<p>^I believe that other elite schools have received as much, if not more, benefit. In fact, if the other elite schools did not play this game, I suspect Harvard would not. It is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the lowest admissions rate, with Yale, Stanford, even, God forbid, Brown and Columbia breathing down its neck.</p>
<p>hahalolk, I was not saying that Harvard is looking for more students to ADMIT; rather, it is looking for more students to REJECT. The side benefit is that there will be some who apply in response to the marketing campaign who are actually admitted. I’m not belittling that side benefit; as has been noted, there are some who would not have thought Harvard within grasp who, in fact, will be admitted (and that’s a very good thing). The vast, overwhelming majority, however, are simply grist for the admissions race war mill.</p>
<p>Personally, if I were in control of the Harvard admissions committee, my main goal would be what you call a side effect (a better class), and my side effect would be what you consider Harvard’s main goal is in sending out these applications (a lower admittance rate). There is no way besides asking Harvard to know which reason is the one they actually use, but I would guess it would be to build a better class. Because isn’t that what they keep telling us they’re trying to do?</p>
<p>I do agree that it does lower the admit rate. I’m just saying that’s not the reason they do it (at least I don’t think so).</p>
<p>I agree with hahalolk. Harvard comes under a lot of scrutiny because of its stature. People talk about its( relatively new) financial aid program where families under $180,000 per year in income pay no more than 10% of that, but it never would have happened if Congress hadn’t threatened them because their endowment is so huge. Maybe they do this mailing program for PR purposes, maybe it is genuine, but for statistics? Not likely. It only accounts for 1.5% of USNWR ranking, and I don’t think Harvard needs the lowest admit rate for bragging rights. It is Harvard, after all. Already the most famous school in the world, and that isn’t going to change if Yale has a lower admit rate.</p>
<p>Well, what if this makes Yale become ranked number one in those rankings…</p>
<p>So what if Yale becomes #1 for one year or even 2 years in the rankings. Harvard is still going to be one of the most highly regarded – if not in general the most highly regarded – college in the world. Most people aren’t looking at the rankings each year.</p>
<p>The mailings are just for lowering the acceptance rate, and from all the mail I’ve been getting from Cornell, Columbia, Yale, MIT (they gave me temporary tattoos), as well as some lower-rate schools, Harvard does not seem to be the only one trying to get more admits.</p>
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<p>That was very disappointing. I love Brown, and I was excited to see that the admit rate was 14%, substantially higher than HYPS admit rates. This year, it dropped to 9%. I suspect the combination of mailing of letters and Emma Watson are the major contributing factors.</p>
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<p>Let me explain to you how famous the name ‘Harvard’ is - when I visit my cousins on a different continent in a remote area, they tell me they wish they could live in America so that they could ‘go to Harvard, where the best kids in the world go.’ The name, Harvard, and the University’s reputation are untouchable. No one will ever come near Harvard in terms of name recognition - not Yale, not Princeton, not Oxford, not Stanford, not any other institution.</p>
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I see. You have irrefutable proof. Or you have mastered the art of reading the mind of the Harvard Dean of Admissions (or whatever title he holds). Congrats.</p>
<p>Wow, there’s no need to reply with such emotion. This is a forum where people can speak their minds. I didn’t mean to come across like a know-it-all; maybe I should be more careful with my words. It seems to me that Harvard sends out these applications to students to make them feel like Harvard is in their reach. By convincing some students of this, Harvard widens it’s applicant pool. There are seven or eight people that I have spoken to in my school, who previously considered Harvard out of their league, but now want to apply.</p>
<p>“It seems to me that Harvard sends out these applications to students to make them feel like Harvard is in their reach. By convincing some students of this, Harvard widens it’s applicant pool.”</p>
<p>Yes, that’s why Harvard sends out the letters: To expand its chance of getting the most outstanding, active, diverse (in all meanings of the word “diverse”), well rounded student body possible.</p>
<p>tolalvtweety - I do think an “IMO” would have been appropriate. Yes, this is a forum where people can speak their minds, but also keep in mind that people feel very loyal to their schools, so comments that come across as disparaging towards the school should be backed up by something. Of course you are free to have your opinion for absolutely no reason other than a gut feeling, but then be prepared to take some heat for it. You will possibly take less heat if you say you have no factual basis to suspect that. In which case you really added nothing to the discussion anyway since people had already offered the same unsubstantiated opinion, but you are free to vote that way also, naturally.</p>
