<p>Congratulations to all of those accepted early. If Harvard is your dream school, and you're not a candidate for financial aid, be a Sport and pull your other applications to ther schools. It will streamline the process for the adcoms at the other schools and it may allow someone who would have been waitlisted to be accepted outright. IMHO, it's the right thing to do.</p>
<p>If only people actually did that… But nope, they just must have the option to choose from Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton…</p>
<p>it’s a good option to have if you’ve worked your *** off for 4 years.</p>
<p>Mike, I don’t think you understand. If you are already into a school like Harvard early for example, what is the point of applying to Yale? Presumably, the REA school is the first choice. The only reason I can think of for someone to apply to one of the HYPS schools after already having been accepted to one is pathetic ego-padding.</p>
<p>I got into Yale SCEA and got a LL from Harvard. I need aid. I wasn’t exactly sure which I liked better at the time (turned harvard down, btw). Why shouldn’t I reap the benefits of my own work? Even if you’re not going to need aid, Harvard and Yale are very different and you might not have been sure when you applied. This post is dumb. Please.</p>
<p>Though I pulled my harvard app, I don’t condemn those who didn’t. There are several very legitimate reasons for rolling the dice again.</p>
<p>I can see it from both ways, but it’s really the applicant’s choice and no one else’s. Last minute game-changes, and so forth.</p>
<p>“If Harvard is your dream school, and you’re not a candidate for financial aid, be a Sport and pull your other applications to ther schools.”</p>
<p>That is what the OP said and that is all I support. I don’t see why you think I am against shopping around for financial aid/better fits. All the OP said is that IF Harvard (or, by extension, another Ivy-caliber school) is your dream school and if you do not need financial aid, then get out of the way at other schools and stop prestige-hawking. In the real world, no one cares if you were accepted to Yale AND Harvard and chose Yale. They see your Yale degree. If you have no reason to stay in the game other than seeking some kind of perverse validation, then get out.</p>
<p>Now, to be absolutely clear, I understand that financial aid packages differ from school to school and that people are not always decided on a first choice when early apps are due. Those are legitimate reasons to apply to other top schools. HOWEVER, a committed member of Harvard’s Class of 2018 should not apply to Yale for kicks and giggles.</p>
<p>I won’t even get into the swath of other reasons to do so, but you’re wrong. Everyone: apply wherever you want. You’ve killed yourselves studying over the past four years; reap the rewards. </p>
<p>It’s not prestige hawking. Nobody TRULY knows whether harvard is their dream school until they visit during Visitas. Same goes for other schools.</p>
<p>Holy strawman…</p>
<p>If you have made a final decision on where you are going next year, don’t apply elsewhere. Not that hard! </p>
<p>My point is this: whether or not you think that you have “made a final decision,” you should reconsider until you visit all schools you have been admitted to. Go to the revisit days; they help a lot.</p>
<p>Do not make the mistake of making a decision “because it’s [insert hyp].”</p>
<p>The type of application that this post addresses is VERY rare. Someone who was accepted early AND who has spent an extensive amount of time at Harvard? There aren’t many.</p>
<p>And that’s why you withdrew your app to Harvard? Huh?</p>
<p>And you are still attacking a strawman. I am saying that if someone is FULLY 100% DECIDED then he or she should not send apps elsewhere out of courtesy to applicants who have likely worked just as hard and would like to figure out where they are going to college ASAP. If you are not decided and are still considering other schools, then of course you can apply. Your response to that is essentially “you can’t say that! not everyone is decided!” but you must see that I have already addressed that over and over.</p>
<p>I withdrew my app from Harvard because I’ve had the opportunity to spend significant amounts of time at BOTH schools. The only reason I applied was to gain the ability to compare aid packages. I am operating under the assumption that most applicants are not in my position.</p>
<p>My response is clear: UNLESS you’ve had the opportunity to spend EXTENSIVE periods of time at each school, as I have, wait to make your decisions. You may be 100% sure that you want to go to Harvard, but if you’ve never visited (which MOST applicants/admits have not), wait. It can do no harm. Don’t let jealous and accusatory classmates dissuade you.</p>
<p>In conclusion, I am speaking to the majority of the admit pool. I want to inform fellow admits that the constant bombardment of “helpful” and “kind-hearted” suggestions such as those presented here are largely not beneficial. In fact, I’ve endeavored to attack the very premise that anyone is 100% sure of his or her choice at this point in time. I’m just looking out for the best interests of the deserving admits. You, @stanmanyeah, are indeed not. </p>
<p>:-* Mike :-*</p>
<p>You’re agreeing with me, but you are acting like you aren’t. This is ridiculous.</p>
<p>I need someone to argue with. It’s finals week.</p>
<p>I’m just gonna add a little tidbit. We have three people at our school who were accepted into Princeton (2x) and Yale early. We have 10 people applying to MIT from our school. (I realize this is a Harvard thread. I know.) Those three are among them. I am among the 10, but not one of the 3. But to me and the 6 others, it’s sort of a selfish-but-completely-understandable move. Yes, they will probably go to those early admit colleges…UNLESS THEY’RE ACCEPTED BY MIT in which case they’ll have to think long and hard. yeah, they’re probably making it way more competitive, but it’s their right. They can be a good sport and not have applied to MIT, but I guess they just really want to see if they get in. They did the same with Stanford. But if they do, it’s their right… I don’t like that they did it (it DOES make them seem kind of dislikable). </p>
<p>Also because the only reasons they applied to Yale and Princeton were because Princeton has the highest admit rate out of the Ivies for early, and Yale’s admit rate goes up a lot if you’re applying for engineering (according to them). So basically, they applied there because their chances of being admitted were the best. From a rational point of view, it’s completely logical. From the point of view of what the admission process is supposed to be, this is exactly what you’re not supposed to do. You’re supposed to search for the ideal place for you, not rely on numbers and ■■■■ and let that dictate your actions.</p>