Too late to apply to Harvard? Forum

[sparty99]

From what I've been hearing, this is shaping up to be a pretty crazy cycle. Are apps really down by almost 20%? I'm just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best at this point.

Dude. I had a similar gpa as you. I was told by the Assistant Director of Admissions at Fordham (a black male) that if I scored a 160 on the LSAT, I would get accepted to a top 5 law school.

Your LSAT is a 165. Blanket the Top 20.

[PRgradBYU]

Done and done, brother. I've already applied to every T-20 school minus Yale, Chicago, Berkeley, Duke, UCLA, USC and TU. I notice you said you "had" a similar GPA as me... mind if I ask where you ended up going to school?

[TripTrip]

I've already applied to every T-20 school minus Yale, Chicago, Berkeley, Duke

Why not those schools?

[PRgradBYU]

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[PRgradBYU]

I forgot to address why I didn't apply to Yale, huh. They're Yale, so... haha. Didn't think I'd have much of a chance, especially since I'd be applying so late.

[Nickg415]

Its always good to see other BYU students shooting for the T14. You should definitely apply to Harvard (and all of the T14 for that matter).

[PRgradBYU]

Thanks, Nick. Congrats on getting into Penn! I actually took my wife to Philly for the first time over Christmas break and we had a blast. I love the Penn campus's location in the city.

[TripTrip]

Your reasoning for Duke is actually very good.

I didn't get a fee waiver from Chicago, though, and that's honestly probably the only reason I didn't shoot an app their way. At this point in the cycle, do you think I should even bother requesting a fee waiver from them and trying to apply?

Yes.

I forgot to address why I didn't apply to Yale, huh. They're Yale, so... haha. Didn't think I'd have much of a chance, especially since I'd be applying so late.

Yale is the only school where your late application won't hurt. It's a reach, but it's not outside the realm of possibility at all. Wouldn't it be worth the app fee to find out?

[PRgradBYU]

Ugh, Chicago's playing hard to get with their fee waiver. If my CRS data qualifies me for a merit-based waiver and I get an email sometime in the next two weeks, I'll apply.

Wouldn't it be worth the app fee to find out?

That's what I'm still trying to figure out, to be honest! You're probably right.

[sinfiery]

Apply to Yale!

[PRgradBYU]

I'm considering it! It still seems a bit silly to apply with my numbers, though.

And TripTrip, I'm curious... why exactly is Yale the only school where a late application won't hurt my chances?

[TripTrip]

I'm considering it! It still seems a bit silly to apply with my numbers, though.

And TripTrip, I'm curious... why exactly is Yale the only school where a late application won't hurt my chances?

Not silly. Your numbers don't hurt their medians any more that a 3.89/172. That's what's so great about medians.

Yale doesn't fill their class up until February. They like to know the whole applicant pool first, so they can be as selective as possible. Not to mention, Asha mentioned it in her blog. (I think there might be a full article on it somewhere, but I can't find that right now.)

[h_jane_w]

Definitely definitely apply!

[PRgradBYU]

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[somewhatwayward]

Apply to Yale. Also, applying late as a URM with numbers below T14 medians does not hurt you. The reason is that most schools wait until late in the cycle to accept URMs with #s below their medians. URMs with #s at or above their medians will be accepted earlier. Thus, you aren't behind applying now.

Also, Yale barely accepts anyone until late February/March (unless they changed things since I applied). You won't be at a disadvantage there either. I think you have a 95% chance of being accepted everywhere except YS. Yale and Stanford are unpredictable; they'll depend on your essays, softs, etc. That's not to say you have a low shot at those, though. You have a better shot than most people. It is just hard to predict.

[PRgradBYU]

That makes sense. I figured applying to Yale and Stanford would be a crapshoot even if I had numbers above their medians; that's just the nature of those schools. They seem almost arbitrarily selective in their admissions processes (especially Yale... I've heard some members of their AdCom vote against applicants with 4.0s or higher because they don't think the applicants challenged themselves sufficiently with their majors).

I've already applied to Stanford and Harvard so what I think I'll probably do is keep the money I would have spent applying to Yale, and use it to apply to the rest of the T14 schools I received fee waivers from. Who knows, maybe if I get really lucky I'll get a partial scholly from one of the lower T14s and leverage their offer to negotiate with a school I'm actually interested in.

Any thoughts on taking that approach?

[JCGibson10]

OP...as most have already pointed out, you should definitely apply. I have a great AA friend who got into all HYS with 3.5, 167 back in the Class of '14 cycle. He ended up going to Tuck (Dartmouth) to get his MBA instead, but you should have an outstanding chance of getting into Harvard, especially considering that this cycle (from most reports) will be a little more forgiving than previous years.

Best of luck!

[PRgradBYU]

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