<p>OK, D is very close to a completed application, but here is the question: to whom should the cover letter be addressed? She knows the names of the admissions rep assigned to our region, but she hasn't met her. Would it be best to go with something like "Dear Admissions Committee;" ? Thanks!</p>
<p>I addressed mine to Dear Admissions Office - I think. Adm committee sounds better though.</p>
<p>I'd address it to the Dean of admissions, and cc (can be done on email) the local rep.</p>
<p>I think my son's was addressed to the Admissions Committee and began with 'Dear Committee Members'.</p>
<p>Aaargh.
We did "To Whom it May Concern". I seriously doubt that anyone beyond whoever does the filing and data entry in the office is ever going to see it.
I suppose in hindsight it might of been better for my daughter to address the correspondence to her assigned admissions counselor, whose name she has memorized (but I have not) and apparently is familiar to her through email... but it was 3:30 am last night when the finishing touches were put on the EA app package, and we just didn't give it all that much thought.</p>
<p>The address was to the Admissions Office. The salutation was "Dear Sir or Madam:'.</p>
<p>... cover letters? I totally didn't do that when I was applying to schools... :p</p>
<p>I'm with athena. What does one say in a cover letter, especially if you're applying online?</p>
<p>My son used the cover letter to help package the additional items he sent, even if he submitted the application on line. He sent a resume/activities list, research paper and some odd and ends. I think that if you are going to use a cover letter, then you should really use it -- mention something special about the school and how you plan to contribute or something along those lines.</p>
<p>My son used the cover letter to indicate and clarify the extra items that he sent. He did not use it as an opportunity to reinterate his interest or how he might make a contribution; those aspects were amply covered in his app.</p>
<p>The main function of a cover letter is to let the receipient know what is included in a package -- as in,
"Enclosed please find:
__ Supplemental Essay
__ Resume
__ Award Certificate
__ Check for Application Fee"</p>
<p>It makes sense as a way of letting the recipient know what is enclosed and why, and as a way of doublechecking in the event something was missed. That is, if the administrative assistant in the admissions office opens the envelope and sees that the cover letter says that there is supposed to be a check enclosed, but no check is there - she knows (in theory) to contact the sender to ask about the check. </p>
<p>The cover letter also is a good way for the sender to keep track of what is sent - that is, you keep copies of all the cover letters, and then later on when the admissions office calls and says they never received the check, you will easily be able to find your records as to what day it was mailed. </p>
<p>A "cover letter" is not a particularly good place to provide more information in support of the application itself. As I said in my post above, it is unlikely that anyone with decision-making capability is going to read it. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that at a large admissions office, the staff is literally deluged with thousands of pieces of incoming mail during the period immediately before and immediately after the application deadline. Presumeably, there are people on staff whose sole job is to make sure that the paperwork gets filed where it belongs, and that appropriate entries be made in a database. So it helps them if there is a short letter that explains what is in the envelope.. but only helpful if the letter is short and to the point.</p>
<p>
[quote]
As I said in my post above, it is unlikely that anyone with decision-making capability is going to read it.
[/quote]
Calmom, do you have any inside information to support the idea that the cover letter is essentially thrown out? Doesn't it make sense that it may be placed wherever the essays go?</p>
<p>I didn't say that the cover letter was thrown out; I just said that it probably isn't passed on to the ad coms. What makes sense is that the administrative staff would prepare an admissions packet or file of some sort that would always be organized in the same way for all applicants, probably with an in-house cover sheet on the top that contains information such as GPA, class rank, test scores, etc. in a form that can be easily found. Extraneous materials, like copies of correspondence, emails, postcards, etc., probably remain in the file -- but that part probably isn't passed on to the people on the ad com who will review the file. </p>
<p>The "inside" information I have is that the fact that whoever reviews your kid's file will spend 15 minutes at most with it -- more likely 5-10 minutes. And the person will be in a very big hurry - leafing through very quickly to get to the meat of things. At most colleges there will be a 2nd read, by someone else, of any kid still in the running after the 1st read. Read "The Gatekeepers" if you want an idea of how it works. You are talking about a very overworked and bleary eyed person trying to read through hundreds of applications every day - they do not have time to go digging around the file reading every last bit of correspondence. What you get is a scan, not an in-depth read, in any case.</p>
<p>Calmom, I've read every admissions book that I've ever seen mentioned on CC, and probably others as well. I just don't know that the process is always as formulaic as you suggest, particularly for the very selective colleges. Since hard data, i.e. GPA, SATs, AP etc are not likely to be discriminators in these pools, I would think that they would spend more time on some of the subjective information. In fact, what I remember about "The Gatekeepers" is the sense that the administrative officers really did try to get to know the students as people.</p>
<p>I'm saying that if you want the subjective information to be seen, you had better put it in a dcoument that is certain to be put with the application materials. Let me ask you this -- do you keep every piece of mail YOU receive from colleges? Does your KID - the one who is choosing the college, want to see every single letter that comes with every brochure? Or do you quickly scan the letters and toss them or throw them in a file if they don't contain crucial information?</p>
<p>The idea of a cover letter never occurred to me. My D applied a few years ago and never included one. I can see where it might be useful, however, if there were several pieces of material, and not just the application.</p>
<p>What I'm wondering is if a cover letter would even make sense in an online application. Don't the students just go online and follow the directions on the forms? What extra information would you even be able to send online?</p>
<p>You wouldn't need a cover letter if you applied online. My daughter just applied online to U. of Chicago, but she opted to print out her essays and submit them separately, along with some supplemental material - so the cover letter was necessary and appropriate in order to make sure that the paper material is matched up properly with the online material. (As my daughter pointed out to me today, sometimes colleges mess up by opening up two separate files for the same person - she found at least one college had done that when she was trying to arrange a visit). </p>
<p>In any case, as far as Chicago is concerned, that was obviously the right choice. See article at <a href="http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/11/02/online%5B/url%5D">http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/11/02/online</a> quoting Chicago Dean of Admissions Theodore A. ONeill on the grave importance of proper formatting in writing.</p>
<p>A good college admissions process is not like computer dating its like love letters, said Theodore A. ONeill, dean of admissions at the University of Chicago. He said that current trends in online applications take away students individuality and result in generic and utterly boring essays. ONeill went so far as to predict that current trends in electronic admissions could pave the way for a nationally centralized system of deciding who gets placed in which college a development he said would be horrible.</p>
<p>My kids wrote highly individualized "love letter" essays to their first choice schools (they all got in ED or EA so far and didn't have to send others)....the adcoms specifically mentioned the essays to us in emails and also the Dean spoke to us in person at a Parents' Executive Committee meeting. The President also knew about the essays (in one case) and mentioned them twice on different occasions!</p>
<p>These essays were for highly selective schools. I doubt this would be necessary at those giant factory schools thta must process a gazillion apps.....</p>