<p>For all those who are in Harvard, could you please mention the ECs you had when you applied to Harvard.
Any tips of getting in will also be appreciated. </p>
<p>As for those applying to or dreaming to get in to Harvard, do mention what ECs are you undertaking in order to get in to Harvard. </p>
<p>You help will be appreciated</p>
<p>Could you also specify if there are any particular ares of interest that the admission officials have? Like what non-academic quality do the Harvard students have in common?
For example, do they seek for students who have good leadership qualities, versatility… .etc</p>
<p>Take a look at the decision threads, both for the class of 2018 and previous years, and you’ll get an idea of the activities applicants participated in. There is no magic formula, other than being very strong academically, do things you are interested in and try to take leadership roles when possible.</p>
<p>Rather than looking at ECs as a list of things that might enhance your college applications, I’m going to suggest you try to view them a little more simply. Try to think of “extracurricular activities” for exactly what the words mean: activities you participate in outside of your academic pursuits. That might be playing video games, watching a lot of TV, playing an instrument, playing sports, joining a bunch of mundane clubs, etc… It’s just what you choose to do with your time out of school. In my opinion, choosing how your going to use your time in order to impress adcoms is a fool’s errand; there’s a good chance you won’t be successful and you might make yourself miserable trying.</p>
<p>My son chose Princeton, not Harvard, but both are looking for the same attributes. His ECs were fairly broad, and none of them were undertaken with college admissions in mind. Here’s a quick summary of some of the things he did in his free time while he was in HS. They seem disconnected, with no unifying theme, and that’s simply because he was just doing what he wanted to do for his own satisfaction, not with colleges in mind. The only common thread that runs through all of them is his innate drive to excel in everything he touches.</p>
<ul>
<li>He spent a lot of time on community service, primarily through a nonprofit organization he created that addressed a very specific problem in a unique and creative way. This culminated in him receiving a national award for the project. He was also active in NHS, becoming president his senior year.</li>
<li>He spent a lot of time practicing and competing in his sport.</li>
<li>He’d play classical acoustic guitar for about 30-60 minutes every night.</li>
<li>He would relax by solving a Rubic’s Cube. He got very good at this, such that he can solve one in less than 20 seconds and he can actually study a cube for about five minutes and then solve it blindfolded.</li>
</ul>
<p>These activities, combined with his excellent grades and test scores, would probably had made him an attractive candidate to almost any college. But in the end, only one EC really mattered. He was a recruited athlete. Bottom line, for college admissions, athletics at a recruitable level is the most effective EC there is.</p>
<p>^^ Thank you for you response. I appreciate it :)</p>