<p>These can’t all be your “dream schools” if you’ve really done your homework before applying. They’re all different. He is doing what presumably you and thousands of other ambitious kids are doing–aiming for the same small group of popular “top-tier” institutions. You should be no more angry with him than you are with any of the other bazillion kids who think their lives will be over if they don’t get into HYPSM.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I’ve seen trophy-hunting behavior, and this certainly sounds like it. It might be something else, maybe, but it quacks like a duck. I agree that it probably won’t affect OP, but I’m not prepared to say that it couldn’t possibly have a harmful effect. It might.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that somebody accepted EA should–ethically, in my opinion–withdraw apps from any schools that he knows he wouldn’t attend over the EA school. It’s remotely possible that the “friend” really can’t decide between Harvard and all those other schools, but it is really pretty unlikely.</p>
<p>I have to disagree with you Hunt. There might be many different reasons to apply to other colleges and what we know about this “friend’s” reasons is all secondhand. </p>
<p>From our personal experience 2 years ago our DS got SCEA acceptance to a “trophy” school, but couldn’t decide where he would matriculate until April 25th. The EA school wasn’t even in his top 3 at the end. He sent 8 RD applications to other schools before his SCEA acceptance, though. We wanted to compare financial packages from different schools, not to collect “trophies”. Looking back, if he would wait for the SCEA acceptance before sending the rest, he would only drop one of the other 8.</p>
<p>While his actions might not make sense to us, he can certainly apply wherever he wants. Perhaps there is more to the story. Could he be comparing financial aid packages? I know from my own childrens’ friends, that teenagers often say things that do not reflect the true picture. Perhaps his parents have a preference other than Harvard or they might prefer him attending college a little closer to home. Maybe they are thinking they can change his mind if he is given options. Who knows? But OP I think you have to separate your college acceptances from your friends. I also agree with intparent, the less you speak of college applications to your peers, the better off you are!</p>
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It’s nice to give a person the benefit of the doubt, but come on. Do you really think this person wants to compare aid offers among these schools? It quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, and looks like a duck, but I guess it’s remotely possible that it’s an ostrich.</p>
<p>OP, come back and tell us if the kid goes to Harvard.</p>
<p>OP - why do you think he is applying to all those schools? Did he give you a reason?</p>
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<p>I agree. I think once a kid is accepted EA Harvard, he needs to “shut that thing down,” accept it and open up any spaces at other places he was contemplating. It’s more than a little pretentious to continue to solicit trophies. Having said that, OP - don’t sweat it.</p>
<p>Honestly I think that your friend is just trying to keep his options open. I don’t see how he’s betraying you in any way…</p>
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<p>It also seems like a waste of effort and application fees to apply to any school that one would not choose over the safety under any circumstances (and an early acceptance becomes a safety if the cost is affordable).</p>
<p>Now, if even Harvard’s financial aid may not make it affordable, then the student needs to find alternatives among schools with large merit scholarships or low list prices, not other super-selective high list price with no merit scholarships schools.</p>
<p>However, if the OP’s stats are much lower than this student’s stats, then it is unlikely that the OP has much of a chance at the schools in question.</p>
<p>The ‘friend’ applied Early Action not Early Decision. Since EA is non-binding how is it unethical to keep applying to other schools?</p>
<p>I can think of a number of reasons to apply to these other schools - financial aid comparisons, perceived superiority of specific academic tracks at the various schools, weather, location etc.</p>
<p>Finally, the OP and his ‘friend’ are applying to the same schools. How is it that the ‘friend’ is a trophy hunting jerk but the OP isn’t?</p>
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OP didn’t get into Harvard early.</p>
<p>I admire the kind-heartedness of all of you who prefer to ascribe good motives to the “friend.” I guess I’m just a crusty old cynical fellow who can’t help thinking that the most likely explanation for this behavior is…well…the most likely explanation.</p>
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<p>So the ‘friend’s’ success makes him a jerk? If the OP had been accepted EA and kept his applications in at other places then he’d be a jerk too? Does getting accepted anywhere via EA and keeping other applications active automatically make you a jerk?</p>
<p>Obviously I see nothing wrong with the ‘friend’ applying to as many schools as he likes as long as he follows the stated rules. Personally I don’t find Harvard to be Eden on the Charles River, so it’s not shocking to me that the ‘friend’ would want to explore other options.</p>
<p>I admire your kind-heartedness to the OP. I guess I’m just a crusty old cynical fellow who can’t help thinking that the OP has done everything to present himself in the best possible light.</p>
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Nope, it’s what he did afterwards.
Yep.
