<p>I couldn’t sleep at all last night :/</p>
<p>Wow - did you guys see this
Although Harvard College saw 1.9 percent fewer applications this year, the acceptance rate looks likely to decrease nevertheless. Since the admissions office plans to count on a yes from the vast majority of students accepted through its renewed early action program, Harvard may admit as few as 3 percent of the students waiting to hear their decisions this Thursday.</p>
<p>Overall, Harvard might admit about 5.5 percent of students who applied under early action and regular decision to the Class of 2016a drop from last years record-low 6.2 percent.</p>
<p>If the admission rate does fall this year despite the slightly reduced applicant pool, it will be due to a new calculus in the admissions office centered on predicting the number of students accepted in the early round who will choose to come to Harvard.</p>
<p>Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons 67 said that those who were accepted in December under the early action program will be more likely to matriculate. In the past, the yield for early admission students has been higher than the yield for people applying regular admissionsin fact, 15 to 20 points higher typically, Fitzsimmons said.</p>
<p>Last year, 77 percent of students acceptedall regular decision, before the return of the early action programdecided to come to Cambridge. If early admits choose Crimson at the rate Fitzsimmons predicted, then as many as 92 to 97 percent of them might matriculate.</p>
<p>Fitzsimmons said he speculates that early action applicants may have a stronger interest in attending Harvard, thus leading to the higher yield rate for those students.</p>
<p>Bev Taylor, founder of college consulting practice The Ivy Coach, said the students she advises typically attend Harvard if they are admitted early. When they apply early action to Harvard, yes, they go to Harvard, she said.</p>
<p>Expecting these eager admits, Fitzsimmons said that his office will be conservative in the number of students it admits this year to avoid overcrowding.</p>
<p>Though Harvard has not yet announced the number of acceptance letters that will go in the mail on Thursday, the College will look to roughly replicate the size of this years freshman class1,661.</p>
<p>Already, 772 acceptance letters for the Class of 2016 went out in December.</p>
<p>From this point, anyone with a pencil and paper can approximate the math going on in the admissions office. To be safe, assume that the admissions office, behaving cautiously, makes room for every student who has been accepted early to attend. That leaves about 900 freshman beds open to regular decision candidates. If the yield for that cycle is high as wellsay 80 percentHarvard can admit just over 1,100 more students on Thursday to count on 900 of them showing up.</p>
<p>In total, that means that about 1,900 acceptance letters will go out this year, plus perhaps more to waitlisted students after the first crop of accepted students make their decisions by May 1. Last year, Harvard initially accepted 2,158.</p>
<p>If the number of admitted students is indeed this small, the overall acceptance rate for the 34,285 students who sought admission this year would be 5.5 percent. But that number, already tiny, belies the even smaller odds that an applicant who is waiting for his decision on Thursday hears good news.</p>
<p>The 772 students who were selected in December were picked from a pool of 4,245, leading to an acceptance rate of 18 percent.</p>
<p>This time, 32,967all regular applicants plus early candidates deferred to the regular roundare competing for just about 1,100 spots. In the regular cycle, a students chance of acceptance would be 3 percent based on these calculations.</p>
<p>That these numbers are so small is due to the renewed early action program. I really believe that would tax on the overall acceptance rate, Taylor said of early admissions.</p>
<p>But despite the daunting figures, Don McMillan, president of an educational consulting firm in Boston, predicted that students will keep applying to Harvard in similar numbers.</p>
<p>And that means the acceptance rate will not climb much higher. Michael Goran, director of ********* College Consulting, said, Theres still a finite number of seats in a class and theres a limitation to how much you can expand.</p>
<p>Staff writer Elizabeth S. Auritt can be reached at <a href=“mailto:eauritt@college.harvard.edu”>eauritt@college.harvard.edu</a>.</p>
