Anonymous
01/19/2026 18:08
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What this shows is that getting into Harvard used to be immensely easier. People who went to Harvard in the 90s wouldn’t be in at anywhere comparable today.
It’s not harder or easier per se, but the grade inflation is making the signals of quality very noisy. A few decades ago, the high school grades already helped the admissions pick the outstanding (academically) students pretty accurately. In addition, applicants these days are supposed to play victim and write a sob story about what kind of hardship they have gone through and how they have overcome their hardship and what lessons they have learned. It’s like everyone is applying for a script writing major!
Wrong. It is easier. Harvard used to have a much higher admission rate. In 1988, it was 14.6% and less than 15,000 applications.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/7/8/freshman-class-sets-application-records-pthe/
In 2025, there was a 3.43% acceptance rate out of 57,435 apps.
https://features.thecrimson.com/2021/freshman-survey/makeup-narrative/#:~:text=This%20year%2C%20the%20College's%20acceptance,totals%20a%20historic%201%2C965%20students.
Fewer.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 18:02
Subject: Re:Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
So, folks, um, birth order…is it holding true that the oldest is going to the “most competitive” college, as is generally the case?
Anonymous
01/19/2026 17:59
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
Anonymous wrote:DH is class of '91. We have one DC at Swarthmore, and the other was recently accepted ED at Carleton.
As for his classmates who I know, there are a lot whose kids chose Harvard, but off the top of my head I can think of: Cornell, Wesleyan, Colorado College, BC, Columbia, Williams, Hamilton, Colgate, Chicago, Duke, Colby, Lehigh, NYU, UNC, and St. Andrews.
I went to one of these schools and when I look at where Harvard and Yale alum kids are going, this list is pretty spot on.
Some of them have super high achieving kids who get into Harvard and Yale, though.
I have to admit, I smile a little when I see the Harvard/Yalies who are arrogant sending their kids to schools like this.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 17:56
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What this shows is that getting into Harvard used to be immensely easier. People who went to Harvard in the 90s wouldn’t be in at anywhere comparable today.
It’s not harder or easier per se, but the grade inflation is making the signals of quality very noisy. A few decades ago, the high school grades already helped the admissions pick the outstanding (academically) students pretty accurately. In addition, applicants these days are supposed to play victim and write a sob story about what kind of hardship they have gone through and how they have overcome their hardship and what lessons they have learned. It’s like everyone is applying for a script writing major!
Wrong. It is easier. Harvard used to have a much higher admission rate. In 1988, it was 14.6% and less than 15,000 applications.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/7/8/freshman-class-sets-application-records-pthe/
In 2025, there was a 3.43% acceptance rate out of 57,435 apps.
https://features.thecrimson.com/2021/freshman-survey/makeup-narrative/#:~:text=This%20year%2C%20the%20College's%20acceptance,totals%20a%20historic%201%2C965%20students.
lol 14.6% wasn't exactly easy back then. Easier sure, but sure as hell not easy by any stretch.
It’s hard to compare because the applicant pool has expanded so much. Maybe before fewer people applied but they were more high quality applicants. The common app and internet and such have definitely made it easier to apply to more schools. I didn’t know anyone that applied to more than one Ivy and most people didn’t apply to any.
But AI says the average sat of a Harvard admitted in 1991 was 1390, which is equivalent to a 1490 nowadays I think. And it’s definitely higher than that now.
But the SAT has been scored down several times. The tests then and now cannot be compared.
Yeh, they say that, but I don’t buy it: a 1390 then is far more impressive than a 1490 now.
That’s not the point. The point is that you cannot compare old SAT scores just as you cannot compare old LSAT scores.
Yes and no: you can compare what constitutes an elite application then - holistically - and what constitutes an elite application now, of which SATs are components.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 17:55
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Past few years have seen the children of all my Harvard 1990-something classmates head off to college. Where have they chosen to go? here’s the list so far:
University of Virginia
Wake Forest
Auburn
Sewanee
Duke
Tulane
SMU
I am sensing a pattern here…
I'm a Yale grad and that's not the pattern my classmates' kids are following at all.
So what is it that you see at Yale?
Anonymous
01/19/2026 17:53
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
Anonymous wrote:No legacy at the Ivy level gets in unless they are ALSO qualified - stats, rigor, etc.
ONLY athletes and "dean's list" (connected/high donor - which are frequently ALSO alumni) are getting in without the stats.
Sibling legacy is halfway important at Harvard. However, there’s now too many siblings applying and if they are unhooked, I heard they are looking at whether parents have donated to Harvard College Fund. Hope that helps someone with a kid already at Harvard who has another kid.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 17:53
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What this shows is that getting into Harvard used to be immensely easier. People who went to Harvard in the 90s wouldn’t be in at anywhere comparable today.
