Harvard University Graduate School Admission Results

Hep-th. Email to check website.

Hi, all! I received a phone call from my POI today. So excited!! Theory subfield.

If you HAVEN'T INTERVIEWED by now, you are rejected FYI. Was told by student and POI that they sent invites to interview only to students they were ready to accept (assuming nothing catastrophic happened during the interview).

TTPB: Yes if you haven't received an invite for an INTERVIEW yet, that is essentially a rejection. This year both Harvard and MIT science PhD programs decided to only send invites to candidates they were going to accept already (assuming nothing catastrophic happened during the interview) Source: MIT BE student conversation told me this and I basically confirmed it with my MIT interviews with a POI

I heard back from POI on the 21st. He said he does not know the status of my application, which is strange. Maybe doesn't want to break the bad news, lol! Also asked if I heard from other schools. :(

TTPB: I think I indicated experimental astro as the subfield when filling out my app. I could get more specific but not sure if that is helpful?

TTPB who was waitlisted: sorry this isn't a helpful answer to your question, but do you mind posting your subfield? it would be really informative for a lot of people to know what subfields have been waitlisted!

does anyone know how many people are on the waitlist this year or have any info about their acceptance process? I was waitlisted earlier this month. (also if for whatever reason you are not planning on accepting I would love if you could alert the department!)

Has anyone had BBS rejections yet? I still haven't received an interview, but haven't had a rejection. Not sure what that means.

emailed to check portal, no word on fin aid

Regarding not accepting composers this application cycle. To lift the veil and explain how/why: the music dept was given 4 spots by GSAS to accept new grad students across all the grad programs at the music department (5 departments). They also aren't told how many spots/how much funding is available until they start to review applications. It sucks but the faculty don't get any say in how many spots they can have for the entire dept. But with this shortage (only 4 spots), this means that there was a chance one, or more, of these accepted would have been composers into the composition department or, as happened, none accepted at all. Usually they are given more open spots for all the music dept but unfortunately that didn't happen this year. Partly because they are trying to support current students and students who have no funding opportunities elsewhere due to COVID (so even those who have recently graduated). It's not decided until all applicants have been reviewed for all the departments exactly how many of these spots will go to each department. All departments have to negotiate and it was particularly tough this year. This is why it's pretty fluid how many candidates get accepted each year, though usually the composition department, in previous years, usually ends up only accepting 1 or 2 grad students. It ended up that there were really strong candidates and these spots when to the CPCI (interdisciplinary music makers), music theory, and the rest but not composition. It sucks but hopefully this helps illuminate any questions.

I'm the waitlisted student post below. I had interviews with my POI and one of his graduate students in Jan. The admision results should have been sent out in mid-Feb as in previous years. It's strange that no one posted acceptance yet maybe because Harvard has significantly reduced the number of students to be admitted this year as they said in the email and admitted students just didn't post the acceptance.

Adding on to the post below, I also highly doubt that the department has made any decisions yet. I'd say most of the professors have already reviewed their relevant applications, but the official decision is not out. To the waitlisted student: I will probably be declining my offer early (if I receive one). Hope you get your acceptance soon! :)

@TTPB: Considering the size of the department & the fact that not a single person has posted an acceptance here (& only one interview), I think it's pretty unlikely that the admissions committee has finished reviewing apps. Has anyone contacted the GSAS committee or anything?

TTBP: Thanks! I might have to reapply next year if I don't get into my "safety" school which I'm still waiting to hear from. I realize everything is super competitive these days and that my "safety" school might not be so "safe" as I thought. I applied to mostly Ivies, thinking I would be one of the top applicants, but I must have been wrong. Best wishes to you at Harvard!

Ahhh, I went back and checked last few years, and it seems like at this point (after the 20th) they only send rejections. Not looking forward to that email to check portal...

TTBP: Thanks! I might have to go through the whole application process again next year, as I applied to mostly Ivies... and only one "safety" school, which I'm starting to doubt is not really a "safety" school as I thought it was. (I'm still waiting for the decision.) I thought I was one of the top applicants but I was wrong. I realize now that getting into a PhD program is way more competitive than I thought it was... But anyway, thank you! Best wishes at Harvard!