<p>You are too concerned about what other people (your parents and family, and the admission office at Harvard) think about you. Too much need for external validation.</p>
<p>If I don’t live up to what my parents want, I’m disowned. I’m come from a tough culture with tough parents. There are so many factors as to why I want to go to Harvard. What my family thinks of me is the top of my list due to personal reasons I won’t try to explain to an anonymous stranger. You don’t have to know. My motives are far too personal and the ones that aren’t are still apparently insufficient to online strangers. Why does it matter where I want to attend? The name ‘Harvard’ is not even a reason as to why I want to go there but to you, it is. My decisions are for me to decide and no one here will change them. All I asked for is what can I improve in and how do I do that. </p>
<p>I honesty couldn’t care what others think of me. Anyone who knows me can say that. I really don’t care. The people that I care about their opinion are valued for reasons. Parents - I’m not explaining to anyone. Harvard Admissions- do you need to know? No. </p>
<p>Again, my life is my life and I can’t stress enough that I am not going to change for a college. All I asked for are what can I do that will challenge me that I’ll enjoy that are math, science, art, medicine, sport related that will also improve my chances of being a part of the 6%. </p>
<p>If its the name Harvard, replace it with any college that you can think of and put the idea of 6% admissions there. Then answer my questions.</p>
<p>This may sound harsh but I really don’t want to/ feel like/ have to talk about why I want to attend Harvard anymore. I just want to know how I can improve my chances for ANY college, Harvard just happens to be my favorite and also the most difficult to get into. </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>The Common App is really the only vehicle for communicating who you are. Through your choices of courses and sorts of engagements you show who you are- plus the nasty little truth that what you say and how you say it, are communicating volumes.</p>
<p>LL, your father has no pull. The percentage of discretionary admits is terribly small; at my school, less than 1% of the admit total and there was a H Crimson reference, at one point, that confirmed pretty much the same. At H, that would be roughly 20 kids out of the 35000. Major donor families, people with an extraordinary and long term connection to the U- or the potential to bring special glory to the H name, etc. IME, whether this s a hard or soft number, even the Big Dog has to carefully evaluate that this kid is worth taking another’s slot.</p>
<p>The problem is, by your questions and coming back to your sports, ideas for hs engagement, worrying about a schedule in jr and senior years, asking about competitions, your thinking is too narrow. Common in rising 9th graders. You haven’t started hs and are fretting about fine tuning things you have not yet even begun. Because it would make you “happy.” Too much planning and no execution. Big oops. One of the easier things for adcoms to spot. The world is bigger than hs, what APs, how they grade, what clubs, even bigger than CC advice. You either go tackle it, starting now, or you sit and ask and try to analyze. That is the point of Northstarmom’s post I linked. </p>
<p>You want to be an Olympian? Fine. Now go out there and get in the pool or on the track and “just do it.” Until you start, no one can help you fine tune. It’s not about well, I just want to plan; I can swim two hours every day or four, which is better? </p>
<p>What are you doing this summer?</p>
<p>Well I am fasting for Ramadan, volunteering at the mosque, working at my Dad’s practice, and possibly at the hospital. I’m doing a bunch of art camps and ill be trying to get in as many sports as possible that wont ruin my health this summer. I’ve just been diagnosed with asthma and bronchitis so I’m having trouble breathing. </p>
<p>The reason I ask is because I don’t want to focus on it during the years ahead itself on what I will do. I want to plan it now so I can execute it when hs starts. I’ll be off of cc once I know what I will do.</p>
<p>Also if you know me, you will know that when I say I am going to do something, it happens. I don’t just plan. That’s why I am not waiting, I need to know early so I can do it with enough time to be ‘accomplished’</p>
<p>Btw, I realize it’s complex, but you just said, “my life is my life” in the same breath as, “If I don’t live up to what my parents want, I’m disowned.”</p>
<p>Yeah, but my culture and religion are a part if my life and it is said that if your parents aren’t</p>
<p>Yeah, but my culture and religion are a part if my life and it is said that if your parents aren’t proud of you, you aren’t going to succeed. So if I want to stay religious and still have a house and money for any college, my parents seriously have to proud of me.</p>
<p>Hmm. Plenty of people are saying, “Wow!” when they hear my daughter’s going to Tufts. </p>
<p>OP’s loss, if he/she sees no value to any other institution of learning—correction, status-mongering, bragging-rights—than Harvard.</p>
<p>Sorry!
I don’t see why everyone thinks I think Harvard is the only place I want to be at because it isn’t. Very sorry about the Tufts issue too!! Eek what have I gotten into! I’m only a 9th grade!!!
