http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/what-are-likely-letters-like/
No, did not request grades.
@fbsdreams Congratulations to your son!
Ah, a likely letter. Congrats!
Thank you. He is very pleased to say the least.
I read this older post and our feelings about UChicago were all validated on a recent visit.
It’s a good read :
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/896268-food-for-thought-for-admitted-students-%C2%96-a-perspective-of-a-parent-p1.html
@fbsdreams Great article, thanks! Hopefully we’ll be able to have that experience as well
Does anyone understand what is supposed to happen after applying to UChicago? Are we supposed to get an email with a portal account, or should we create one ourselves?
I created an account, due to the message under ‘What’s Next’ in the CommonApp. However, I cannot see the checklist of items missing and I am really confused.
If anyone could help me with this I would greatly appreciate it.
Child’s friend applied before January 1st. Set up the portal before the application went in. Says she has never seen an option to request an interview. Is it possible she’s missing it? Has anyone who applied RD (or ED2) been able to request an interview through the portal? Thanks.
@Lea111 In the applicant portal, she should see several boxes. The first one when she scrolls down should say forms, and will have the Financial Aid worksheet, First Year Supplement, and then an option to request an interview. If she doesn’t see that option, I would suggest that she contact the admissions office and ask them.
Just got contacted for an interview!
That’s a link to what a likely letter is. That’s a totally different thing.
A Likely Letter is totally noncommittal. It’s used with athletes or students they really want to recruit- special talents, high stat URM’s and comes brefore the onslaught of acceptances.
You are saying this is a provisional acceptance after switching to ED which is binding.
Correct switch was from EA to EDII. This will be binding when the mid-Feb decisions are formally communicated and when there is an agreement with financial package. There is nothing binding until that time and we have not withdrawn any other applications as we are not required to do so until both parameters are met.
UChicago is his first choice, so we are hoping everything works out as we have been told they will.
I don’t recall “Provisional Acceptance” being one of the admission outcomes mentioned on the website. Is this a likely letter or is it something else?
A provisional acceptance is a likely letter.
They don’t advertise it as an option because that would take away from the point of it. Using it to signal athletes that they are recruited is only a side effect. The main purpose is to be used strategically to surprise applicants the admissions office suspect may get in to a different school that applicants tend to choose over UChicago (like Harvard). If people anticipate that it might be coming, it would be much less effective when it does. It’s meant to be an unexpected bonus that comes totally out of the blue and catches people off guard so they aren’t rationally thinking about where they want to commit, not something anyone expects.
Admissions is a game of propaganda.
Yes, but this is someone who had switched to ED2. Therefore already ‘committed.’ What is the purpose of a LL in this case?
^^What ihs76 is saying.
@ihs76 A likely letter tells them that it is likely they will be admitted. Switching to a binding program has no effect on whether or not you’ll be admitted, since it only restricts your decision after admission, and I suppose you can always withdraw your application.
In this thread, the student who received the LL (see post #238) had already changed from EA to ED2, then received the LL. Therefore, there is no question about this applicant choosing another school (with the possible exception of withdrawing the application which would seem unlikely). Hence, my question about what purpose would the LL serve the school in this situation where the student is already ED. I appreciate that the student likes knowing early but schools don’t operate that way.
I am quite familiar with LL (DS was a recruited athlete) but they are used either before the ED app is in (to encourage an ED app), or in EA to start wooing the student. What is the purpose of a LL when the student has already applied ED?
Maybe it arrived late - got lost in the mail or just sent after it was supposed to be sent. Perhaps the purpose of the LL was to encourage the applicant to choose ED2 to clinch the deal, but the applicant beat them to it.
The option to request an interview does not appear on my UChicago online portal. Do I wait or should I contact the admissions office?