Harvard Hopeful

<p>Ps. jw, Why is everyone saying my ECs are weak? I have ample volunteerism, leadership experience with leading a group with my position as editor in chief of the yearbook, and am on a varsity public speaking team. In addition, I have a real passion for music/art, so wouldn’t what be to my advantage, as I can bring some element of diversity to the campus?not to be blunt, but these credentials alone i would think would give me a good shot (yeah, I know I need to get my grades up for the next step :/) so any thoughts on this?</p>

<p>We’re saying they’re weak in a relative sense. As in Harvard will be able to find 3000 people with better ECs to fill out its freshman class.</p>

<p>Okay, but what I wanna know is: what are these “better” ECs? Haha, sorry to be so blunt, but if you wouldn’t mind telling me how I could be a competitor…</p>

<p>Lol if i’m smart. thanks.
Yeah that was a long post. You seem to be doing really well! I mean ur not even a junior yet. Well my advice is to study hard for the AP exams. Sats aren’t that important because you can take them again. I don’t know too much about Harvard just that if your SAT score and GPA are high enough you might get in. Its hard, I’m sure you’ll get into some ivy league try yale, stanford, princeton too.</p>

<p>Hahaha yay another rare positive voice! Yeah personally I thought i had a shot before I came on here lol. But thanks do you know where ur applying</p>

<p>I don’t think the actual activities themselves are the problem, but rather the level of achievement. I mean, many, many people are involved in the school newspaper or play a musical instrument, but not nearly as many people are involved in a nationally-ranked school newspaper or place in state competitions for music. I’m not sure if I’m right, but that’s what I think at least.</p>

<p>And I wouldn’t say ECs are your sole problem. The GPA and ACT (if it’s ~30) are a bit low for an unhooked Harvard applicant. The collection of these problems makes Harvard a big reach for you, but like I said, if you love the school that much it’s certainly worth an app.</p>

<p>Okay that makes sense. I know our yearbook is at least one of the best in the state/has won some awards. Would that help?</p>

<p>Mentioning that would certainly help, but I made a little edit on my previous post that you should read.</p>

<p>Okay if I get like legit all solid As next year as well as the beginning of my senior year, and study like a ton for my act/sat and pull off, let’s say a 33 or 34, as well as work really hard at my main ECs to earn awards, do you think then I’ll be taken seriously? Thanks again for ur help</p>

<p>Sure, but admissions to Ivies are still an utter crap shoot. In order to have any sort of material chance, you’d need a legacy/hook, and of either you have none (that you’ve mentioned, anyway).</p>

<p>Hate to be so blunt, but that’s the reality of things.
I agree with the others; apply to Harvard if you want (ED if you really want), but also draw up a list of safeties/matches. You won’t regret it.</p>

<p>P.S. I noticed you said something about going to Harvard for academics, and you weren’t going to research the “little clubs and organizations.”
Academics aren’t all to your college experience. It’s not just going to be your school for four or more years, but your HOME. You have to make sure that there are things you’ll want to do there besides study (cue clubs and organizations). So, I recommend that once you have a preliminary list of schools you think you’d want to attend, look at what ELSE the school has to offer and see what appeals to you.</p>

<p>^Harvard doesn’t have ED anymore, does it?</p>

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<p>There are lots of colleges that fit your career requirement…what characteristics of Harvard make you think it’s ideal? What would make it fun to go there? And can you possibly visit? The top colleges are very different from each other. Harvard vs. Princeton is the only difference I can comment on (having a hereditary dislike to Yale, and an allergic reaction to Stanford despite/because of having spent part of my childhood there), but Harvard and Princeton are, indeed, worlds apart. Princeton might even check off more boxes on my ideal college list than Harvard does (although its location is less good), so I was Very Very Excited when I went to visit Princeton. And yet, for reasons I still cannot even verbalize, I hated it. Didn’t apply. My first Harvard visit was one step above an unmitigated disaster, and yet I knew that I would like to go there. (It did make me skittish when it was decision time, but a second, non-Krakatoa-level-disaster visit calmed me down.) And that’s between two peer institutions…The difference between a local college (say UMich, which is a fabulous school) and any Ivy is probably vast, at least in terms of the types of student who “fit” best at each.</p>

<p>Work really hard on your stats (a composite 34+ ACT would be ideal, 33 probably fine), and actually getting those high levels of forensics recognition. I mean, I applied to college with about a 3.75 UW, but I had placed several times nationally in Latin team (quizbowl-ish), and had a 1600/1600 SAT. Since there are many fewer Latin students, aiming to achieve that other kid’s level of forensics win (or better) is probably a good goal. (Also, my 3.75 was at a top-10 high school, and I was a classics/history kid at a science magnet, so watch your rank. If 3.7 UW is bad at your school, you need to worry much more than if it’s pretty good,) Other posters earlier were bashing you for not having won great awards yet–if those end up coming, that’s great, you will significantly have increased your chances. If not, and your test scores don’t materialize the way you would like, your chances are very slim. (But then, so are most people’s.)</p>

