@Darwisha @littlebeany - I know it’s difficult to read through 50 pages of posts. EA decisions expected on Dec 13th, most likely 5pm. Portal will be updated and email might follow (or same time - who knows).
@skieurope - thank you.
but do they email you or is it portal
- I wrote that in post #742!
Are you emailed regardless?
Yea - it will (apparently) say that your portal status has been updated, and then the decision will be posted on the portal. At least that, is what I understand from reading here and there.
You understand correctly. You will be emailed, but the portal will be updated first.
So just to clarify, 5pm EST time the decision will be uploaded (13th of Dec)…?
For those who are interested in what happens on decision day (for accepted students) is this. My current Harvard student got an email around 5 p.m Eastern Time saying,
" Dear XYZ,
Congratulations! I am delighted to inform you that the Committee on Admissions has admitted you to the Class of xxxx under the Early Action program.
I hope you will decide to join us at Harvard. We encourage you to get to know Harvard and the transformational opportunities that await you here. You can now access the admitted students’ site (hyperlink to new portal) with your access code, where you will find more news and information about academic and student life."
It went to give information about the VISITAS etc. and was signed by William R. Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid.
So, basically the initial portal was then inactive. Hope this answers many of your questions. My current HS Senior is hoping to receive a similar email in a few days! Fingers crossed!
Gosh you guys are making me nervous
Just remember that you guys don’t need a college acceptance letter to validate your self-worth.
It would help, though! @DoctorMD
Wait so they directly email you your decision instead of telling you to check your portal? I wanted to film my reaction lol.
@Clareesi Why do you need them to email you saying to check your portal? Just check it on Dec. 13 5:00 PM and it’ll say “Click Here” to view update.
I spend so many times in a day thinking about the upcoming decision so glad I’m not alone
Hit me up if any of you wanna share your reactions! I love seeing those 
So the admission portal only has what Harvard requires right? I sent in an additional score report and called admissions to make sure they had it (as it hadn’t shown up on my portal) and they said they did. But I was just wondering about the portal itself.
You are definitely not! It’s driving me crazy with nerves
@krauser126 On the last page someone said they make the original portal inactive so I was confused… thanks for clarifying 
does getting an interview mean that they do or dont want you? bc i heard they mainly dont give interviews to people in cities if you’re an auto reject or accept?
I believe decisions will be on the portal. For our younger student, the decision was on the portal, and it was available precisely at 5 p.m. ET. Our older student received an email like the one @IntoTheWoods described, but this was a few years ago. Those emails rolled out in waves, and he received his around 5:25 ET (it was a long 25 minutes). I think they moved to the portal system so everyone would learn their decision at the same time. Harvard sends emails to let students (who don’t haunt College Confidential) know that decisions are available after the portal is updated.