Harvard Admissions Decisions

Harvard released its Early decisions in waves this December.

Back in the day, students were able to conjecture whether or not they were admitted to a university by observing the thinness or thickness of the decision envelope. Their conjecture was often accurate as universities that admitted students included additional information about the university in the hope of swaying them to attend (rather than choosing another school). And student denied admission didn’t need such supplemental material. It was that simple. The rumor that the thick envelope was good and the thin one wasn’t was a true one. But most students don’t find out by snail mail anymore. They find out online.

So are there tricks to knowing if you’re going to get in anymore without the aid of thick and thin envelopes? Sometimes there certainly are! For instance, when the Harvard admissions decisions went out for their Early pool recently, if you happened to have been monitoring “College Confidential,” you’ll have noticed that the decisions went out in waves. Just check the message boards. You’ll see a bunch of “deferred,” “deferred,” “deferred” as students announced their admissions decisions from Harvard. And then a bit later, students started getting “admitted,” “admitted,” “admitted.”

The difference in timing is no coincidence we assure you. Schools are known to send out their admissions decisions in waves and Harvard University is no exception. Have you had a similar experience with a university you applied to? Tell us your stories by posting below! We want to hear them.