Admission-wise, these cards mean nothing. The admissions committees don’t “meet” until after Jan. 15 or Feb.1 to evaluate student applications, so the sender of the holiday card, whether admissions office or officer, has no real idea of your prospects and has no mandate from the admissions office to send you an affirmative signal.
On the other hand, our family has noticed a relationship between the courtesy and politeness of a school’s communications, email responses, thank-yous, and holiday cards, and how these schools treat students and families down the road.
Just our opinion.