<p>Also, is this you? [MIFA</a> > Home](<a href=“http://www.themifa.org/]MIFA”>http://www.themifa.org/) Theatre (spelled the British way what) and debate are both on the front page.</p>

<p>Why do my posts always end up this long no more editing sorry for any typos good night :)</p>

<p>NEVER MIND just saw this:</p>

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<p>PFFT PFFT PFFT to that, at least if we share the same vocabulary. Hook meaning legacy, 1st gen, URM, or recruited athlete? (Things you are, not that you do.) PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT (Sorry, it’s late. My vocabulary diminishes.) Recruited athletes aside, do you think that every hooked person is likely to be admitted? Like, 40% or above? PFFFFFFFT. I know lots of Ivy-legacy rejectees. Lots of minority rejectees. None of the Ivies are so starved of black people that they need to start admitting unqualified ones. And do you think that an “unhooked” Intel finalist or Olympic swimming star has no material chance, while a hooked white first-gen person with no ECs from a trailer out in the back woods of Kentucky does have a material chance? PFFFFFFFFFFFFFT.</p>

<p>Last paragraph of that person’s post is exactly what I was getting at in my first, though. Very sound advice. Sorry for the early-a.m. rudeness. Good night for actually.</p>

<p>^^ Idk I’m not looking at any Ivies. It probably wouldn’t do much for your chances anyway like it would at other colleges.</p>

<p>Yeah, if your attraction to Harvard is based on name and placement into grad school/jobs and not on the atmosphere there are PLENTY of colleges you can apply to. Not that they will be any easier to get into, but Yale, Princeton, and Stanford are all there and have similarly great track records of success.</p>

<p>To be very honest, I don’t think you can fall in love with a school based on the things you’ve mentioned. Truly falling in love with a school means walking on campus, interacting with classmates and professors, sitting in on classes, rehearsals, etc. and not being able to imagine yourself anywhere else for the next 4 years. I got into Stanford and Yale; based on your factors, Stanford was probably the better choice for someone science-oriented career-wise like me. However, I really didn’t have a good time at Stanford and didn’t feel like I fit in that well. On the other hand, I had the absolute time of my life at Yale and I’m a huge music geek.</p>

<p>So yeah … open up a little bit. Harvard is one of the best colleges in the world, but there are other ones out there for you, especially when your love for the place has little to do with the actual atmosphere of the place.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone so much! I’ll definitely
get my test scores/grades up (a 3.74 IS good at my school already though; the curriculum is tough, and I’m sure, seeing as I’m taking the hardest classes available, if my school ranked I’d be towards the top.) and I haven’t gone on any college visits yet, but here’s why I honestly think harvard is the school for me (although I am aware of the fact that there are pleny of other top 40 schools out there that perhaps would also be suitable as well): one reason is I’ve simply always wanted to go. It’s been a dream of mine that I seriously hope to accomplish (yes, I do realize how naive this sounds). At least, I’ve always wanted to go to an ivy. Granted, I picked perhaps the hardest one to get into, but others are either located near dangerous neighborhoods/are on an opposite coast/aren’t known for the majors that I hope to pursue. Going to harvard as an undergrad, I believe, will be a great into to ultimately attending its medical school. I’ve researched some colleges and their atmospheres in those college books, and of the ones I’m somewhat interested in, harvard and its campus seem like the best fit. It’s closest to home, obviously has superior academics (which, idk if i’m coming across as an idiot with my 3.74 uw gpa, but I am smart/could definitely push myself), and I really would love to go to school on the east coast. </p>

<p>Also, does anyone know if you receive college mail from a school after taking something like your PLAN test (pre-ACT), your scores qualify you as a viable candidate? Among others, MIT sent me something (:</p>

<p>Oh and Lirazel, yeah apparently MIFA is where people blog about all the forensicators, but idk forensics is NEVER associated with debate for us/everyone else in our at least region. 2 completely seperate teams (4n6 being more prosperous perhaps). And idk if that site pertains to us, but when i tried searching for my tabs it didn’t show up.</p>

<p>I don’t think “I’ve always wanted to go to X” is a very good reason to apply somewhere. Or if it is, it’s not a well articulated one. “At least, I’ve always wanted to go to an Ivy” is even worse. But it doesn’t matter what I think, and the Harvard supplement doesn’t have a Why Harvard? essay anyway.</p>