It’s not harder or easier per se, but the grade inflation is making the signals of quality very noisy. A few decades ago, the high school grades already helped the admissions pick the outstanding (academically) students pretty accurately. In addition, applicants these days are supposed to play victim and write a sob story about what kind of hardship they have gone through and how they have overcome their hardship and what lessons they have learned. It’s like everyone is applying for a script writing major!
Wrong. It is easier. Harvard used to have a much higher admission rate. In 1988, it was 14.6% and less than 15,000 applications.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/7/8/freshman-class-sets-application-records-pthe/
In 2025, there was a 3.43% acceptance rate out of 57,435 apps.
https://features.thecrimson.com/2021/freshman-survey/makeup-narrative/#:~:text=This%20year%2C%20the%20College's%20acceptance,totals%20a%20historic%201%2C965%20students.
lol 14.6% wasn't exactly easy back then. Easier sure, but sure as hell not easy by any stretch.
It’s hard to compare because the applicant pool has expanded so much. Maybe before fewer people applied but they were more high quality applicants. The common app and internet and such have definitely made it easier to apply to more schools. I didn’t know anyone that applied to more than one Ivy and most people didn’t apply to any.
But AI says the average sat of a Harvard admitted in 1991 was 1390, which is equivalent to a 1490 nowadays I think. And it’s definitely higher than that now.
But the SAT has been scored down several times. The tests then and now cannot be compared.
Yeh, they say that, but I don’t buy it: a 1390 then is far more impressive than a 1490 now.
That’s not the point. The point is that you cannot compare old SAT scores just as you cannot compare old LSAT scores.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 17:48
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What this shows is that getting into Harvard used to be immensely easier. People who went to Harvard in the 90s wouldn’t be in at anywhere comparable today.
It’s not harder or easier per se, but the grade inflation is making the signals of quality very noisy. A few decades ago, the high school grades already helped the admissions pick the outstanding (academically) students pretty accurately. In addition, applicants these days are supposed to play victim and write a sob story about what kind of hardship they have gone through and how they have overcome their hardship and what lessons they have learned. It’s like everyone is applying for a script writing major!
Wrong. It is easier. Harvard used to have a much higher admission rate. In 1988, it was 14.6% and less than 15,000 applications.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/7/8/freshman-class-sets-application-records-pthe/
In 2025, there was a 3.43% acceptance rate out of 57,435 apps.
https://features.thecrimson.com/2021/freshman-survey/makeup-narrative/#:~:text=This%20year%2C%20the%20College's%20acceptance,totals%20a%20historic%201%2C965%20students.
lol 14.6% wasn't exactly easy back then. Easier sure, but sure as hell not easy by any stretch.
It’s hard to compare because the applicant pool has expanded so much. Maybe before fewer people applied but they were more high quality applicants. The common app and internet and such have definitely made it easier to apply to more schools. I didn’t know anyone that applied to more than one Ivy and most people didn’t apply to any.
But AI says the average sat of a Harvard admitted in 1991 was 1390, which is equivalent to a 1490 nowadays I think. And it’s definitely higher than that now.
But the SAT has been scored down several times. The tests then and now cannot be compared.
Yeh, they say that, but I don’t buy it: a 1390 then is far more impressive than a 1490 now.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 17:04
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
Anonymous wrote:Past few years have seen the children of all my Harvard 1990-something classmates head off to college. Where have they chosen to go? here’s the list so far:
University of Virginia
Wake Forest
Auburn
Sewanee
Duke
Tulane
SMU
I am sensing a pattern here…
I'm a Yale grad and that's not the pattern my classmates' kids are following at all.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 16:48
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
No legacy at the Ivy level gets in unless they are ALSO qualified - stats, rigor, etc.
ONLY athletes and "dean's list" (connected/high donor - which are frequently ALSO alumni) are getting in without the stats.
ONLY athletes and "dean's list" (connected/high donor - which are frequently ALSO alumni) are getting in without the stats.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 16:27
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What this shows is that getting into Harvard used to be immensely easier. People who went to Harvard in the 90s wouldn’t be in at anywhere comparable today.
It’s not harder or easier per se, but the grade inflation is making the signals of quality very noisy. A few decades ago, the high school grades already helped the admissions pick the outstanding (academically) students pretty accurately. In addition, applicants these days are supposed to play victim and write a sob story about what kind of hardship they have gone through and how they have overcome their hardship and what lessons they have learned. It’s like everyone is applying for a script writing major!
Wrong. It is easier. Harvard used to have a much higher admission rate. In 1988, it was 14.6% and less than 15,000 applications.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/7/8/freshman-class-sets-application-records-pthe/
In 2025, there was a 3.43% acceptance rate out of 57,435 apps.
https://features.thecrimson.com/2021/freshman-survey/makeup-narrative/#:~:text=This%20year%2C%20the%20College's%20acceptance,totals%20a%20historic%201%2C965%20students.
