Where Else Should One Apply Besides Harvard?

Colleges & Universities Harvard University
1

<p>Okay, the reality is that lots of people apply to Harvard, but there aren’t any more freshman spaces in Harvard than there were years ago, so most people who apply don’t get in. So picking up an idea from another thread, if someone likes Harvard and its size and atmosphere, what’s another college that offers some similar desirable characteristics that might be good to apply to at the same time? What are your favorite choices among colleges besides Harvard? </p>

<p>I’ve listed what I call “outstanding” colleges in another thread, </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/437362-looking-good-college.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/437362-looking-good-college.html&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>and I try to remind people a lot not to forget to apply to a “safety” college. </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/493318-don-t-forget-apply-safety-college.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/493318-don-t-forget-apply-safety-college.html&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>What do you like as a plan B if Harvard doesn’t send you an admission letter?</p>

2

<p>What?!? Is everyone who is applying to Harvard this year applying solely to Harvard?</p>

3

<p>I am applying to MIT, Cornell, Cal, UCLA, UC Davis, UC San Diego also.</p>

4

<p>You’ve heard the proverb about not putting all eggs in one basket. (This proverb should be better known on Wall Street right about now.) That looks like a balanced list. </p>

<p>Where else are this year’s Harvard applicants applying?</p>

5

<p>I am applying to Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford. I was accepted to Stanford, which is why the list is so short!</p>

<p>My full list was going to be Tufts, Northwestern, Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, Notre Dame, and the three stretches.</p>

6

<p>Well, I’m applying to a lot of places globally which is why my US application list will look ridiculous:</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins University
Columbia University [Columbia Engineering]
Harvard University</p>

<p>however i then got all my other universities in the UK:</p>

<p>Oxford [Likely will get an offer]
Imperial College London [got rejected, ***?]
University College London [got a pretty easy offer to meet]
Manchester [unconditional]
Edinburgh [unconditional]</p>

<p>As Manchester is 29th in the world and I have an unconditional there I looked to aim higher in my US apps. Safeties are Manchester and Edinburgh with UCL being the lowest university I realistically expect to go to. Hopefully I’ll get into one of the US ones or Oxford though.</p>

7

<p>I hate people who apply to colleges on the basis of looking at rankings. </p>

<p>“Harvard is ranked higher than Yale so it must be better.”</p>

8

<p>I must say I agree with you Pete, I think that University rankings are just dumb. There are so many dynamics to consider when choosing a good uni, all of the qualitative and variable from person to person. </p>

<p>I personally didn’t pay any heed to the uni rankings I’ve seen…</p>

9

<p>When my younger D applied to Harvard, she liked the sophisticated and politically-aware culture, the size of the undergraduate school, the national and international student body, and particularly the quasi-urban setting in an upscale, bustling neighborhood on the outskirts of a major city. Based upon those priorities, her backup was Georgetown - it’s a match on each of the above criteria, and the Georgetown neighborhood is quite similar to Harvard Square (though it’s become decidedly more upscale than the last time I’d visited).</p>

10

<p>Thanks for the replies listing other colleges of interest. I would think that it is IMPERATIVE for Harvard applicants to devote thought to where else they are applying.</p>

11

<p>This is an interesting thread. I have often heard people mention how other colleges are similar to certain Ivies (i.e., Tufts is like Brown, Chicago is like Columbia, Rice is like Yale), but not so much for Harvard. I think Georgetown is a good suggestion. How about U.Va.?</p>

12

<p>If you apply to Harvard and are not admitted, your life is over. There is no point applying anywhere else.</p>

13

<p>I think Rice is a great choice. It has a residential college system and if you are from the northeast you might even get a geographical boost there.</p>

<p>If you are a budding computer science major - you can do what my son did and turn down Harvard for Carnegie Mellon. I am sure there are other majors for which another school might have better offerings than Harvard. (Pittsburgh, btw, is much nicer than you might think.)</p>

14

<p>Thanks for the further suggestions of other colleges to apply to.</p>

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<p>Harvard, MIT, Duke, Vanderbilt, UIUC, Michigan State, Pitt, Purdue (last 3 for Scholarship Purposes.)</p>

<p>He was planning on doing Rice and Stanford, but it is looking doubtful as the days tick by.</p>

16

<p>plan B - public universities with good honors programs, and competitive OOS tuition.</p>