Harvard alum taking questions

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>Congrats to all the seniors wrapping up the admissions cycle. I'm a Harvard College alum with a younger sibling currently at the College. Loved my years at Harvard and I've been very active with the admissions office and committee. Glad to answer any questions from high school students or parents.</p>

<p>Good luck!
-Veritas</p>

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>First, thanks so much for opening this thread! I have two questions:</p>

<ol>
<li>What do you feel is Harvard’s best and worst quality?</li>
<li> How flexible did you feel Harvard was concerning their students’ outside activities? Say, for example, I am chosen for the next World Championships in my sport and must take a week off to compete - does Harvard allow for some leeway with their students’ extracurriculars?</li>
</ol>

<p>Again, thanks so much.</p>

<p>My high school wasn’t adequately prepared to run the IB programme and as such I received a less than desirable score. Do you know of anyone at Harvard who has been offered a place given a similar circumstance?</p>

<p>Edit: I’m an international student.</p>

<p>What is the Mid-Year Report typically used for? Is it scrutinized only for prospective admits so that their continued academic performance can be verified? I ask because I want to make sure my updates in my report are considered…</p>

<p>And does Harvard have any way of knowing which applicants got into where?</p>

<ol>
<li>What do you feel is Harvard’s best and worst quality?</li>
</ol>

<br>

<br>

<ol>
<li>How flexible did you feel Harvard was concerning their students’ outside activities? Say, for example, I am chosen for the next World Championships in my sport and must take a week off to compete - does Harvard allow for some leeway with their students’ extracurriculars?</li>
</ol>

<br>

<br>

<p>My high school wasn’t adequately prepared to run the IB programme and as such I received a less than desirable score. Do you know of anyone at Harvard who has been offered a place given a similar circumstance?</p>

<p>Edit: I’m an international student. </p>

<br>

<br>

<p>What is the Mid-Year Report typically used for? Is it scrutinized only for prospective admits so that their continued academic performance can be verified? I ask because I want to make sure my updates in my report are considered…</p>

<br>

<br>

<p>Thank you for your reply!</p>

<p>There has been a change of administration at the school and the new head might be able to assist in writing a letter about the circumstances. An outright mea culpa would probably be out of the question however.</p>

<p>I am treading carefully for it appears I may appear to be making excuses for poor performance; in short I received an IB score of 39 (respectable worldwide, but below average for my country) although I obtained a predicted score of 45.</p>

<p>Thanks for the reply!</p>

<p>How bad’s the weather really? I have fibromyalgia and unfortunately, weather is turning out to be a bigger deciding factor than I originally expected. I live in Ohio so I’m no stranger to crappy weather but I did apply to some California schools.</p>

<p>Harvard has been criticized for not placing enough emphasis on its undergraduate education as opposed to their peers. Do you think they’ve improved in this regard?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Omg thank you sooo much for this thread.
I only have one question.
You might not remember it completely but what were your extracurriculars when you applied for harvard?? Like what were your ECs in high school?</p>

<p>I have no questions but would like to thank you for opening this thread and say that out of all the schools to which I applied, Harvard and its admission office has been the nicest and most receptive! Whenever I had questions, though not many, I’ve quickly received a reply and was encouraged to call back if I had more questions or needed any other help with the process. Thank you!</p>

<p>^ditto what collegefreshman says - Harvard has an awesome system set up for Harvard applicants.</p>

<p>^I agree. Harvard really could treat applicants poorly and still receive plenty of applications because it’s Harvard. Nevertheless, the Harvard admissions office is incredible. Their willingness to schedule on campus interviews, answer questions, and personally email/respond to emails even during application reading months astounds me. The Harvard Office of Admissions is the most efficient, helpful, and friendly office I’ve worked with. I remember the first time I called the office and was absolutely taken aback by how HAPPY the person who answered the phone was to talk to me. Crazy stuff. </p>

<p>Anyway, for my question, is the stress level at Harvard as crazy as everyone claims?</p>

<p>You said the people were the best part of Harvard. Care to elaborate?</p>

<p>^^^ Regarding the people there:</p>

<p>If you were a soccer player, imagine being selected to a global all-star team of the world’s top young soccer talent and being invited to gather with them for several years to play with and against them, be influenced and inspired by them, and build friendships with them. If you were a composer, imagine being chosen for the global all-star team of young composers so that you could learn from their creative traditions and share your own. Harvard is like being invited to join the global all-star team of college students.</p>

<p>“I live in Ohio”</p>

<p>If you’re from Cleveland or Toledo, the weather won’t feel like much of a change. If you’re from Cincinnati, Boston’s probably worse.</p>