Harvard 2012 applicants (class of 2015) Forum

[still_hopeful]

Got my KB2 as well! Well, it was an e-mail actually. I am abroad, and they decided it is better to send an e-mail. To all you of you who missed the call and have no voicemail: check your status online. It should say Admitted if you got in!

Also, an encouragement to those with lower scores: I had a 163 cumulative LSAT, and 25th percentile GPA, but still got in! You just have to show what else you got besides scores, and HLS will consider you!

Good luck to all of you waiting and congrats to the admitted ones! Do let us know if you find out about deposits!

[lats19nys]

Got my KB2 as well! Well, it was an e-mail actually. I am abroad, and they decided it is better to send an e-mail. To all you of you who missed the call and have no voicemail: check your status online. It should say Admitted if you got in!

Also, an encouragement to those with lower scores: I had a 163 cumulative LSAT, and 25th percentile GPA, but still got in! You just have to show what else you got besides scores, and HLS will consider you!

Good luck to all of you waiting and congrats to the admitted ones! Do let us know if you find out about deposits!

were you urm?

[still_hopeful]

No. But I am an international student with a lot of public service leadership experience...Maybe that made the difference..

[Geneva]

No. But I am an international student with a lot of public service leadership experience...Maybe that made the difference..

wow! congrats!
i'm withdrawing my application from harvard today. i was held on 3/22 and haven't heard since then, so it is time to send in my seat deposit to stanford. good luck to everyone still waiting!

[still_hopeful]

Stanford is such an awesome place! A great choice you are making there was Harvard or Stanford your top choice?

[Geneva]

Stanford is such an awesome place! A great choice you are making there was Harvard or Stanford your top choice?

thank u! i am excited:) yale was my top choice and i'm waitlisted there, but i think stanford is a better fit for me than harvard (of course, who knows how much of that is due to the fact that stanford accepted me over a month ago whereas haven't gotten even waitlisted at harvard?) tbf, T3=amazing and can't really go wrong at that level.

[still_hopeful]

Haha, you are absolutely right at that It's exactly how I felt when applying! (luckily, I didn't have to make a choice between any of the three law schools...although UC Berkeley was quite tempting!).

[AtticusJimbo]

Got my KB2 as well! Well, it was an e-mail actually. I am abroad, and they decided it is better to send an e-mail. To all you of you who missed the call and have no voicemail: check your status online. It should say Admitted if you got in!

Also, an encouragement to those with lower scores: I had a 163 cumulative LSAT, and 25th percentile GPA, but still got in! You just have to show what else you got besides scores, and HLS will consider you!

international student with a lot of public service leadership experience

[still_hopeful]

Now that can be called simplifying a rather long-term process:

That's not exactly what I was hoping to receive as a response (or rather, a reaction). An application has many components, and I was hoping to encourage those who have much more to offer than numbers. Everyone has the right to a reaction...but there's never a simple answer. There's no strict formula that can make you "qualify" as an HLS student. You have to earn it somehow...and it's never an easy road.

What I mentioned in my post are a couple of simple facts. No one will reveal everything that makes them special in a post. There's a lot more behind my application, as there must have been a lot more behind yours...and all others that have been selected for admission...

[avd90]

Now that can be called simplifying a rather long-term process:

That's not exactly what I was hoping to receive as a response (or rather, a reaction). An application has many components, and I was hoping to encourage those who have much more to offer than numbers. Everyone has the right to a reaction...but there's never a simple answer. There's no strict formula that can make you "qualify" as an HLS student. You have to earn it somehow...and it's never an easy road.

What I mentioned in my post are a couple of simple facts. No one will reveal everything that makes them special in a post. There's a lot more behind my application, as there must have been a lot more behind yours...and all others that have been selected for admission...

well said

[Geneva]

Now that can be called simplifying a rather long-term process:

That's not exactly what I was hoping to receive as a response (or rather, a reaction). An application has many components, and I was hoping to encourage those who have much more to offer than numbers. Everyone has the right to a reaction...but there's never a simple answer. There's no strict formula that can make you "qualify" as an HLS student. You have to earn it somehow...and it's never an easy road.

What I mentioned in my post are a couple of simple facts. No one will reveal everything that makes them special in a post. There's a lot more behind my application, as there must have been a lot more behind yours...and all others that have been selected for admission...

well said

agreed. congratulations again to everyone accepted! i am almost more impressed when i see candidates accepted with lower LSAT scores and GPAs, because it shows that they realllllly distinguished themselves in the rest of their app.

