<p>Hello, all! Here is an informative article with information on when we should hear. <a href=“College Admissions Blog | Ivy Coach Blog”>http://theivycoach.com/the-ivy-coach-blog/</a></p>
<p>@lahore97 now just sit and wait for your acceptance letter
congrats in advance</p>
<p>I am literally so scared…</p>
<p>@Jewwlioonn what? No email? But why? At least the 11th is the right date 
thnx for letting us know, appreciate it 
@Memmsmom you and ur daughter are right. We all did our best and now it’s up to them! Thank you once again 
3 DAYS 2 HOURS 50 MINUTES!!! 8-} </p>
<p>Hahaah what do you mean? 
@house17</p>
<p>15th November. @MissDianaKhr </p>
<p>@PcollegegirlP I know it’s so weird! Those poor souls who don’t go on collegeconfidential… Boy are they in for a surprise on Thursday! </p>
<p>Wait, so the date is for certain?</p>
<p>@Jewwlioonn Haha yes I totally agree! They will just be blown away with the email! Anyway, hope u all the best!
@galecollege yes it’s pretty much for certain! Everybody who called was given this date! 11th at 5:00 </p>
<p>@PcollegegirlP Alright thanks! I wish you (and everyone else) the best of luck!</p>
<p>Boy, am I nervous. I missed school today because of stress!</p>
<p>I seriously am spending my time in class on here now XD
@galecollege I am doing the same thing except on Thursday… and Friday! I couldn’t imagine being at school while my decision comes in- too much stress! </p>
<p>@galecollege wish u all the best too!
BTW saw an amazing dream of Harvard, it was so cooool lol! :'D
I can’t believe that the day we have all been waiting for so long is just around the corner! It seems so surreal…</p>
<p>To all my fellow soon-to-be deferred/rejected brethren (and sistren). Take heart! The following, in answer to the question “What is Harvard really like?” was posted on Quora on July 28th by a member of the class of 2014.</p>
<p>Harvard is a very extreme place. You go there and everyone is extremely smart, extremely driven, extremely focused on attaining their goals. It is so extreme that it can become scary sometimes. When you have a bunch of people with high intelligence, but who are not necessarily mature or moral, you can get some pretty nasty results (that’s how you get so many insecure, bright students going into Wallstreet to make a lot of money even though it’s screwing everyone else over).</p>
<p>Even the clubs are extreme. You don’t just write for the newspaper. You have to go through a semester long competitive process to be selected into the Crimson. And after that, if you want to do well in the Crimson, you have to work your ass off and neglect your studies to be considered a true trooper. Kids here consider their extracurriculars a job. All social interactions have some sort of shady networking pre-professional slime to them. </p>
<p>A lot of students are really full of themselves. They spend all their time climbing the ladders of success and trying to win everything. Everyone is super busy all the time. You have to arrange lunches with your friends about two weeks in advance.</p>
<p>Harvard is not the type of place where you backstab your friend, but if your friend fell in a race, you would keep on running and not bend down to help. Students, for the most part, are only interested in their own benefit and will do things that look good, rather than things that are good.</p>
<p>But then again, there is the other extreme too. There are people who come to Harvard, not because of legacy or money, but because they are genuinely interested in the truth. I’ve met people who are so gifted at their focus, whether it’s poetry, writing comic books, musical composition, or biomedical research, and they work on these things night and day. They thrive in the guidance of their professors, and I have faith that they will make a meaningful contribution someday. I try to stick to those people.</p>
<p>If you ask any student what they think about Harvard, most will say that they hate it, but that they found a great group of friends who keep them sane. Those who really really really love the place have some serious mental problems–either in that they are super disingenuous or are psychopaths, or are there really only to network and join the super elite circles of final clubs and whatnot.</p>
<p>Harvard is still a very elite place. You will feel out of place if you are anything but a white male. You will feel a bit uncomfortable if you come from a normal middle class family, because bit by bit you see just how much money your fellow peers have.</p>
<p>You will realize that Harvard doesn’t care about you. Professors have office hours, yes, and they say to come, but their heart is not into it. Everyone at Harvard is there for their own benefit, for their research and for advancing their careers. Occasionally you will find professors who genuinely care, but they are the exception.</p>
<p>I knew going into Harvard that it wouldn’t be easy, that Mother Harvard does not coddle. And I was right. It has been hard as hell. And it’s sad to learn the truth about Harvard. But truth does make you stronger, and I would not be as strong as I am today if I didn’t gain these hard lessons from my undergrad years.</p>
<p>^^ I hadn’t read that before. FWIW: I think that’s a very accurate depiction. My daughter, who is a super-senior, graduates Phi Beta Kappa in two weeks. She just had her Mid-Year Graduation Ceremony last Friday, turned in her thesis, has two more exams to go . . . and then she’s done! At the ceremony, after the Dean of the College spoke, a student speaker took the stage. His speech compared his experience at Harvard to that of Dante’s Inferno – both were hell. Yes, that was the topic of his speech! My son, who is a senior at Yale and came to support his sister, turned to me and said “I don’t think you’ll be hearing that at my graduation ceremony.” But there were many knowing nods and even applause from the graduates and the Dean. Harvard is Harvard. It’s not a perfect place and it’s not for everyone. Be careful what you wish for, as you just may get. Best of luck to everyone!</p>
