I received a holiday card from my interviewer, not sure if it’s a good sign or if everyone gets one

[WishMeLuckPlease]

I just got a “happy holidays!” card in the mail, and it included a handwritten note from my interviewer that wished me a good holiday season and said my various interests would “play well” at their school. Not sure if this is a good sign or if all applicants recieve one? I do think that particular interview went very well, one of the best out of 10+ I’ve done.

[skieurope]

Read absolutely nothing into getting a card or not getting a card

[tsbna44]

Delete - thanks @DramaMama2021 didn’t realize it’s not a college thread.

[IndySceptic]

Well it certainly isn’t a bad sign, considering it came from an Admissions Officer.

If it were a coach or some other interested but not directly involved party, you’d be wise to temper your enthusiasm.

But its a nice touch by the AO. I’d receive it as such.

Happy Holidays, and come back and tell us how it went.

[WishMeLuckPlease]

Happy holidays, and thank you!

[TheBDQueenie]

For what school?

[spoonbender]

Is it from Loomis? They have done this for a while.

Do Boarding Schools send out holiday cards to applicants?

I know this is very unusual to ask…but a certain name BS has sent me a written letter already, and has just sent me a hand written holiday card. This BS is quite large, 700+ students. I was wondering if this is unusual, or very common. My interviewer from this school absolutely loved me, probably my best or one of the best interviews I’ve had. I won’t know if I actually get in until March 10th, but I’m not sure what to think of it. Regardless, I’m very thankful they reached out to me, and I did send a very nice happy holidays email to them too. I just wanted to know if it was unusual for big boarding schools to send you a handwritten holiday card-especially because this isn’t the first handwritten note I’ve gotten.

Is it common for your admission officer to handwrite to you saying happy holidays and mentioning things in your interview?

I’m trying to figure out if anyone else got this by the way, I don’t think its special. My Loomis admission officer sent me a handwritten happy holidays card with details of things mentioned in our interview. It was really heartwarming to see, but kind of bitter sweet since probably a bunch of other kids did too. Did anyone else get one?

[WishMeLuckPlease]

@spoonbender @TheBDQueenie It was from The Hill School.

[westernNY1]

It’s also important to note that NOT getting a holiday card also means nothing.

[gardenstategal]

Read nothing into it. Every school that admits you wants you to enroll, and the AO assigned to you probably has that as a metric in their performance review. Making sure that applicants feel the connection is the start of thar process – even before they know whether they’ll make an offer of admission. This is a pretty easy way to make sure you keep them top of mind and feel good about them.

With that said, a tip of the hat to the schools that make this effort. It gives them a chance to signal that they have a “personal touch”.

[ownmeasurement]

My kid is at Hill. We did not receive a holiday card when we were applying. We received a lovely handwritten holiday card from an AO at another school…where my kid was later rejected. Holiday cards mean nothing for your chances.

We did receive some personalized communications from schools later in the process (like February) that did have meaning. A coach wrote something like “looking forward to good news on March 10.” Another school wrote something like, “You are going to have lots of choices on March 10, but you would be a great fit here because…”

[enewton]

Some of the AOs at Groton do this, too. Nobody on this forum knows for sure, but I agree it (1) isn’t a bad sign, and (2) possibly could be a good sign, though probably is meaningless. Add it all up and you can feel good about it, just not ecstatic. I hope you get great news on M10!