[GoodFood]

Now that can be called simplifying a rather long-term process:

That's not exactly what I was hoping to receive as a response (or rather, a reaction). An application has many components, and I was hoping to encourage those who have much more to offer than numbers. Everyone has the right to a reaction...but there's never a simple answer. There's no strict formula that can make you "qualify" as an HLS student. You have to earn it somehow...and it's never an easy road.

What I mentioned in my post are a couple of simple facts. No one will reveal everything that makes them special in a post. There's a lot more behind my application, as there must have been a lot more behind yours...and all others that have been selected for admission...

well said

Are you both URMs?

[avd90]

Now that can be called simplifying a rather long-term process:

That's not exactly what I was hoping to receive as a response (or rather, a reaction). An application has many components, and I was hoping to encourage those who have much more to offer than numbers. Everyone has the right to a reaction...but there's never a simple answer. There's no strict formula that can make you "qualify" as an HLS student. You have to earn it somehow...and it's never an easy road.

What I mentioned in my post are a couple of simple facts. No one will reveal everything that makes them special in a post. There's a lot more behind my application, as there must have been a lot more behind yours...and all others that have been selected for admission...

well said

Are you bot URMs?

I am Puerto Rican. I'm also a reverse splitter, and have had a really weird cycle. Harvard was a complete shock, and I'm so grateful, but I'm also aware that being a URM most certainly had something to do with my acceptance (not trying to suggest otherwise). I think the things that set me apart were my thesis and research, both of which were the topic of my PS. During my KB1 that was all we spoke about, and she seemed very interested. I also had a pretty great personal statement, and a very unique background story about overcoming adversity.

I guess my point is that we all know being a URM gives you a boost, but we also know that not every URM gets in, even with great stats, so there has to be something else there. Forgive me if I'm making an intuitive leap here, but the original post was rather snarky and seemed to be implying that still_hopeful's admission was less than well deserved, which is simply not fair. Regardless of whether or not those of us in this thread are admitted, I don't think it's fair to suggest any of us are not worthy or in some way less worthy than another. Everyone here is going to go on to a great LS and have a promising legal career. We should be supportive of each other (even if deep down we're being fake).

[Elric]

Now that can be called simplifying a rather long-term process:

That's not exactly what I was hoping to receive as a response (or rather, a reaction). An application has many components, and I was hoping to encourage those who have much more to offer than numbers. Everyone has the right to a reaction...but there's never a simple answer. There's no strict formula that can make you "qualify" as an HLS student. You have to earn it somehow...and it's never an easy road.

What I mentioned in my post are a couple of simple facts. No one will reveal everything that makes them special in a post. There's a lot more behind my application, as there must have been a lot more behind yours...and all others that have been selected for admission...

well said

Are you bot URMs?

I am Puerto Rican. I'm also a reverse splitter, and have had a really weird cycle. Harvard was a complete shock, and I'm so grateful, but I'm also aware that being a URM most certainly had something to do with my acceptance (not trying to suggest otherwise). I think the things that set me apart were my thesis and research, both of which were the topic of my PS. During my KB1 that was all we spoke about, and she seemed very interested. I also had a pretty great personal statement, and a very unique background story about overcoming adversity.

I guess my point is that we all know being a URM gives you a boost, but we also know that not every URM gets in, even with great stats, so there has to be something else there. Forgive me if I'm making an intuitive leap here, but the original post was rather snarky and seemed to be implying that still_hopeful's admission was less than well deserved, which is simply not fair. Regardless of whether or not those of us in this thread are admitted, I don't think it's fair to suggest any of us are not worthy or in some way less worthy than another. Everyone here is going to go on to a great LS and have a promising legal career. We should be supportive of each other (even if deep down we're being fake).

+1

[lats19nys]

Now that can be called simplifying a rather long-term process:

That's not exactly what I was hoping to receive as a response (or rather, a reaction). An application has many components, and I was hoping to encourage those who have much more to offer than numbers. Everyone has the right to a reaction...but there's never a simple answer. There's no strict formula that can make you "qualify" as an HLS student. You have to earn it somehow...and it's never an easy road.