<p>I’d like to post a few comments from Harvard students on My-Ngoc’s rant against Harvard:</p>
<p>Catherine Gu:</p>
<p>I have to say that while a lot of points in this comment ring true, I really think the experience she paints is overly negative. I loved Harvard, not unconditionally, but I would go back and repeat my undergrad experience if I could, and I don’t think I’m a sociopath or a chronic networker. Just to address a few points that My-Ngoc brought up --</p>
<p>Professors - I don’t know if I was just lucky, but I honestly felt like most of my Professors cared to the extreme on how their students were doing and that they were getting the most they could out of the class. Although as a caveat, this mostly isn’t true for the introductory classes for each major. I had professors and TFs who met me on their own time when I couldn’t make office hours, working with me for hours to make sure I understood concepts or to let me bounce ideas off of them for my papers.</p>
<p>Clubs - Yes, the clubs are extreme and many of them, when you commit fully are as strenuous and time-consuming as a full time job. However, this was one of the aspects I found most rewarding. I was never incredibly involved in my high school extracurriculars, so to come to Harvard and be involved really pushed me to my limits. Yes, there were times I wanted to scream and break things, but at the end, I learned invaluable lessons about teamwork and leadership, and made connections that will last beyond my years at Harvard. Again, as a caveat, I was only on the board for one extracurricular, and I dedicated my time to this single club. I see friends involved with many clubs at the same time, and while I admire their multi-tasking abilities and drive, I have no idea how they have the time and energy to do so many extracurriculars and not have a mental breakdown.</p>
<p>The type of people at Harvard - “Harvard is not the type of place where you backstab your friend, but if your friend fell in a race, you would keep on running and not bend down to help.” This is one of the points I find makes me the most sad, because I can believe that the author really believes it. But I have fallen multiple times in the rat race that is Harvard, and every single time, my friends or mentors or advisors were there to pick me back up and dust me off. There are people who will be there for you no matter what, but you need to put in the effort to make those connections, as in you also need to commit to picking those people up when they fall as well.</p>
<p>Wealth and Elitism - Can’t argue about this point. But do you really want to be hanging out in that crowd anyway? Not that that’s an excuse for it to exist. Harvard could definitely do much, much better on this point. That I totally agree with.</p>
<p>My-Ngoc is also right about the fact that Mother Harvard does not coddle. She will kick you in the ass and then kick you again when you’re down. But in the end, it’s all worth it for the skills you acquire, the things that you learn, and the friends and mentors that you make.</p>
<p>Last one, and then I promise to stop!! (I find these fascinating)</p>
<p>Naomi Himmelhoch Tiscione:</p>
<p>Here’s a tip: Don’t start to develop a mental illness at Harvard. Which just happens to be attended by 100s of people who are at the exact age at which most people’s mental illness begins to present. Don’t expect the psychiatrists to think of you as more than a spoiled brat. Don’t think asking for help in the first place will get you anywhere, for that matter. Trying to be pro-active annoys UHS.</p>
<p>Seriously, if this is happening to you, please go for care outside of the University, don’t waste your time with UHS.</p>
<p>How many times did I hear I wasn’t depressed, just upset at my boyfriend/ that I didn’t have a boyfriend, if only I would admit it? From board-certified psychiatrists? Let’s just say, it shouldn’t even have been once.</p>
<p>I am aware that I didn’t have the typical experience. Although it is an experience that is far less atypical than many would like to believe, and than Harvard is willing to admit. My Jr. year, 5 students committed suicide, one by jumping out of Mather Tower. Another jumped off a building in Manhattan. Another starved himself to death. That was also the year I was stalked by a student with schizophrenia. He ended up in McCleans. One of my friends was hospitalized after a psychotic break, and one of my housemates set her dorm furniture on fire.</p>
<p>Given that it is not as rare as Harvard pretends, it is too bad it don’t provide better care for the many, many mentally ill students that attend.</p>
<p>I did make friends at Harvard that I am still close to. Others have died, and I miss them dearly. I learned a lot academically in spite of myself, although my grades were abysmal. I’m a white Jew (I don’t practice), but was involved in mostly Asian culture and political organizations because of my concentration. And that shaped my further involvement in civil rights’
work. But, oddly, most of my friends were black (yes, I am that white girl who sits at “Black Tables”).</p>
<p>The world of garden parties and finals clubs had zero impact on me. I thought it was funny that it was so important to people that they got in.</p>
<p>My father went to Harvard exactly 25 years before I did, and he had the time of his life. He goes back for reunions, and special events. Not as much now that he is older, but throughout his adult life. He hated the med school, though.</p>
<p>This is certainly an interesting discussion ^
This is why I signed up on collegeconfidential.</p>
<p>@PcollegegirlP I can’t believe it either. I am honestly so excited, yet so nervous, and so anxious! It’s such a weird combination of feelings - kind of like a different type of Christmas.</p>
<p>It’s really good to hear all of this. Hopefully I’ll now be less devastated about a deferral/rejection!</p>
<p>@calliemoon11 Hey, whatever helps, ya know?</p>