Getting into Harvard.

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I'm going to be honest in this thread. I'm currently in grade 9 in Australia and have one week left till the end of the school year (Beginning grade 10 in Feb 2015). I have had the typical dream of going to Harvard ever since I was 12. In Australia we don't have many clubs, extracurricular activities, internships, camps or the equal opportunities as those in America. At the beginning of 2014 I said I was going to enter heaps of competitions and join all these extracurriculars. Because I thought that winning lots of international competitions is going to impress college admissions - wrong or right? The thing is, most of these competitions and extra-curriculars aren't related to my passions. I have three main passions - Business (entrepreneurship), fashion and technology. These 'essay' competitions one of them was a business plan competition - related, three ANZAC competitions - all prizes were a trip to Gallipoli, and an essay on poverty - prize to travel to Washington and meet with congressmen, this competition is the Gulen Institute Essay Comp. I told myself I was going to enter them ALL but I never did. Either I was too lazy, forgot or decided that 'it won't make a difference on my common app'. I did volunteering at a retirement home for a term and absolutely hated it. I have always ben interested in human rights and poverty, I want to volunteer at a homeless shelter but we don't have many where I live and they are too far away. Other voluntary jobs won't accept teenagers. I have been a student council in Year 8, 9 and went for it again in year 10, although I don't think I will get it because there are people more popular than me. </p>

<p>I know that what Ivy Leagues what is someone with a lot of passion for what they do, not just a laundry list of accomplishments. I love fashion, technology and entrepreneurship. I am always thinking about new business ideas, designing fashion or coding a website I'm working on for my startup. </p>

<p>What do you recommend that I do? Does winning international competitions such as the Gulen one help at all? What if they were entrepreneurship related competitions - does winning them even help at all because if I want to be an entrepreneur shouldn't I just create products instead of entering competitions about entrepreneurship? </p>

<p>stats: </p>

<p>6/8 A Grades - very difficult to get straight A's in Australia. </p>

<p>Tennis </p>

<p>Gifted and Talented Special Art - I do compulsory workshops every Saturday. I'm going to quit GATE Art at the end of the year because I'm not passionate about it - at all. </p>

<p>Debate team - our team hasn't won anything because the rest of my team (I'm not being rude, I'm being honest) have very poor debating skills. Debating and public speaking is my niche. </p>

<p>Local council youth network - voluntary. Plan community events </p>

<p>UNICEF Australia Young Ambassador 2015 - I'm planning on entering. As I said earlier I really love helping those in poverty. How can I demonstrate this more? If I do get this ambassador thing will those essay competitions be worth it? </p>

<p>I make online courses on UDemy - My courses total have over 8k students. </p>

<p>My mum is a share trader and she taught me how to share trade. On school holidays I do share trading and have had success. </p>

<p>My First Speech Australian Parliament </p>

<p>I taught myself fluent German, my mother taught me Chinese, and I learnt French at school. I'm fluent in all. </p>

<p>What should I be focusing on currently considering I'm a technically a sophomore?</p>

<p>BTW, other schools I'm interested in are Stanford, Berkely, all Ivies, UCLA, MIT, USC, UChicago, CIT, Dartmouth. </p>

<p>Also, I do have back ups in Australia of course. But I'm considering America even more now since the government is planning on rising schools fees to $50k per year - no FA!! </p>

2

<p>Look, you should focus on being authentic and developing your skills and interests, not on being a resume builder. Don’t do things based on how good they look on your common application. College is a means to a destination in life, not the destination. Think longer term. Why would you want to volunteer at a homeless shelter if you don’t even have one near you. Doesn’t your community have any needs you could make a difference with? You don’t have to pick a college just because you got an idea in your head when you were 12. </p>

<p>But one thing you should know is that the UCs are unlikely to give you any funds. They are $55 COA now and will be more when you apply.</p>

3

<p>Thank you so much @brownparent ! You really gave me some ideas. I’m in my local suburb council and I’m going to see if we can start a homeless shelter in our area! Thank you!!! </p>

4

<p>Here’s my advice to you:</p>

<ol>
<li>Never do EC’s you don’t like. You will be infinitely more motivated, plus you’ll have an easier time writing your essays. </li>
<li>Stop thinking about your resume, and more about what you can learn</li>
<li>Don’t spend money unless you have to; taking summer courses at your local college is better than dropping $10K at Harvard summer school. Feeding the homeless at your community Church is better than an expensive “volunteer” trip to Africa. EC’s that depend on your family’s ability to pay are bad EC’s. </li>
<li>Be prepared for rejection, even if you’re the best and brightest. </li>
</ol>

<p>I wish you best of luck in the next three years. </p>

5

<p>I think you have the right idea. However, I would look at it in a different light: ask yourself how you can get outside validation for doing the things you love to do. How can you do fashion and compete at a high enough level to win some recognition? How can you be recognized for your entrepreneurship? How can you demonstrate your interest in technology so that it can be appreciated and judged by someone in a few seconds? Perhaps you can combine all three?</p>

