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<p>Ha. That won’t bring anyone to justice. Nasty emails won’t make any of these people upset. If anything, it will make them laugh. Happy that they won’t be accepting you.</p>
<p>I hope they give all trasfer applicants a refund plus interest. Perhaps they should pay them for their essays as well…</p>
<p>No, I wouldn’t laugh because I was causing pain. I would laugh because people act like children when they get upset. Just because Harvard acted tactlessly doesn’t mean that the transfer applicants should too. You just don’t get it do you? </p>
<p>I have a lot more respect for the person who can tell harvard that they were wrong without cussing and being nasty.</p>
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I agree. </p>
<p>ajp, trust me, you will make the Harvard administration feel much crappier about themselves by eloquently explaining how they’ve hurt you.</p>
<p>who said anything about cussing?</p>
<p>you’re just trying to throw the book at me and all these transfer applicants because you want to defend a school that thinks its above the law and above the moral code. </p>
<p>i’m all for being eloquent, but when that gets you nowhere (which it will at this vile place), then people must do anything and everything to bring harvard to justice.</p>
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<p>That would consist of being a very strong college student wherever you are now, and an accomplished adult after you graduate. Bombarding Harvard offices or news media organizations with emails doesn’t bring anyone to justice.</p>
<p>Harvard owes each one of its applicants a sincere apology for wasting their time on their application. In addition to an apology, Harvard should and must refund every applicants fee. The college has set themselves up for a class action lawsuit that they cannot win.</p>
<p>Canceling transfer admissions sounds horrible.</p>
<p>Hopefully, Harvard reinstates it soon.</p>
<p>Harvard has promised to refund transfers’ application fees.</p>
<p>I would cry if this happened to me. People fail to realize that nothing is guaranteed. Yes, even Harvard makes mistakes which shows that you always have to keep your hopes well guarded. I just want to see harvard, dont want to go there. I’m studying art so my career is heavily weighed on my skill not the school. To all the people this happened to sorry and if you’re accepted to another transfer school hope you become happy.</p>
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<p>Who is giving you your legal advice?</p>
<p>“Harvard has promised to refund transfers’ application fees.”</p>
<p>As has been posted again and again and again</p>
<p>Guys, it is not worth the time to argue and complain here, nor to be advised to just forget about it and move on. It is our own choice to decide what to do next. </p>
<p>If anyone wishes, it’s a cool idea to express our feelings and situations in a mature and logical way, instead of being overly emotional or aggressive, by writing to Harvard. Let’s make ourselves heard. Although it seems impossible to change anything, but you never know what’s gonna happen. It’s like we could never expect such an announcement one month after submitting the application. Why not give it a try, at least?</p>
<p>If you feel it’s not a big deal, and that you can totally tolerate it, then good for you. </p>
<p>Although Harvard isn’t the place we must go, it’s where we wish to be. We devoted immeasurable time and energy to the application, and we certainly deserve to be heard about our pain. </p>
<p>What do you guys think ?</p>
<p>I was contemplating applying to Harvard in addition to the other schools that I applied to.</p>
<p>As someone who is at a competitive college and who is applying to transfer to the most difficult schools to get into in the country (including ivy’s such as Yale and Columbia), I can safely say that it is not easy by any stretch of the word to maintain the rigorous workload of a difficult school while at the same time toiling away at applications to schools that accept fewer than 8-10% of applicants, scrutinizing every word in an effort to make sure that your application is the absolute best that you can make it.</p>
<p>To let applicants know this late in the admissions process, after they’ve all gone through the aforementioned process is not only careless and irresponsible, but certainly uncharacteristic of a school that is reputed to be one of the best in the country.</p>
<p>i am really upset. harvard was literally my life plan. i know that sounds ridiculous, but i had gone to the summer program while i was in high school and really fell in love with the atmosphere. besides the fact that i picked out a cool major and talked to professors and everything.</p>
