<p>I have a question regarding ethics. I got accepted to Yale SCEA and have replied to the offer, officially deciding to attend next year. However, before the decision came I had already finished my application to Harvard and scheduled an interview in January. I do still want to see if I can get into Harvard, so I don't plan to cancel my application...the question is, do you think it's OK for me to take up someone's time with an interview when I know I'm not going to go to Harvard anyway? Is it my responsibility to let the school know that I've already accepted somewhere else? Or should I just go through without telling them, since I already paid the application fee?</p>
<p>I realize that I'm very lucky to even be in this dilemma.</p>
<p>I would suggest to cancel the interview. It is inconsiderate to go through with it if you have already committed to another school and you are positive about your decision. The interviewers are not getting paid by Harvard and they are doing this out of love of the school, so you would be wasting their time (they have lives too). If you are now having second thoughts and you feel like you might change your mind if you get in to Harvard, then by all means go to the interview, turn in the application, and give it your best shot (schools have people change their mind all the time, so Yale will understand). But otherwise it is inconsiderate not only to the interviewer, but to all the people who read your application, to the person whose spot you might take if you do get in, etc. I’m sorry that you already paid the application fee, but if you call Harvard and explain the situation then who knows they might actually refund it (unlikely, but worth a shot). If there is no way you would possibly go to Harvard if you did get in, then applying seems like a waste of everyone’s time including yours. So instead of wasting your time, get excited! You got in to Yale! Congratulations! :D</p>
<p>Hmm, I don’t think it’s necessarily an ethical dilemma. I do think you should probably cancel the interview and withdraw your application. You have already committed to go to Yale and if you end up getting accepted to Harvard that means someone out there is most likely going to get rejected because you got accepted. If you did get accepted, this one person might still end up going because they got on the waitlist; but why put someone through the angst when you have already been accepted and decided to go? Ultimately it’s your decision but that is just my two cents.</p>
<p>If you know for a fact that you’re still going to attend Yale, even if you have to pay full price tag out of pocket, even if Harvard accepts you, then don’t waste your time or the interviewer’s time.
You got into your choice school and where you will attend.</p>
<p>However if you are dependent on financial aid, then go ahead and finish Harvard, they might be a smarter financial choice for you and your family than Yale.</p>
<p>You have been accepted to one of the finest universities in the world; withdraw Harvard. To be accepted at Yale probably means you have a better than even chance of getting in at Harvard as well and you can’t go to both. Gaining acceptance at Harvard would get you bragging rights for a couple of days but look at the bigger picture; you are taking a spot from someone else. You might be taking a spot from a kid across the country or you might be taking the spot from the kid next to you in English class today. Do the right thing, withdraw.
As to the financial aid aspect. You should have already received a preliminary estimate of aid from Yale and you know what it will cost. Harvard’s award will be very, very close to Yale’s (maybe a bit better, maybe a bit worse) but in any case, the two schools will be in the same ballpark as far as finances. Both schools are very up front about their aid policy and I can speak for myself when I say that the award they (Yale) gave was exactly in line with what they advertise and what their financial aid calculator on their website predicted. </p>
<p>If you’ve already accepted Yale’s offer, and have no intention of going to Harvard, you will have to lie during the Harvard interview. So, you should withdraw and cancel the interview.</p>
<p>^It’s not the same thing. Harvard is accepting you because in applying, you are demonstrating that you might want to attend, should you get in. When you already accept another school’s offer and then apply anyways, even if you get in, you are not going to attend. You already know you’re not going to go.</p>
<p>I agree with everyone, withdraw your application. You are attending the school that you obviously want to go to. There is no need for you to see if you can get into Harvard. It shouldn’t matter if you can get in or not.</p>
This is a difficult question. On the one hand, the same number of people will matriculate at Harvard, whether you accept their offer or not, even if it means that somebody will be taken from the waiting list. Since Harvard projects that some number of people will not accept the offer of admission, your decision not to go might not even cause them to go to the waiting list. However, your actions may have an impact on which specific people end up at Harvard. For example, if you are one of two highly qualified applicants from rural Iowa, they might accept you and reject the other person–he might not even make it to the waiting list. If you withdrew, however, he might get in. Harvard tries to “craft” its incoming class–if it accepts you, and you don’t go, that may affect the craftmanship.</p>
<p>yes, cancel your harvard interview. since you’ve already accepted yale’s offer, it’s inappropriate to interview for harvard when you KNOW with certainty that you won’t be attending.</p>
<p>Here’s what I would do to get into the school rivalry…</p>
<p>Don’t cancel the interview. If possible, try to reschedule the interview to a more inconvenient time and location for your interviewer. Attend the interview and attempt to waste the interviewer’s time as much as possible (generally the better you are the longer the interview will last). Then, when you get up to shake his/her hand, look him/her straight in the eye and say “Sorry [insert first name here]. I got into Yale early and accepted their offer a month ago. Go Bulldogs!” Stay a moment and watch him/her look on in disbelief. Ensue to strut out of the Starbucks’ door, continuing on your way to greatness.</p>
<p>That would be SOOOOOO epic. BTW when you do the line I gave you, make sure you emphasize both words. For a good example look at Matt Damon near the end of Rounders (between the Turkish bath scene and the meeting with the law professor scene) when he says “Sorry John” or something like that.</p>