wait if you’re saying that visas are easier now wouldn’t that mean that more intl students can come now and less chances of waitlist?
my thoughts exactly
I don’t think it’s just the slow processing of visas, it’s also the funding thats been taken away from Harvard. I would assume that some of this would be in relation to Harvard’s ability to provide you (the prospective admit) reasonable finacial aid.
This all makes sense why Harvard taking so long to decide. I’m sure they want to keep international student enrollment high enough and so if they can find waitlist students who managed to get a visa, seems that fulfills a primary need.
To those international students, did Harvard ever give a hard deadline to defer?
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I wouldn’t say that for sure, because while I was reading, someone mentioned that the referral deadline was July 31, so we’re now past that point. That likely means that any international students who were accepted by Harvard but unable to get visas in time have already withdrawn their applications or deferred. That leaves waitlisted students as the only remaining group Harvard could consider, and I would assume a large portion of us are international, especially since Harvard couldn’t admit everyone originally. I also heard that move-in day has been pushed to August 28, whereas in previous years it was usually around August 20 or 21. Maybe they’re trying to buy more time before classes begin to see how the situation unfolds. They simply cannot begin the semester with a class that’s too small, and this delay might be a way for them to figure out how to fill those remaining spots.
I’m still on the waitlist for Harvard but I’m not an international student. Are you predicting that most of the students on the waitlist are international students who already have Visas?
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In the same boat as you but I doubt Harvard had the information on who has or has no visa last time they shaped the waitlist. But I’m just as confused as everyone at this point 
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So did Harvard give the waitlisted international students a deadline to withdraw too? Otherwise how do they know who (on the WL) already obtained the visa?
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At this point, all international admits are doing everything they can to secure visa stamps. CBS News (Boston) has reported widespread delays: some students have already made it to campus, while others have had their interviews pushed back to 8/12. As Medhi29 noted, Harvard is buying time until it knows exactly how many internationals can arrive by the 8/28 move-in date. I don’t expect a wait-list wave this week; the earliest likely window is late next week (around 8/15), by which point most of us will be heading to our committed schools. If you’re truly “Harvard or bust,” keep your fingers crossed - Harvard is still doing everything it can to bring in as many international admits as possible. Harvard doesn’t want to over-enroll, but it can’t risk under-enrolling either, so it will wait for a clearer headcount. Given that, full-pay domestic applicants probably have the strongest odds.
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Hmm. I find this odd because I know of 6 people (myself included) who are still waitlisted from Harvard but not international. I’m not exactly sure about the international to domestic student ratio on the waitlist. Is there a way to gauge the amount of internationals on the waitlist?
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If the move-in day is scheduled for August 28th, when would orientation be? Isn’t that also important to attend?
Well, course registration for incoming students is Aug 12-14. I’ve gotta think there should be some closure for us by this weekend.
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Harvard College [Deadline to Pay Fall Tuition and Fees.]
Fri, Aug 15, 2025 11:59pm
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That probably doesn’t apply to WL admits.
Tuition deadline, maybe, but I don’t think they are going to reopen course registration just for waitlisted admits. Harvard also needs time for those WL admits to respond and put in a deposit (and who knows, maybe even go back to the waitlist if they didn’t secure who they wanted). I just don’t see how they would wait till next week for most. I think this week is it. Gulp.
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Timeline wise, I agree with you. I have always expected later this week.
Then in that case, they probably made the move-in day later for both international and domestic students. Domestic students also need time to make travel plans, communicate to their committed school, etc. Compared to previous years, the waitlist has been open later than usual, so it makes sense for them to push the move-in day. This doesn’t guarantee that they’re only doing this because of international students
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There is not going to be closure.
The government is now firing people who report bad economic news.
The government will renege on all the “deals.”
Even if there is temporary closure, whatever is closed will be reopened.
I would look for closure in other areas of life.
Yeah if you think about the possibility that they’re gonna revoke all the Harvard I-20s eventually (it’s a real possibility), it doesn’t make sense for Harvard to take more internationals from the WL. But what do I know🤣
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Well, it’s partially true since even if Harvard did not take into consideration international students, they are still taking a huge risk up to to this day because there are still no guarantee that even committed international students who already have their visa could enter the United States without being denied entry by DHS with everything that is still going on in court that is why I think they’re pushing it as far as they can for both domestic and international students to have enough time to manage the risks because international students will be taking jump of faith by withdrawing their application from their current schools to fly out to Boston and risk being denied entry to the United States