I almost turned down Harvard

Me and my friends documented our high school graduation through numerous snapchats - That's me in the middle :)

The whole college process was a rather stressful one for me. Keeping my grades high while taking on more and more leadership roles during my junior and senior years of high school proved to be no easy feat. On top of my AP classes and extracurricular activities, I had applied to a slightly insane number of colleges. I had thought writing what felt like a thousand essay drafts would be the hardest part of the process, but was proved wrong when I had to pick between my two favorite schools. Being an indecisive person, I waited until nearly the last minute. When graduation rolled around, I was ecstatic that the whole thing was finally over. I planned to have a fun filled summer as a camp counselor at a day camp close to home, and then begin attending Amherst College in the fall of 2015. Everything was a done deal. Or was it? 

A few days after graduation, and literally minutes after submitting my housing forms to Amherst College, a phone call from Harvard Admissions managed to throw a wrench in my perfectly laid plan. I had gotten so excited about going to Amherst, that I completely forgot that I was still on the wait-list at Harvard. The admissions office had just called to tell me that I had been admitted off the wait-list! Only, I was admitted to the class of 2020. If I wanted to accept their offer, I would have to take a gap year. Oh, and I only had one week to think about it.


Ask most anyone else what I should do and they would tell you that the choice was obvious and simple. But for me, that next week was one of the most stressful, heart wrenching, and difficult periods of the college process. (A process that I had thought was long over).


A gap year wasn't in my plan. I hadn't even considered taking one as an option. I was ready to go to college right away, and I had absolutely fallen in love with Amherst College. It was small, beautiful, and had programs that catered to all my interests. But I had to give Harvard a fair shot.

​During the next week, I had to rethink everything that Harvard had to offer, and everything I thought I wanted in a college experience. I visited the campus and spoke with my financial aid officer. I took the virtual tour online and read up on the website about all the courses and extracurricular activities I could partake in. In the end, I finally realized that the benefits of Harvard simply won out. Among the list of benefits is Harvard’s absolutely unbeatable financial aid program. Besides, taking a gap year and attending Harvard was a once in a lifetime opportunity!


Then came the daunting task of figuring out what to do with myself for the next year. ​

Me receiving my diploma. Sharon High School Class of 2015

Author: Rhea Bennett, Class of 2020