I must say that Americans are thin-skinned. Try applying to a British university. If you aren’t accepted, you hear from the application processor (not the university itself) and the email reads, “we regret to inform you that the above university has considered your application. We regret to inform you that your application has been unsuccessful. Should you have applied to other universities…”
Barnard’s letter is nice in that it saves unsuccessful applicants the angst of thinking that they might be able to appeal a negative decision. Better to draw a line under things.