I think it’s impossible to compare what happens this year to what has happened in past years in terms of admission or admission numbers. If there is ever a school that doesn’t need every last penny from every last student, it’s Harvard. Maybe they are not scrambling to fill every seat. Who knows? I certainly don’t but could that be possible? Maybe they really are taking a wait and see attitude. Nothing about this admission cycle is business as usual for any school. We have no idea if Harvard is fine with lower first-year enrollment for this cycle given that it’s first-year students who live more densely in the yard and share one universal dining hall (a real social distancing problem), campus libraries (one in particular), and campus gyms. The upper-class housing system is different. Could being self-contained work better in social distancing for upper-class students versus first years? ? The school has sent emails to current students and parents about the many scenarios (nothing specific believe me) that they are trying to work with for the fall and next year, in general. All of these colleges are juggling a ton. There are also current Harvard students that have expressed the desire to take a leave of absence from school if campus remains closed next year and classes are held remotely back at home. Will they be allowed to do that thus becoming members of the class year below them? No idea. Everything is wacky. This virus stinks on every possible level…
In the past years, students have called the admissions office. More than a few times, the answers have been conflicting. I would not trust anything they say for now. I would just trust your admissions portal and their updates. smile:
I am curious if participants in this thread have accepted and made a deposit elsewhere. If so then there is an effect on the waiting list at that school. And those people may have also accepted/deposited at another school, which affects those on that waiting list, and so on.
Each person needs to reflect on the ethics of this situation. Not to mention the benefits of moving on to another school instead of waiting for Harvard.
All of these schools calculate a margin of error in their admissions for people who are “melts”(leave for a waitlist school). I personally put my deposit down for Columbia but I’ve liked Harvard better since the early decision pool, so I want to maximize every single chance I have to get in.
These schools don’t really have too many melts because of their prestige to begin with, so I haven’t heard of this making such a big difference.
United Airlines announced that they will be laying off 30% of their management staff in October and that pilots will be facing cutbacks. They are making plans for 2-4 years before things get back to normal. Other corporations are making similar decisions as I write this.
The ground is shifting under us by the day. It is almost 4 months before classes resume. I expect that any number of people will have to change their plans in that time - including college for their kids simply because it is unexpectedly no longer affordable. We’ll see.
I don’t see your point here, what ethics are you talking about? Is it wrong to accept a waitlist position? Why are you even commenting on this thread if you think it is so unethical?
And yes I’ve paid a deposit at Columbia University but I would rather get off the Harvard waitlist, and the way I see it, it is a win-win: I get into Harvard, and Columbia made an easy $585 ($500 deposit + $85 application). So really, it does not matter accepting a waitlist position.
This is how it works year after year. One has to accept a school by May 1st. Do you think there is a single kid on the waitlist for Harvard who has not accepted elsewhere?
There’s absolutely nothing unethical about paying a deposit to a college you’ve been admitted to, and would attend, as you also await news of moving off of a waitlist of a college you’d rather attend if given the opportunity. Hopefully, everyone on a waitlist has already paid their deposit to their admitted school.
Hi, where did you deposit $500.00 at Columbia? I did not see anywhere to make a deposit. Thanks.
https://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/content/regular-decision-timeline
Just call the finaid office
Everyone on this thread is committed to schools like Columbia and Yale while I’m over here at UCSB haha
I don’t know how accurate it is, but I was going through Harvard’s subreddit and I found a post asking about the waitlist dynamics this year. I can’t link reddit on here, but just go on the Harvard sub and look at the most recent threads.
Some current students were commenting on how they expect the waitlist take to be below average this year. But, I heard that the waitlist take will be higher this year from another current student. Take that as you will.
Hi getabrain, Columbia waived the deposit this year, there is no place to make a deposit.
At this point, there is speculation about any number of outcomes. From my personal perspective, I wouldn’t expect Harvard to make a class size significantly smaller than usual regardless. I don’t think they would sacrifice diversity and the typical class makeup of 2024. They’ve used swing housing for a long time and have the means to adjust to circumstances with housing to some degree.
I think with the time since Ivy Day and the ever changing circumstances there is a LOT of stressful speculation, but I think we should try our bests to hang on for official news from Harvard on yield and waitlist intentions and our own admissions decisions whenever they do come. Easier said than done, myself included
Hang in there everyone.
I was WLd and would like to upload a letter of continued interest. Who should I address my letter to?
Should I just address it to the dean of admissions? When I was deferred, I simply put “To whom it may concern” on my letter. I can’t seem to find a more local regional admissions officer (I’m from New England) to whom I’d address the letter. Is there a list for this? Or does anyone know whom I should address the letter to?
Hey everyone I just created this account to say this: I agree with optimisticsenior in that it’s much easier said than done. We’re all hopeful, and that inevitably makes us overthink this more than we should. Harvard is the best place for me to do what I wanna do atm, so I’m obviously really hoping for that. But we just need to hang tight, we gave them what they asked for, and now they’re gonna do their thing and let us know. And honestly we’re all amazing because we made the waitlist (HARVARD wants us, they just haven’t found a spot for us yet) and because we didn’t-give-up, in spite of the low odds. Like honestly, some of us have been waiting patiently and hanging tight since October when they first applied, how awesome is that? Keep your peace, stay amazing <3
I think it’s a little too late to send letters now…
That’s it in a nutshell. There is absolutely no one that posts on this thread or that other message board that actually has any insider info on Harvard’s waitlist intentions. Harvard has been doing some version of this admissions business for over 300 years. They do not tip their hand and they do not need to. The circumstances this year are horribly unique., of course. It can go this way, that way, no way or a way no one could have guessed. Ultimately, decisions will be made because they have to be made. They know students are waiting and are anxious.
I would also like to point out that their mission, above all, is to EDUCATE as many people as possible. Did they need to give everyone whose parents make under 60k a free ride, room and board included? No. But they did anyway. I have absolutely zero qualifications to make a guess about what they’ll do, we don’t know. But if we have to make a guess it shouldn’t be that they’re planning to fill less spots than they have available. Not by much, anyway. They’d rather stay a zoom university for one more semester if that means educating a 100 more people for 4 more years. Also remember we are 1/4 classes for next year, 100 less of us is not that big a difference pandemic wise. Remember these are all people who chose their jobs for a reason, human beings who chose to work in education, for as many hard choices as they have to make in the process.