<p>Nothing is a free pass at a school with a single digit admit rate. Are you a HS student? Harvard does a good job of picking brilliant students, in AND out of the classroom. I’m a sophomore at Harvard. I didn’t say “high 600s are fine”. There’s no difference between a 690 and 720.</p>
<p>As to when to apply? I tell ALL students to apply to as many colleges EA to secure acceptances/scholarships. 1 Harvard doesn’t have scholarships and 2 it’s SCEA, so I’d never recommend a student apply SCEA or REA.</p>
<p>“Are you a HS student?” Read post #16. My daughter is in the class behind you but she hasn’t achieved your level of understanding college admissions yet. Perhaps, as a sophomore she can start dispensing advice. </p>
<p>You’ve jumped into the fray here twice where’s it obvious you haven’t read the posts carefully. Hope you do a better job with the assigned readings.</p>
<p>^^ Bravo !! I was waiting for someone to bring up correlation vs. causation!! The article is a good a way to do so as any. I’m afraid it is late so I will address this tomorrow.</p>
<p>I’ve already been accepted for the Class of 2018 and I just wanted to ask how the workload is. I mean, of course Harvard is a prestigious school and one of the best institutions in the nation, but is there still room for chilling and meeting up with friends throughout the day? Or are social engagements reserved only for the weekends?</p>
<p>Your workload is how you manage your time. Don’t take 4 classes that have 15+ hour weekly average workloads. I sleep by 12 or 1 am everyday and wake up at 830.</p>
<p>While I appreciate everyone’s input, my original intent was to answer student life questions. If you read my original post, I did indicate that I am open to answering admissions questions, but I more wanted to be a resource for people who have questions about what it is like to go here.</p>
<p>I think it is unnecessarily discouraging to say that applicants have to have above a 700 on all sections to be competitive. It is simply not true. There is a reason that Harvard does not release statistical data. And if your “hook” is great academics, then so be it. But realize that nearly everyone who gets admitted does HAVE a hook, or something unique. Academic excellence is expected out of nearly everyone, but certainly not perfection. </p>
<p>I really do not want to debate test scores in this thread. If that is something you all wish to do, then so be it, but I don’t want to undermine my intent of providing student life information in order to do so. If you wish to continue talking about test scores, I welcome you to private message me, but I am not going to respond any more on test scores within this thread. </p>
<p>Additionally, I never claimed to be an admissions representative. I do work within admissions and spend my time interacting with admissions officers and prospective/admitted applicants, though. Nevertheless, my major intent is not admissions advice, but to answer admitted/prospective student questions about life here.</p>
<p>CPUscientist3000 provided great advice here. I would absolutely recommend taking a balanced course load. If you are taking intense courses, then you can balance out your schedule by also taking some general education courses or exploratory electives. Your freshman year will likely be a pretty standard set of classes though. Unless you test out, you will probably have a language course each semester. Many people also feel obligated to take math during their first year, as it is a common prerequisite for many concentrations. Additionally, Expository Writing 20 (and possibly also 10, if you need additional writing support) will be in your freshman course load, and many people take a foundational “freshman” class, such as Life Sciences 1a/b, Economics 10a/b, Computer Science 50/51, Government classes (many options here), or etc. So for many people, this automatically creates a relatively “balanced” schedule and leaves usually 1-2 electives.</p>
<p>CPUscientist3000’s sleep schedule seems pretty standard to me. Personally, I go to bed by 2 PM and wake up between 8:30-10:30 depending on when I have class. But I have PLENTY of time to socialize, do extracurriculars, and play sports. It is all about time management, really! I sort of schedule out time for myself to do homework throughout the day and sit down and do it. Or, I will build socializing around studying by studying in my room with people (only do this if you can study with others, though - this is not an effective strategy for some).</p>
<p>rsivy: thanks for your willingness to help. However many helpful and very knowledgeable posters are on this forum, that’s why dedicated threads to a single member aren’t unnecessary. All members are welcome to post on any thread. Since current student life answers are your forte, you should pop in and address posts rather than sit on this thread which will go all sorts of directions and ultimately be messy and not very useful for HS students.</p>
<p>Do you worry about the grade inflation?
Do you go into Boston frequently?