<p>But you did rather contradict yourself, as Northstarmom gently pointed out. Unless what you meant was “It seems to me that Harvard sends out these applications to students to make them feel like Harvard is in their reach” but in reality they have no chance in hell. In which case the number of people at Harvard that previous to the letter thought they had no chance in hell and now are attending Harvard would seem to prove the opposite. Again, if you are going to be a cynic be prepared to defend your position.</p>
<p>fallenchemist, I have nothing against Harvard so there is no reason to be offended by my statements. Harvard is one of my top choices, and I don’t see how my comments are disparaging when it seems like universities would want to make themselves look more competitive. I am not a cynic, nor have I ever been one. In fact, I try to be as optimistic as possible, so I am truly sorry for offending you in any way. For me, the application is just a way for Harvard to get numerous people, who do and do not have a chance of gaining admittance, to apply. If Harvard wants a diverse student body, the university only needs to point at it’s financial aid initiatives and minority recruitment program. But the applications deliver the numbers; with an application in the mail, all a student has to do is fill it out and send it back. Harvard is competitive. Harvard doesn’t like coming second, and that’s one of the reasons why it is arguably the greatest institution in the world. So don’t see the possibility of Harvard fighting for the lowest acceptance rate as “disparaging.” Rather, embrace your institution’s fire and the fact that you obviously set yourself apart from the rest.</p>
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<p>From personal experience, these programs have only limited efficiency. The Minority Recruitment Program did not even contact me until after my admission. They had nothing to do with my application to Harvard; the mailing did.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Harvard sends out the mailing to applicants with promising some promising statistics, whether those stats be standardized test scores in the upper percentiles, a high GPA, or something else. Someone who is both failing all of their classes and posts abysmal standardized test scores knows better than to receive an application from Harvard. My school, which does have some decently middlebrow students, only had one student receive the Harvard mailing: me.</p>
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<p>I would imagine that more people actually fill out the CommonApp and send it to Harvard via the internet rather than snail mail.</p>
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<p>Harvard is actually not the #1 school for many areas of study, especially in computer sciences and engineering. Rather, it is Harvard’s repeated exhibition of its general excellence - which may or may not include occupying the #1 spot in a particular area - relative to other schools that accounts for its reputation, along with many other factors already discussed in previous posts.</p>
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<p>But this is disparaging, mostly because it insinuates that the mailings are the reason Harvard receives over 30,000 applications annually - they’re not.</p>
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<p>Aside from the hilarity of the whole “your institution’s fire” part, there is no reason for someone to embrace your erroneous assertion.</p>
<p>I’ve never been one for arguing, so I guess I am not good at explaining what I think. I feel bad now. Fallenchemist, you were right when you said that I really added nothing to the discussion. Anyway, Sorry. You guys can carry on. It’s just better if I shut up now.</p>
<p>Does harvard send out these applications to boost its rankings? Who knows… The fact of the matter is that the school is trying to get a more diverse pool of applicants. Harvard as long held its title as one of the best institutions in the world, so the only thing that they can do to in their spere time is to foster better thinkers of the world. This is what I have learned since reading through some of these posts.</p>
<p>Hmm…that’s odd, I had a 2390/240 and never got said packet…</p>
<p>DO you feel better now?..</p>
<p>I got 2390 and never got said packet either. I’m depressed now. :/</p>
<p>This year, Harvard University regained sole possession of the top spot in U.S.News & World Report’s Best Colleges 2011 rankings of national universities. Last year, Harvard and Princeton University tied for first, but Princeton fell to second in the 2011 rankings of these large, research-oriented institutions.
See full article from WalletPop: [U.S</a>. News Best Colleges 2011](<a href=“http://srph.it/9S98iW]U.S”>http://srph.it/9S98iW)</p>
<p>(Just sayin’)</p>