<p>A “likely letter” is a letter sent from a college indicating that that student has caught the eye of admissions committee and that he or she stands an EXTREMELY good chance of being accepted to the school. </p>
<p>Basically, it means that you’re accepted to the school unless you royally messed up.</p>
<p>Yes, they truly exist :). If you look at forums, esp. for Columbia, Cornell, and Dartmouth, you’ll see that a fair number of CC users have gotten likelies.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>