I’m just going to come out and say it—I dig the new transfer policy. Thank you, Pilbeam.
Sure, transfers do admittedly add to the diversity of the College. And yeah, it sucks that this year’s transfer hopefuls totally got the shaft—the only Harvard letter they received came with a refund check.
But let’s be honest: I. Absolutely. Do. Not. Want. To. Crowd. My. Senior. Year. And neither do you.
Harvard Houses have enough wrong with them already. Look at the infamous episodes of flooding in Winthrop, with cockroaches propelling themselves through knee-deep septic water in the dining hall. Or the asbestos falling from ceilings in Lowell. The last thing we need is crappier living situations because Harvard over-accepted. And as someone who has never had a single in her college career, I absolutely will not put up with living in the common room again as a senior. And if that means that transfers must be put on hold for a year or two until the Harvard student population doesn’t resemble a population tree from Africa, that’s fine by me.
Plus, if you thought the acceptance rate for normal applicants was small... think again. In comparison to the record low 7.1 percent rate this year, acceptance for transfers is miniscule (traditionally, about five percent). So really, transfers probably wouldn’t have gotten in anyway, and Pilbeam is just saving everyone’s time and energy, not to mention a lot of seniors’ sanity.
And frankly, Harvard’s academically impressive—but otherwise utterly useless—Hist and Sci and Hist and Lit degrees are sometimes nothing but a hassle. So, here’s a little secret for you transfer potentials: don’t leave that finance program. It’s just not worth it.
