OP here. So this was the point of the thread. “Did (does) an ultra-competitive environment create that kind of person? If so, I was in trouble.Were they representative of what the combination of success, supposed intellectual superiority and privilege did to people? Would my own ego inflate to outsized proportions dragging the “My-name-is-Kate-and-I-went-to- Harvard” moniker behind me the rest of my life?” <—That was the question I had for myself at seventeen. Would going there do that to me? It wasn’t about my interviewers. It wasn’t even about Harvard.
Sorry I find this post disturbing or perhaps just silly. I think, as I think you are implying, it was about you, and the fragility of your identity at that time.
There are great young people at Harvard, and some who seem arrogant or jaded or whatever- just as there are anywhere. A school culture shouldn’t change who you are: you can always find your people.
These days Harvard is diverse in every way, and the incredible financial aid policy allows for some of that diversity. Your post about 30 years ago is barely relevant since the composition of the classes has changed so much.
I really get tired of the Harvard bashing. It’s not fair to characterize a school based on two people and I am sorry you made the choice for that reason. There are plenty of reasons not to go to Harvard (do you like snow?) but your reason was immature and a bit naïve.
That said, my son chose a school based on a game of Nerf guns in the dorms and at another school was impressed the tour guide had keys. My son loves keys. Yes he was immature and his reasons were his own.
Let it go!
Regarding the point of the thread, “did the competitive environment” of Harvard cause the interviewers to be unpleasant and unempatheic people? Presumably this couple had lots of life experiences and environmental influences. That the Harvard environment was solely responsible for their behavior doesn’t occur to the reader and surely the interviewee would not have known either.
“P.S. Check your dates about when these schools started their women’s water polo teams before writing your next essay.”
When did women’s water polo start at Harvard, @al2simon?
“…dragging the “My-name-is-Kate-and-I-went-to- Harvard” moniker behind me the rest of my life?”
So instead you are dragging the “My-name-is-Kate-and-I-rejected-Harvard” moniker behind you the rest of your life. Or if not for the rest of your life at least for the past 30 years. Someone who takes excessive pride in having gone to Harvard and someone who takes excessive pride in having rejected Harvard are two sides of the same coin. We see both kinds from time to time here on CC.
Why don’t you tell us about where you DID go and how that affected you? Cal is a great school. Go Bears!
Which “University of California” did you decide to attend?
I find it strange to think that alumni [sic] interviewers would ever say to an applicant that “you are not [X University] material.” Alumni interviewers don’t have access to SAT scores and high school transcripts. This whole scenario sounds like something out of Risky Business. FYI I have no connection to Harvard and no interest in defending it.
What I had suspected (and Google confirmed) was that Princeton and Brown didn’t start their varsity women’s water polo squads until the late 1990’s … 20 years ago at most.
But a little bird told me later that the women organized their own WP club teams and competed - paying for a lot of stuff out of their own pockets.
Bottom line, I take the OP completely at her word.
@NJSue - The Harvard alumni interviewers might have had access to SAT and GPA information, depending on the practice of the local alumni club organizing the interviews. When my daughters interviewed the local Harvard club (not the school itself) sent out a sort of mini-application form that they asked the interviewees to fill out and bring with them - to give a interviewers some kind of summary idea of what kind of a student they were talking to. And as I recall it did ask the student to state test scores and overall GPA (not full or official transcripts).
What I find more unlikely are the rude statements by the interviewers. Especially the wife asking how the OP even got granted an interview - because Harvard makes a huge effort to interview EVERY student who applies regardless of their qualifications. I suppose it’s possible that the interviewers could have been that rude, but in all my years of taking kids to interviews I never encountered any interviewer from ANY school, including Harvard, who was anything other than very kind, gracious, and polite. They are always very eager to make a positive impression for their school. They might ask challenging questions, but that’s very different from being rude and insulting.
Harvard is also a need-blind/meets-full-need school, so it’s unlikely that the OP would have had “astronomical school loans,” even if she didn’t get an athletic scholarship.
^^It wasn’t always that way. My friend’s daughter wanted to go to Harvard, dreamed of Harvard, really focused everything in her life on that goal. Her parents were working class, not a ton of money but comfortable and this was their youngest. She applied and got into Harvard but got a full ride to MIT. She also turned down Harvard and it was a tough decision but she would have had loans and other unmet expenses if she had stuck with the Harvard offer.
The OP doesn’t say if the loans would have been because her parents made too much to qualify for full tuition but hadn’t saved enough and thus she would have had to take a loan. Since she said she’d traveled for her sport and gone to an academically superior high school, I’d guess she wasn’t low income. Many athletes at the D1 level do have to decide if they’d like the athletic scholarships or the Ivy league.
The above from the OP.
Nice piece of writing…not sure I see the point in it.
Financial aid policies were very different in the early 1980s.
We have to remember Harvard is just a name and Harvard University is just a school. It doesn’t confer greatness. It doesn’t mean you’re smarter than anyone else. It doesn’t mean it’s the best. It’s just one among many places to learn.
I worked in Harvard Square in the mid 1980s after graduating from the poor cousin across the river, Boston U. Most of my workmates were Harvard grads. Mostly pretty nice people. One whom was my closest work friend, even made fun of the reputation. He would make up a snobby accept when people asked him what college he had attended and say “Hahvad…have you heard of it ?”. He was totally joking and having fun with the silly reputation. They had and have a diverse group of people.
That said, I can see how frustrating it might be for those alumni interviewers.
I have a neighbor who is a Princeton alumni interviewer. He was very frustrated at being
asked to interview a Lacrosse star who was clearly getting in regardless of the interview.
He did almost the same, told the kid “you better study all summer with tutors and get ready,
because you are not ready for Princeton academics”. He gave a NO vote to the adcom, and
of course, the kid got in anyway. To those who studied there way into and out of such a school,
can be frustrating to see such admits. That said, the athletes add the very type of diversity needed.
These superstars are also a very small portion of the athletes. My own son just went through this.
You need the grades. Harvard and Caltech coaches were interested in my son, but made it very clear,
the grades have to be there… Very few exceptions where totally unqualified kids get in. No reason
for such an attitude to be presented.
PS I did tell my son he should not be automatically in love with the Harvard name.
He wanted to study engineering, so I steered him away, Harvard has a small, young engineering program. He could do better, I told him. He did not apply. But I wouldn’t have been totally against the idea, just another college with smart kids (though I do like the campus more than most 
Well, actually, Harvard is a very elite institution and it is one of the best universities in the world. It’s not just a “name” and it’s not just a “school.” Is it the only place worth attending? Of course not. But the need to “reject” and diminish it bespeaks a certain insecurity. Most people love their alma mater and define themselves by it, not where they “might have gone.” Why bother at this point unless it is still a sore one?
Quite obvious that the OP’s post is a bit of creative writing. Next time, do scrupulous research on your topic so that your story rings true to those who were around during the time period. Or, write about something that happened long ago that no one can question…probably a lot easier.
What a croc. I am so sick of this kind of nonsense.
Many athletic recruits are receiving likely letter before the alumni interview.
Alumni interviewers usually know that the applicant is an athlete who was offered a likely letter but they do not know his/her academic qualifications. Why would they give this applicant a hard time? The typical behavior would be to talk their school up to make sure that the recruit would not switch to a rival institution. Such nonsense.
I lot of people reject Ivys not just by withdrawing their application but by rejecting the acceptance letter. I don’t know what you want people to say