<p>Hello all, thanks for taking the time to answer my question.</p>
<p>Very simply, WHAT do I have to do to make it into harvard?
I'll be a freshman in the fall, and I think my question is perfect timing for me.</p>
<p>I have 4 years to show the admissions committee that I stand out.</p>
<p>HOW do I do that?
I am extremely interested in community service/helping others.
I want to go to africa for a summer and help with a refugee camp.
For extra curriculars, i think I'll be joining debate.. hopefully student government. Do you think that sports is huge role? Im afraid joining sports will tire me out - especially since it takes an hour to get home every night.
I am taking the hardest courses that I can.
But what else can I do?</p>
<p>-Get all A's (high gpa)
-Get a lot of AP classes, and as soon as you can
-Do Community Service
-Join meaningful clubs (no chess club BS)
-Score high on SAT
-Score high on SAT II's
-Score high on AP tests
-Write a kickass college application essay</p>
<p>well thisyearsgirl, it's probably because Harvard has all the prestige and is popularized by the media as the bastion of higher education. I don't mean to jump to conclusions, but it doesn't seem like the OP has done much research on colleges, and only wants to go to Harvard because of the reasons listed above. But to answer the OP's question, look at the CC archives and the stats of people who got into Harvard during the early action round and the regular decision round. You may be surprised at what a crapshoot college admissions is, and how there's no one universal formula for getting into Harvard.</p>
<p>Yeah, Bright<em>Future, but that community service part needs to be a little elaborated. You can't just "help out at the hospital" and they'll be like "WOW" and take you. Which for some reason, people think they do. ></em>_></p>
<p>I never saw that thread before. Look at this
[quote]
VERY INVOLVED in Teen Sexual Health Activism
<p>haha, Yeah, I admit it. That's the only reason I was accepted. </p>
<p>But to be fair, I am close with another sexual health activist who had her own TV commercials in Florida and EVERYTHING, and she was rejected from HYP. </p>
<p>That's just how unpredictable the Ivy game is, I guess.</p>
<p>jesus christ, talk<em>about</em>ambition... you never cared about teen sexual health before this, did you? then suddenly you hear that it got someone into harvard and you jump on the possibility. you've still failed to give any good reason as to why harvard would be a good fit for you. i don't toss around terms like "prestige whore", but i can only hope that you'll come to your senses sometime before high school's over.</p>
<p>harvard isn't everything. you'll be fine. just do what you like and you may be surprised.</p>
<p>ive kinda given up my hope for harvard ever since my report card showed up (6 b's in jr year) but that isnt the end of the world. that doesnt mean all my crazy ec's are useless. ive kinda come to senses about it and realize that other colleges are great too. trust me, if ur crazy about harvard already, u seriously need to talk with a counselor or a shrink. just relax, actually research the colleges that FIT u, and hope for the best</p>
<p>Holy... talk_ambition just forget it. YOU WILL NOT GET INTO HARVARD. I'm almost positive. No matter what you do. So go and research some real colleges and actually learn something about this. You are the product of the "IVY LEAGUE" fetish of American students! You do not stand out. You are not impressive. You won't ever stand out until you start thinking with your own brain that your creator gave you. And if you're going to harvard just because its HARVARD, I highly highly doubt you'd get in.</p>
<p>are you done? are you all done looking like idiots?</p>
<p>i simply asked about things I could do that the admissions committee would like. do what interests me? everything interests me, and I cant do everything- thats why im trying to pick the select few that would most benefit me in the future.. its not all about doing what I want. sometimes, you need to look ahead and think about the "long term".</p>
<p>I will not get into harvard? well quite frankly, that just shows that you have no chance into making it, and as a result you're trying to put me down because i actually have the capacity to do it, and i know I can.</p>
<p>for everyone who actually put down something helpful, thank you.
for those of you who decided im "fake" and do things just because it'll look good on my admissions application.. you're right. I WILL join the clubs I join so that it looks good when I apply to college..
whats wrong with that? i already said I enjoy all of these things anyway, so whats the fuss if im selecting the ones that will look the most prestigous in the long run?</p>
<p>and finally, i want to go to harvard because its been consistently ranked in the top 3-5. i know there are other great colleges, because contrary to popular belief, im NOT stupid.</p>
<p>k0w- why does being crazy about harvard mean I need to talk with a shrinK? does wanting to go to a top college mean i have psychiatric problems? if you're trying to be funny, just stop. because posts like those can kill a kid's dream. quitejaded, why so pesemistic? how can u say that I "will not get into harvard"? because i want to join the clubs that are most appealing to harvard? many, many high schoolers join clubs just for prestige, not for "fun". but in my case, its for both.
so shut your mouth if you dont know what you're talking about.</p>
<p>Whoa, whoa, why is everyone so up in arms all of a sudden? Can't we all just get along?
The OP's queries seems reasonable to me. This is a forum for people trying to get into Harvard. The OP was asking advice for getting into Harvard. Is that not fitting? Just because he wants to go to Harvard doesn't automatically mean he hasn't researched it and only likes prestige. All you know about him is the few words he's posted on this board. We have no idea what his motivations and interests are, what he's like as a person, what he eats for breakfast, or anything else. Why jump to such mean conclusions automatically?
Besides, it's possible for ambition and pure love of academic excellence to exist in the same person at once. Just because he's ambitious doesn't mean he's not genuine. In fact, I'm sure he's a nice guy, as are probably most of you. Let's all just be a little nicer and less snappish, shall we?</p>
<p>i retract my most recent statement, because it was unnecessary, but the sentiments from my previous post (which i believe to be more reasonably expressed) remain.</p>
<p>"i simply asked about things I could do that the admissions committee would like. do what interests me? everything interests me, and I cant do everything- thats why im trying to pick the select few that would most benefit me in the future.. its not all about doing what I want. sometimes, you need to look ahead and think about the "long term"."</p>
<p>This may be a little confusing the way I put it, but adcoms like to see stuff that you do NOT for the sake of the adcoms.</p>
<p>Oh, and about "being interested in everything", we aren't referring to a superficial interest. If you aren't willing to spend 10 hrs a week at the LEAST on that activity, it doesn't interest you enough. Realize that there will be people who devote 20, 30, or more hrs a week to an EC. If you spend an hour a day, you're just barely showing interest.</p>
<p>EDIT: we ARE looking ahead and thinking about the "long term". We are looking at the time AFTER college. Remember, in the end, whether you were educated at Harvard or UCI makes little difference beyond that piece of paper you receive at graduation. Statistics show you will make about the same amount of money and be about equally happy in life. Therefore, choose an EC that can stay with you THROUGH and AFTER college.</p>
<p>for your information, i AM willing to spend that much time on an EC. i understand that you carry a responsibility when joining an EC. okay?</p>
<p>and i dont care what stats say, I know i will be happier at Harvard then UCI. you know why? because i have already committed myself to harvard. i have already devoted myself to doing what is necessary to get in. if i need to bust my ass the next 4 years, i will. </p>
<p>by the by, how many people actually carry on with an EC after college... i dont know many college graduates that still debate, or compete in the science olympiad?</p>
<p>whatever. kitkattail is right. thanks for your imput.</p>