Harvard Waitlist Thread 2029

I think only Princeton matters in the example as if you’re on Harvard’s WL, most likely you also have offers from other elite schools.

To add, many schools have housing contracts if cancelled you’d have to pay additional fees.

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i agree that harvard should ideally let us know this week. since they said by mid july, maybe it’s some this week and all notified by next? who knows. also, my interviewer said they sometimes also take ppl off as late as august

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did anyone else call and ask ab next wave? the person on my call said potentially this week??

I have not called but I read online that historically Harvard does another wave for waitlist students closer to mid July. I hope it is sooner rather than later.

where did you read this?

My child attends a private boarding school and there are plenty of kids there who would double pay for the fall semester if they got into Harvard last minute. Several of them are on the waitlist.
This is not us (we don’t have this money) but many families do. Harvard will be able to fill spots even if they don’t release them until the last week of August.

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Exactly — even though legacy or full-pay students may not have an advantage at this stage of college admissions, they’re often the ones who can afford to wait until the very end. Plenty of students have been admitted to Ivy League schools as late as August!

If Harvard’s political issues aren’t resolved do you foresee just a few spots here and there opening or do you think it could open for all who are currently on the waitlist. I have no idea how many are still in the list. A

I’m guessing there are about 20–30 spots left for roughly 1,000 waitlisted students. At this stage, not everyone has an equal shot. Admissions is likely focused on filling specific institutional needs—like a musician who plays a particular instrument, an athlete in a specific sport, or someone who fits a targeted demographic or regional profile. They might also give priority to someone who recently won a major international award. Just my opinion.

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100-200 students.

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You previously guessed only 100-400 people remaining on the waitlist. So pretty much everyone will get off? I hope it’s true lol!

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the main people who were taken off in the past waves were students who could fill institutional needs.

This is my guess if they continue having international issues.

Which they are as the admin subpoenaed them today.

I heard about that subpoena on the news today. I wonder if the negotiations between Harvard and the Government are continuing or have broken down. Do you think at some point if a settlement will not be imminent and will take even longer than expected, Harvard will either notify all affected parties to defer a year/seek alternative schools for next year or provide some updated guidance so people can figure out where they stand.

https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5391630-trump-administration-harvard-accreditation-mcmahon/

Not sure if Harvard is willing to take the risk of over enrollment by taking more people off the waitlist before knowing political/legal outcome in certainty.

They don’t have an option. The outcome is going to take weeks, time in which they dont have.

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At some point, it would be better for everyone if Harvard at least took a realistic assessment of whether the situation is likely to settle before the first day of school. If they can look at the situation and honestly see that it will take longer than Sept 1st (or whenever the start date is) to realistically be able to settle, then it would seem more feasible to be honest to everyone about that likelihood. This way, foreign students can make a better guess and estimate of how to proceed, rather than hanging on for something Harvard realistically won’t be able to solve in time. Also it would give waitlist students and foreign students some much needed clarity for the year. Also it will be guaranteed income to Harvard from waitlisted students who can accept their placement at Harvard and stand ready to pay because they haven’t paid tuition and housing, etc., elsewhere. I make no judgment or comment on whether or not what is happening is good or bad politically, I’m simply hypothesizing that it would be fairer to all the affected parties if Harvard would take a real assessment of whether it can work out the issues or not before the school year starts and provide a game plan to all ASAP.

yes i totally agree. they should at this point make a call and stick with it. this going back and forth will just get them caught up for too long

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Can I ask how you came up with that estimate?

If we assume roughly 300 spots were for international students and half defer or don’t come, that means most on the waitlist have a very good chance to get in.

But if the waitlist started at 1000-2000, seems aggressive to think it is down to 100-200? Why would so many people drop off knowing the situation that currently exists