So I was waitlisted at Harvard and has already taken steps to try to finish my senior year strong and try to get updates for my Harvard application as well as starting to consider other schools. I have been looking at older threads and saw that you can write a letter of continued interest to the regional admission officer, however to my understanding, that information is not available online. Does that mean that I’ll have to contact my GC instead? I would really appreciate inputs from @gibby and other knowledgeable posters
To the best of my knowledge, Harvard has never published how many student’s it waitlists every year, but Yale and Princeton have – and those numbers have fluctuated between 1200 to 1400 waitlisted students per school. Yes, almost an entire other class full of students gets waitlisted – and for just a handful of spots. I imagine Harvard’s numbers are pretty similar.
Admissions will not start going through their waitlist until AFTER May 2nd – after all accepted students have notified them of their decision – and YOU have notified another school of YOUR decision.
So every waitlisted student MUST fall in love with one of the colleges that fell in love with them. So, here’s what you do:
You – not your GC – can write a letter (not an email) of continued interest and let Admissions know that you would immediately accept an offer to become part of the class of 2020. FWIW: you don’t have to write a letter, you just need to let Harvard know you want to remain on their waitlist. If you decide to write a letter though, address it to “Dear Officers of Admission” or “Dear Harvard Admissions” and mail the letter via the US Postal Service.
And then, you need to do something very difficult – you need to completely forget about Harvard. It’s time to move on! If Harvard comes calling in May or June, you’ll deal with it then, but now you need to become an enthusiastic matriculating member of another college.
I very much subscribe to Jeffrey Brenzel’s way of thinking. Dr. Brenzel recently retired as Yale’s Admission Director and teaches philosophy at the school.
Best of luck to everyone!
@hola1997 - Congrats to you. You must be a terrific student and will be successful wherever you attend. Your regional admissions rep can be found easily on the Harvard website. Write a strong letter of continued interest letting them know you will attend if admitted from the WL. I love everything @gibby says but think emailing is fine. Please chime in and disagree @gibby, but I think email is OK. What matters most is the substance of the letter and getting it to the right person. Commit somewhere else by May 1, and fall in love with that school. And under no circumstances should you create a music video about how much you love Harvard 
@MamaBear97 : Thank you so much for your encouraging words. Unfortunately as an international student looking for financial aid, I don’t have lots of options. For now only 2 schools have offered a sizable amount of financial aid so I am hoping that I will make it off the Harvard WL. Of course, I am looking to love other schools and not to focus too much on Harvard. Thank you for all those who replied to this thread!
You will likely need to deposit at the other school. Schools don’t typically go to their waitlist (if they go at all) until after May 1.
@intparent Thank you! I’ll be sure to discuss the available options to my parents right away!
Probably a minor consideration, but you lose that initial deposit if you get into Harvard and decide to attend there. You should try to go to accepted student visits at your top couple of choices where you have acceptances before deciding if you can.
@intparent : Thank you for your input. I am ready to lose my deposit because Harvard is my first choice nonetheless. I’m just waiting for one more school (McGill) before attending accepted students visits. My choices are pretty limited right now due to the limited financial aid offered for international students.