<p>with this whole transfer news, i don’t know what i am going to do. at least i applied to other schools as well. it’s just that i would have much rather had the transfer committee review my application and then reject me. at least with rejection, i know for a fact i might not be “good enough”. right now all i can think of is “what if”, like what if i applied last year, would my credentials be strong enough…</p>
<p>I just started spring break and left this thread for a few days only to come back to a lot of callousness on the part of many posters, surprisingly including many well-known CC characters who have reputations for providing thoughtful and well-informed advice. Instead, this year’s transfer applicants are basically being told to grow up - I am truthfully a bit surprised and disagree with the unfriendly - sour grapes - tone that has penetrated this thread.</p>
<p>We have no right to make judgments about the degree of importance people place upon their transfer applications. Just because 98%+ of applicants were going to be rejected this year doesn’t give Harvard an excuse for its unjustifiable and irresponsible actions. Whether or not an applicant viewed his application as important or inconsequential does not change Harvard’s action or how it should be perceived.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter for what reasons each of the transfer applicants were applying - they might have been applying just because they wanted to have a rejection letter to hang on the wall, or, more realistically, they might have applied because they thought they had a chance at acceptance. The fact is that Harvard failed to follow through with a responsibility it accepted when it agreed to accept applications and presented as evidence a trend of accepting a not unsubstantial number of applicants in the previous three or four years.</p>
<p>Just because Harvard messed up in its predictions about class size and housing doesn’t excuse its actions. First of all, the housing crunch should have been foreseeable. Secondly, just because Harvard made a mistake doesn’t allow it to just renege upon all of its obligations. It’s pretty clear that one can be held accountable for the consequences of his mistakes, if they affect other people, not just actions that were intentional, and the same reasoning applies here.</p>
<p>And, to respond to many posters on this thread, No, Harvard’s primary responsibility isn’t to its currently enrolled students. Harvard doesn’t have a primary responsibility. It has a responsibility to act honestly and fairly with everybody with whom it deals. This includes transfer applicants. It does not have the right to neglect its obligations to a minority in order to please a majority.</p>
<p>Also, just because Harvard did the same thing in 2003 doesn’t mean it is automatically a correct action. First of all, we have heard, but it is unconfirmed, that in 2003 Harvard announced the temporary cessation of the Transfer program well before applications were due, the same way they announced the cancellation of early action a FULL YEAR in advance. Even if this was not the case in 2003, just because they got away with it then doesn’t mean that it was a proper action.</p>
<p>Now that has been said,</p>
<p>Unfortunately, whatever happens, it is very unlikely that Harvard will reverse its decision. And if Harvard is compelled to repair its irresponsible decision, by means of legal action, it is unlikely that any proceedings would be completed within a time frame that would make it feasible for applicants to be admitted for the 08-09 academic year - so the gains to be had are compensation and some degree of satisfaction, but not admission.</p>
<p>So, in this regard, I agree that there is no effective way to get Harvard to revoke its decision within a time frame that would make an admissions difference. However, that is not the only reason to pursue legal action. This year’s applicants were severely wronged - and many of them may have invested significant amounts of money and time into the application in addition to the application fee, which is no longer an issue since it is being refunded. At its most simplistic, these investments include fees to send SAT scores and transcripts. But even more than that, people spent time on their applications, time that could have otherwise been spent working in a job, or studying for classes. Some people may have hired college counselors for hundreds of dollars an hour, parents of other applicants with complicated tax returns and businesses may have had to pay hundreds of dollars to their accountants to fill out financial aid applications, and still others may have sacrificed applying to other schools because of either limited time to write applications, inability to pay multiple application fees or other reasons. It is not our place to judge the necessity of any of this, the point is that Harvard was making certain assertions and a commitment to follow through on certain actions (evaluating applications) which applicants relied upon. It doesn’t matter that these assertions weren’t formalized into a contract, the fact that there was a trend that has held somewhat steady for the past several years is enough to make them binding. By Harvard failing to follow through with these commitments, it messed up plans for over 1200 people who had viewed Harvard’s assertions as implicit guarantees that their application would be evaluated. So it doesn’t matter what an applicant’s individual reasons for applying were, what matters is that applicants depended upon Harvard for a product, and that they entered into a formal relationship with the university. Harvard should be responsible for the costs all applicants incurred as a result of having relied upon inaccurate and misrepresented information.</p>
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<p>Are you kidding?</p>
<p>There is no law that says that Harvard must take transfer applications. There is no moral code about it either. Their timing was very dumb, and I don’t think that I would’ve made the same decision, but it sure as hell isn’t illegal or immoral.</p>
<p>Funny that you call it a vile place after obviously wanting to go a lot. But hey, just go bring Harvard to “justice” because they made a bad logistical decision on an applications process that they control. What a horrible terrible injustice. I can’t believe we let it happen… can you tell I’m not exactly falling over with disgust over your plight?</p>
<p>Look, if I were a transfer applicant I would not be very happy at all with this decision. As it is, I think it’s very dumb. But let’s not all go around shooting off on online forums and embarrassing ourselves any more than strictly necessary, shall we? Your grousing isn’t going to change Harvard’s mind, but it will (particularly posts like the above) make you look immature and petty, and in need of some perspective.</p>
<p>“i am really upset. harvard was literally my life plan. i know that sounds ridiculous, but i had gone to the summer program while i was in high school and really fell in love with the atmosphere.”</p>
<p>OK, now most of you know I’m more than sympathetic to what happened to all who applied this year. I honestly believe that the College should not have done what they did, and just did everything wrong and poorly in the situation. However, when I read reactions like, “harvard was literally my life plan” it really irks me. </p>
<p>You’re an intelligent 19-21 year-old whose LIFE PLAN was HARVARD? Really? Can you get anymore unrealistic than that? It’s like saying your life plan was winning the lottery and because you didn’t win it, you don’t know what to do with your life. (OK…I’m exaggerating here, but you get the gist.) I’m a transfer student myself, and when I applied I was hopeful and had they pulled something like this, trust me, I’d be just as confused and indignant. But I NEVER felt like the school was my “life plan.”</p>
<p>“We have no right to make judgments about the degree of importance people place upon their transfer applications. Just because 98%+ of applicants were going to be rejected this year doesn’t give Harvard an excuse for its unjustifiable and irresponsible actions.”</p>
<p>Transferapp07, we can debate this if you want after break back in Cambridge 
Again, I strongly disagree with the College and I have the awful feeling they’ll be pulling the plug on transfers completely and I’m not all too happy. BUT, while it’s ok to be upset with the situation, when people start uttering things like “harvard was literally my life plan,” it shows a level of immaturity in some applicants. Complaining about being treated unfairly is one thing, but a person saying “harvard was literally my life plan” when the admissions rate was small to start is either extremely naive or arrogant. </p>
<p>I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Nobody needs to go to Harvard. If you put all your eggs in one basket in any situation in life, you’re bound to be disappointed over and over again. Why live like that?</p>
<p>I am wondering though, as some of the other posters have observed:</p>
<p>Would it have been better if Harvard did not make the “no tranfer” announcement, and instead Harvard admitted very few transfers, i.e. 3 transfers instead of the usual 40? Under the latter scenario, Harvard would say, look, we only could admit only 3 out of 1000 because of the housing crunch.</p>
<p>How do the transfer applicants feel about the latter scenario?</p>
<p>The other day I thought about Deep Springs College. If you don’t know that very interesting place, check it out! It is a two-year school for VERY smart, motivated, amazing young men. It’s in the middle of the Nevada desert and only has about 25 or so students. It is only two years, and the students transfer to the best schools, including, in the past, Harvard. What a loss!</p>