In 1988, you had to type out your application on a typewriter. The lower acceptance rate is as much a function of the improved ease of application as it is anything else. The denominator changed more than the numerator.
Tell me you grew up with enough money to pay for college without telling me you grew up with enough money to pay for college.
What does that mean? Kids who applied to state schools also had to fill out applications on a typewriter.
you're missing her point, Harvard grad. everyone had to type applications. but there were fewer apps to HYP because there wasn't robust FA unless you were dirt poor - and usually a minority. The ol' barbell. That cut out 80% of the competition. Those kids went to University of Illinois or whatever (with a typed application). The typing wasn't the limiting factor, it was tuition. Now with that barrier gone, it's a tougher admit even for families who can pay it.
I went to a T10 that wasn't Harvard in the late 80s/early 90s. My school met full need, and plenty of my friends were there, in part, because with aid the school was cheaper than their in state option.
Did Harvard really not have robust aid then?
The OP is wrong Harvard had great financial aid, merit and work study I had federal loans as well (founded in HEW in the 50’s revamped in 1965, moved to ED in 1982). I
Had federal
Loans both for college and Harvard. The college one was a piddling $25 a month and I paid off at age 34. The Harvard Law one was $35 a month and I paid off at age 37. All of my friends were on financial aid, grants, work study.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 16:21
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What this shows is that getting into Harvard used to be immensely easier. People who went to Harvard in the 90s wouldn’t be in at anywhere comparable today.
It’s not harder or easier per se, but the grade inflation is making the signals of quality very noisy. A few decades ago, the high school grades already helped the admissions pick the outstanding (academically) students pretty accurately. In addition, applicants these days are supposed to play victim and write a sob story about what kind of hardship they have gone through and how they have overcome their hardship and what lessons they have learned. It’s like everyone is applying for a script writing major!
Wrong. It is easier. Harvard used to have a much higher admission rate. In 1988, it was 14.6% and less than 15,000 applications.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/7/8/freshman-class-sets-application-records-pthe/
In 2025, there was a 3.43% acceptance rate out of 57,435 apps.
https://features.thecrimson.com/2021/freshman-survey/makeup-narrative/#:~:text=This%20year%2C%20the%20College's%20acceptance,totals%20a%20historic%201%2C965%20students.
lol 14.6% wasn't exactly easy back then. Easier sure, but sure as hell not easy by any stretch.
It’s hard to compare because the applicant pool has expanded so much. Maybe before fewer people applied but they were more high quality applicants. The common app and internet and such have definitely made it easier to apply to more schools. I didn’t know anyone that applied to more than one Ivy and most people didn’t apply to any.
But AI says the average sat of a Harvard admitted in 1991 was 1390, which is equivalent to a 1490 nowadays I think. And it’s definitely higher than that now.
But the SAT has been scored down several times. The tests then and now cannot be compared.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 16:18
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What this shows is that getting into Harvard used to be immensely easier. People who went to Harvard in the 90s wouldn’t be in at anywhere comparable today.
It’s not harder or easier per se, but the grade inflation is making the signals of quality very noisy. A few decades ago, the high school grades already helped the admissions pick the outstanding (academically) students pretty accurately. In addition, applicants these days are supposed to play victim and write a sob story about what kind of hardship they have gone through and how they have overcome their hardship and what lessons they have learned. It’s like everyone is applying for a script writing major!
Wrong. It is easier. Harvard used to have a much higher admission rate. In 1988, it was 14.6% and less than 15,000 applications.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/7/8/freshman-class-sets-application-records-pthe/
In 2025, there was a 3.43% acceptance rate out of 57,435 apps.
https://features.thecrimson.com/2021/freshman-survey/makeup-narrative/#:~:text=This%20year%2C%20the%20College's%20acceptance,totals%20a%20historic%201%2C965%20students.
In 1988, you had to type out your application on a typewriter. The lower acceptance rate is as much a function of the improved ease of application as it is anything else. The denominator changed more than the numerator.
Right. I applied to four colleges/universities. My kids applied to nine to 15.
I applied to 9 in 1989.
Affluent areas in the NE took college apps seriously, even back then.
I never said I was affluent
Anonymous
01/19/2026 16:18
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The pattern being regression to the mean.
I thought the pattern would be bro culture/where one can be a MOTU/letterman/all-rounder type man
And? What's the problem here?
Anonymous
01/19/2026 16:05
Subject: Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Past few years have seen the children of all my Harvard 1990-something classmates head off to college. Where have they chosen to go? here’s the list so far:
University of Virginia
Wake Forest
Auburn
Sewanee
Duke
Tulane
SMU
I am sensing a pattern here…
Not here. UVA. Oxford. Harvard Law
Harvard Law does not count. Undergrad is?
Harvard.
So UVA, Oxford, Harvard….