<p>Many pre-frosh posted about how they committed this weekend after the outpouring of support and welcome from Harvard faculty, students, and alumni. I feel like this whole thing made people more eager to attend Harvard, since they saw what a great community it’s made of.</p>
<p>The Yale Daily News has more info on the cancellation of Visitas, with better “color” than can be found in the Crimson.</p>
<p>[Canceled</a> Harvard Visitas unlikely to affect yield | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/04/23/web-yheadline-here-5/]Canceled”>Canceled Harvard Visitas unlikely to affect yield - Yale Daily News)</p>
<p>"Harvard Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William Fitzsimmons, who ran in the Boston Marathon on Monday, and other admissions officers have contacted prefrosh by phone and email. Harvard paid the hotel and meal fees for families who needed to stay the night in Boston, and the university planned to reimburse the cost of changing flights.</p>
<p>On Friday afternoon, Fitzsimmons headed to Boston Logan International Airport with other university officials to meet students and families who had just landed at the time of Harvard’s cancellation announcement. Jayshlyn Acevedo, a Harvard junior and co-coordinator of Visitas, said students at the airport quickly found one another and were able to get assistance from admissions officers.</p>
<p>“The prospective students that were either in Boston or on campus during the events on Friday were quite distraught, and those outside of Boston as well,” Acevedo said. “I’d say their safety was of great concern, as [it] was with everyone in Boston."</p>
<p>Although the cancellation leaves hundreds of prefrosh without the opportunity to see Harvard in person, experts and college counselors were confident that the cancellation will have little effect on Harvard’s yield rate — the percentage of students who accept their offers of admission — this year.</p>
<p>David Petersam, president of Virginia-based higher education consulting group AdmissionsConsultants, said he does not think the lack of a prefrosh program will significantly lower Harvard’s yield rate due to Harvard’s prestige. Though schools typically use admit weekends such as Visitas or Bulldog Days to “bring students in” and “roll out the red carpet,” he said, most prefrosh who are accepted to highly selective schools already have an idea of which school they will choose before attending the events."</p>
<p>I just read from Harvard Crimson that the second suspect Dzhokhar was once employed as a temporary lifeguard in Harvard Pool during two previous Summers. So he is familiar with Harvard and lived few blocks from the school. So Harvard did the right thing in canceling the Visitas.</p>
<p>But Visitas does have an impact in making the decision; my son had the option of Stanford and Harvard. Attending Visitas helped him to decide Harvard and he is very happy there now.</p>
<p>Our son arrived in Boston late Friday afternoon and was one of the kids put up by Harvard on Friday night. He stayed through Sunday (originally planned to return home on Monday but changed his flight with no fees) and stayed with his host on Saturday night. He had a terrific time and told us that most of the pre-Frosh found the experience incredibly unifying. Current students went out of their way to make them welcome. His impression was that kids who attended “Unofficial Visitas” were more likely to enroll. Of course, since it was officially cancelled, not everyone made it. He thought there were maybe 200 pre-Frosh around. Husband and I were very impressed by the response of the University. Go Crimson!</p>
<p>@vvm8794. I agree. Needless to say he was disappointed about Visitas cancellation but he understood. My son and 300-400 other Stanford/Harvard cross admits will be making difficult final decisions by next Tuesday. He was planning on attending Visitas last weekend and Stanford’s Admitweekend this week to compare and contrast how he would “fit” into each environment. Now he will have to improvise with just first hand knowledge of Stanford. We are hoping he will make the best choice for “him”.</p>
<p>I don’t think canceling Visitas would be the issue. It would be the adverse press from the underlying terrorist attack and lock downs. All Boston colleges could be impacted this year, even Harvard. Following the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, for example, Stanford’s yield dropped 6%. But obviously Stanford recovered and Harvard would too if it happens to experience a similar blip.</p>
<p>@EastGrad I’m going to Yale… 
best decision going! Well, it was for me anyway. I appreciate that for some people Harvard is better, Princeton is better or wherever, it’s a personal thing so I tried to go with gut feeling not quantitative stuff</p>
<p>[Admissions</a> Counselors: After Visitas Cancellation, Yield Likely Steady | News | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/4/25/yield-marathon-counselors-effect/]Admissions”>Admissions Counselors: After Visitas Cancellation, Yield Likely Steady | News | The Harvard Crimson)</p>
<p>"Despite the cancellation of Harvard’s admitted student weekend in the wake of a week of chaos following the Boston marathon bombings, admissions counselors and prospective students agree that the yield for the Class of 2017 will likely be consistent with that of years past.</p>
<p>Friday night, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 told The Crimson that “it’s absolutely impossible to know” how the cancellation of Visitas might impact the yield for the Class of 2017.</p>
<p>“This is an unprecedented event,” Fitzsimmons said, “and it’s very difficult to know how it might go.”</p>
<p>But less than a week after last Friday’s events, Michael Goran, director and educational consultant at California college counseling firm at California college counseling firm *********, said he did not think the atypical visiting weekend experience for the Class of 2017 would “make any sort of appreciable difference” on Harvard’s yield."</p>
<p>I just had a though…Last year’s yield was especially high (81%), so maybe although it might not have much difference - it will revert to trends seen over the course of years before the class of 2016?? which was a few percent lower, I believe. </p>
<p>I certainly know that certain parents and students are concerned, as Socalpapa suggested, by the adverse press surrounding Boston. But every year people will decide to go elsewhere e.g. who are cross admitted to Y/P/S and have good fin aid packages. Fit is so important so many will feel they liked the atmposphere at Princeton or Stanford better etc. and will pick that with nothing to do with events in Boston or cancelled Visitas. After all you are going to a place for 4 years - it has to feel right. </p>
<p>Many factors come into play in decision making - financial aid, fit etc. so its very difficult to tell. I think however it will be interesting to see what happens! What do current pre frosh think? No doubt many are disappointed not to get the chance to compare it directly to other universities and their activity weekends?</p>