Harvard JR1 but no JR2 (yet?) Club Forum

[agathon360]

Let's keep this thread on topic.

Any new entrants to the JR1 but no JR2 club?

[agathon360]

FYI, the phone interview isn't so elusive this cycle, it seems. Lots more JR1/no-JR2s than in years past (at least so it seems).

[agathon360]

Probably more likely a waitlisted candidate (e.g. if you get a JR1, you probably won't be rejected outright). No one has yet reported receiving a posted acceptance without a phone call first.I believe ALL admitted applicants will be called. However, the calls usually, but don't always come, the Monday after the JR1. Candidates admitted through committee review (e.g. less competitive applicants) will likely have to wait longer to hear back.

[Core]

Any other URMs in this sad club?

[agathon360]

Or any theory about why some candidates receive quick JR1s but then no JR2s

[Core]

Or any theory about why some candidates receive quick JR1s but then no JR2s

Part of your application (compelling story, URM status, erotic font) caught JR's eye but you lack sufficient numbers to get in over other candidates who also received JR1's. I think my LSN page illustrates how you can get a JR1 and no JR2 - by being borderline.

[crackberry]

I highly doubt that every single application is (briefly or extensively) viewed by JR himself. Surely there's a filtering process in place (maybe not quantitative but something else) that H applies before it gets to JR's desk. There's no freakin' way JR even glances at 10K+ applications that H receives every year.

HLS doesn't receive anywhere near 10K applications. More like 7.5K or 8K.

[somewhatwayward]

Or any theory about why some candidates receive quick JR1s but then no JR2s

i think JR sometimes flags someone for an interview before the file goes to committee or faculty review. i have no idea which files he looks at or if he looks at them all. i think if you got a quick turnaround, it may be that he flagged you but now either the committe is still reviewing you or they have decided for some reason to put you aside for awhile.

btw, where did you go for undergrad?

[sayan]

Well I'm in this club now.

Good luck to everyone!

[GeePee]

Well I'm in this club now.

Good luck to everyone!

How'd yours go today? As short as mine?

[sayan]

Well I'm in this club now.

Good luck to everyone!

How'd yours go today? As short as mine?

I think it went moderately well. I had gone over what I would say in my head previously but I don't think it sounded as good when I actually spoke to him. Mine was a little over 5 minutes, but I doubt it's an issue.

Yours?

[Chianti2013]

i rarely post but i wanted to let you all know that i've been a member of this club for about a month and was expelled from it by a JR2 email a couple of days ago...my schedule has been as follows:

september 28 - submit
october 22 - complete email (don't know why it took almost a month)
november 13 - JR1
december 21 - JR2 (via email - apparently he tried to call but didn't get through)

as you can all imagine it was pretty nerve-wrecking for a month, especially when the flood of pre-thanksgiving JR2's came in (and the next two rounds of monday acceptances passed me by), but this seems to be a common pattern for this year so everyone please stay optimistic!

my stats can be found in previous posts, but i'd fudged them for the sake of anonymity - suffice it to say, i'd still like to keep my specific stats private, but my GPA is 3.6-3.7 and my highest LSAT is above 175...i attended one of HYP for undergrad, and have a few years' work experience with some solid activities from college...not sure if i count as borderline or what, but i know this info might help some of you grasp a better understanding of my situation

i want to close by wishing everyone good luck and also to give a gentle reminder that everything will work out well, HLS or no, in the end - happy holidays!

[GeePee]

Well I'm in this club now.

Good luck to everyone!

How'd yours go today? As short as mine?

I think it went moderately well. I had gone over what I would say in my head previously but I don't think it sounded as good when I actually spoke to him. Mine was a little over 5 minutes, but I doubt it's an issue.

Yours?

Mine was under 5 including my 2 questions, but he echoed my "Why Harvard" answer in an answer to one of my questions. Also, he had a pretty interesting perspective on the grade shift which I'll probably share soon.

[Core]

i rarely post but i wanted to let you all know that i've been a member of this club for about a month and was expelled from it by a JR2 email a couple of days ago...my schedule has been as follows:

september 28 - submit
october 22 - complete email (don't know why it took almost a month)
november 13 - JR1
december 21 - JR2 (via email - apparently he tried to call but didn't get through)

as you can all imagine it was pretty nerve-wrecking for a month, especially when the flood of pre-thanksgiving JR2's came in (and the next two rounds of monday acceptances passed me by), but this seems to be a common pattern for this year so everyone please stay optimistic!

my stats can be found in previous posts, but i'd fudged them for the sake of anonymity - suffice it to say, i'd still like to keep my specific stats private, but my GPA is 3.6-3.7 and my highest LSAT is above 175...i attended one of HYP for undergrad, and have a few years' work experience with some solid activities from college...not sure if i count as borderline or what, but i know this info might help some of you grasp a better understanding of my situation

i want to close by wishing everyone good luck and also to give a gentle reminder that everything will work out well, HLS or no, in the end - happy holidays!

Congrats!!!

[Chianti2013]

many thanks core! i've been following you closely both on LSN and here over the past few months and really do wish you the best in this horrifically competitive cycle!

