<p>what exactly do likely letters say? are they all the same? are some less obvious than others or are they all pretty open about being accepted? thanks.</p>
<p>by ‘likely’ you mean…</p>
<p>The one from University of Virginia said that the committee has reviewed your application and found it very impressive and then talks about how you should come visit the school and stuff. All likely letters are different though.</p>
<p>Dear Dasani.:</p>
<pre><code> Congratulations! Every once in a while in the midst of reading hundreds of files, an admissions officer will be so excited about a student’s application that he or she will come to me to ask if we might reserve a place in next year’s class for that student. I am very pleased to tell you that this has happened in your case, and that we are provisionally reserving a place in the Class of 2010 for you. Such an offer before the normal notification date is highly unusual: from the record number of over 17,700 applications we received this year, not even 100 applications inspire us to send this sort of early notice. As long as you maintain (or exceed!) your current level of performance in school and there is no negative change in your record, I anticipate that the Committee on Admissions will mail you a formal letter of admission on April 2, 2006.
From what we have learned about you from your application, we believe not only that you are right for Yale, but that Yale is right for you. Even when compared to other premier universities in this country, Yale is a very special place. We have the commitment to undergraduate education that small liberal arts colleges are noted for, but that commitment is further enhanced by the full range of academic resources that only a major research university can provide. Your fellow students will be among the brightest in the world and equally remarkable for their achievements in a broad range of extracurricular activities. Our residential colleges bring together a remarkably diverse group of students to learn from one another and from the faculty who live among them. Yale famously nurtures the formation of lifelong friendships - strong ties that are based on shared experience differently experienced. And for three hundred years, Yale's graduates have gone on to make important contributions to the nation and to the world.
Your Yale education will offer the combination of diverse and stimulating course offerings with the opportunity to be an active participant in original scientific research. With the help of advice from your faculty mentors and your residential college dean, you will be given the opportunity to shape your own program of study, with the expectation that you will explore many different subjects and methods, while studying at least one of them in depth.
Within the next few weeks, you will be contacted by a Yale faculty member, who will be happy to talk with you about the many opportunities here, but many students find that a visit to Yale plays a very important part in their appreciation of just how much Yale has to offer.
We hope you will plan now to accept our invitation to attend Bulldog Days at Yale, Monday and Tuesday, April 19th and 20th, when admitted students will converge at Yale from all over the country to spend time with students and faculty and to get a real taste of the Yale experience.
If you are unable to attend Bulldog Days, let me invite you to campus whenever it is convenient. If you plan to visit sometime other than Bulldog Days, please contact James Nondorf, our Director of Student Outreach, at 203-432-0772, or simply fax in the attached campus visit form. In the meantime if you have questions about your application or about any programs at Yale, or wish advice or help of any kind, please feel free to write or call me personally.
Congratulations once again from all of us. We look forward to seeing you at Yale!
</code></pre>
<p>Sincerely yours</p>
<p>Jeffrey Brenzel
Dean of Admissions</p>
<p>Since you are interested in Cornell, I will tell you about that one. It came very late (mid-March), so you might still have a chance. It said something like, “We know you have a difficult decision upcoming, and although Ivy League colleges cannot release decision information until (whatever the official date was), we would like to let you know that Cornell is very interested in you. Hopefully this will help with your own personal planning.” After that, it mentioned something about a $600 book grant that they offered to recipients of certain likely letters. My friend got a different kind of likely letter, but it was just as obvious.</p>
<p>The one for Duke said something like, “We were very impressed with your application (top 2%), and we fully expect to offer you admission in the spring, as long as you maintain the personal standards evident in your application.”</p>