<p>The point you are asking is valid- How do you take these concepts and ideas and make them gel? If you make them gel, how does anyone know? And if they know, what gives them context, so people can tell how much of an impact they have? Asking these questions will spur you to action. By finding international competitions, you can frame problems in a way that gives you not only a framework, but also a deadline and a pool of peers to help you assess your ability and motivate you to work at your best. Maybe you were too young, or the passion wasn’t there, for the Gulen thing. Moving from intention to actuation is a good thing, and entering a competition will help force that.</p>

<p>I think you are on the right track. Pursue what you love, and showcase it at the highest level of competition available- international is best.</p>

<p>But paramount is to earn good grades and show your mastery by scoring very highly on the standardized exams (SAT or ACT). Pursuing passions supplements this necessary base.</p>

<p>And of course, find joy and be a good person. Those are more important than you may think in gaining acceptance to a top US University. :)</p>

6

<p>Also, a thought: rather than criticize your debate team for bringing you down, address what can be done with what you have. Offer to coach interested students. Recruit new members who have talent but just haven’t committed. I’m not saying you can necessarily build a winning team but that kind of generosity of spirit and commitment to what you do is more impressive. I don’t really like to advise 9th graders ‘how to get into Harvard’ because I think that is totally the wrong kind of approach to excellence, but that’s my 2 cents for how to work on yourself which is what you also asked.</p>

7

<p>Wow, thank you @BrownParent, @mcfranksch, and @ItsJustSchool‌, you really gave me some ideas and helped me get a clearer idea! Thank you so much! </p>

8

<p>It is futile to think of things that will get you into Harvard. All elite American schools are extremely competitive for US students, and more so for interntional applicants.You can’t put together a resume of things that will look good for them…that is not how it works. Sorry to be blunt, but you need to be realistic.</p>

9

<p>" I want to volunteer at a homeless shelter but we don’t have many where I live and they are too far away."</p>

<p>as to your idea of “starting a homeless shelter” — you seem to have almost no experience in meeting the needs of the homeless in your area, correct? How are they currently being underserved? What have you done so far to alleviate this need? Why is “your” shelter a viable plan at this moment? How do you think the local businesses and neighborhoods will feel about this? How will you acquire this building? Where will the funding for this and the staff come from?</p>

<p>It’s nice to state but you might understand why adults may feel somewhat skeptical when, in the context of puffing up a resume in lieu of chasing a Harvard admission, 15 year olds declare seemingly wonderful and altruistic plans.</p>

10

<p>Be careful of padding your resume. Do what you truly enjoy, and go above and beyond in 2 or 3 extracurriculars.
It is important to visit these colleges before you apply. You might get there, and realize you don’t actually like them.</p>

11

<p>Is share trading considered an extra curricular? </p>

12

<p>@akova1‌ follow your passion, anything you do outside of classtime is extracurricular, i can say that i enjoy cooking as an extracurricular, and if i am a world class young chef with good academics, i would have a pretty good shot at harvard</p>

<p>Also, you said that straight A is very hard, but let me remind you, harvard admits about 100 students internationally, so lets say they usually accept 10 from your country(overestimation by a lot, more like 3-5), I am sure more than 10 people in your country get straight As and have amazing extracurricular, so why should Harvard accept you when everything else is equal but your grades are lower? Unless you can be sure that your ecs, teacher recommendation, and essay is amazing, why would you want to put yourself at a disadvantage against others?</p>

13

<p>But paramount is to earn good grades and show your mastery by scoring very highly on the standardized exams (SAT or ACT). Pursuing passions supplements this necessary base.</p>

<p>ItsJustSchool said the same thing, so try to get straight As first. At least 10 people in your country get straight A in the most difficult courseload. </p>

14

<p>They accept about 200 internationally.</p>

15

<p>It is very important that you stand out as an international candidate. Schools love to parade around their international kids from countries all over the world. Focus on your grades and you can do well. Take standardized testing if you can and make sure you do well on that. International contests with big prizes definitely enhance your application. Good luck!</p>

16

<p>@Falcon1‌ well, 200 or whatever, i dont think it is likely they will accept more than 10 people from australia unless australia has like an overabundance of smart kids suddenly</p>

17

<p>^^ Actually, Harvard College (the undergraduate school) accepts about 8 students a year from Australia. I imagine those kids are the best-of-the-best (however you want to measure that) from their country: <a href=“Statistics | Harvard International Office”>Statistics | Harvard International Office;

18

<p>Hey there! I love that you have started thinking about this in your freshmen year! I see that you have an interest in Business in Fashion and Technology, why don’t you start an apparel business? Or any Fashion item that you like? (could be shoes, accessories etc). Your grades are pretty standard considering that you are just a freshmen right now. I would definitely start a business and showcase that in my application so that the admission officers can differ me out of others. Harvard definitely looks at your grades, but that’s just ONE thing. Harvard looks for uniqueness in an application. 30,000 students each year apply to Harvard. I am sure many of them are in speech /debate team so that’s nothing unique. Again, I might be wrong but that’s what I know of! Good luck and make sure you use this opportunity to stand out of those 30,000 applicants! :)</p>