I visited Harvard, liked it, and will probably end up applying, but I think that it has less of a personality than a lot of other schools. Penn has its preprofessionalism, Columbia has its Core in a big city, UChicago has its intellectualism, MIT has a lot of things that go along with being a big, bustling mass of interesting, tech-focused students. The way I see it, Harvard is sort of the ultimate liberal arts school… but it doesn’t even have the campy, happy fun of Yale! It’s a great place, and I think a lot of people would be /delighted/ to go to Harvard on here, but I think it’s hard to feel like Harvard is a fit for you, whatever that might mean, when it is this conglomeration of so many different things.
Guys, if you all want to go to med you should go to my high school, it’s literally for pre-med. alas, i want to study econ tho LMAO
and yeah honestly, i like harvard’s personality and homey feel, maybeeee apply SCEA?
@Cece0499 I am! I definitely need to study math more, though.
@Studious99 I want to apply, but I feel like it’s just too impractical to be a dream school, you know? No matter your stats, it’s a lottery.
My dream is UC Berkeley, UPenn, or UMich. I’m surprised nobody mentioned Berkeley yet.
My dream school for a long time was Georgetown because I wish to major in International Relations but when I visited the campus I absolutely hated it. I felt extremely claustrophobic throughout the entire tour but perhaps this is because there was a considerable amount of construction under way throughout the campus.
How did you guys schedule campus visits?
@DuelingGloves That’s good to know! I want to study IR, too, but I probably won’t be able to go to campus.
@studeam the surrounding area was gorgeous though! Georgetown is a beautiful neighborhood. Like I said, I visited during construction during the summer so I’m sure the campus gives a very different vibe when class is in session and there is no construction. If you have any further questions, please let me know! I’ll try to give as in depth as a description as I can. Definitely do not want to deter anyone from such an amazing institution by my silly emotions!
@Cece0499 I knew that I would be driving up the East Coast so about a month or two before so I simply searched “[college of choice] campus tour and information session”, most colleges offer a non-binding scheduling a few months before. However, for many there was no list and walk-ins were welcome.
I haven’t gone on a single college visit yet. All the good schools near me are closed for the holidays.
@neoking Harvard has actually been my ideal school for a while. The reason behind it I have no freakin idea. Ill just let Harvard be a fantasy in my head though lmao… :">
@Cece0499 @neoking The media and culture of American society leads us to view Harvard as the ultimate education. When you’re a reasonably smart kid and you hear adults talk about Harvard, or hear the name Harvard on TV or in the news, it makes subconsciously set a goal to go there.
Also, as Americans we have the belief that anyone can be anything if they work hard enough, so we come up through our education constantly asking “How can I reach my goal of going to Harvard? If I do X, Y, and Z I can get in. It’s all about how hard I work.” Since there is no “magic formula” to make it to Harvard, or any other elite school for that matter, there are a ton of factors that come into play in admissions decisions, which I don’t pretend to understand at all.
@Studious99 100% agreed. In fact, now that you actually mentioned it, I realized that Harvard was my dream school when I started high school (probably even before then). I did a bit more research, however, and found other schools that I probably like more. That’s probably the case with most people on this site.
In the end, I still have way more research to do, and I might apply there after all.
Stanford! I love everything about it! Why did I have to fall in love with it?
Next year, I’m probably going to be eating a tub of ice cream, moping over my rejection :((
My dream school would be Duke but I probably won’t get into there since it’s like super reach. I’m visiting UVa soon, which is my number 1 school even though it’s a little bit of a reach 
I really don’t care what college I go to as long as it’s a target school for Wall Street
@athenanv13 how can you possibly get into Stanford when you’re already thinking about your rejection? Lol be more positive… I think you’ve got a lot to offer to Stanford’s Class of 2021 
My dream is Princeton. A lot of my friends go there, and they keep telling me about all the amazing professors and students there. And the campus is so amazing.
I love northwestern and I’m probably going to ED there regardless of grades/trivial because of legacy and I really love it. I should start buying Kleenex though
My dream school used to be Stanford; now it’s Brown. At this point I might even turn down Stanford for Brown (though let’s be real I’m not getting into either of them).
Is anyone else tired of doing what’s expected of them? My school is super cutthroat and I feel like I’m so behind because I’m not the president of 4000 clubs and I’m 1-2 AP classes behind others and I didn’t start gunning for internships when I was a freshman. I do band and that’s pretty much it for school ECs since my family only has one car that’s legally drivable (and my parents won’t let me ask for rides; they’re kind of weird) so I have to take the bus every day.
Funny thing is, my school is actually pretty bad at placing people into HYPSM et al. (even though a lot of people apply). Nobody got in early this year and I can only think of 2-3 people that got in last year.
It’s annoying to tell someone your test scores and then they say “That’s amazing! You should apply to insert any HYPSM” then I have to explain that no test score can get anyone into that school and I have a very slim chance as an unhooked middle class white suburban kid who hasn’t gotten a patent/managed a startup/written several books.