<p>Has there been a wave yet?</p>
<p>I haven’t read anything about it yet :O. Good luck though <3</p>
<p>When do these waves occur? One before SCEA decisions, and then another one or two post-SCEA/pre-RD decisions?</p>
<p>Ah snap, I actually just read about 2 Harvard likely letters.</p>
<p>I don’t think Harvard’s likelies come out in waves…</p>
<p>My perception is that harvard hasn’t sent out official likely letters to candidates from the main applicant pool. I think I’ve read that someone in New Zealand got one for special reasons and someone in Florida who I think was a minority student. Not sure actually. In any case I don’t think harvard has tapped a significant number of people yet…</p>
<p>Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using CC</p>
<p>Unless you are the next stephen hawkings or the jeremy lin, no one should be expecting a harvard likely letter as far as I’m concerned.</p>
<p>Besides myself, I know two other people who received likely letters. We live in different places and they all came at very different times.</p>
<p>@knitswim, i see you on a bunch of likely letter forums, and it seems as if you’ve gotten a bunch! (congrats)
i was wondering what you think sets you apart/why a bunch of adcoms like you so much?
is it because of a unique extracurricular, outstanding essays, URM? combination of all three?</p>
<p>At this point, usually all athletic likely letters are sent (200+), and very few (a dozen, give or take) non-athletic likely letters are sent (100+).</p>
<p>Take this with a grain of salt because I’m not certain. Best of luck</p>
<p>Acha, nobody has reported receiving a true academic likely to Harvard at this point. Knitswim recieved a minority letter.</p>
<p>A friend of mine who is white received a letter around the same time as knitswim. I don’t think he is a minority, though he is half Hispanic.
Btw, looking at other forums, this year there seems to be a lot more likely letters than last.</p>
<p>A “minority letter”, are you really going to reduce my accomplishments to that? I wouldn’t be so naive to say that my ethnic background had nothing to do with my acceptances or likely letters, but it really is offensive to write my acceptance off only as a matter of race and not merit.</p>
<p>I find the problem that A LOT of people on these threads have is that they can’t internalize the notion that the admissions process is a HOLISTIC one- that yes, may include consideration of my background. Too many feel that the only definition of merit or talent can be found in your test scores, GPA, grades, (by the way, I’d hardly call mine inferior to other applicants who attend these institutions) and number of awards. How do you define success? Can you 100 % comfortably say that someone who was been coached their entire life to get a 2400 SAT, had the right connections in a lab to do research, had parents and then their own car to take themselves to their numerous extracurricular activities absolutely deserves to gain acceptance into a top school than another student whose achievements may not appears as spectacular but has demonstrated maturity, great character, and tremendous potential? </p>
<p>Why do you even categorize them as “academic” and “athlete”- they’re just “athlete” and “non athlete”- schools send likely letters to whomever they want and for whatever reason they want. Is my likely letter any less legitimate because I am not an “international superstar”. I’ve mentioned it quite a few times and I will mention it again- yes I am a URM, but there is so much more to my accomplishments than that. I’m a good student, I had good test scores, I have a lot of leadership experience, it’s clear that I’m passionate about every single activity I’ve been involved in- not one activity mentioned in my application had involvement for less than four years. I am extremely passionate about civic engagement and that came through clearly and consistently throughout my application, essays, teacher, counselor, and summer program evaluations. On that note, I attended a rather well known and RIGOROUS summer program and I DID WELL- my evaluations reflected that. I don’t know what else to tell you guys- I honestly feel that my “character” as reflected by evaluations, recs, and essays really did me well during the admissions process. I don’t know why it’s hard to believe that maybe schools just felt like admitting someone they just “liked”. </p>
<p>I’m sorry if this sounds confrontational- it is, because I am upset. I’m sorry if I misunderstood your statement, but I really am tired of people saying things like that, I’ve tried to be nice about them but it gets frustrating.</p>
<p>oh and thank you acha 
</p>
<p>In short I think it was a unique mix of academic interest, extracurricular involvement, community service (my Penn likely letter made specific mention to one of my projects) and my recs/evals!</p>
<p>As long as affirmative action and athletic recruiting exist, admitted students will be labeled as such, despite their other academic or extra-curricular credentials.</p>
<p>@knitswim Wow, that was great… My hat goes off to you; you’re completely right in your post… Even if you were asian or caucasian, I bet you wouldn’t been accepted into many great schools… Congrats on your success thus far and good luck in the future…</p>
<p>I’m more than sure that if I get into any good schools next year, the first thing many people on this thread and at my school will say is “you only got in because of your minority status.” </p>
<p>In fact, I’ve already gotten heat about it at school… The other day a couple of kids and I were talking about which colleges we plan on applying to and I said NYU as one of them… I actually don’t even have that much of an interest in NYU, but I didn’t want to say the schools I actually want to get into (MIT, Harvard, Columbia, etc).
The other kid’s response? “oh. You wouldn’t get in… Well… You could because you’re a minority.”</p>
<p>Ouch.</p>
<p>How do you explain someone (who is a minority) getting in to an ivy league school with worse stats and application (for sure) than a white girl in my school, when they are practically neighbors with a similar upbringing? the only difference between them is the minority was less suited for admission, and is a minority. kids with similar grades and schedules wouldnt dream of applying to ivy league schools. its degrading to minorities that they have to face this- the image that they truly were not deserving. There are as many deserving minorities, for sure, who can be accepted, but to have lower standards is ridiculous.</p>
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<p>You answered it yourself. Minority status.
That, and possibly the essays.</p>
<p>@flyingtomato minorities get in because from a holistic perspective they are considered to demonstrate the tenacity and intellectual ability to thrive at an institution of this caliber. Oftentimes, they meet and exceed the stats of other non minorities. They are hardly unqualified if accepted. </p>
<p>KNITSWIM! yes. and fauve, this is not a response to affirmative action, this is a response to people not understanding what these accomplishments entail and that those that receive them, i.e. knitswim, have truly put forth the dedication and crazy amounts of work to reach this level of recognition… this is a response to a lack of understanding and basic comprehension at its most basic level. I will not be so bold as to make other allegations, but simply and euphemistically put, it’s a lack of understanding, not a result of the existence of these initiatives. I hope, ideally, one day, accomplishments as copious and thorough as those of knitswim will not be waved aside because she is a URM and words like “minority letter” won’t even be typed… Hopefully, one day, with affirmative action in full swing, we won’t have people who disregard accomplishments as impressive as knitswim’s </p>
<p>All that aside, I’ve known knitswim for 7 years, and I have seen her complete higher level work with excellence, success and consistency. She strives for her best and completes all of her endeavors with passion beyond compare…and has the stats, and recommendations to prove it (2300, 4.0, 1% near perfect subject test scores, through the roof extra curriculars!)! Her personality, humanity and heart I’m sure also shone through her application as well. she received a likely letter from Harvard University because she has been striving for and achieving excellence for 12 years. she did not, in any way shape or form receive a minority letter.</p>
<p>but there are minorities with less than impressive stats and achievements that get in over nonminorities with far superior qualifications. it does happen. ive seen it. and its absolutely ridiculous. and its sad because those cases lead people to denounce the many minorities who are all very deserving.</p>