How would Harvard know where someone has put their deposit/committed?
They did reject some people in that first wave, which I found interesting given all the uncertainty.
National student clearinghouse
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Did a lot of students get rejected in May or only a few?
No way to know exact numbers, but quite a few posts on Reddit and elsewhere with folks saying rejected.
Harvard isn’t deliberately taking students from Yale—they probably don’t even know where you sent your deposit. It just happens that the full-pay, high-stat students Harvard wants are often the same ones Yale admits, so any overlap is really just coincidence. Families who can cover the full cost can switch schools easily; students who need aid usually stay put.
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I’m sure Harvard knows that the kids most likely able to make a late and immediate switch are full pay kids. Money gives flexibility and eliminates any barriers to saying yes. They don’t want kids comparing aid packages, stressing over airline tickets purchased, etc. They want kids who will get the offer today and give a hardy “yes!” tomorrow because they have zero barriers to attending.
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Agree!! I’m sure this is a group of high achieving students too..All it takes now is a bit of luck.
If you take into account the cost of tuition at some schools and meal plan and all the other expenses, that could be 50,000 or more (or less) depending on the college. Once the deadline to pay those colleges for those expenses has passed, who (even wealthy families) can afford to just lose all that non refundable money and then pay the same amount (or more) to Harvard. Also the Bursar’s office at most universities tell you if you do t pay your tuition and semester bill by the August deadline, you begin to incur an additional penalty fee. So realistically, how long can Harvard keep people hanging on.
There are countless families who wouldn’t give it a second thought to lose the full cost of a fall semester ($50K) elsewhere in order to switch to Harvard at the last minute.
If you work in Big law or finance that is likely a rounding error to you or what you take home every 2-3 days. There are many families like this in the Harvard network.
But what benefit is it to Harvard to keep stringing everyone along. Unless they truly think this entire situation can be resolved/settled by the first day of classes (Tuesday , September 2nd at Harvard)(I don’t think anyone believes that is possible anymore with numerous political issues).
Harvard will just be fooling the International students who are hanging on and the waitlisted students. I hope Administrators and Admissions at Harvard are more caring than that and more realistic and logical than that. Even if extremely wealthy families can just walk away from losing $50,000 to another school to then lose another $50,000 to pay tuition to Harvard, the trusting person in me hopes Harvard would not stoop that low.
Of course things may be different this year, but as there are a number of posts speculating about need, timing to respond, etc:
My daughter, who came off the waitlist last year and is Class of 2028, receives financial aid.
She was given a week to decide, but didn’t receive a call - she found out via email/portal. If she hadn’t checked her email timely, it is possible she would have had only a few days left to respond.
She had committed to another wonderful school (WashU), but it was not an Ivy. Her view was that she wanted to attend college in our midwest unless it was Harvard (due to her planned concentration).
She was able to get into a pre-o after late admission, by emailing the director of that pre-o, and she had as good of a dorm placement as any of her friends.
It was a scramble to switch plans late in the game, but she loves where she’s landed. She would have also been happy at WashU, which I will always regard as the one that got away as it is such a lovely place. She would also have been happy at our state university which has a wonderful program in her area of study - she may well end up there for grad school.
Best of luck to all the waitlisters. Bloom where you are planted and love the school that loves you!
ETA: She was RD. She had no new achievements or outside awards to report in her LOCI, which was written without assistance. None of the activities in her application were costly and she did not have professional help of any kind beyond her public high school guidance department and advice gleaned online from this site and others.
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Thank you for posting this insight. That must have been a very interesting experience and I’m glad to hear that it worked out so well.
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I don’t think they’re “stringing everyone along.” They really don’t yet know if their internationals will be able to come.
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Agree. They are not stringing anybody along. They are facing unprecedented challenges from the government. And those challenges are not going away in the next few days, weeks, or even months. They are doing the best they can.
Have you guys heard of even a single student, with need, that’s gotten off the Harvard waitlist this year? I personally haven’t.
If you don’t mind sharing, did any of you apply with need?
I don’t understand the point of dragging students with need along if they’re not going to give opportunities to them.
I haven’t heard of any so far.
I agree that it isn’t stringing anyone along unless they know for sure that it can not be resolved by the first day of classes. At some point they will know, one way or the other if these issues will stretch out later than the first day of school.
Given the complexity of the legal issues, I don’t think the Court cases will be completely resolved by Sept 2nd. So, that leaves only the issue of whether there will be a complete settlement between Harvard and the Government. I believe that before Sept 2nd, Harvard will know whether they will reach an agreement/settlement with the Government.
Harvard freshmen begin arriving between August 18 and August 26, depending on their pre-orientation programs. If there are any last-minute customs or border entry issues, they likely won’t be known until mid-August. Meanwhile, many other colleges will have already started or will be starting around the same time.
It’s one thing for a late admit from the waitlist to pay double tuition; it’s another to physically move into one school only to have to move out again to attend Harvard. If Harvard doesn’t release some kind of decision or update by July 18, I think they’ll start to see many waitlisted students drop out. There’s only about a month left before the semester begins.
We already know the legal situation won’t be resolved before the school year starts. Harvard needs to realistically assess how many international students can actually show up. They already have a list of countries targeted by the Trump administration, and they’ve even advised international students not to enter through Logan Airport.
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