It does if they include places you definitely wouldn’t go over the EA school.</p>
<p>Following the stated rules doesn’t keep you from being a jerk.</p>
<p>OP’s friend is not a jerk. He probably needed financial aid IMO.</p>
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And he thinks he might get better financial aid from that list of schools than he will from Harvard? That might be the reason if this were a different list of schools, but not with this list.</p>
<p>I think we are ascribing too much motive to the OP’s “friend.” His list, and his strategy with EA, is no different from that of thousands of other kids. To suggest that he is more concerned about being able to “one-up” his classmate rather than do what he thinks is best for his future is silly. Not to mention, I don’t see anything wrong with NOT going with an EA choice. Kids can do a lot of growing up between fall and spring of senior year. What seems important now might not in a few months, especially when the excitement of getting into his top schools subsides and he has to decide where he wants to spend the next four years. Yes, Harvard gets the overwhelming majority of kids it admits (I believe it’s 75% or so), but there is still that chunk that says “thanks anyway” and goes elsewhere. Maybe the friend is one of them.</p>
<p>^ it was 81% this year and 90+ for EAs but who is counting.</p>
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<p>There are certainly other reasons to keep applying to additional schools. My D got into an EA school that is difficult to get into and high on her list, but it is not necessarily her top choice (she did not have a “dream school”). Although she has shortened her college list by a couple of colleges because of this, she has not stopped applying. Here are some of the reasons:</p>
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<li>Finances. The EA school is expensive, and while she got a small merit scholarship, it will clearly run a lot more money than some other schools on her list. We can probably cover the cost of the EA school, but want to make a value to cost comparison of her options before she makes a final decision.</li>
<li>Uncertainty. I am a person who would not take advantage of early voting in an election unless I had to because I always want every last scrap of information, and because I believe that “s*** happens” right up until the last minute. (I live in a state where our sitting senator died eleven days before the election on year – if I had voted for him early, it would have cost me the option of voting for the party I prefer. Haven’t forgotten this lesson.) I look at college admissions the same way. Until May 1, I want D to have options that are close to home and affordable in addition to a pricier option. I can think of a few family scenarios (illness on her part or another family member, financial issues – the fiscal cliff has a change of having a signficant deterimental impact on my finances, etc.) that might make her wish for options other than her EA school. At some point she has to decide, but not for four more months.</li>
<li>Different schools DO have different strengths (even Harvard is not the best at everything, and certainly other schools are as good in several programs). And they have different “flavors”. My D is interested in Physics… but there is a big difference between studying at a place like University of Chicago vs. Harvey Mudd vs. Swarthmore vs. Reed. She isn’t sure enough that the EA environment is the one she wants, and would like to attend admitted students day at a few other schools (if she gets in) to confirm the best fit with other admitted students.</li>
<li>As sally305 said, kids can change a lot in that period prior to May 1 (see “s*** happens”). My D might decide to shift her interest back to epidemiology (her passion for a couple of years before discovering physics). That could mean that a different school on her list suits her preferences better when May 1 comes.</li>
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<p>I would say that the OP only hears this other person bragging about their Harvard admission, but there may be some legitimate reasons why this guy would apply to more schools.</p>
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<p>Texaspg, why do you say this? It certainly isn’t public information. I hear vague rumors about sharing of information between schools, but I do not actually believe everything I hear about this. Do you have some knowledge that can be verified that they are doing this?</p>
<p>intparent - it is not hard to get a list of people admitted at competing schools. I was able to see a large percentage of EA students at various schools on the school facebook pages. </p>
<p>Based on the low overlap betweeen HYPS schools from early to regular, one has to assume they share lists at some level. It is known that SCEA and ED schools (or is it only ED?) pass their lists around to notify others. </p>
<p>One only has to ask the high school counselor where else the kid had applied/admitted before they admit the kid if they are not sure. Yield is important and they want to make sure there is a high chance.</p>
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I am willing to admit that the moon–or at least part of the moon–might be made of green cheese. But I wouldn’t bet any of my personal money on it.</p>
<p>I think it’s silly to suggest that a person who applied to Harvard SCEA is really torn about whether he would attend Harvard over Williams, Cornell, Chicago and the rest. Maybe a couple of them, but all of them? You’re certainly free to believe that, but don’t invest in the Brooklyn Bridge.</p>
<p>Just to add: the “friend” is applying to six of the eight Ivies, plus Stanford, MIT, Williams, and Chicago (according to OP). And he can’t drop any of those after getting in early to Harvard? If he’s not trophy hunting, then he’s too dumb to go to Harvard. In my opinion.</p>