Remember the heartwarming moment when Rory Gilmore received a thick college envelope from Harvard, much to the pride and joy of her mom? Even though the Gilmore Girls protagonist ultimately chooses to attend Harvard’s arch-rival, Yale, this scene serves as a nostalgic time capsule of what college admissions used to look like. Slightly more contemporary college acceptance scenes, such as the Harvard acceptance scene in Dope (2015), are still wedded to the charm of the physical acceptance letter, opting to forget that email acceptances is the name of the game for the sake of portraying a touching picture of coming-of-age. And we can’t say we blame filmmakers for making this choice!

Way back when, students used to find out their admissions decisions in the mail. They’d look outside the window every three minutes to see if the flag was up on the mailbox. Or they’d run to the post office to see if they could intercept the letter from Princeton. Or maybe they’d flag down the mailman on his route. During these instances, students would root for thick college envelopes, which were a sign of good news because they usually contained a letter of admission. 

And it makes sense. If a student is admitted, colleges want to supply them with information to get them excited about the school. In Regular Decision, that information would be marketing material to sway them to want to attend their institution over other institutions. But now most of these letters come electronically. Colleges still send out mailings, especially after students are notified of their admission via email or logging into the school’s internal browser. But the thick envelope craze has subsided a little since the process isn’t as envelope-driven these days. We at Ivy Coach must say we miss those good ole days before the sterile glow of a laptop screen was the only thing standing between a high school senior and their future. But alas, the charm of the thick envelope has given way to the convenience of electronic notifications.

Thick College Envelopes Are a Thing of the Past

If you’re a parent who once got a thick envelope and is expecting thick (or thin) envelopes for your child, know that it’s mostly all electronic these days. Your child logs into a website and is greeted with “Congratulations!” Or your child gets an email from the dean of admissions at the school they applied to, welcoming them to the university. The thick envelopes will come if your child is admitted, but by the time they do come, you won’t be all nervous because you’ll already know your child’s fate. 

Everything is much quicker, to the point, and mundane these days, which some may prefer for the sake of cutting out all the uncertainty. But who can blame those who went through the good days of paper and snail mail admissions for harkening back to a simpler time? However, perhaps one improvement since then has been the introduction of designated admitted student days and weekends at elite college campuses, in which these institutions vie for their chance to enroll some of the top talent in the country. And don’t get us wrong, the snail mail still pours in after an acceptance, as it is more important than ever to secure matriculation from a student who has the good fortune of getting into multiple top schools (like Rory Gilmore!).

Admitted Student Events

Admitted student events, such as Harvard’s Visitas weekend, are a great way for admitted students to get a feel for what life is like at their prospective school. We encourage any students invited to such events to take advantage of them to the fullest extent and stay on their prospective campus as long as they will have you. College is so much more than a brand name or major. Each school has its unique culture, traditions, history, and events (and if you’re choosing between multiple top schools, you’ve likely already done thorough research into these unique aspects of the campus experience and brought this research into your successful applications!). 

Admitted student events allow you to absorb these specifics firsthand and decide whether they jive with you. It’s also an ideal time to meet with current students and determine if all that glitters on your potential campus is really gold.