Did Harvard reject Barron? Social media says Trump's Ivy beef might be personal

So, let’s talk about one of the internet’s latest rumor mills — Barron Trump and his college choices. Word on social media is that the youngest Trump was rejected from top-notch schools like Harvard, Columbia, and Stanford. Wild, right? It all picked up steam after Donald Trump casually announced in late 2024 that Barron would be heading to NYU’s Stern School of Business. Not Harvard. Not Stanford. Not even Wharton, his dad’s alma mater. NYU.

Now, some folks took that to mean he got the cold shoulder from the Ivies. After all, the Trump name and Ivy League schools haven’t exactly been besties lately. But here’s the catch — there’s zero hard proof that Barron was rejected by any of these elite institutions. Donald himself even went on record in September 2024 saying Barron had options and picked NYU because he liked it. Makes sense, right?

Melania Trump chimed in too, saying Barron just wanted to stay close to home in New York and live at Trump Tower. Sounds like a chill move for an 18-year-old who grew up in the public eye.

But of course, the internet doesn’t sleep. A tweet by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse stirred the pot further. In April, he posted, “Can’t help but wonder how many Trumps got rejected by Harvard.” That set off a wave of posts from users claiming Harvard and other elite colleges “rejected” Barron — and that it’s the real reason Trump’s been so critical of these institutions lately.

One person tweeted, “Harvard needs to release Barron's application AND HIS REJECTION LETTER and then the whole world will know exactly why Trump is going after them.”

Another chimed in, “Guess what colleges didn’t accept Barron Trump? Harvard. Stanford. Columbia. Any college Trump is attacking—are the ones that, with all his money, still said ‘no endowment will let him in.’”

And someone else wrote, “Want to understand the feud between Trump and Harvard? They rejected Barron, also Stanford, and Columbia.”

So yeah, it’s safe to say the speculation is alive and well. But again, no receipts. Just a bunch of posts and hot takes.

Now, let’s rewind a bit. Barron’s educational journey has been a pretty private one, especially considering how public his family is. After leaving the White House in 2021, Barron enrolled at Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida — a prestigious private school that focuses on critical thinking and academic rigor. It gave him some much-needed normalcy while the rest of the world watched him grow up in real time.

He graduated in May 2024, and both Donald and Melania were there, front and center, looking proud as ever.

Instead of following in his dad’s footsteps and heading to Wharton, Barron chose NYU’s Stern School of Business. He kicked off his college journey in fall 2024, and from what sources say, he’s been keeping things low-key. Living in Trump Tower, commuting to class, and just trying to be a regular student (as much as that’s possible when you have Secret Service around you 24/7).

There’s no question that Barron is taking a path that’s very much his own. Whether or not he got rejected from Harvard, Columbia, or Stanford is honestly beside the point. What matters is he’s studying what he’s interested in, staying close to home, and keeping things grounded — which is more than a lot of kids in his shoes might be able to pull off.

And for what it's worth, the Trump family's rocky relationship with elite colleges didn’t start with Barron. Donald Trump has made headlines for clashing with schools like Harvard and Stanford, even pulling federal approvals for things like international student enrollment. So the tension was already there — Barron just happened to be caught in the middle of the drama.

At the end of the day, the college rumor train might never stop rolling, but unless someone drops solid proof, it’s all just talk. Barron’s got his spot at NYU, and from the looks of it, he’s making the most of it.