Will Being Polite Get You Into College?

It just might :

Mr. Washington said that he was seeing more thank-you notes than ever, and that Lehigh received 50 or 60 in just one day last week. The notes are directed not just to admissions officers, but also to college tour guides and alumni who are often the ones most likely to be conducting college interviews these days.

Woody O’Cain, the admissions director at Furman University in South Carolina, said he received thousands each year.

“I laugh and tell people that’s the kind of stuff that replaces the zeros on my paycheck,” Mr. O’Cain said. “I realize a lot of them are strategic. A guidance counselor says be sure to write a thank-you note because they want it to be added to the file. But there are plenty that are very heartfelt.”