Dear Harvard reject

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>To you this might be the bitter end of a long, hopeful wait. Since submitting your app you've prayed every day, hoping for the big fat envelope hailing from Cambridge. I really feel your pain, it's not easy. It feels like you disappointed yourself and everyone around you. For those of you who got waitlisted, it can feel just as awful, as you don't enjoy the sense of relief and certainty that March 29th rejects experience. It is not fair and it feels like a big slap in the face (if not worse than that).</p>

<p>What I have for you is a reality check. I take classes at H and have known many undergrads there. Every year, H admits many, many smart and qualified students, but also <em>many</em> idiots who you'd never imagine would get a spot at the most prestigious university in the world. I'm not trying to make you feel better, but simply to mirror you the truth. H is not a place where you can find all the smart people in the world, it is yet another place. In fact, statistically, many H graduates have gone on to become perfectly mediocre people. How many truly successful people went to H / total people who went to H? Very VERY small ratio.</p>

<p>The best type of revenge is success. You have the power to make H embarrassed that they rejected you. College education is becoming less and less relevant in today's world as everyone is a HYPSM grad. The worst feeling for H admissions counselors is when they hear/read about a H rejectee that succeeded in life. For them, it's an absolute toss-up, because the admissions process is so convoluted and yet so SO superficial, they get 34,000 excellent applicants, and so they don't lose a whole lot if they admit one person over another if on the surface they both seem great.</p>

<p>and lastly...</p>

<p>List of people that got rejected from H:
Richest person in the world, investor Warren Buffet, Sen. and presidential candidate John Kerry, D-Mass, Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner, NBC "Today" show host Meredith Vieira, former "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw, New Yorker magazine editor David Remnick, CNN founder and billionaire Ted Turner, folk rock legend Art Garfunkel, Matt Groening, creator of the animated television series "The Simpsons," Sun Microsystems chairman Scott McNealy, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center president Harold Varmus, and Columbia University President Lee Bollinger.</p>

<p>Good luck, be strong, and make H suck it.</p>

2

<p>^ well said. Another writer, the late David Nyhan, a columnist for the Boston Globe would run a column every year on D-Day. It is wonderful. It is also spot on.</p>

<p>[The</a> college rejection letter - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2008/03/10/the_college_rejection_letter/]The”>http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2008/03/10/the_college_rejection_letter/)</p>

3

<p>I keep reminding myself of this one article I read about how someone who has the capacity to get into an Ivy League does not need the school itself to achieve their full potential. It makes the process easier perhaps because of all the opportunities but just being a <em>serious</em> prospective student to one of these colleges really means that one has the insight, ambition and perseverance to succeed in life. </p>

<p>Thank you for this - and, of course, CONGRATZ to all those who were accepted. This speaks nothing to your awesomeness for being selected over the rest of us. It’s just a friendly reminder that, you’ve finished one journey and yet another waits you. </p>

<p>College is what you make of it. nuff said.</p>

4

<p>You know, that’s how I feel about Yale now. They are my only rejection. At least HYB had the courtesy to waitlist me, even if it is still basically a rejection.</p>

5

<p>If it’s true that “the worst feeling for H admissions counselors is when they hear/read about a H rejectee that succeeded in life,” then wouldn’t it make sense that inversely they would cling to success? In both cases they can claim responsibility for kindling it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for revenge, but I’m not entirely certain you’re spot on; there may be more to the admissions criteria than success. I came from a low-income family, independently relocated halfway around the world, successfully grew a company from nothing, and of my own labor and divine intervention earn over $100k per year. I only recently entered my second decade. I was also rejected from Harvard yesterday. So maybe it’s not so simple?</p>

6

<p>^ Wow. As a fellow rejected applicant, may I just say that you sound truly awesome. </p>

<p>Honestly, if that story about creating your business - across the world from your family, no less - is true, then you don’t need Harvard. You are already a success, and will continue with your passion and perseverance at any school you choose, I believe. I hope you are truly happy with any college you go to. :)</p>

7

<p>Thanks for that; your encouragement is uplifting. The story’s true, and sadly I can’t share the most beautiful details due to NDAs.
The truth is, it isn’t that I need Harvard, but simply that I want it; it’s not about them helping me grow into something. It’s simply that I never went to university, and I don’t want to have missed that beautiful multi-faceted segment of young adulthood; I feel that Harvard is the most ideal university for fulfilling that objective.
Maybe I’ll apply again for next fall, or perhaps this year will bring new insights and a content resignation from the idea. I didn’t apply to any other universities.</p>