Harvard Class of 2023 RD

Can someone tell me why DD will be interviewed by an admission officer? I believe in our area there are plenty of alums to do an interview especially at this late stage …

@love2cheeses: As I wrote in post #237

IMHO, if the teacher recommendations provided enough detail, as well as the GC’s Secondary School Report and interview report, there is NO need for an AO to do a second interview.

In your DD case this was an issue, as the AO felt they didn’t have enough anecdotes, stories, or “color” to present to the full committee and wanted to dig deeper into the larger picture of the applicant and give some color commentary. You and your child should stop questioning the why’s and look upon this as another chance for them to tell their story.

@gibby Sorry again, but I reviewed the link you dropped here earlier (Harvard case file, specifically the section on the committees). So since I was offered an interview with a Senior AO does this mean I have passed the previous 2-3 readers and my subcommittee is recommending me to be admitted, to which a vote from the full Committee will decide?

@jordanheston I’d say thats what it looks like.

You cant be too sure though. Thats the best case.

At worst, they just wanted more info to see where to proceed you.

I was wondering if anyone on here received financial aid emails from Harvard (saying that you’re missing some financial aid documents) bc I’ve seen a lot of theories on CC and reddit about fin aid emails suggesting that you’ve been accepted

When did you get those emails?

Same answer as I gave when you posted on the Yale thread: And a lot of people have received those emails and were rejected. Read nothing into them, except that you need to send the missing docs.

@skieurope I also applied for finaid, haven’t submitted my CSS but got no emails from Harvard asking for missing documents. Does it mean I’m a reject?

No, nor does it mean any other decision. Financial Aid and Admissions are working on parallel tracks; the FA office does not know at this point where an application stands decision-wise.

@PianoWinterfell. @impishdolphin and others:

If you HAVE submitted your CSS Profile and IDOC by Harvard’s deadline and are accepted, the financial aid office will snail mail you your financial aid package with your acceptance materials.

If you HAVE NOT submitted your CSS Profile and IDOC to Harvard and are accepted – no worries, as Harvard has the largest endowment of any college in the country. In that case, the financial aid office will snail mail you your acceptance materials, but note you applied for FA, but those FA documents are missing. The admitted student then has roughly until mid August (when the first tuition payment is due) to file the CSS Profile and IDOC to receive FA for your freshman year.

FWIW: Yale works the same way.

A LITTLE MORE DETAIL: Harvard’s Financial Aid office and Admissions Office are totally separate – think of there being a firewall between the two. As such, the Financial Aid Office DOES NOT know who ultimately will be accepted until the Full Admissions Committee has completed their meetings and notifies the FA office of which students to send a “fat envelope” to (usually around the 3rd week of March). The FA office then has about a week to work up a Financial Aid Package for every accepted student who applied for aid.

As 95% of applicants to Harvard are rejected, it’s a waste of resources for Harvard to keep track of which 40,000 applicants have failed to complete the CSS Profile and IDOC on time – and easier for them to let students submit the financial aid materials AFTER they have been accepted. As previously stated, Harvard (and YP) do this because they have sufficient money to supply financial aid to all students who need it. That’s NOT true of most colleges. At most other colleges, if you miss the Financial Aid deadline, you cannot receive FA for that particular year.

@PianoWinterfell I haven’t but I have some friends who have

@gibby I totally understand what you’re saying and it makes a lot of sense to me, but I can’t help but feel confused at why some people are getting consistent emails about missing financial aid info (my friend has been getting them from Yale and even got one again yesterday) while some people have gotten zero emails from Yale about fin aid. Sorry to keep asking u these questions but you just seem really knowledgeable!

@gibby @impishdolphin Yeah I have the confusion too…

Getting more emails regarding this only means that there’s insufficient info to finalize your award.

Thats it. There are many who get the email, but dont get in still.

But what about those who applied for aid, didn’t submit sufficient info and didn’t get emails?

Just received a likely letter from Harvard !

Email? Are you an international?

Wow Congrats…

Which form of Cancer did you cure?

All LL’s come as physical emails no matter what.

Incidentally there was someone who did groundbreaking cancer research and got multiple awards for by numerous cancer societies, where the work is being used to boost their current research, and has provided a new angle to curing cancer.

That app applied Harvard REA and got deferred.

I’m afraid curing Cancer isn’t enough guys.

Maybe Curing Cancer and setting foot on Mars?