There are actually so many colleges but my parents won’t allow any place that isn’t an hour away from home, causing Harvard, BC, BU, Framingham Community College, and Holy Cross as my options!!</p>
<p>What have I gotten my self into??!?!?!</p>
<p>I’m in a difficult position at home and I don’t think anyone on here would understand either.</p>
<p>Can anyone think of any EC that I could try out that aren’t general and would intrest me?</p>
<p>We understand. Brown is within an hour. 90 minutes would get you to Amherst. You have a lot of living between now and 12th. You may even like Tufts and Brown, by then.</p>
<p>NO. We will not suggest more ECs. We’re asking you to get empowered (action, not planning) and you keep asking. Go volunteer with the needy. Roll up your sleeves.<br>
I did suggest that.</p>
<p>@livelaugh7: What you are failing to understand is that many of Harvard’s professors earned their bachelors degree’s elsewhere – some even went to Tufts, MIT, Boston University, Northeastern, Boston College, Emerson, etc. It’s okay NOT to go to Harvard! If you get into Harvard, many of your teachers will not have attended the school as students!</p>
<p>"I just NEED to know how to get into Harvard, without forcing myself to do too much stuff I don’t enjoy. "</p>
<p>I think this is where we get the impression that Harvard is the only place you want to be at along with the numerous other statements you’ve made to that effect.</p>
<p>“I’ve received so much hate just for asking questions. ughhh”</p>
<p>Actually, I think many people have weighed in with very thoughtful and useful friendly advice. The older posters bring perspective to the issue, I don’t really see the “hate” that you seem to be feeling. </p>
<p>You keep asking the same questions. What EC’s should I do, what volunteering, is my schedule correct. You then say that you are not going to do anything unless you are passionate and interested in it. How would a bunch of well-intentioned strangers possibly know if your schedule is correct for you, what volunteering you would be passionate about, what EC’s you would enjoy and thrive doing??</p>
<p>If you are asking what type of EC’s or volunteering work look good to Harvard’s admissions officers, then sorry, these are the wrong questions.</p>
<p>You should take the most demanding courses you can and do as well as possible. You will see that advice in a million different posts. For every student, this means something different depending on what their strengths are. I assume since you are one to try to map out every detail, you’ve already picked a schedule based on your interests and strengths (and very challenging according to your counselor). So go with it and stop obsessing if there is a more perfect combination. Change it along the way if you are unhappy. There will be 36,000 schedules that the admissions committees will look at. Do you think they have written an algorithm that ranks them and you run the risk that yours looks bad in this algorithm? If so, you can stop worrying, it’s only human judgement as to how hard you pushed yourself.</p>
<p>As for sports, either you will be good enough to be recruited or you will not. Only time will tell. Just enjoy playing your sports and if you obtain state, or better yet, national recognition, then you MAY be recruitable. The kids I know who got recruited for crew at Harvard and Yale got up every morning at 5am or 6am (weather permitting) to train. They did this every day they could for three straight years. If you have this type of dedication or incredible talent and passion for your sports than perhaps this is where you should place your energies. </p>
<p>As for what EC’s you should do, i suggest you look at the Harvard (or any top school) results threads for the past 3 to 5 years and see what other kids have done for ideas. The one thing that will jump out at you is that there are kids with perfect scores and GPA’s and/or amazing accomplishments (Intel semi-finalists, played Carnegie Hall etc.) that for whatever reason were turned down at top schools which will hopefully drive home the point that the many seasoned posters have been trying to make. You cannot “plan” out an acceptance to a school like Harvard. No matter how hard you try.</p>
<p>I could list out the things my daughter did in HS which made her a competitive applicant for top schools (she will be attending Harvard) and I am sure this is what you are looking for but it would only be doing you a disservice. There are things she did that you would not be able to repeat, just as I’m sure there are things you are capable of doing which she cannot do. Each kid must find their own unique path in order to be successful. Copying what others have done is a surefire recipe for failure (okay maybe not surefire).</p>
<p>You want us to list out a menu of things for you to choose from to impress Harvard. If you are truly Harvard material this is not how it works. I would spell out what I mean but I’ll leave you to contemplate this yourself.</p>
<p>I will say since you are so hellfire bent on creating a detailed plan for yourself to follow let’s roll it forward and see how it looks. So, you do well in your class schedule and achieve a 4.0 unweighted (btw, getting straight A’s in middle school does not automatically translate into straight A’s in HS as you projected, but let’s use your scenario). You also achieve NMS and become a National AP Scholar. You are a good athlete (perhaps captain of 1 or 2 sports). You "shadow’ your dad, volunteer at a hospital, get a 2250+ on your SAT and above 750’s on your SAT II’s. Add in club leadership positions and whatever school awards and where are you?</p>
<p>Well, the sad truth is that Harvard sees 35,000 applications from the top students from all over the world. For arguments sake, let’s say only one quarter have the type of academics and EC’s that you will. So, after doing all that, you have just boosted your chances from under 6% to under 24%. Still, pretty long odds I would say.</p>
<p>So three and half years from now, in order to really have more of a chance you will have had to answer the question of what separates you from the nearly 9000 similar applicants who also “dreamt of Harvard since they were in the third grade”. I’ll leave you to ponder that question. Most of the kids who get in inadvertently found the solution along the way.</p>
