About

The Pretending I Got Into Harvard Because I'm Bored meme trend emerged on TikTok in December 2024. This trend involves users playfully pretending to have been accepted into Harvard while “recording” their exaggerated reactions after being approved into the university.

Origin

Videos using Sam Smith’s song “Latch” to capture students reactions while checking their University applications have been around TikTok since July 2023. In late December 2024, however, the sound was used for a parody trend in which people pretended to get approved in Harvard, to mock these type of videos.

The earliest known viral mention of the trend was posted on December 19th 2024, by TikToker^[1] @_angelomarasigan, who uploaded a video titled “Pretending I got into Harvard because we’re bored.” The video (seen below) gained more than 31 million plays and 4 million likes in five days.

Spread

The trend rapidly gained popularity in late December 2024, with TikTok users creating their own versions by adding personal twists and other comedic elements. For instance, on December 23rd, 2024, TikTok^[2] user @aubreygavelloo posted a video pretending their dog got approved to Harvard (seen below), which garnered over 3.4 million plays and 537,000 likes in a day.

On December 20th, 2024, TikTok^[3] user @thegordonplan posted a video pretending to record his reaction after being approved to the Monsters University (seen below), which amassed roughly 2.3 million plays and 516,000 likes in four days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References