They don’t consider interest. But I’m glad the tour went great!
I think that Harvard, MIT and all Ivy schools do not count it against a student if they cannot afford to fly to visit, is
how I would put it. Schools like Tufts U, Case Western Reserve U, Rice University, will actually waitlist good candidates if they have not expressed interest in some way. Interest can shown in a variety of ways: applying before Jan 1, applying EA or ED, opening emails from the college, writing to an admissions counselor, taking an optional interview with an alumni in your area, etc. Harvard and MIT do not require an on campus visit. But, opening email, setting up a My MIT account early, or going to local programs in your home state on Harvard and MIT, they track who attends those.
They don’t consider interest. They might collect names, but they do nothing with them. The person either misspoke or you misinterpreted.
While there are many good things to say about Harvard, there are also some less-positives, IMO. One of which is that they seem to believe that every one of the 40K people who apply regards Harvard as their top choice (which I am sure is true for many). Anyway, that’s one reason, IMO, why H does not consider interesting the admissions process.
@ivyleaguebound4224 What do you want to study at Harvard? (Besides water polo!!) . It sounds like you already got into Harvard and just confirmed that its a good fit. Can you play water polo anywhere else? You may really want to consider your options, given that you can play water polo at a college varsity level, apparently, and that could be a hook for other colleges , not just Harvard U. Cambridge is wonderful for cultural access, but very cold. Winters are very long. And there is no where to pile up the huge amounts of snow that fall in New England these days.
You may be able to play water polo for any of the Ivy League. Have you considered any other schools and what their academic strengths may be?
“I have very high SAT scores, so I’m fairly positive I will get into both.”
Great, but just in case…you might want to also consider some safeties like Yale, Princeton or Stanford.
19 out of 20 students who visit prior to acceptance are
wasting money on a superficial visit and tour to see a school to which they aren’t going to be admitted.
Makes no sense.