad died a few years ago). Could they possibly be writing to verify that? Seems unusual to me.
What do you guys make of this? Kinda freaking out.
I can’t imagine they would write to your mom to verify that…it’s much more likely the admissions officer for your region would call your guidance counselor if they wanted to confirm.
Since your mom is an alum, it’s possible the envelope contains some type of form for her to complete because you are (sort of) a legacy (if she went to grad school but not undergrad there). Mostly that would be a courtesy rather than an actual hook.
But I agree she should just open it…what are you worried about?
@janjmom@iwannabe_Brown She hasn’t arrived back from work yet and I don’t really want to get involved in her personal business. If it’s something I need to know I’m sure that she’ll tell me.
My son applied to the school I attended. The university sends a standard letter to parents of legacy applicants. IIRC, it contained a form cover letter and a couple of pages of prior year’s admit stats. Basically, acknowledgment of legacy app submitted, while also pointing out stats of last year’s class. Son was accepted, so do not read anything into the letter if your mother received one as I described.
Congratulations on your (relative) having the temerity to apply to an Ivy. Blah, blah, blah.
You must be very proud of them.
Blah, blah, blah.
Please understand that we reject 90% of the legacy applicants.
Blah, blah, blah.
Don’t let your feelings get hurt.
Blah.
So, the only thing “super weird” about this is that you haven’t heard of it before?
Remember a great letter from the Princeton Alumni Counsel sent to alums in 1958 which read:
“No matter how many other boys apply, the Princeton son is judged from an academic standpoint solely on this one question: Can he be expected to graduate? If so, he’s admitted. If not, he’s not admitted. It’s as simple as that.”
They admitted close to 70% of the legacies at that time. I’m guessing the letter for your mom is a lot more similar to JustOneDad’s version.
Dear Alumni: Thank you for having Child apply. Although (reason for limitation) is a factor, we admit Z x 5 percent of out of state legacies vs. Z out of state general applicants.
