<p>Can you please identify yourself because I have a question but would appreciate your responses over others?</p>
<p>Northstarmom and Hanna are Harvard alumnae.</p>
<p>Also mathmom.</p>
<p>There are a number of current undergrads around here, too.</p>
<p>So are we going to find out what you want to know, or are you just paying attention to our posts in other threads? ;)</p>
<p>I graduated close to 30 years ago, and while I keep up with current event to some extent via alumni mailings, and due to the fact that my son applied last year, you might do better listening to current students and parents of current students.</p>
<p>current undergrad</p>
<p>Hi I have learned so much about applying to american colleges through CC. I am pretty disappointed that it is extremely hard to get in to these selective colleges and that LUCK plays a big role in getting selected. This really scares me. well anyway, I think I have asked around about this few time but if I may, i like to ask for your opinion one more time.
My son will apply this year and is a classic major. One of his main essay is about this. His latin teacher wrote him a super rec. To our understanding He is ONLY one in our country that took NLE and AP Latin exam and did super on the tests. Do you think being the only one who took this test that really no one knows or care about in my country will help him to stand out in the eyes of the adcom? My son really loves studing this language. He wants to study Greek now. Oh and we are Asian and he speaks Chinese, Korean,Japaese, english , and has test scores to prove that he is excellent in these languages. thank you</p>
<p>Luck doesn't play a big role. But it is more than test scores and grades. An essay about learning Latin in a country where he's pretty unique for having that interest does set him apart. It's just hard to predict which admissions officers will find that interesting enough - maybe some of them, maybe all of them! It may depend on how he has presented it.</p>
<p>thanks mathmom,
I really appreciate your honest and knowledgeable comments presented on this board.
do YOU think it is interesting? I do not really understand the american culture and how they will feel and think about an Asian student from Asia wanting to learn the depth and origin of western civilization ( classics ).</p>
<p>Would anyone else comment on this.</p>
<p>Personally, I think admission committees in the United States in general underestimate how difficult it is to learn an Indo-European language (including English) if one is a native speaker of a non-Indo-European language. It is MUCH easier for a native speaker of Russian, say, or Hindi to learn Latin than for a native speaker of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean to learn Latin. So I am impressed by that achievement. (I am a native speaker of English who has learned a lot of Chinese and some Japanese over the years.) </p>
<p>But I have no idea about anyone's chances. Really, no one does. We don't know what this year's group of applicants will look like, other than that it will be much more numerous than the number of students who will be admitted to Harvard class of 2012, and we don't know what anyone else's full admission file looks like. We don't know anyone's chances for sure. </p>
<p>
[quote]
I am pretty disappointed that it is extremely hard to get in to these selective colleges and that LUCK plays a big role in getting selected.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, if it were easy to get into those selective colleges, they wouldn't be selective, would they? Won't it feel great to get in if your child does get in? </p>
<p>As for luck, your child may know better than I what the Roman stoic authors said about responding to chance events in life. No one has perfect control of every meaningful opportunity in life. Especially opportunities that other people are competing for may elude your grasp (or mine) simply because we got outcompeted. I feel the tension increasing on all these college forums here on College Confidential as the deadline to submit applications nears. Really, all anyone can do is prepare well in secondary education, apply widely, BE SURE to apply to a "safety" college, and then relax. Worry doesn't improve luck. Worry spoils the enjoyment of life. </p>
<p>Good luck in this year's application season.</p>
<p>thanks tokenadult for your comments!</p>
<p>The thing about chances is I don't even know what people want. When my son was applying to schools last year, I figured based on statistics and our schools' admissions history that my son's chances at Harvard were 1 in 2, and at MIT 1 in 4, and at Stanford about 1 in 10. He got into H and not M and S. But he could easily have been rejected at Harvard too. Personally, I thought MIT was a much better fit for him, but that isn't how the game works. A 1 in 4 chance of getting into MIT is better than average, but it's still more likely that you'll be rejected. That doesn't mean it's not worth applying.</p>
<p>"an Asian student from Asia wanting to learn the depth and origin of western civilization ( classics )."</p>
<p>I can tell you that you probably won't be alone. Five members of my singing group graduated with me; one of the five was a summa cum laude classics major from Hong Kong who delivered the Latin Oration at Commencement. He came to the U.S. for prep school and did a Latin & Greek program there.</p>
<p>One of my sisters has a dear friend from college who is from India; she got both her undergrad and PhD degrees in classics and is now a professor in the subject.</p>
<p>Hanna, was your friend from HongKong but studied Latin and Greek from his prep school in America? she went to school in America right?</p>
<p>My son learned Latin in a country where it is so rare that he had hard time finding a teacher. There about only 10 scholars in my entire country who majored in classics and even they do not know of AP Latin Exam and NLE . He self studied for his Latin AP exam all on his own when his teacher left for swiss to continue his own studies. There are alot of Asian IN america from ASIA who studies classics (so bountiful with many resources ). Do you not think my sons case is a bit different? And ofcourse he loves learning Latin.</p>
<p>Yes, my friend is Chinese, from Hong Kong, and went to prep school and college in America.</p>
<p>It is of course, easier to learn Latin and Greek in an American prep school than in Japan!</p>
<p>Jmom:</p>
<p>Not only does your son learn Latin and wants to study Greek but he also knows several East Asian languages. That should make him stand out among other applicants.
Check out Prof. Shigehisa Kuriyama in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. He did his Ph.D. on different ideas of the body in ancient Greek and Chinese cultures. Before returning to become a tenured professor at Harvard, he headed a research institute in Japan. He teaches courses in East Asian languages and civilizations and in the History of Science.</p>
<p>thanks Marite for great info!! I'll definitly look in to this. It is interesting</p>
<p>I am sorry for answering so late.</p>
<p>I just want to know if I was to be asked why I want to go to Harvard, and I assume I will be, if I say I have studied about all the opportunities to work closely with profesors and research and job opp as well as the great facilities available for each individual course of study, will they think that i am sucking up?</p>
<p>by the way i really want to go to harvard for these reasons and this isn't just my bs to get in</p>
<p>If those are the real reasons, then put it down. There's no reason to lie.</p>