Rejected, after being deferred ED and waitlisted. My heart is absolutely broken. My mom, my aunt, my grandfather and my great-aunt all attended Harvard and I grew up hearing amazing stories about it. Now I’m in limbo with no acceptances and waiting on two more waitlists. This admissions process has been really really really hard.
Congratulations to all the admitted students.
@greenburrito
I’m so so sorry to hear about your situation. The rejection doesn’t mean anything - it does mean that Harvard lost a great candidate like you. Best of luck on those two waitlist results - I’m praying for you!
I decide to write about this because I think it speaks to how I’m dealing with this drainingly difficult result-waiting process:
Two nights ago my anxiousness peaked when I saw people here hearing great news from Harvard and I realized that after I was wait-listed, I sorted of by default thought that I was gonna be accepted, a thought that led to feel anxious and nervous about the result. And that night I listened to Debussy and started to cry for 1.5 hour straight because I was really anxious to find out their decision. I assumed I was rejected because I was never called and was completely devastated.
I ended up cried to sleep and when I woke up the next day, I felt MUCH better! I kept telling myself not to think about Harvard and if I do (cuz come on as human beings it’s so natural for us to keep thinking about it) I’ll just tell myself that I shouldn’t care because I’m gonna be rejected.
With this mindset, I was able to face today’s rejection with calmness and peacefulness. I’m so glad I’m over this waiting and that I get to move on. I hope this would be a fun read for you and I just want all of you to know that rejection really doesn’t define us (yeah everybody says that but it’s true!!) - we’ve all worked so hard and let’s continue working hard at the place that accepted us. It’s what we can make out of the fours years at that place what matters after our four years of college life.
Virtual hugs sent to each and everyone here who’s either accepted or rejected or put to wait longer. You guys all deserve a hug, truly.
Harvard goes through their waitlist in waves. If you did NOT receive a rejection today, it means that you’re still on the waitlist and will be considered in the next round, which will probably happen towards the end of May – after they hear back from those waitlisted students who received a phone call several days ago.
who is still left on the list?
@margo41 I am!
@greenburrito
Dang, I feel so sorry for you man.
@margo41 I am too.
I really appreciate the support from everyone. It’s so so hard to have worked so hard for something and dreamed about it for so many years, only to have it get taken away so quickly and easily. I feel like all of my hard work throughout my high school career was for nothing. I have a Generalized Anxiety Disorder and OCD, so physically being in school has always been a huge struggle for me, and I was so so ready to celebrate having made it through those circumstances with the academic + personal success that I’ve had, and was looking forward to attending the place that I really want to be.
It’s a really hard thing.
I empathize immensely with those who have lost this opportunity as well, but I realize more than ever that it really doesn’t reflect on us as people.
But still, I am utterly heart-broken.
@greenburrito I feel for you. Where are you waitlisted and are those lists moving? There are colleges still accepting applications. It isn’t too late to secure a position elsewhere. This site has a link: Colleges With Openings for Fall 2016 [NACAC Annual List] — Sally_Rubenstone.
My son was the valedictorian of his class of 350. He was waitlisted but the salutatorian got into Harvard. The rest of the top 6 got into Ivies or Ivy type schools (Columbia, UPenn, MIT, Michigan). He is a 2 sport varsity athlete, 2 instrument musician, NMF, 15 AP exams taken, excellent standardized test scores, strong letters of rec, lots of school awards and competitions won… He applied to 7 schools and had no acceptances as of 4/1. He was waitlisted at 4 schools including Harvard, Dartmouth (where his dad, uncle and grandfather all went), and Tufts (where both of his parents went to med school). Of the schools he where he was waitlisted, only Harvard has moved the list and he was not one of the lucky 40-50 to get a spot. The other schools are apparently not going to the list. I have not totally given up hope but am realistic about the how slim the chances are. If the top schools like Harvard and Stanford are moving their lists, these students had to be holding acceptances at other schools. Wouldn’t those spots open up at those schools? Those schools would go to their waiting lists and the openings should trickle down. Even then though, I can’t imagine that there would be more than a handful of spots with about a thousand on the waiting list waiting for those spots. Horrible odds!