(cue stalker music)

[georgina]

i rarely post but i wanted to let you all know that i've been a member of this club for about a month and was expelled from it by a JR2 email a couple of days ago...my schedule has been as follows:

september 28 - submit
october 22 - complete email (don't know why it took almost a month)
november 13 - JR1
december 21 - JR2 (via email - apparently he tried to call but didn't get through)

as you can all imagine it was pretty nerve-wrecking for a month, especially when the flood of pre-thanksgiving JR2's came in (and the next two rounds of monday acceptances passed me by), but this seems to be a common pattern for this year so everyone please stay optimistic!

my stats can be found in previous posts, but i'd fudged them for the sake of anonymity - suffice it to say, i'd still like to keep my specific stats private, but my GPA is 3.6-3.7 and my highest LSAT is above 175...i attended one of HYP for undergrad, and have a few years' work experience with some solid activities from college...not sure if i count as borderline or what, but i know this info might help some of you grasp a better understanding of my situation

i want to close by wishing everyone good luck and also to give a gentle reminder that everything will work out well, HLS or no, in the end - happy holidays!

aww yea, really encouraging stuff. thanks for the info, and much congrats to you

[Core]

many thanks core! i've been following you closely both on LSN and here over the past few months and really do wish you the best in this horrifically competitive cycle!

(cue stalker music)

Haha thanks.

[crackberry]

I highly doubt that every single application is (briefly or extensively) viewed by JR himself. Surely there's a filtering process in place (maybe not quantitative but something else) that H applies before it gets to JR's desk. There's no freakin' way JR even glances at 10K+ applications that H receives every year.

HLS doesn't receive anywhere near 10K applications. More like 7.5K or 8K.

Either way, 8K is pretty hefty. There's not even a ghost a of chance in hell that JR will individually review 1K applications, let alone 8K in a given admission cycle. I'd make an educated guess and suggest that:

About ~1K applications are given serious consideration.
About ~ 950+ applications are subjected to a JR1 phone call.
About ~ 800+ applications are subjected to a JR2 call (or sent an "offer" off the waitlist).
About ~ 500+ accept offers.

Rest (~7K or so) are politely asked to PFO and GTFO.

Yeah we already figured this out:

~1100 JR1s
~830 JR2s
~530 Accept the offer

[CoaltoNewCastle]

Peter North, you think JR is capable of calling about 1,000 applicants, but there isn't a ghost of a chance in hell that he looks at all the applications of the people he calls? You think he calls them without knowing their numbers and what's in their personal statements? Your questions that are easily answered by glancing through threads and ignorant theories and assumptions are getting pretty annoying. This sounds mean, but it really is annoying. Please just use some common sense before you post. What are your numbers anyway?

[crackberry]

Peter North, you think JR is capable of calling about 1,000 applicants, but there isn't a ghost of a chance in hell that he looks at all the applications of the people he calls? You think he calls them without knowing their numbers and what's in their personal statements? Your questions that are easily answered by glancing through threads and ignorant theories and assumptions are getting pretty annoying. This sounds mean, but it really is annoying. Please just use some common sense before you post. What are your numbers anyway?

+1. General, blanket statements that are just flat out wrong are pretty annoying. If you'd paid any attention whatsoever to the Harvard 2010 thread or the HLS admissions blog, you'd know that JR does, in fact, review every single HLS application.

[Core]

Peter North, you think JR is capable of calling about 1,000 applicants, but there isn't a ghost of a chance in hell that he looks at all the applications of the people he calls? You think he calls them without knowing their numbers and what's in their personal statements? Your questions that are easily answered by glancing through threads and ignorant theories and assumptions are getting pretty annoying. This sounds mean, but it really is annoying. Please just use some common sense before you post. What are your numbers anyway?

+1. General, blanket statements that are just flat out wrong are pretty annoying. If you'd paid any attention whatsoever to the Harvard 2010 thread or the HLS admissions blog, you'd know that JR does, in fact, review every single HLS application.

Let's kill him and leave his corpse at Cooley.

[smittytron3k]

guess i'm in the club...applied 10/30, went complete 11/6, got the JR1 email on 12/21. fwiw i'm 175/3.93 from a very good public school and have average-to-good softs.

[englawyer]

Peter North, you think JR is capable of calling about 1,000 applicants, but there isn't a ghost of a chance in hell that he looks at all the applications of the people he calls? You think he calls them without knowing their numbers and what's in their personal statements? Your questions that are easily answered by glancing through threads and ignorant theories and assumptions are getting pretty annoying. This sounds mean, but it really is annoying. Please just use some common sense before you post. What are your numbers anyway?

+1. General, blanket statements that are just flat out wrong are pretty annoying. If you'd paid any attention whatsoever to the Harvard 2010 thread or the HLS admissions blog, you'd know that JR does, in fact, review every single HLS application.

1000 reads by one person does seem feasible. the cycle is over 100 days, so if he can crank out 10 per day 1000 makes sense. he would have over 1/2 hour for each application, plenty of time for a thorough review, and i'm sure looking at applications is considered one of his main jobs.

i do think that his "review" for some applications, though, might be a 30 second read and then straight to the ding pile due to low numbers and lack of some wow factor.

[somewhatwayward]

everyone in this club.....what do you think is the most likely reason you're in purgatory?

in my case, i think it might be that i took a year off in the middle of school essentially bc of burnout. i have heard some people say that it is a red flag if you do that bc they like to see that you can get through the four years without incident....but then i think that doesn't make sense bc then other schools would've felt the same way, and the rest of my cycle has been very good.

the thing that would suck if i have been red-flagged bc of that is that it is unlikely that i will get in at all whereas someone who hasn't received a JR2 bc of borderline numbers might very well get one down the road.

it is funny bc i read a quote somewhere from JR that he wanted to make this process more transparent, and i think he is doing certain things toward that end (answering questions on the blog and so forth) but this purgatory we are in is as opaque as could be....pretty much no way to figure out why we're here...

[crackberry]

everyone in this club.....what do you think is the most likely reason you're in purgatory?

I think for me it's my numbers. My JR1 wasn't flawless by any means, but I don't think it was below-average either, so I don't think that was it. I think my LSAT is just hard for Harvard to swallow. I could see myself getting in off a waitlist, but if/when they waitlist me, I'll probably withdraw anyway. I like closure.