boy was that pointless

Colleges & Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I emailed a question to Harvard about my application and all I got back was:</p>

<p>"Thank you for your interest in Harvard College!</p>

<p>High school preparation: We are unable to give advice in specific situations, but our general advice is as follows:</p>

<p>There is no single academic path we expect all students to follow, but the strongest applicants take the most rigorous secondary school curricula available to them. An ideal four-year preparatory program includes four years of English, with extensive practice in writing; four year of math; four years of science: biology, chemistry, physics, and an advanced course in one of these subjects; three years of history, including American and European history; and four years of one foreign language.</p>

<p>Testing: For the Class of 2010, students may submit either the "old" SAT I or ACT taken before March 2005, or the new SAT I or ACT (which must include the writing section). As always, students must also submit three SAT II exams of their choosing. The Admissions Committee will continue to consider all test results in light of students' educational opportunities.</p>

<p>For more information about, or to sign up for the SAT visit: <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>For more information about, or to sign up for the ACT visit: <a href="http://www.act.org/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.act.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Application Request: If you are interested in requesting an application or viewbook for undergraduate admission you may do so on-line at:</p>

<pre><code> https://adm-web.fas.harvard.edu/ha/Inquiry/InquiryFrame.html
</code></pre>

<p>You can also download the application at:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/prospective/tools/download/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/prospective/tools/download/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Applying On-line: Students who wish to apply on-line can find instructions at:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/prospective/tools/apply_online/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/prospective/tools/apply_online/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Deadlines for Freshmen Admission:</p>

<pre><code> Early Action: November 1 (postmarked)
Regular Action: January 1 (postmarked)
</code></pre>

<p>If you have additional questions, reply to this email with "HELP" in the subject line."</p>

<p>ok I can find all of that information on the site, that didn't help at all.</p>

2

<p>Reply with HELP in the subject line.</p>

3

<p>Will that really help? If they can't answer specific questions then what will they do when I follow up with the same question. I can see how maybe they can't take specific questions because they are busy, but at the same time, colleges don't like to be treated just like the other ones you are applying too, they want you to show interest, so how can I be expected to do that when they wont even show interest in me.</p>

4

<p>Think about how many emails they get a day and how many staffers they have. Compare. When you're finished doing that, pick up a phone and call the admissions office.</p>

5

<p>I emailed the yale admissions officer, and I bet she will get back to me. So i'm not buying that as an excuse. If yale can do it, so should harvard.</p>

6

<p>Eh, different admissions offices, different ways of doing things; bite the bullet and call.</p>

7

<p>The reason for the message you (the OP) received (which appears to be an auto-response) was likely that the admissions office has been bombarded with requests that could be easily addressed through the website. In the current age, it seems as though many people will tap out a quick message instead of searching through a website to obtain readily available information. As a result, the admissions office set up this response to address the most common questions through direct links to relevant pages on its website.</p>

<p>That said, your request clearly is not covered under the most common ones the office receives. In that case, simply reply to the message with "HELP" in the subject line. I would assume that this is set up in the mail server to bypass the auto-responder and for the message to be forwarded to a real person. As to your comment regarding Yale, its admissions office simply operates differently, encouraging applicants to contact directly the responsible admissions officer. Harvard, however, does not publicize this information and handles requests to the office through another set of staff members.</p>

8

<p>thanks that helped.</p>

9

<p>I would just like to put in a good word for Harvard here. I emailed their office about a complicated situation, and got a very personal, positive response really quickly. Harvard's office has been the best one I have dealt with. That's just my 2 cents.</p>