<p>@Falcon1, I think you answered a majority but I don’t think what I meant by what ECs have gotten through. I don’t want a list choice, I want more of ideas of where to go. All the people I have read about that have been accepted are these astronauts or people who research cancer and go to labs. But is there something else? I can’t seem to find it but it may be because I am still young. What I think I am looking for is an idea. I’ve looked at all volunteer options an hour away from my home and the majority of the interesting ones are for 17+. I turn 17 beginning of senior year.</p>
<p>Here is something that I have to ask. If I built a popular app, would that be something ‘unique’? I’ve already started one out of pure intrest for engineering and math and programming…</p>
<p>I also can’t seem to find what I am capable of doing because what I want to do seems so out of reach and not really doable for a HS student. Maybe I’m wrong.</p>
<p>I’m sorry for all the confusion, i always seem to have a problem with putting my thoughts of paper when it’s not all fact :/</p>
<p>LL7, it must be overwhelming to come to this forum and have some of your early notions shaken at a time when you’re simply appealing for advice and perhaps dealing with pressure from your parents.</p>
<p>Rather than worry over what are or aren’t the “right” things to be doing NOW to get into Harvard or wherever else you’re inclined to apply, just try to live an “examined life”, letting your instincts lead you and making observations about yourself. This might actually mean not looking too far ahead, which sounds counterintuitive, and might be easier said than done, but will reduce the anxiety you might be feeling. Stressing-out now will only undermine your efforts along the way. </p>
<p>Ignore the countless books with titles like “What you really need to know to get into Harvard that no one tells you”. Or read them and do the opposite of what they suggest. Doing so could arguably be just as effective, given the randomness of college admissions. No one can mold themselves for a particular college or university. We grow and mature, and we choose (or should choose) a college that molds to us.</p>
<p>And don’t be deterred by thinking that what you want to do is un-doable by a high schooler. What is it, exactly?</p>
<p>@livelaugh7: You keep asking the same question in different ways. Let me spell it out for you: Harvard does not want students who’s main goal is to get into Harvard – William Fitzsimmons & Company can smell that from a mile away! I’ll go out on a limb here and say that 99.9% of accepted students didn’t set out to get into Harvard as their goal – they just did something they loved more than anything else in the world. And the result was they were accepted into Harvard! I’ll give you an example: My daughter is a rising senior at Harvard. In high school, she loved theater and cheerleading. She appeared as a lead or supporting character in over ten plays and musicals at her high school, attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City one summer for professional classes. She was also the flyer (the one thrown in the air) for her cheerleading team and went to summer camp for cheerleading. In her freshman, sophomore and junior years, she strived to better herself at acting and cheerleading. Guess what? She applied to Harvard and got in – yes, she had stellar grades, SAT scores and teacher recs, but she also had drive and determination for something beyond Harvard. That is what it takes to be accepted. And every student needs to find their own path. No one here at CC can tell you what your path is, you must discover that for yourself.</p>
<p>Well, the fact that I really can’t go to labs and research until the beginning of senior year is something. </p>
<p>I never plan on changing my self for anyone or anything but I have to adjust to my surrounding, my family, and that has taken a toll on me. My parents get mad at an A- on a quiz or hw assignment. They expect straight A’s through HS and I know that’s going to happen. </p>
<p>I know I have slim chances but I want to make those slim chances wider… There has to be an EC out there for me that I can start now because right now, I feel very I feel very unproductive. I’ve looked up volunteer opurtunities and a lot of them I have tried and didn’t enjoy but the ones I know I will enjoy, I have to wait so long to do. </p>
<p>I read about these people who have went all over the world fighting hunger. My parents won’t allow me to sleep over at a friend’s house. That’s something else undo able in my circumstances. I was hoping for ideas because I can’t seem to find anything that my parents would let me do, I would enjoy, and are also extraordinary. Just one thing haha</p>
<p>Thank you all for helping me out, I do see a lot of things in a new light now. I think I said ‘hate’ because I wasn’t prepared to see that even perfect scores don’t get in and that I should do what I want to do, because initially, i don’t know what I want to do…</p>
<p>gibby is spot on.</p>
<p>Ironically, the more you do to try to get into Harvard and its ilk, the less likely you are to be accepted.</p>
<p>It’s the great irony of the times, too. So many young people make getting into college their “passion”, their extracurricular, that colleges want the kid who has sort of meandered into the process after pursuing their own great enthusiasms, obsessions, preoccupations, quirks.</p>
<p>@gibby
How can I find it because when I think of passion, six different things come to mind. But the opportunities I can afford and my parents approve of are limited. I absolutely love studio art and medicine. I enjoy my four athletic sports very much. I love learning new languages.</p>
<p>When I do activities, Harvard isn’t what is on my mind. I do it because I love it. This summer, after a few personal things happened, getting into a top college has taken over me. But when school starts again, what I love to do is what is going to happen…</p>
<p>Does anyone know of a good studio art activity? I haven’t heard of any in the area. I think I want to focus on studio art and sports for ECs along with a bit of medical commitments here and there</p>
<p>Well, KevJumbo has a great video about how his Asian Dad reacts to A- grades.</p>
<p>Our point is that formula = boring.
You can’t formula your way into Harvard. You either have the passions, drive, energy and vision- or you don’t. If we TELL you what we have seen advance kids, then WE should get in. </p>
<p>Btw,
To be an astronaut, you already have to have a college degree.</p>