What I mentioned in my post are a couple of simple facts. No one will reveal everything that makes them special in a post. There's a lot more behind my application, as there must have been a lot more behind yours...and all others that have been selected for admission...

well said

Are you bot URMs?

I am Puerto Rican. I'm also a reverse splitter, and have had a really weird cycle. Harvard was a complete shock, and I'm so grateful, but I'm also aware that being a URM most certainly had something to do with my acceptance (not trying to suggest otherwise). I think the things that set me apart were my thesis and research, both of which were the topic of my PS. During my KB1 that was all we spoke about, and she seemed very interested. I also had a pretty great personal statement, and a very unique background story about overcoming adversity.

I guess my point is that we all know being a URM gives you a boost, but we also know that not every URM gets in, even with great stats, so there has to be something else there. Forgive me if I'm making an intuitive leap here, but the original post was rather snarky and seemed to be implying that still_hopeful's admission was less than well deserved, which is simply not fair. Regardless of whether or not those of us in this thread are admitted, I don't think it's fair to suggest any of us are not worthy or in some way less worthy than another. Everyone here is going to go on to a great LS and have a promising legal career. We should be supportive of each other (even if deep down we're being fake).

I think it's important not to be fake. That just stifles actual discussion and ppl from trying to resolve differences in opinion. If everyone just says things so they can pretend to like each other, that's just silly. It's one thing for people to respect each other, it's another to be disingenuous.

[avd90]

well said

Are you bot URMs?

I am Puerto Rican. I'm also a reverse splitter, and have had a really weird cycle. Harvard was a complete shock, and I'm so grateful, but I'm also aware that being a URM most certainly had something to do with my acceptance (not trying to suggest otherwise). I think the things that set me apart were my thesis and research, both of which were the topic of my PS. During my KB1 that was all we spoke about, and she seemed very interested. I also had a pretty great personal statement, and a very unique background story about overcoming adversity.

I guess my point is that we all know being a URM gives you a boost, but we also know that not every URM gets in, even with great stats, so there has to be something else there. Forgive me if I'm making an intuitive leap here, but the original post was rather snarky and seemed to be implying that still_hopeful's admission was less than well deserved, which is simply not fair. Regardless of whether or not those of us in this thread are admitted, I don't think it's fair to suggest any of us are not worthy or in some way less worthy than another. Everyone here is going to go on to a great LS and have a promising legal career. We should be supportive of each other (even if deep down we're being fake).

I think it's important not to be fake. That just stifles actual discussion and ppl from trying to resolve differences in opinion. If everyone just says things so they can pretend to like each other, that's just silly. It's one thing for people to respect each other, it's another to be disingenuous.

That is fair, and I regret using those words. I think I meant just what you said--that we should be, at the very least, respectful of one another. I just wanted to point out that the interaction that went on above was neither productive nor necessary, and only functions to undermine open and honest discussion about the application process. If people feel like they will get snarky assholery if the post their stories or share their stats, that damages the quality of the TLS community. (sappy, I know) But thank you for pointing out a flaw in my statement and helping me better articulate my point.

[lats19nys]

and the thing is, i've been part of both sides of admissions process although at the undergraduate lvl. Trust me, it does get very complicated. I've had admissions officers at an elite school literally push for a kid because he happened to be top 5 percent statistically of a certain racial background. They didn't even care that he had grown up in a privileged background not only in terms of wealth but also the fact his parents both graduated from prestigious undergrad and grad schools. I've also pushed for kids who were worse statistically than that student but felt the lower scores were more a lack of actual exposure and opportunity to only have those points disregarded. It gets very complicated when you are dealing with limited spaces. If anything, from what i've read, it's really condescending how some people look at URMs with better numbers and don't get into schools as somehow indicative of the schools being czy. Maybe that candidate just didn't put in the effort in their application. That kind of reasoning devalues the individual and their experiences as you are hoping to emphasize. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's a little bit of both. Each application is viewed individually but it's also viewed in context to the whole. lol. Yeah...long way of saying it's complicated.

[lats19nys]

lol it's ok. i think what you said was ok. i think what you said just made me think about the truth thinking behind a lot of ppl on this forum.

