Brown Admits To Get an Updated Acceptance Packet

"'Elegant' Revamped Admissions Mailings Greet Accepted Students"
By Melanie Duch
The Brown Daily Herald - March 17, 2006

Mailings from the Office of Admission got a makeover this year. About 2,400 accepted students from both the regular and early decision applicant pools will receive a "stylish" and color-coordinated assortment of written materials and a car decal in their forthcoming deliveries from Brown, according to Dean of Admission Jim Miller '73.

Michael Goldberger, former director of admission and current director of athletics, said admissions mailings became more and more weighed down with information over the 20 years he worked in the admissions office. He added that this trend caused "all sorts of problems" with coordinating the individual packages sent to accepted students.

Miller, who was appointed dean of admission last year, brought up the possibility of revamping the packets several months ago, and others in the admissions office were receptive to the idea.

"We're going to try to make the admission package a littler cleaner. We have been putting a lot of appropriately beautiful stuff in there," Miller said.

Among the items undergoing changes are the folders and the acceptance letters, which Miller said would be more "elegant" than before.

"We're trying to coordinate whole presentation … color, style, tone," Miller said.
Accepted students will also receive admissions certificates this year, which Miller said are "sort of official."

The office also added Brown car decals in the initial acceptance letters, all of which were purchased directly from the Brown Bookstore.

David Pagliaccio '10, who was accepted early decision to Brown but also received acceptance letters from Brandeis and Drew universities, said he did not really notice Brown's admission letter because all the letters he received were "pretty similar."...

Another reason Pagliaccio did not really pay much attention to his admission letter was because he already knew he was admitted when he received it, having checked his decision online several days before.

Because admissions letters are often mailed the same day the decisions are available online, "almost everybody" chooses to check the admissions office's Web site rather than wait for the mail, Goldberger said....