Hey all! Alas, Ivy day has come and gone! I applied RD to Harvard and was waitlisted. Being the oldest child, I would love to talk with you all about the waitlist and next steps etc!
I was also waitlisted and intended to write a letter of continued interests and hope to add in more achievements if possible to my application.
Hello! I’m on the WL as well. Any idea the odds of getting in off of it?
To the best of my knowledge, Harvard has never published how many student’s it waitlists every year, but Yale and Princeton have – and those numbers have fluctuated between 1200 to 1400 waitlisted students per school. Yes, almost an entire other class full of students gets waitlisted – and for just a handful of spots. I imagine Harvard’s numbers are pretty similar.
Admissions will not start going through their waitlist until AFTER May 2nd – after all accepted students have notified them of their decision – and YOU have notified another school of YOUR decision.
So every waitlisted student MUST fall in love with one of the colleges that fell in love with them. So, here’s what you do:
Write a letter of continued interest and let Admissions know that you would immediately accept an offer to become part of the class of 2020. And then, forget about Harvard. It’s time to move on!
If Harvard comes calling in May or June, you’ll deal with it then, but now you need to become an enthusiastic matriculating member of another college.
I very much subscribe to Jeffrey Brenzel’s way of thinking. Dr. Brenzel recently retired as Yale’s Admission Director and teaches philosophy at the school.
Best of luck to everyone!
I was waitlisted.
I’m entirely baffled as to why I wasn’t rejected, but it would seem I wasn’t. I’ll have a final transcript sent tomorrow, and maybe upload a few other things that might improve my chances.
It really sucks; I was ready to move on from a rejection and I would have been ecstatic at an acceptance (which I knew there was no chance of). But now I’m left wondering and hoping again.
Hi! I was waitlisted too. Don’t really know what to feel right now, but I’m just trying to move on.
Does anyone know what we should do in terms of sending grades? I know updates on accomplishments can probably be sent through the portal, but for 3rd quarter grades, should we just talk with our counselor about sending it, or would a scanned copy suffice? Thanks.
Yes. Don’t. Refer to @gibby s excellent advice:
@skieurope - Doesn’t H require 3rd quarter grades to make waitlist decisions? That was my impression.
(BTW not knocking @gibby 's great advice, I’ve moved on in every other way and am 100% in love with the schools that have loved me back.)
Waitlisted as well, completely unexpected. Some have said to write this letter of interest late April or early May… does it matter when?
Where is the line for how much material to submit between now and May/June?
I’m sorry if this is a dumb question, but how do I go about sending Harvard a letter/my most recent transcript illustrating my continued interest and dedication to the school? The other schools I got waitlisted from seemed to have a text box where I could write additional comments and such, but Harvard doesn’t. Where exactly do I send these materials? Thanks!
Good luck to you all! 
I am moving on entirely, and just declined my spot. Hopefully that improves everyone else’s chances.
Just kidding. Ignore my rushed comment. Just received the email. Thanks anyway!
Hey all, I was waitlisted as well, and I’ve never been so excited to be waitlisted!!! Hahahaha I was pretty sure I’d get denied so I have a whole mix of emotions… on one hand, I’m humbled that Harvard didn’t laugh my application right off the table, but on the other hand, I was kind of ready for the process to be over. I submitted my deposit to Georgetown today so life is good no matter what happens with the waitlist
Does anyone know how many people Harvard waitlists this year? I know they said that they have accepted up to 100 waitlisters in past years but that’s a little hard to put in context without a percentage or something… like if it’s 100 out of, say, 500, then it might be compelling to stick around; if it’s 100 out of 10,000 then I might just get on with it and not accept the spot on the waitlist.
Any info is appreciated!!
Hey guys, quick question: Is choosing to remain on the waitlist binding? I’m guessing it’s not, but just to be sure.
Deferred EA, just got waitlisted 
Does anyone know if mentioning my intention to take a gap year might improve my chances? I was planning to take one anyways, and reading about the whole Z-list system got me wondering…
FWIW: Waitlisted student’s DO NOT send their final grades or transcript to Harvard – Admissions doesn’t need them or want them to make their decision about waitlisted students during the months of May and June. Just send a letter of continued interest to Harvard Admissions, And, truth be told, you really don’t even need to do that. All you really have to do is elect to remain on the waitlist. If you’re planning on taking a gap year, by all means mention that – but more importantly, let Admissions know what you will be doing with your gap year. That’s it. Then, it’s time to move on.
No. Realize that one quarter’s grades will not appreciably move the GPA needle.
Great. That’s really the mindset to have. Best of luck.
You really don’t need to do anything. If you stay on the waitlist, they know you are still interested.
I think that thinking about sending updates and other materials will just prevent you from moving on. Don’t get into campaign mode, it may even be a turn off.
As mentioned above, other Ivies have waiting lists of 1200-1400. Whatever the size of Harvard’s list, the odds of getting in off the waitlist are very slim. Even if 100 are eventually admitted.
Focus on whatever other school(s) admitted you and start feeling positive about where you are going. Don’t even think about Harvard unless they think about you
In the long run, it really does not matter whether you go to Harvard or not. It really doesn’t.
Hi guys… I was waitlisted last year and eventually was one of the very few who actually ended up getting in…
It’s a horrible process and in May there are actually a ton of cuts every week to the waitlist which is honestly so scary and nerve wrecking. Best thing to do is honestly just move on. I barely did anything except a small letter and it ended up working out!
I also am currently in the process of transferring btw. I thought Harvard was what I wanted, but now that I’ve spent a year here, I’ve come to realize its a really competitive and cut throat place. Very little social life on campus. Classmates refuse to send notes after missing a class. Not a place I want to be