<p>Oddly enough, I slept really well last night. And right now I don’t feel super anxious or anything. It just doesn’t feel real. Or maybe I just got all the anxiety out earlier, who knows haha. I remember on ED day (Columbia, deferred) I was FREAKING. OUT.</p>
<p>^ Same. It’s probs because we’re used to waiting already, given that we’ve experienced it once. Or maybe it’s a really good sign c/o fate? That’s what I’m hoping for…</p>
<p>What I told my friend, who is another hopeful, brilliant applicant like you all, is that she should relax. If it’s that low of an acceptance rate (Mr. Fitzsimmons is so clever with EA that it’s beyond astonishing) then take your decision with a grain of salt. You ALL are amazing, successful, world leader, qualified applicants (Hey, I assume so, you’re applying to Hah-vad after all 
) and no matter what the decision, know that the factors that decided it are most likely “We need another cello player, and we don’t need another piano player so we’ll take Applicant X (The cello player) over Applicant Y (The piano player)” – The decisions are honestly more based on what they need (hey, a 3 percent acceptance rate means exactly that it’s a crapshoot!) than your qualifications. So relax and good luck–my 2 cents that I’m giving to my anxious friend as well.</p>
<p>Yeah. The time will come, barring any sort of meteor-induced catastrophe. And we don’t get in, we weren’t supposed to get it. Period. Doubting that just brings undue stress and emotional trauma, I feel.</p>
<p>Of course, if you wanna ask me around 3 o’clock (I’m central time), my thoughts are probably going to be more like BLAARGHASDF LKJH BUT WHAT IF AND I I WHAT CAN’T EVEN ALSKJDFH.</p>
<p>…or something like that.</p>
<p>It’s nice to live on the West Coast, so I can find out @2. At 3% acceptance rate, it’s basically like a lottery or who will get the golden ticket. It seems like everyone has just an amazing application, so… that’s all it is. I heard from a friend that San Diego State, had about 75,000 applications for about 7,000 spots. Crazy. That is almost like IVY admission rates. It’s like there are three chairs for musical chairs, with 100 people. It’s not that the people who get the chairs are better, but chance sometimes. I’m happy I was accepted early to a couple of other colleges, so I don’t stress and have a plan B. Good luck to everyone, and don’t stress :)</p>
<p>Hey guys. 
I was there, and I understand. It’s hard to focus on anything. But I promise that no matter what happens, you are going to be happy with whatever school you go to. So good luck to you!! :)</p>
<p>Just under 6 more hours! Anyone have an accepted/waitlisted/rejected playlist made yet?</p>
<p>^There is another thread full of them! For me: Accepted: Hallelujah(fast paced happy one), Firework by Katy Perry
Waitlisted: I won’t give up by Jason Mraz, Not Over You by Gavin Degraw
Rejected: Forget You by Cee Lo Green and Stronger by Kelly Clarkson</p>
<p>XD</p>
<p>LOL @ Forget You … great idea, neorobie, I’ll force my friend to listen to that if she needs to tommorrow! And Firework? God, if she’s accepted, then she’s going to replay that over and over…</p>
<p>Stronger is a fantastic choice…it has the spunk and rejection-esque style to get you vehement against those fools in the admissions office who rejected you…:)</p>
<p>Good luck though, peeps! Be sure to keep your music going and get ready to kick butt this afternoon @ 5!</p>
<p>I keep telling myself that it doesn’t matter, preparing myself for rejection, and I still could not sleep at all last night (I was walking around like a zombie at school today). Good thing: it will probably help me sleep tonight. Decisions come out 11 PM in the Netherlands, so I’ll probably check tomorrow morning.</p>
<p>Rejected: Someone like you - Adele haha</p>
<p>“I heard that youuuu settled down… that you found an applicant and s/he’s accepted nooooooww… I heard that your dreeeeams came true… guess s/he had more APs… than I could give to yoooouuuuuuuu…”</p>
<p>LOL good luck</p>
<p>Mail just came; and,… nothing. I guess I will have to wait till 2:00pm.</p>
<p>@AforAmbition</p>
<p>I hate to apply out of the blue, uninvited…but i couldn’t stay away i couldn’t fight it…i had hoped that you’d read my common app and that you’d be reminded that for meee it isn’t overrr…</p>
<p>Is it wrong to feel positive? I keep trying to pull myself down, but I can’t help feeling positive…</p>
<p>^I feel the exact opposite way! Very negative right now.</p>
<p>^ I felt negative almost all the days coming to this one, but today for some reason, I’m weirdly positive. Good luck to you!! 5 hours 7 mins</p>
<p>I’m just excited to KNOW, one way or the other.</p>
<p>Also that Someone Like You parody is golden bahaha</p>