bsat blog

I read an interesting article from the Sacramento Bee about the phenomenon of "likely letters." Essentially certain highly competitive schools will send out a letter to highly desired students a few weeks early letting them know that they're extremely "likely" to be enrolled. My initial thought was boy wouldn't it suck for the kid who was "likely" in March, but rejected in April. Well, turns out that doesn't really happen. Except, maybe at George Washington.

Still, the process seems a little obnoxious. If the students are as desirable as the article makes them out to be, they're probably not really sweating their admissions opportunities too hard. (Alright, that's not true at all, everyone, no matter how mortal a lock for college admissions, sweats things out.) But, the point is, it must seem extra obnoxious to their classmates who wouldn't be surprised in the least that a kid with perfect scores on their SATs and a GPA higher than 4.7 (is that even mathematically possible?)  got into their top-choice school. And it certainly doesn't help to have that students mom interrupt their afternoon physics class to bring them in balloons to celebrate.

So, hey, if you got one of these "likely" letters, more power to you. But at least have the respect to temper your enthusiasm for the rest of the kids who are stuck waiting for week upon excruciating week to hear more.