<p>I'm a sophomore studying in India. To be quite frank, my aim is to get into Harvard, and I'd like to know what it takes.</p>
<p>Here are my EC's:</p>
<p>State and national level tennis (nat. ranking in the 300's right now)
Lots of school level sports (throwball, basketball, hockey, etc.)
Model UN
Puzzle solving (does this count?)
Quizzes and stuff in school</p>
<p>Now, quite honestly, could you tell me what I can do over the next few years to strengthen my EC profile and give myself the best possible shot at Harvard?</p>
<p>gd016: Regd. throwball, check wikipedia. :D. OK and be number 1 in WHAT?</p>
<p>b@r!um: win awards in WHAT?</p>
<p>OK, now assuming I get the following EC's in grades 11 and 12:</p>
<p>*House captaincy
*Editorial board member (school magazine)
*Interact club member (possible leadership position)</p>
<p>Would things look brighter?</p>
<p>And, after my ICSE exams in 2008, I'll be doing quite a bit of volunteer work at the Blue Cross.</p>
<p>Oh, and any ideas on how I could start a major service project? I'd like to do one to raise awareness regd. environmental issues, or something along those lines...</p>
<p>Awards in anything... the more awards the better :D</p>
<p>Now seriously, pick one activity you are crazy about and try to be the best in that activity (e.g. move up the national rankings in tennis). Don't waste your time on random activities that you are just doing for your resume because most colleges prefer depth of activities over breadth.</p>
<p>What do you want to major in? Are there any competitions or EC activities available in that field? There are international competitions in many academic disciplines (math, sciences, foreign languages, geography, philosophy, journalism...) so there should be some national competitions as well to choose the Indian candidates to go on to the international round.</p>
<p>Basically, Harvard expects you to be at the top in something (academics, athletics and wealth should all work fine)</p>
<p>blackorder: May I ask why you desire to attend Harvard? I'm certain that your underlying goal can be met by attending many schools besides just aiming for one of the most selective schools in the world. Harvard and the other ultra elites are flooded with the world's best students' applications. They pick and choose. To be viable, more than likely, you'll have to demonstrate that you are one of the best high school graduates from your country that year. Can you accomplish that? Can you measure that? Basically can you be competitive for the best slots in the Indian university system? Again, this only makes you viable -- nothing is guaranteed with the ultra selectives like Harvard.</p>
<p>@T26E4: You don't want to bring Indian universities into this...they only care about your grades and nothing else, no extracurriculars or anything. But, if you compare me with most of my classmates, I'm a lot more involved extracurricularly...</p>
<p>@b@r!um:Well, I want to major in something bio-related. I participate in all the sciencey olympiads, haven't achieved anything major till date - will try reverse that this year! And yes, I'll work on boosting that tennis ranking as well.</p>
<p>And I WANT to do that service project! Just...how do I go about doing it?</p>
<p>You might have more ECs than your classmates, but ECs alone won't get you into Harvard (unless you are a star athlete or won a medal at an international olympiad or something like that). Believe it or not, but the single most admission criteria for Harvard is academics. As an average applicant (meaning you don't have international awards or a multi-million dollar bank account) you don't have a shot at Harvard if you are not in the top of your class.</p>
<p>When applying to Harvard, you are not competing for a spot with your classmates but with the rest of your country. Harvard will only admit one or two Indian applicants out of hundreds. I am not sure if you are really aware of that.</p>
<p>Look at your accomplishments so far. What would make Harvard would pick you, the leader of a few local clubs and apparently not quite the number one academically either, over applicants who won national or international awards or lead regional organizations? Be realistic about your chances. </p>
<p>To me it looks like your best bet might be getting recruited for tennis, so you might want to focus on tennis above all other ECs in the upcoming year.</p>
<p>I am at the top of my class...maybe 2nd or 3rd...</p>
<p>The thing about tennis is, if I wanted to get a reeeeeally high ranking, I would have to miss tons of school to play tournaments and that would definitely hurt my grades A LOT...:(</p>
<p>Sorry then; your post in reply to T26E4 made it sound like you would not be qualified to attend the best Indian universities (you should be to go to Harvard).</p>
<p>Well if you ask me... I would say that particpating in more olympiads and such would definitely boost your resume... oh and doing well in the olympiads. Also, do REALLY well on your ICSE board exams.
Tennis wise, play as many tournies as possible without missing THAT much school. Doing amazing in tennis, but letting your grades slip will not help your chances at Harvard. Strike the right balance between the two. :)
I have NO idea about your chances, but for some odd reason felt compelled to post on this thread. :P</p>
<p>@barium
I do not think that she (he? I got the impression that blackorder is a she) is not qualified for Indian Uni's. Comparing those to to US Colleges is like comparing apples to oranges. Actually, it is worse than that, at least apples and oranges are both fruits! Point is, don't let her not wanting to bring indian uni's in to the topic be a testament to her Harvard chances.</p>
<p>@blackorder,
You are only in 10th. The most important thing for you right now is to do well in your Boards. Continue tennis and others, but don't look at apps or even think too much about college until you are in 11th.</p>
<p>OOPS! I forgot about the Gender tag! Then again, I don't use tags, but...<degenerate into="" characteristic="" rant=""> I got the distinct feeling she is south-indian too. That is why I asked, seeing as I myself live in Chennai.</degenerate></p>