***Official Harvard Class of 2012 Waitlist Thread***

[perpetualmotion]

well i was at stanford admit weekend, which coincided with harvard's, and almost everyone i talked to decided to go to stanford, many of them who were admitted to harvard, yale and princeton.

[dwindlelights]

Wow those Harvard people are such strategists.....well we will know in a few days if there is room for us hopefuls or not...

[alohasam89]

this waiting game is getting old
soon enough, they will be having waitlist for waitlist

[wallawalla01]

should i send them a letter? or is it too late??

[smile90]

Hello! This is my first time here! I was waitlisted too...
Anyways. I noticed that someone asked if anyone had turned anything in. Well last week I went to Harvard to visit and luckily for me, I bumped into my admissions officer at an information session. I asked her if there was anything I could do while I wait, and she told me that I could send her a letter of interest. So I wrote a letter (along with an update on extracurricular activities and awards) and mailed it today. And during the info session, a lot of parents were asking about the waitlist. My admissions officer said that all of them were just trying to get more information on the waitlisted applicants until May 1st. And I think she mentioned something about all the officers meeting again after May 1st if they needed to take people off the waitlist. I hope that helps

[wallawalla01]

ah!!! ok i'll write a letter and send it off tomorrow. what should it talk about? should i send supplemental things too??

[smile90]

I talked about why I wanted to go to Harvard. A Harvard undergrad visited my school a couple of weeks ago and he told me that I had to show interest and really make myself stand out. You can probably ask to speak to your admissions officer by calling the admissions office. If not, you can get their name and e-mail them.

Hmmm.. another interesting thing my admissions officer said was that about 80% of applicants are qualified to attend Harvard, but they just can't take everyone.

[CNI]

I've heard somewhere that although writing a letter can help, a school like Harvard really doesn't need students to show them "interest," as they know that an overwhelming majority of the students staying on the waitlist are more than interested in attending harvard. I think that the way they fill the waitlist is by selecting students who will make their numbers look a little more like the way they want them to look. For example, if they're severely lacking in African- American enrollment, they may target AA students in order to have a more diverse class. Same applies to gender, geographic location, and even extracurriculars.

Then again, i don't work in the admissions office, so this is all what I've heard.

BTW- we don't even know if anyone's getting taken off the WL this year. Harvard is, well... Harvard.

[sprtn117]

Yeah so I was waitlisted at Harvard, but haven't accepted my spot on the waitlist yet. If I send in my waitlist acceptance card thing today (April 28) by regular mail will I be at a disadvantage since it probably won't arrive for a few days after May 1st or should I overnight it to make sure?

[braaap]

as a waitlistee competing with you maybekinda... I would say no sweat

As a nice human being I would say Go online and do it

[piccolojunior]

I've heard somewhere that although writing a letter can help, a school like Harvard really doesn't need students to show them "interest," as they know that an overwhelming majority of the students staying on the waitlist are more than interested in attending harvard. I think that the way they fill the waitlist is by selecting students who will make their numbers look a little more like the way they want them to look. For example, if they're severely lacking in African- American enrollment, they may target AA students in order to have a more diverse class. Same applies to gender, geographic location, and even extracurriculars.

This sounds more likely. Harvard knows that, even relying on just stats alone, if they offer you a spot the answer will most likely be "yes." Getting off the waitlist by not being at the mercy of quotas and what-have-you requires doing something notable in the spring that your app failed to include. The best examples are:

1. Qualifying for finalist standing in an individual science olympiad.

and

2. Earning a semifinalist spot in the Presidential Scholar's Program.

While even these might not be guarantees, I have heard of several cases where someone got waitlisted from an elite school, qualified for a camp, and gotten off the 'list.

[emmabelle]

just wanted to update the list


Gadli
Emmabelle (son)
didgeridoo08
Christopher546
CollegeMom08 (daughter)
ppruks
mayday
braaap
ohioguy218
dwindlelights
blueberri89
alohasam89
Remi10001
mj<3
CNI
Moonofdeath
kat41911
APLinke
aristotle1990
drnoeyedea
Wallawalla01
Smile90
Sprtn117

[dancinggirl]

Just adding my name to the list:

Gadli
Emmabelle (son)
didgeridoo08
Christopher546
CollegeMom08 (daughter)
ppruks
mayday
braaap
ohioguy218
dwindlelights
blueberri89
alohasam89
Remi10001
mj<3
CNI
Moonofdeath
kat41911
APLinke
aristotle1990
drnoeyedea
Wallawalla01
Smile90
Sprtn117
dancinggirl

[Sequoia]

Also adding name

Gadli
Emmabelle (son)
didgeridoo08
Christopher546
CollegeMom08 (daughter)
ppruks
mayday
braaap
ohioguy218
dwindlelights
blueberri89
alohasam89
Remi10001
mj<3
CNI
Moonofdeath
kat41911
APLinke
aristotle1990
drnoeyedea
Wallawalla01
Smile90
Sprtn117
dancinggirl
Sequoia (daughter)

[blueberri89]

alohasam, I heard that Columbia has a waitlist after the waitlist. (ie. first wave accepted off the wait list, or get deferred to the second wave accepted off the wait list) X: