Yes many universities have closed their waitlists but those universities have already taken off a lot of students (NYU had multiple waves already for example). There have also been schools, like Dartmouth, that said their class was full and they didn’t plan to use the waitlist in May but then take students off the waitlist in July. I think Harvard took less than 2 dozen (just given that in past years that many get in during the first round but there’s always someone on reddit or CC who directly got in). If Harvard plans on filling their class, it may be good news for many of us!
I think Harvard has really fumbled the ball on its fall on-campus plan. It makes no sense at all. None of the Harvard emails from yesterday nor the webinar yesterday allowed for questions or feedback. It is a lose-lose all the way around. Why would the first-years want to be on campus alone? To be so smart their plan seems dumb. And if the Ivy League announces no fall sports tomorrow, likely, even more, in-coming first years recruited athletes will take GAP years, along with returning sophomores recruited athletes requesting leaves of absences.
@apparently22 Expecting no NCAA Div1 sports this fall.
@waitlistedsenior Hope so too! Good luck to all of us!!
@Sisternight This year everything is irregular. In global crises like this we can clearly see who care more about human life over cash, ego and vanity. As in historical wars against plagues, the worst leadership has nowhere to hide.
Thanks for posting that! I wasn’t sure if they were speaking solely for football or all sports. Postponing football would have been OK because the Ivy, though D1, opted out of playing in any type of bowl game years ago so as a conference they could have a season amongst themselves that doesn’t impact any other conference. But the article said all sports and that’s a different matter. Frankly, if they cancel all fall sports, in my opinion only, more kids would opt for gap years and leaves of absences so they could have 4 full years of eligibility without having to play as grad students somewhere else. If the Ivy League moves everything to fall that leaves the kids dangling bc at this time we have no idea if the virus will be contained or if there’s a vaccine or better treatments next spring. I guess that’s a post for a different thread. Either way, the waitlist wait has to be over soon. Getting into college is hard enough without adding the nightmare of factoring a COVID 19 response in the decision making. My heart breaks for all of you and all those currently in college whose plans are possibly turned upside down. Good luck everyone.
Harvard and other universities will be fighting the announcement on international students losing VISA’s for online only classes. The uncertainty will continue.
Harvard and MIT just sued the government today…
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/08/politics/harvard-mit-lawsuit-ice-foreign-students/index.html
Apparently H has 5,000 affected international students… 99.9% of them pay full fare, so that is an impacted revenue of half a billion dollars (800 undergrads @$80,000 + 4,200 grads @$100,000). Even if only 10% will gap or never return, that’s still a very big number.
Some of my closest friends in high school are internationals. Hope they will be fine…
@LimboKid How do you know that 99.9% of H internationals are full pay. They are need blind for students of all countries and I have multiple friends who are international at Harvard and getting a lot of aid from the institution. I would assume that a good percentage of internationals are getting aid (although many of them are also full pay)
Yes. They are need-blind across the board regardless of nationality. There are definitely other schools that do not offer aid to international students or are “need-aware” when making admission decisions but Harvard undergrad, at least, is not one.
@apparently22 I was referring to those 5,000 already accepted internationals at this moment. Yes, many will agree with you that they are need-blind. However, this pandemic is a real test if they truly are. If not Class of 2024, definitely 2025. They already announced 2020-2021 revenue deficit of $750 million before this sudden decree that might cost them half a billion more.
