Harvard rates applicants on 4 main categories: academic, extracurricular, sports, personality.
I know that research and prestigious academic competitions are considered in academic rating…
But how about writing and publishing Amazon best seller ranked psychology book?
Would this be considered as academic or extracurricular category? Wouldn’t it be academic because it relates to my psychology major?
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I’m not sure why you care or why it matters; file under “it is what it is.” Regardless, they are the only ones who can answer your question.
I did but they won’t respond lol
Is this still the case @skieurope?
I haven’t heard differently. Again, the whole conversation, including the invariable next question “What does it take to get a 1?” needs to be relegated to the “it is what it is” box, because nothing an applicant does is likely to change how Harvard views the application.
I think the answer to that is going to depend on the book. Was it self-published or published by a legitimate academic press? If self-published or a “pay to play” type situation, that would fall under extracurricular. If submitted to an academic press and vetted by professionals via an actual publishing contract, that might be considered an academic accomplishment.
To me this sounds like an extracurricular activity, and a very good one.
I quite like the “applying sideways” blog on the MIT admissions web site, which I believe also applies to getting accepted at other top universities such as Harvard. My understanding of this is to do what is right for you, and do it very well. My family has taken this approach and had some success with it.
I do not think that I would write a book for the purpose of getting accepted to Harvard. I would only write the book if it made sense to me as something that I wanted to do.
But I think that this would indeed stand out if the book reached a “best selling” level of success.
Hmm, do you know any further academic rating activities or accomplishments such as research and prestigious academic competitions? Since people don’t think writing a book isn’t an academic accomplishment rating, so I don’t really know which ones are considered as academic ones…
Curing cancer is an academic accomplishment.
Why are you asking?
Oh it is? Well some people say it’s “outside of school” so it’s extracurricular lol.
I do not think that you should worry about it.
Take the classes that make sense for you. Keep ahead in your classes and strive for good grades. In terms of other activities, do what makes sense for you and do it well. Understand that Harvard is a reach for everyone (not counting Nobel Prize winners and the children of the leaders of friendly countries). Make sure that you apply to safeties, look for a good fit in universities, pay attention to your budget, treat people fairly, and find time to have some fun.
I never applied to Harvard. However, this approach got me accepted to MIT for my bachelor’s and Stanford for my master’s. This approach has also worked for other family members, but what I did and what my wife did and what my daughters did and are doing were all different things.
And here is a pointer to the blog that I think that you should read. It is on the MIT admissions web site, but at least IMHO the same approach applies to Harvard, Stanford, and other top ranked schools.
Agree with all those saying you do not need to worry about this!
It is out of your control. Focus on what you can control.
If you are a senior, keep your grades up and spend a lot of time on your essays–there is nothing else for you to do at this point in senior year. IF you are younger: take the most challenging classes, do well in them , and read the MIT applying sideways. That is really all you need to know to keep everything in perspective and have your best chance.
Are you speaking hypothetically, or have you actually done such a thing? In any event, I’d probably call it an extracurricular.
Writing a Psychology book as an academic would require advanced credentials, a PhD, research, peer review, publication in a journal. Assuming you are a HS Senior applying to Harvard and talking about a self-published Amazon book, it would fall into the extracurricular category.
Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. Where’s my full ride Harvard??