<p>If admitted off the wait-list are you immediately enrolled or do you still have a chance to decide between the school you made a deposit at and Harvard?</p>
<p>you can still choose</p>
<p>Yes, that’s true. But if you aren’t absolutely sure that Harvard is your first choice then the chance you will be selected is slim. You need to be able to write to your AdCom Regional Rep that you will immediately accept if offered. I suppose you could lie or change your mind, but that would make your school not look good in the future as the Regional Rep will have put themselves on the line for you (it is often Rep vs. Rep as each pleads his or her case of the favorite wait listees) and, as the British say, you were not playing with a straight bat.</p>
<p>If you feel pretty confident that you are happy where you got in–and if so, hooray for you!!!–then turn down the wait list with the good knowledge that Harvard never rejected you…</p>
<p>Felixfelicis is right. If admitted, you’ll get a phone call from a Harvard admissions officer. They don’t expect you to say yes or no on the spot. That would be unreasonable pressure, and Harvard admissions doesn’t operate that way. You’ll have time to think and talk to parents and friends.</p>
<p>My impression is, like everyone else said but more specifically, that you get a few days to decide. (Although, of course, etondad is right that your chances are slim if you don’t make an extra effort to contact the rep that it’s your top choice.)</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of this “contacting regional rep.” How exactly does this process work in detail? I have a close friend that got waitlisted and I don’t think she knows about this process. Is this “rep business” a Harvard only thing or do most schools do it? I’ve never really heard of “pleading your case off a waitlist” maybe because I have never been waitlisted before. Can someone explain in greater detail? Thanks!</p>
<p>The major schools with national reach have regional reps. They’re the people who show up for college night events to represent their school. Harvard had a huge task winnowing almost 35,000 applicants down to the 2158 they admitted this year,plus maybe another 1500 or so on the waitlist. It would be wildly impractical for all the admissions officers to read every folder, so there has to be some division of labor. The regional reps often play a key role in the process, sifting through the applicants from their region, and deciding which ones they want to advocate for. Your chances of admission go up if your regional rep wants you in. </p>
<p>Some colleges provide a list of regional reps on their website; others (including Harvard) don’t. A HS’s college counseling office may know who the regional reps are for schools that they send students to, or contact the admissions office directly.</p>