Did you ever get lost? This is a stupid question, but, oddly enough, my biggest fear :P</p>
<ol>
<li><p>No, not really. Students work REALLY hard for their grades here - I think that people tend to come from very high effort/achievement backgrounds, and most people maintain high effort levels once they get here. A’s and A-'s are not just thrown out carelessly - the work that students submit to earn those grades is exceptional. To institute grade deflation/bell curve systems here would encourage a negative competitiveness that could be really destructive, so I don’t think the college is likely to steer away from the current system. Professors do reward phenomenal output and effort with the deserved grade, and if EVERY student in the class happens to get an A or a B, then so be it.</p></li>
<li><p>Personally, I do go into Boston frequently, but I wouldn’t say this is necessarily common. My sports team makes occasional Boston outings as a group, and my small group of close friends will often go to Chinatown or North End for dinner. I think you can go to Boston a lot if you put in the effort to do so, but it doesn’t often happen on it’s own. Cambridge becomes a bit of a bubble and most people do everything around here without heading downtown. Though, I try to go to Boston at least every other week, and I know a lot of people that try to go once a month. There is so much to do downtown, so it is definitely worth the effort to get people together and make short trips. </p></li>
<li><p>No, I don’t really get lost. The public transit system here is super easy. I relied on google maps a lot at first, but now I am super familiar with everything (coming from a home city with NO public transit). Also, in terms of on campus navigation, everything is very easy to find. All freshmen live in or VERY close to Harvard Yard, and all the major freshmen needs are right there - major class buildings, Science Center, Annenberg, etc. Additionally, everything that you need off campus (like CVS, small restaurants, stores, etc) is VERY close and centralized around the yard. The campus is NOT as big as it seems. The upperclassmen houses are scattered around Harvard Square, and these are probably the hardest things to find at first, but you won’t need them much as a freshman.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>@rsivyhopeful, @AnnatheGreat,…(& any Harvard admittees) I’m curious as to how long your essays were, is there a limit on the word count? How was your application portfolio set up before submitting? or did you submit each item separately? And @AnnatheGreat since you applied from abroad, did your recommenders send in the letters by Int’l mail? or did you include their letters in your portfolio?(I’m sorry, chances r this is a thread for the incoming class and the ideal classes for them to take, but I feel like I’ll be applying to Harvard & I’ll be the 1 legged man in the as kicking contest… so please, bear with me.)</p>
<p>These are the things you can easily see for yourself in common app. The word limit for the common app essay was 650 words if I’m not mistaken. We submit the common app and the writing supplement and the recommenders submit the letters online.</p>
<p>If it’s the additional essay you’re worried about, mine was around 450 words (the limit was 1000). Definitely don’t feel pressured to take up all the allowed space.</p>
<p>@galileoforbes mine were both 500 words. I didn’t submit any “extra” essays, letters of rec, or supplemental essays. Don’t fret too much about the word count, though I wouldn’t advise making it substantially longer than what they request. If you are considering submitting supplementary materials (like more than what is requested on common app and Harvard optional essay), make sure that they actually contribute something new to the application. Don’t submit something that isn’t spectacular - they actually have faculty members evaluate the quality of submitted materials, and submitting tons of extra stuff can hurt you more than help. </p>
<p>In terms of application setup, I just submitted everything through the common app and didn’t send supplemental materials (outside of the optional Harvard essay). Just follow the format they request on the Common App or Universal App, and you will be fine :)</p>
<p>I really appreciate your replies (@rsivyhopeful,StudiousMaximus,AnnaTheGreat). I’ll try and stick to 550+/-100 wordcount. Hope you guys all the best. I knew if I didn’t ask now(although they’re redundant questions on CC, I myt b restless come time to submit & nothing cn substitute ur 1st hand experience, & u myt b busy thn). Appreciate it much. Godspeed:)</p>
<p>Firstly, it’s great you started such a thread. Now since you’re (atleast a little bit) into the loop regarding admissions, it would be great if you could answer my question : You said that ‘they actually have faculty members evaluate the quality of submitted materials.’ Now, are ALL applicants’ supplementary materials sent for review to faculty members? Or do they select only a VERY few and have them reviewed? If that is the case, then how does Harvard decide whose material is to be sent for evaluation? (I created a thread regarding this too, and got Gibby’s valuable opinion, but your opinion would help quite a lot too, rsivyhopeful )</p>
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