My son is severely wounded but not completely broken. He applied and got accepted to our state school with free tuition, but I don’t think he would be happy there. He applied to ASU and needs to complete his Barrett Honors College application by the end of the month. As an NMF, he gets free tuition. My son won’t even open the award envelopes ASU sends. I don’t think it has sunk in that all the other doors are closing one by one and that he needs to embrace this opportunity. It may not be the Ivy that he and his family feel he worked hard for and deserved, but it is his best option now. ASU estimates we will pay $14,000 a year. At an Ivy, we would have paid over $65,000 a year. There is always graduate or professional school. If you are going to go to a professional school (law, med or business school), you should save your money to spend then because it isn’t cheap!
The result of your Harvard application does not negate all of your hard work and accomplishments. Remember, it isn’t the school that makes you successful in life. It is you and your perseverance. You can do well at any school. It really is Harvard’s loss if they can’t see your value and what you would add to their school.
It sucks m22boys. Same here.
@m22boys - Columbia seems to accept your son type of overlooked candidates as transfers.
I’m one of those “I’ve wanted to go to Harvard since I was five” people. I grew up within the Harvard community, a legacy with the other parent working there. I never imagined that there was any other future for me. My parents met there, we lived there, I had my first date there… I still cannot fathom that Harvard isn’t and never will be again part of my life.
Four years ago, I took a chance on a tiny new school. The school went out of business before they could explain the irregularities on my transcript, and I was left with everything I’d been told would make up for the lack of APs and extracurriculurs simply gone. Years of work, of community service and volunteering and individual projects, none of which I will ever receive credit for.
I want to blame that for what happened. I want to say that I would have gotten in if I’d had a counselor to advise me, a principal to call and explain everything. I want to say that I was good enough, that the waitlisting was not simply because my mother happened to attend their school.
And I want to say that Harvard isn’t everything, that I will still succeed. That I don’t mind now being stuck at a state college living at home. But it wouldn’t be true. I feel betrayed by what should have been my family. I’m furious that they strung me along for months, and that tiny kernel of hope destroyed any hope that I would find satisfaction at the college I’m now stuck with.
When people ask me where I’m going to college, I don’t want to answer. All of my thoughts are now focused on the transfer applications that are my only hope of salvation from the nightmare that my dreams have become. But I know that chances are high that my luck won’t be any better next year or the year after. And I don’t know if I can do that again.
@Hamotron I feel your pain. I told my son to think about Tom Brady, but I am sure you have heard it a million times living in New England. Brady was drafted #199 in the 6th round of the 2000 NFL draft. He did not let that define him or break him. He goes out every day with a chip on his shoulder to prove that he is the best. Not only is he a future hall of famer but he is also famous, wealthy beyond belief, and married to a super model!
@m22boys I live a few miles from Gillette (I was there at deflategate, my one claim to fame 
) but have actually somehow never heard that before. Thank you.
For those waitlisted students who are bemoaning their rejection: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3201481
Please post where you are giving up a spot if getting off wailist.
I was also one of the WL members who did not receive an update to their portal a few days ago. I know it’s anyone’s guess at this point, but how likely is it for Harvard to tap into these remaining applicants? I know it’s a process that comes out in waves, but interested to see what you guys think in terms of how many people they out right rejected this week (and how many are left as a result).
Sorry to all those who were rejected; I know schools like this are a dream for many people. As for me, I accepted a rejection as soon as I turned in my initial application back in January, so to make it this “far” is kind of amazing to me. I’m trying not to think about it too much, because I’m genuinely happy with the school I’ve committed to. Whatever happens, happens! I think everything happens for a reason, so try not to dwell on the disappointment too much. The decision says nothing about you or your ability, and you’ll all be highly successful wherever you end up. Everyone says it, but it’s not about where you go to school, but what you do where you go.
As you said, it’s anyone guess as it depends on how many of the students they contacted last week actually accept their offer. But, I’ll pay along. For easy math, let’s assume 1000 students accepted a spot on the waitlist and Admissions had 50 available spots, then a student’s odds would have been 5% or about the same as RD acceptance. If they released 800 students and 200 remain on the waitlist, but 10 out of the 50 students contacted turn Admissions down, then your odds are technically the same. (50/1000 = 10/200).
That’s a wise move.
Wait so I am a little late to this discussion (seeing as I’ve been trying to block waitlists from my mind) but if we haven’t heard back yet what does that mean? I checked my portal and there hasn’t been any update.