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Ask HN: High school senior, deferred from Harvard. Advice?

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Re: Ask HN: High school senior, deferred from Harvard. Advice?

#11

Post by impendia »

dangrossman wrote: post #4

What's your financial situation? Harvard costs about $58,000 a year. If you're not absolutely sure you'll get a significant scholarship, you should finish those other applications just to ensure you also get in somewhere you can afford. Right now, the unemployment plus underemployment rate for recent college graduates is 53%. Quite a bit higher than the national unemployment rate. $100-200k in student loans (which wi…

I respectfully disagree. In the first place, Harvard (and other prestigious universities) have excellent financial aid, and OP will only pay $58,000/year if his parents are wealthy enough to afford it.

Student loans suck, but I think it is very wise for OP to seek out the best education he (or she) can.

I think it is premature for OP to seriously plan for the future, except to know that time spent in the library that first year will really pay off. There are a couple of people who can figure out their future when they're 17, but when I was in high school I certainly wasn't one of them.

One of the great things about university, especially at the best places, is you'll meet ambitious people who have goals you'd never contemplate before.

And Ivies are not just about name recognition. I know people who went to Harvard and Princeton. They learned soooo much. Perhaps as much or more from their peers than from their classes, but it's still worth it.

Re: Ask HN: High school senior, deferred from Harvard. Advice?

#12

Post by deservingend »

Deferral is not rejection. Yeah, I know very few people get rejected outright from EA, but I also know people at Harvard right now who were first deferred.

Care to share stats? Have you had your essays looked over by successful admits or other strong applicants? Most teachers are useless for evaluating college essays at top schools.

Re: Ask HN: High school senior, deferred from Harvard. Advice?

#13

Post by deservingend »

impendia wrote: post #9

I'm going to disagree with a lot of other commenters: In my experience, a top-notch education is enormously valuable, and where you go to school very much matters. I applied for grad schools in math, my first choice was MIT. I was very disappointed to be rejected. My second choice was Michigan, and I was very disappointed to be rejected there too. My third choice was Stanford. Rejected. My fourth choice was Wisconsin…

Agree with this, except for you telling him what schools he should be applying to. You don't need to spam out applications for undergrad like you might for certain grad programs.

People on here do not understand how strong financial aid at top schools is (or how sharply that aid falls off as you get outside the very top tier), nor do they realize which doors are opened to you.

Re: Ask HN: High school senior, deferred from Harvard. Advice?

#14

Post by dnr »

I remember this exact same feeling when I got rejected from what I thought was my dream school at the time (MIT). I felt physically tired and just laid in bed for several hours right after getting the news. It's a pretty natural reaction to the situation.

The good part is that it does pass. Give it a few days or a week and you'll wonder how you felt so bad now.

Also, this may be too obvious to need saying, but there are a number of other schools where you can learn as much and make as many good connections as Harvard, and it sounds like you're likely to get into at least one of them. In my case, I ended up going somewhere where I'm pretty sure I had a better overall experience than I would have at MIT. It's very possible the same will be true for you.

Re: Ask HN: High school senior, deferred from Harvard. Advice?

#15

Post by jellyksong »

bpc9 wrote: post #7

It's only been a few hours. Do whatever it is you do to relax / clear your mind. Go for a run, listen to some music, etc. Long term success has a great deal to do with how you respond to challenges or failures along the way. Also, it's important to try for some perspective. It's easy and tempting to view college admissions as a referendum on your worth as an individual. After all, for many folks it's a first chance t…

Did you make an account to say this? Thank you :)

Re: Ask HN: High school senior, deferred from Harvard. Advice?

#16

Post by jellyksong »

deservingend wrote: post #12

Deferral is not rejection. Yeah, I know very few people get rejected outright from EA, but I also know people at Harvard right now who were first deferred. Care to share stats? Have you had your essays looked over by successful admits or other strong applicants? Most teachers are useless for evaluating college essays at top schools.

Kinda bursting my own bubble here but it's also extremely unlikely to be accepted after being deferred -- even less than applying regular. I'd have to do something extraordinary between now and April.

Also, at this point I think it's too late to edit my essays. Are you applying as well?

Re: Ask HN: High school senior, deferred from Harvard. Advice?

#17

Post by jellyksong »

viraj_shah wrote: post #6

I think trying to convince you that where you to go school isn't as big of a deal as you might think it is may be fruitless. Harvard is great nonetheless. First and foremost you still have a shot of getting in, in April or whenever you find out. Second and most importantly, examine why you really want to go to school. Do you want to meet new people, study/experience academics, be independent, or any linear combinatio…

Thanks for the insightful comment! I don't really mind the structure of school, and I think college will be even less "rigid" in terms what what I learn or do.

Re: Ask HN: High school senior, deferred from Harvard. Advice?

#18

Post by viraj_shah »

impendia wrote: post #9

I'm going to disagree with a lot of other commenters: In my experience, a top-notch education is enormously valuable, and where you go to school very much matters. I applied for grad schools in math, my first choice was MIT. I was very disappointed to be rejected. My second choice was Michigan, and I was very disappointed to be rejected there too. My third choice was Stanford. Rejected. My fourth choice was Wisconsin…

I certainly don't disagree that going to a good school is valuable. My only statement is that it is not so important to place such a strong emphasis on the name blindly. It helps in many ways and their programs are generally known for something but I wouldn't discount the late-bloomer, super motivated kid who went to a no name school and worked his ass off to get to where he wanted to go. I would just take it in context. That's all.

Re: Ask HN: High school senior, deferred from Harvard. Advice?

#19

Post by jpwright »

Mz wrote: post #8

Long ago, in a galaxy far away: I was accepted to UGA (which is a big deal in hicksville) with a National Merit Scholarship. I also was offered the chance to apply for a fellowship, but I missed the deadline. (My dream college was St. John's in New Mexico but I didn't have the foreign language classes to get accepted.) I went up to UGA by bus for orientation and wandered around on foot on a Sunday trying to find some…

What's the name of the disorder, if you don't mind me asking?

Re: Ask HN: High school senior, deferred from Harvard. Advice?

#20

Post by chatmasta »

I go to Yale and I can assure you that Harvard sucks and is no fun. That sounds like hyperbole but is surprisingly accurate. Harvard is teeming with strangely elitist once-nerds who want to exclude you from their "finals club". Apply to Yale. Everyone here is mad chill and if you got deferred from Harvard, you probably have a pretty good chance of acceptance. So take the application seriously. And who knows, maybe getting deferred from Harvard will become the best moment of your life.
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