Hello, I hope you guys are doing well. I just got declined from Harvard University, which is my dream school. And now I have to take a gap year twice to get in. Is it possible to get into Harvard University after two years of a gap year?
It’s possible. But your application would need to be significantly stronger to expect a different result. And even then, 97% of applicants get rejected.
Your better option may be to attend a college that accepted you
9 Likes
It’s really tough to have a “dream school.” There is nothing that special about the education at Harvard. Certainly not worth waiting for college. Did you get into other schools that you might like?
6 Likes
Go get your undergrad anywhere, do great things, and go for grad school to Harvard or someplace that specializes in something you decide to do to make the world a better place. Harvard is not required.
2 Likes
Have you heard of Harvard Extension School?
1 Like
What will you do in the next two years that you expect will turn a no into a yes? Unless you come up with some incredible achievement (ex. cure cancer, win an Olympic medal) it is highly unlikely that the decision will change in two years. The acceptance rate at Harvard is under 5% and likely will still be at that level in two years. There will continue to be many more exceedingly well qualified applicants than spaces available.
The wiser course of action would be to give up the idea of a dream school and work to create a solid college list that includes reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (and that you would be happy to attend. Expand your horizons and recognize that there are many wonderful schools out there where you can have a great 4 year experience and get where you want to go in life.
3 Likes
From those I know who took gap years, exactly zero were accepted at colleges that previously rejected them.
Surely there is another college beside Harvard that you could attend.
I very strongly urge you to open your mind to the wonderful opportunities you can get elsewhere.
Are you an international student or a U.S. citizen?
1 Like
That is the wrong question. The correct question is “Is it possible to get into Harvard after being rejected? “. The answer to that question is no except in extremely rare cases.
The answer to your first question is yes. People that are in the military, go in missions, etc. get into H with multiple year gaps.
1 Like
It is likely you will get rejected if you applied ten or twenty times. Why Harvard ?
No clue if you are qualified but there’s a zillion fantastic schools.
So you want to delay your life by yet another year just for a glimmer of hope ?
Seems a bit crazy.
Go to another school and start now.
2 Likes
Agree that Harvard might be a good goal for a master’s program. You can still get there, OP.
Attend a school that loves you now. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of wonderful schools that will provide you a great education and college experience. Harvard is just one school. It’s a great school! I went there (of course I’d never get in today). But it’s not so special that you should put your life on hold. And chances are you won’t get in anyway – it’s just a tough numbers game. Love the school that loves you back.
2 Likes
This acceptance rate is why you should seriously consider attending a school that’s already shown you the love. I would urge you to carefully weigh the benefits of taking off 2 years in the hope that you’ll receive admittance.
1 Like
A post such as this tends to suggest that, on some level, you do not desire to attend college at all.
1 Like
The extremely vast wisdom of folks like @skieurope and @compmom cannot be disregarded. Read their and the other posts on this thread carefully. You can think for yourself, but the collective opinion is extremely clear.
I love Harvard for many reasons, but there is simply no way that it’s worth putting your life on hold on the minuscule chance it might accept you later. Of course, that depends very much on what you plan to do, but even then, the chances are extraordinarily small.
Without exception, the phrase “love the school that loves you” is what counts. NO ONE will care about what undergrad school you went to except you, and that’s only if you let it. Life is a series of tasks. Getting into Harvard is not an accomplishment, it’s just another task.
It’s what you do with your opportunities that matters.
Best of luck with your decision.
3 Likes
With two years, you’ll be halfway to Harvard for grad school. There are multiple grad schools, all far easier to get in than Harvard College.
2 Likes
Did you apply to other schools while you were applying to Harvard? Just go to one of those. If you didn’t, you seriously need to start school somewhere. Enroll in community college and just transfer to an in-state university. Harvard isn’t going to happen, and the more you do this, the more you deprive yourself of the opportunity of maturing past Harvard. Consider yourself lucky your parents let you take a gap year for this. I would have told my daughter no.
1 Like
You need to let go of the Harvard dream for undergrad. Go anywhere else. Soar at another school. And then pursue Ivy League for grad school.
No, it’s not. Start college wherever you can, as soon as you can.
Taking a 2nd gap year would be foolish. Harvard this year had a ~3% admittance rate. They’ve turned you down twice. Be like Elsa. Let it go.
Go somewhere else. Do well at the other school. There are hundreds and hundreds of other schools.
Where else did you apply to this year? If you got accepted at another school and it’s affordable, then you should absolutely go there instead of taking a 2nd gap year.
There is literally no university that you should delay your life for at the undergraduate. Even if you had a guaranteed spot at Harvard next year (for undergraduate), you still go to college now. If you’re actually confident in your abilities, it is relatively easy and actually merit-based to get into Harvard for graduate school and unlike at the undergraduate level, your professors/mentors are vested in you and so is the school; you’ll also have funding, better dorms, and won’t be treated like trash.
1 Like