When a prospective student applies for admission to a college, the student receives one of three letters: acceptance, rejection, or waitlist. Traditionally, letters were sent by regular mail, but today letters are sometimes sent both by mail or email or exclusively by email. When a student receives an acceptance letter, it means that the student has been admitted to the college and may attend,
. provided that he or she pays the tuition (or receives a scholarship in lieu of some or all of the tuition). The student who receives an acceptance letter typically has a certain limited amount of time to respond to the college with whether or not he or she will accept admittance to the college. If a student receives a rejection letter, he or she has been denied admittance to the college. If a student receives a waitlist letter, he or she may be admitted to the college if, after all accepted students decide whether to attend, there is still additional spots open. Acceptance letters frequently come in large envelopes, while rejection and waitlist letters come in small business envelopes.