@waitlistedsenior Let me clarify using what I read a few years ago (maybe WSJ or Forbes). In some article called “the financial aid delusion or net price illusion” or something like that. They say ages ago, financial aid was money a kid didn’t have to pay back. Student loans were then invented but guaranteed by colleges with a path toward loan forgiveness. But in the past 10-15 years, most student loans required parental co-sign to take obligations off the colleges completely. A kid with a full ride no longer means no need to pay back. He’s just mortgaging his future existence to the banks. To colleges, that’s just revenues. One year after graduation, this happy full-ride kid faces a loan repayment request that cripples his life. Low six figures for large public schools to mid six figures if he finished a top private med school. So when I said internationals are 99.9% full pay, I included whatever colleges offered them as “financial aid” that is in fact a cluster of toxic high interest student loans and some campus jobs. All the international friends I have, including one heading to Stanford, another to Duke, laughed at their financial aid offers by asking the common sense, logical question: “How is it aid if basically you brokered a student loan for me with higher future interest rates than what my parents can get in our home countries?” In fact, the colleges are selling admitted kids to banks as future profits and to their trustees as “full fare students”. Triple win? Maybe to a teenager with zero debt now. But how about in 5-10 years? Are there super geniuses receiving aid they don’t have to pay back? Sure, from some foundations here or in foreign countries. But they are the 0.01% (to me).
As smart consumers of education, we need to stay alert whenever school advertises some low average net price like $14,610. They are like car commercials saying $0 now and no payment for twelve months to drive home a BMW! If the aid is mostly money no need to pay back, then cool! If mostly a six figure loan that we will still be paying into our 30s, then that’s not aid, but bonuses for wall street mortgaged on kid’s future. (Think Warren and Bernie said more on this topic).
Guess all I’m saying is one of the key reasons that H is suing the government over internationals IS a sudden threat of up to a half a billion dollars of tuition deficit (whether paid by parents or family by selling the house or using loans from a bank - still tuition money that doesn’t cost H a dime). Are there other higher callings to protect internationals in this law suit? Of course… But to what extent and in which pecking order?
@LimboKid You’re insinuating that 99.9% of Harvard international students are getting loans coordinated by Harvard to help them pay but that is wrong. Harvard does not include loans in their financial packages and only includes need based grants (don’t need to be paid back). Yes some schools do put loans in their packages but even then they mix a good amount of grants in. However, Harvard and most other Ivies only give out grants and work-study. I’m committed to another Ivy as an international and am receiving a hefty grant (with no loan portion in the aid package. Schools are very transparent about loans and grants and I would assume most of the kids you talked about with perceived “full rides” would be aware of the potential loan debt before committing, it’s not like it’s something that just takes them by surprise upon graduation. I have friends who got off the waitlist at need blind schools with hefty packages as well.
@waitlistedsenior I’m not insinuating anything. Just my gut feel, not that different from your comments “I have a feeling the next round (if there even is one at this point) will be on Thursday or Friday… Z-list offers to around 50 applicants”
Congrats on your aid package at another Ivy and welcome to USA! Care to share which school? H has to accept you now because apparently you are somehow defending their honor before being accepted. For those of us who are not international or not qualified for aid, care to share roughly (in %) what your aid package as an international looks like? There is no public info on this data at all. Also, are you planning to come to study here in person and how much will this law suit affect your decision to attend H or your safety Ivy?
@LimboKid I’m just trying to point out an error in your statement, wasn’t trying to be rude or “shut you up”. I don’t know yet about in-person as the ICE regulations have affected a lot of internationals. I’m also not trying to defend H’s honor, I absolutely do not think Harvard is perfect and I’m not “defending their honor” so that they take me off their waitlist. I’m just trying to make some points as well.
@waitlistedsenior Duly noted. We are in the same boat. And I do feel your extra pain as you must be facing more uncertainties than us. Unless you are from Canada or Mexico, a March-style relocation exodus this fall will be much more painful to you.
Breaking News: Ivy League won’t have sports this fall. So, I guess some top athletes could be thinking about gap year… Will NCAA Div1 follow?
https://www.si.com/college/2020/07/08/ivy-league-postpone-fall-sports-hopeful-football-spring
Hope we all get off the WL soon!
Maybe it’s a love-hate relationship…
H is the only Ivy+ school (of six) that didn’t accept me. But my comments are about all the colleges, not just H. They do run things like a cartel, economically speaking.
MODERATOR NOTE:
Let’s not insult people. Posts edited or deleted.
Anyone noticing any changes on their portal?
@LimboKid just checked and everything looks the same on mine. What about you?
No portal change
My decision letter link is not work… hopefully it’s just a temp glitch.