<p>@calliemoon11 mine is still open. I would assume they will be closing it soon, or not closing it at all.</p>
<p>@calliemoon11 I think so… But maybe they might close tomorrow? 
Or maybe sometime later on today… Or maybe they have a new system and they don’t close portals anymore?
Idk this is getting more and more nerve wrecking lol :-SS </p>
<p>There’s really no need to close the portal though… They don’t have to read anything that comes in after decisions are made anyway. Why is the portal a big deal to everyone? </p>
<p>My dad is a software engineer and when I told him the portals would close near decision day he was confused. He said that shouldn’t be required anymore with today’s software. So I am assuming the new updates to Harvard’s admissions website that happened last year eliminated the need to close the portal.</p>
<p>So don’t worry, decisions should still come out on Thursday</p>
<p>@youngster9 thank you! 
</p>
<p>Did you all have your interviews guys? </p>
<p>Because i feel so crappy about bringing up some potentially unpleasant topics about Harvard (and dampening enthusiasm on this thread) I wanted to post some other answers about Harvard life posted by H students on Quora. These are a lot more fun and make me want to get in so badly it’s actually physically painful.</p>
<p>In answer to: “What are some particularly awkward things that can happen to people at Harvard?”</p>
<p>Arvin Chang (graduated Magna is C.S., 2 credits shy of Masters in CS):</p>
<p>Things I can experienced that I can remember off the top of my head:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>H-Bombing someone… H-Bombing someone is the moment you tell some you go to Harvard… and then you can actually see their eyes widen in shock and have them mentally re-organize their entire perception about you around that fact. It is much worse for girls talking to guys who don’t go to Harvard or some similar school like Stanford or another Ivy League. It also leads to weird conversations like having someone say “I never imagined Harvard people eating at Taco Bell” (after we on our way home from a snowboarding trip). We asked where should Harvard people eat, the person replied “Actually, I never imagined that Harvard people ate.”</p></li>
<li><p>Dormcest - this probably typically of smaller schools (each class is only 1600 students) … but having multiple permutations of couples among the same group of friends over time. Bunkcest is particularly bad… when bunkmates end up switching partners.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>2b. So dorm rooms at Harvard are really small, and typically one person sleeps in the living room (aka the walkthrough). We setup screens and stuff… but if you get up at the night to go to the bathroom… and your roommate is with someone… you need to make a lot of noise getting up… then walk to the bathroom and back pretending nothing is out of the ordinary. (Sock on the door doesn’t really work when 5 people are sharing a suite).</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Having someone from China visit Harvard… and being Chinese, having them ask you where the president of the Chinese Student Association lives so they can have their picture taken with him.</p></li>
<li><p>Having a student complain about the assigned reading… only to discover the professor wrote that book.</p></li>
<li><p>Having Taboo of Black Eyed Peas (they did a concert at Harvard) hit on your girlfriend… while standing next to her. To be fair, it turns out he hit on pretty much every girl there (it was an after-party thrown by a Harvard dance group).</p></li>
<li><p>Sitting at a dining table with my friends where Natalie Portman and her friends sat to our immediate right (she lived in my dorm) and having someone from another group of people my left try to crowbar himself into the conversation she was in.</p></li>
<li><p>When Jonathan Taylor Thomas can to Harvard… apparently some of the other student were his fans. My roommate Soman Chainani was the editor of the Arts section of the paper and when it became known that “JTT” was thinking about joining the school newspaper… my roommate had to actually deal with some JTT fans. He describe one memorable applicant who "with upper lip slightly trembling… pulled out a keychain that said “JTT” on it.</p></li>
<li><p>Having someone ask for a ride to go snowboarding, only to show up a few days later in a brand new car with plastic wrap still covering the chairs saying his paper bought him a car when they found out he was going snowboarding. Turns out his parents, last name “Bich,” own Bic World (as in Bic pens). To be fair the car was a modest compact SUV (a CRV or RAV4) and even he drove up some other people as well (few people at Harvard have cars… so we are always were recruiting drivers).</p></li>
<li><p>Having Ringo Starr’s nephew, USE the fact that’s he’s Ringo Starr’s nephew to hit one of my sophomore roommate who was male and straight.</p></li>
