Submitting Letters of Enthusiasm

Deferred applicants should absolutely submit powerful Letters of Enthusiasm irrespective of what a college admissions office may say.

Some students and parents have been writing to us of late stating that the schools to which they applied Early specifically said — more or less — that they didn’t want to hear from deferred applicants. They’re a bit confused because we suggest submitting Letters of Enthusiasm to universities that deferred a student’s candidacy until the Regular Decision round. Well, let’s clear that up right here and now. Not everything that colleges tell you is correct. If you’re a regular reader of our college admissions blog, you know well that we’ll call just about anyone out for not being accurate or honest. We are unapologetic. Our honesty can be brutal and difficult to hear at times. But it’s honesty nonetheless and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Ignore these colleges when they say don’t submit Letters of Enthusiasm. They of course don’t refer to these letters as Letters of Enthusiasm — that’s just a term we like to call them. And it’s a term that has really taken off!

If you’re a regular reader of our college admissions blog, you know that colleges send brochures to students in the hope of encouraging them to apply even though these students don’t stand a chance of gaining admission. These colleges simply want to boost their application numbers so that they’ll have lower admission rates and rank higher in the annual, all-important “US News & World Report” rankings. That’s not exactly honest. Neither is touting need blind admissions policies. No college is need blind. Rather, they are need aware. While we can go on for quite a while on this subject, in short, if they’re need blind, then why can admissions officers see whether or not an applicant checked that he/she needs financial aid on the Common App.? Ask yourself this question as well: If a college were truly need blind, then couldn’t they — theoretically — admit an entire class of students that needed financial aid? In such a case, they’d have to significantly dip into their endowment. Colleges rely on tuition…they can’t truly be need blind! It’s a myth. Like Santa Claus.

Anyhow, if you’re a deferred applicant, it’s imperative that you submit a compelling Letter of Enthusiasm. An ordinary letter won’t do. Submitting a letter in which you list all of your remarkable achievements since being deferred won’t do (oy vey!). This letter has got to be extraordinary. It has got to be powerful and moving. If you’re interested in Ivy Coach’s assistance with your Letter of Enthusiasm, fill out our consult form and we’ll write you back. It’s also important that you get moving on submitting this letter if you haven’t done so already as you want the school reviewing your application now, with the Regular Decision pool.