[GoodFood]

I guess my point is that we all know being a URM gives you a boost, but we also know that not every URM gets in, even with great stats, so there has to be something else there. Forgive me if I'm making an intuitive leap here, but the original post was rather snarky and seemed to be implying that still_hopeful's admission was less than well deserved, which is simply not fair. Regardless of whether or not those of us in this thread are admitted, I don't think it's fair to suggest any of us are not worthy or in some way less worthy than another. Everyone here is going to go on to a great LS and have a promising legal career. We should be supportive of each other (even if deep down we're being fake).

Not sure if this was referencing my original post (I haven't read/am too lazy to follow whatever discussion is going on in here because it sounds annoying), but I just wanted to know if you guys were URMs to get a better feel for where the KB1s/2s have been heading. If they've moved on to URMs that don't help their numbers, that probably means they are done filling up their whole class.

ETA: Read the discussion. Don't let this devolve into a affirmative action debate; it's a thread for those still waiting from Harvard. You're all special snowflakes as far as I'm concerned.

[avd90]

I guess my point is that we all know being a URM gives you a boost, but we also know that not every URM gets in, even with great stats, so there has to be something else there. Forgive me if I'm making an intuitive leap here, but the original post was rather snarky and seemed to be implying that still_hopeful's admission was less than well deserved, which is simply not fair. Regardless of whether or not those of us in this thread are admitted, I don't think it's fair to suggest any of us are not worthy or in some way less worthy than another. Everyone here is going to go on to a great LS and have a promising legal career. We should be supportive of each other (even if deep down we're being fake).

Not sure if this was referencing my original post (I haven't read/am too lazy to follow whatever discussion is going on in here because it sounds annoying), but I just wanted to know if you guys were URMs to get a better feel for where the KB1s/2s have been heading. If they've moved on to URMs that don't help their numbers, that probably means they are done filling up their whole class.

No no no, neither of you guys were what I was referencing. I was talking about the user Atticus who had the cartoon picture in response to still_hopeful. Neither of you guys said anything that could even kind of be considered in a negative light. I'm sorry if I didn't properly clarify! I agree that this is not the place for a debate on affirmative action, and I'm so so so sorry if that was how my post came off.

[Istayedhere]

and meanwhile some wait for the weekend to pass...

How many of us are still left?

[still_hopeful]

Thank you avd90 (as well as lats19nys and GoodFood)!

avd90 got to the point: parts of my last two posts were purposefully quoted to suggest I have low scores and the only thing I have been selected for is the fact I am an international student with public service leadership experience. This, followed by a rather disrespectful image posted below did affect me and make me feel I should not have shared my story. And my only goal was to encourage people who have much to offer despite the fact their numbers are not 75th percentile both!

I am not a URM to answer this question as well. I am a Caucasian girl who went to a top US college. Now, a 25th percentile GPA should not sound so bad either. And there is a number of reasons for my lower LSAT (which is not representative of my academic accomplishments). As I said before, I do not plan to enumerate my long list of accomplishments that probably made HLS interested in me as a prospective student. Rather, I want to make it clear that the fact I grew up in a foreign country and have taken a leadership role both abroad and in the US in the public service sphere are not the only things that made me qualify for HLS. So for that rather insulting picture posted after random cuts of my previous posts: it was quite inaccurately placed there.

Furthermore, anyone who has done basic research on the criteria for selection at HLS knows that the Admissions Office is looking for a combination of intellectual capabilities (and there are many ways to demonstrate that besides the obvious winners 'GPA and LSAT') and leadership potential. The fact HLS did not just reject me because of a quick glance at my numbers shows that they do take everything into account. I was really happy to have a proof of that and I think it should serve as an encouragement to the great candidates who do not necessarily have 177 and 3.99.

As to GoodFood's question: I was placed on hold before. I think several of the other students who received calls were also on hold from what I read. So it seems like they are reviewing the people on hold again (and definitely not searching for the URMs in the pile...).

Good luck to those still waiting! There's always hope

[amc987]

and meanwhile some wait for the weekend to pass...

How many of us are still left?

I am. I was held in January and have heard crickets since. Maybe we should start a support group? Lol.

[pupshaw]

and meanwhile some wait for the weekend to pass...

How many of us are still left?

I am. I was held in January and have heard crickets since. Maybe we should start a support group? Lol.

We have one. It's over in the Held thread.

[user_france]

and meanwhile some wait for the weekend to pass...

How many of us are still left?

I am. I was held in January and have heard crickets since. Maybe we should start a support group? Lol.

Also still waiting. Held in march, no kb/js1.