<li><p>Having John Lithgow being visibly drunk at the Arts First Festival (he was grand marshall).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>John Nick, Cataloged rare books at the Houghton Library. Houghton also gave me my first solo curatorship and my first “author” listing.</p>
<p>I had just begun working in the rare book and manuscript library at Harvard. I was 23, it was my dream job, and I was terrified of screwing it up. My worst fear seemed to come true within the first month.</p>
<p>My father back in Minnesota has a habit of showing up for a visit without calling ahead, and wouldn’t be deterred by a 1500-mile drive. He has an unmissable shock of straight white hair, and one afternoon I saw the top of his head moving past the top of my cubicle.</p>
<p>My mind raced. “How had he gotten into our secure workspace?” “How soon before he caused a scene?” “How can I possibly avoid being fired?”</p>
<p>By the time I got around my cubicle he was thirty feet ahead, strolling away from me through the manuscript section like he owned the place. Luckily no one else was there to see him.</p>
<p>I tried catching up without breaking into a sprint, but by the time I got through manuscripts he’d already turned a corner and disappeared through the door to the hallway.</p>
<p>Out I followed but the hall was empty. Just as panic set in I noticed the door of the men’s room swinging shut. I dashed in and there he was with his back to me, standing at a urinal.</p>
<p>“Dad! What are you doing here?”</p>
<p>He slowly turned his head and said, “That should be obvious, but I certainly hope I’m not your father.”</p>
<p>It was John Updike.</p>
<p>We had a laugh about it. I didn’t get fired. I stayed for four incredible years, but never again made the mistake of thinking John Updike was my dad.</p>
<p>@Regurge01 it’s okay! U didn’t do it intentionally …and u don’t need to feel crappy about it! all’s good, don’t feel bad…
@MissDianaKhr I had mine! Did u?</p>
<p>Extradition, I don’t know why you thought your interview went badly, what subject you applied for or what your stats were, but there are a lot of people who thought their interviews went badly- and who were offered places.And vice-versa- people who thought it went brilliantly, and didn’t get offers. And every possible combination therein. It is really impossible to tell. Fwiw, I do know a fair few people who got turned down by LSE and got offers from Oxford. I also know somebody who was rejected after interview from Oxford, and went on to graduate from Yale, Summa, last year (now doing a Masters at Cambridge he he). </p>
<p>And this: more than pretty much any other school you have applied to it, a rejection would not be a statement about your relative scholastic ability, but more about fit: does the tutorial system work well for you?</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>@PcollegegirlP No, I didn’t, that’s why I’m worrying :(( </p>
<p>@MissDianaKhr don’t worry… Lots of applicants are admitted without interviews! I know it’s hard not to worry, but worrying won’t really fix anything!
Also you are from Ukraine, if I remember correctly, and Ukraine is one of the countries with limited interviews! It is very likely that an interviewer wasn’t available! Don’t stress over it, all shall be fine. Two days left, u can do it ;)</p>
<p>@PcollegegirlP omg thanks so much) You’ve made me feel better! btw, you’re so nice to all the people around.
How can you keep calm and not stress out? Share with us your secret, please ;
</p>
<p>people like @PcollegegirlP deserve Harvard. </p>
<p>@missdianaKhr Ask your friends about their college stress and try to help them! then you won’t be thinking about yourself.</p>
<p>@nomatterwhat strongly agree ^^^</p>
<p>@oxoxhawja3xoxo thanks, pretty good idea. I really appreciate your help </p>
<p>@shanethesemi That’s my financial situation exactly… Mid upper class enough to really not merit any scholarship whatsoever, yet not comfortable enough to be able to pay the tuition (my parents agreed to $15k/year, and any more wouldn’t be feasible financially). Did you find any good scholarships? :(</p>
<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>I just saw my alumni interviewer, who lives in my town and is an active member of the community, as well as still is an active member of the Harvard community (his daughter went there too), and he mentioned that he had been told that decisions would be released on Thursday @ 5 EST, so I’m officially convinced</p>
<p>Duke and UNC have the Robertson Scholarship which has no financial need component, but it was due in mid November, I believe. I know Vanderbilt also has some good ones (look up the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship), but they’re due in the next few days. Aside from that, I haven’t found too many. Just a lot of outside organization scholarships with no need component that are worth $1k-$4k. I’d recommend checking out some local scholarships since people who live in your area are probably also similarly well off. </p>