Given the diversity of HGSE students, it’s no surprise that students received their acceptance letters in a variety of quirky and surprising settings all over the world.
The 2018-2019 HGSE cohort share their experiences getting in:
“I was driving to a testing center to take a Salesforce.com certification exam that was required for the company I worked at at the time. I saw an email come in from Harvard Admissions and my heart sank. I pulled my car over and was in a dilemma of whether I should read the email before I took the exam. I could either wait to read the email until after taking the exam, but then it would be all I could think about while taking the exam; or I could look at the email and risk dealing with the resulting emotions depending on the decision. I chose to read the email. I saw the decision (and the digital confetti on my phone screen) and immediately screamed with excitement. I was so surprised that I got in! I called my parents and shed some tears of excitement. Then, I drove to the testing center and sat for my exam. I was probably the most excited person to show up to a testing center to take a Salesforce.com exam 🙂 – Ellie Hoban, Technology, Innovation and Education
“I was working in college admissions at the time, so it felt like both parts of my life – personal and professional – were dominated by a similar admissions timeline. My professional experience did not alleviate my anticipation – I was in the portal even before I received the email telling me to go look. I was so excited to see that I had been accepted – especially since I applied only to this program! I immediately called and texted my family to share the good news.”- Bryce Ervin, Higher Education Program
“I had a awful bout of flu and woke up at home in Abu Dhabi sweating at about 3a.m. I rolled over, deliriously checked my phone and saw an e-mail. I followed the link and got the good news. I tried waking my wife up, but she nodded off before I had a chance to explain what had happened. So I called my Grandma, who started crying, then I had to explain to my wife what I’d done to make my Grandma cry. I remember having to check the e-mail about 5 times to make sure it hadn’t been a dream.”- Chris Gyngell, International Education Policy
“I had a feeling decisions were being released that day, so I made a point of going to the gym after work to try and put myself in a better mental state before I received any sort of email. I must not have timed things well, because I received an email from the HGSE admissions office about 10 minutes into my elliptical workout. I logged onto the application portal (while still on the elliptical) and immediately started crying. This must have been quite a weird sight, because a few people came over and asked if I was alright. Needless to say, I did not finish that workout!”- Jaime Morgen, Higher Education
“I was living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia when I found out. That morning, I checked my phone when I woke up and first went through my what’s app messages. A friend of mine had sent me a motivational quotation. ‘Law of attraction: When you truly want something and go after it without limiting yourself with disbelief, the Universe will make it happen.’ Seconds later, I received an email alert from HGSE that the results of my application were available for viewing. Could this quote be a coincidence of fate?? I didn’t want to open the email by myself but the time difference between KL and the UK meant that most of my loved ones were still fast asleep. It was still the previous day in the USA though so I phoned my best friend in Florida to be on the phone as I opened it. I burst into tears and couldn’t even speak while she was screaming at me to tell her what it said. Poor girl! I literally couldn’t believe it but the timing of receiving that quote also felt so fortuitous. The next day was my birthday celebration so I waited until then to tell all my friends. It was a fantastic weekend!”- Sarah Winser, Arts in Education
HGSE Admissions Blog 