<p>I hope colleges won’t regret anymore.</p>
<p>My letter from Bucknell was signed by the dean and and he wrote me personal note at the bottom! That was by far the best 
Also came with a free sticker!</p>
<p>My best acceptance was from Haverford College! The dean of admission signed it and wrote a little note at the bottom! (this is were I decided to go)</p>
<p>The worst acceptance letter I got by far was from SUNY Geneseo. The first paragraph said:
“In announcing its rankings of public colleges that offer the best combination of ‘top-flight academics and affordable costs,’ Kiplingers Personal Finance Magazine identified Geneseo as an example of just how good a public liberal arts college can be. We’re pleased to be ranked #3 value in the nation at a time when quality and price are such critical components of the college process.”
Only in the next paragraph did they even say that I was accepted! I mean I wouldn’t care if this info was in the acceptance letter, but I was surprised that they would put this first and THEN tell you that your accepted and how after reviewing so many applications mine stood out etc… you get the point.</p>
<p>Swarthmore had a really nice Waitlist letter. Other than than these three nothing else stood out to me as very bad or good.</p>
<p>I’ve only had one decision so far, an acceptance from Hollins. It came in a thin envelope, which was nervewracking! Inside the envelope were two letters and a pile of Congrats confetti. The first letter accepted me and had a personalized message, which was a nice touch. The second letter announced my merit scholarship! A very sweet acceptance. </p>
The most underwhelming acceptance has got to go to Drew University in New Jersey. It was just a screen with balloons with two links to the acceptance letter and scholarship letter. They didn’t even send an actual letter!
My favorite acceptance letter/tradition is Marquette’s “Golden Eagle Acceptance”. Their mascot hand-delivers acceptance letters to applicants in the Milwaukee area. My MU acceptance letter didn’t come with a huge yellow eagle dancing at my door, but it came with a personal handwritten note from the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. 
Do universities send out the same acceptance letter to everyone, or do they modify it a bit? I guess large publics send out the same because Purdue’s letter was a bit generic
@SameerHussain It generally depends on the university and the applicant. Universities that receive thousands upon thousands of applicants tend to use form letters while smaller universities may choose to write a personal letter to each applicant or just to those who stood out.
University of Minnesota along with some brochures on what to do next and the acceptance letter sent this square colorful thing at first glance didn’t know what it was but then realized you are supposed to put it on your graduation cap.
University of Chicago’s acceptance letters were online and it had “CONGRATULATIONS” bubbles flying around. Later they sent me a scarf and an insider’s booklet. They also sent a whole folder with certificates and brochures. I also got a handwritten card wishing me a happy holiday and that they hope I join their class of 2019.
D has received 5 acceptances so far and all are just plain letters, a couple with borders, a sticker here and there and a whole lot more marketing information (as if we need more brochures at this stage). Two of them came in 8x11 envelopes, the others in 5x7 envelopes. Not every exciting.
Best one D received was from TCU. It was hand signed by the dean with a personal handwritten note at the bottom. The letter also mentioned her interest in theater. I’m sure they aren’t as “personal” as we’d like to think, but it was a nice touch. I really like the snail mail responses. Online portal postings are so 2015!
The worst contact one of my children had (not this year) was an invitation to an accepted students’ event quickly followed by a notice rescinding the invitation (because the application was still under review). It made the eventual acceptance kind of a let down.
I’ve received one from dbu. I liked it it was a nice water bottle and a pen and a poster saying congratulations you’ve been accepted then a thing saying post a photo with yout poster and water bottle on fb or insta and use the hashtag #FuturePatriot
Stanford has the worst rejection letters. 'Nuff said.
My mom printed my Columbia ED Deferral letter out. I don’t know why. I think it’s pretty nice actually (and I’m not mad I was deferred).
Dear I-love-the-city [of course that’s my real name],
The Committee on Admissions has carefully considered your application as an Early Decision candidate to Columbia University and has decided to defer a final action on your application. When the Committee convenes in the coming months, your case will be reconsidered in the context of the full applicant pool. However, since the final decision will not reach you until late March, I urge you to submit other applications in order to keep all your college options open.
I understand that this action may be a disappointment to you and your family, but I can assure you that the Committee on Admissions has deferred only those candidates whose credentials may prove competitive in the context of the Regular Decision pool. In past years, deferred Early Decision candidates have subsequently been admitted at a rate comparable to Columbia’s overall acceptance rate.
The Committee encourages you in the interim to let us know of any significant new achievements since your Early Decision application was submitted; please report these by mail or e-mail no later than February 2, 2015. We will, of course, also rely on receiving your mid-year grades from your school as soon as they are available.
We appreciate the interest you have expressed in Columbia by your Early Decision application. That commitment will be kept in mind when your case is evaluated again.
Sincerely,
Jessica Marinaccio
Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid
PS - Good luck competing against 37,000 other candidates. Mwah hah hah
*They left that out
bumping this because these posts are so fun to read
Haven’t gotten an official acceptance yet, but UPenn’s likely letter was nice. There was a small letter on cardstock along with an empty journal with Penn engraved on the front, and on the inside they printed a quote from my essay. While I really liked the idea and the sentiment, they cut off the sentence from my essay in the book…