Month, XX 2016
Sample Q. Sample
123 Street St.
Columbus, OH 43210
Dear Mr. Sample,
Congratulations on being admitted to the Ohio State University 2016 freshman class. We look forward to welcoming you to the OSU Columbus Campus and the Department of Microbiology this coming August.
I write to you both as a Department Chair and a parent. I share some of the same feelings you do right now as my oldest child prepares to decide where to go to college. As my son prepares to embark on this next stage of his life, I am filled with great pride in what he has already achieved and excitement about what he will gain from going to college. I have talked to him at length about what I think a transformative college experience should involve, and why I think Ohio State offers all of that and more.
Since I joined Ohio State as a faculty member in 2001 I have been incredibly impressed by the commitment of the University as a whole to grow the quality and breadth of the undergraduate experience that we now offer. In Microbiology that translates into two key advantages I think we offer over many other schools. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, faculty with active, world-famous, research labs teach the vast majority of the classes in the Microbiology major. This means that in the classroom students are exposed to the latest advances, ranging from understanding how microbiomes influence our health and the environment, to studying why and how antibiotic resistant infections arise. With such a large and vibrant research program in the Microbiology Department we are also able to offer our majors a range of long-term laboratory research experiences covering a similarly broad range of topics. Many of our undergraduates participate in hands-on research for several years and often get to publish their findings in international scientific journals. To me this represents the gold standard in undergraduate research and is a point of immense pride for myself and the rest of our Department.
I know from my own experience that you will be receiving a great deal of practical and useful information from Ohio State over the coming weeks and months. One thing I would encourage you to do is to pay the acceptance fee by May 1st to indicate acceptance of the offer of admission. In the meantime if there are any other questions that come up please feel free to contact me directly at . I will do my best to answer your questions, and if I cannot I will make sure I find someone who can!
Sincerely,
Michael Ibba, PhD
Professor and Chair
Department of Microbiology