<p>So I’ve heard of the Z-List, and actually know of someone from my school who got on it last year… but I’m just curious as to how it works, who they pick to be on it.</p>
<p>If you don’t know what it is, I guess it’s a small group of applicants that Harvard asks to attend for the following year.</p>
<p>Rumor has it that it is used for the children of top alumni and donors. It is basically a forced gap year. I imagine other types of students end up on it as well.</p>
<p>Harvard generally tries to keep it on the low-low and state that it doesn’t really exist… it was much more prevalent (i.e. you would frequently hear of ‘Harvard sons’ of big-time donors or powerful people) many years ago. I actually didn’t know the Z-list still was around but, as your anecdote tells me, it still is.</p>
<p>It’s always been the case that a son or daughter of a rich, famous person has a much greater chance of being admitted to Harvard as a ‘special case’, whether or not as part of this so-called ‘Z-list’, no one will officially tell it seems…</p>
<p>My family friend was Z-listed. His dad is a dean at Harvard. Supposedly it happens to under-qualified applicants with huge connections in an attempt to not offend the alumni/donors. I wonder how the name “Z-list” started - I doubt that’s how Harvard refers to it… right?</p>
<p>Supposedly Harvard Z-lists underqualified students, hoping that they will choose not to matriculate since they don’t want to take the year off. I’ve heard that it is their way to not bring down their numbers/stats without offending alums/donors.</p>
<p>I was “z-listed” last year; I’m enrolling this fall. I definitely don’t fit the mold: middle class, public school grad, not a legacy. While I did well in high school, looking back, there were a couple things I could have done to be slightly more competitive application-wise, so maybe that’s why? Anyways, I’m really enjoying and gaining a lot from my year off, and don’t regret it at all.</p>
<p>Last year, after they asked me to defer, I did a bunch of searches on this…there was an article (not the Crimson one) that really went in depth on this topic. I remember it saying that they call it the z-list because it’s the very end of the whole admissions process for that year.</p>