<p>BUT. I urge you to think about life AT Harvard. What will you do once you get there? Go to classes and learn stuff? You can do that at any community college. Hell, if you’re only interested in learning, you can learn as much as (if not more than) any college student in you local library or on the internet. But you must want more than that if you’re applying for college, and to a specific one at that. What is it that you want from Harvard exactly?</p>

<p>The only thing you can’t get anywhere else, objectively speaking, is the satisfaction of telling people that you’re going to Harvard. And you have to have something more to hold on to; if you attend Harvard, most of the people you’ll be interacting with will also be going to Harvard, and their awe and admiration may not be intense enough to feed your sense of self-worth.</p>

<p>Basically, are you in love with Harvard or with the idea of going to Harvard? Because the former might sustain you through four years of undergrad, but the latter won’t last long if you get there only to realize you’d feel much better at a secluded liberal arts college with a nature reserve on campus, a reputation for producing avant garde philosophers, and a 3:1 student-teacher ratio.</p>

<p>Anyway. To answer your question, my advice on improving your ECs is to pinpoint your real passions (as in things you’d be doing even if you weren’t applying to Harvard) and find ways to pursue them more seriously. Being on the debate team is great, but getting in touch with other debate enthusiasts from around the world and founding a social networking site where people can hold debates with strangers and have competitions online would be even better. And it would take more commitment. In order to impress the busiest adcoms in the world, you have to show more commitment than the resolve it takes to sign up for a recreational activity at school.</p>

<p>^Great post.</p>

<p>Kal I suggest you look here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/681434-official-harvard-university-2013-decisions-thread.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/681434-official-harvard-university-2013-decisions-thread.html&lt;/a&gt; to get a better idea of how competitive it is at Harvard. Test scores mean a lot - there are so many kids who are 2350+/35-36ACT/800 800 800 subject tests/4.0 GPA/ 1 in 600 rank. It’s very competitive. </p>

<p>Also, going to Harvard just because it’s Harvard is not a good idea. I too wanted to go to Harvard for a long time (trained with that mentality from an early age - “must be #1, must be harvard”) but it simply isn’t the place for me. I’ll be with kids that will largely be much inherently smarter than I am, and kids that I can’t imagine being friends with (I looked at facebook photos - they look scary). Not to mention that I want to become a dentist, and at a huge elite school like harvard, my GPA will be subpar (relative to others, as I will be competing against super geniuses). For dentists and doctors, GPA is the biggest factor in getting into med/dental schools (whose acceptance rates are 1-10% btw). I think you should think this through thoroughly.</p>

<p>I know I haven’t been involved in this thread since the beginning, but I have found it to be quite interesting. Anyways, Kal, I think it is in your best interest to look at a wider swath of schools. No offense intended, but what I’m getting is that you seem utterly fixated on Harvard. Which is not a bad thing, but Harvard has 30,000 applicants each year; fixation does not mean anything on such a scale. As Ghostt iterated perfectly, your reasons aren’t even that good anyways. I used to be fixated on getting into Yale, but reality, thankfully, got to me first, which is why I’m fine with many of the schools I will be applying to. If you really think you have a chance, then you better haul.</p>

<p>By the way, colleges sending you stuff is absolutely worthless, or nearly worthless. Most top applicants receive things from HYPSM, it’s just based off your PSAT. I got a rather lame 226, and I still got stuff from those schools. It is a minimal indicator of your chances. Sorry.</p>

<p>That being said, I will not impose my pessimism on you. It is good to see someone with strong drive towards a singular goal.</p>

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<p>I’m sorry, but this definitely isn’t a good reason to choose Harvard. ESPECIALLY when there are EIGHT Ivy League schools out there.</p>

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<p>And Harvard is so much less dangerous than Yale or Columbia or Penn? I don’t think you’ve done enough research. If I remember correctly someone posted a list of the top 25 most dangerous colleges and Harvard was on it along with MIT.</p>

<p>And regardless, how “dangerous” you perceive the school’s surrounding area to be shouldn’t be a huge concern. You can avoid all the problems by being smart, not walking around at night alone, etc. And plus, all the universities have great security, services to keep you safe, a police force, etc.</p>

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<p>Er, no Ivy is on the West Coast. And since when was going to the West Coast a bad idea? California is an amazing place, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to experience a change.</p>

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<p>And these majors are …
I hope you know that acceptance to medical or law school (by the way, they are completely different from each other and I have a hard time believing you’re really interested in both other than the job factor) is not based on your undergraduate major; all you have to do is complete the pre-med/pre-law requirements and you can pursue any major you want. In fact, there’s a stat that says 66% of music majors are accepted into medical school (the highest rate, but very few applicants, of course).</p>

<p>And honestly, if you can get into an Ivy League school, there’s no use in distinguishing between them. Sure, some of them are super strong in certain areas (Cornell engineering, for instance), but either way you’re getting an elite education.</p>

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<p>I’ve heard many times that it’s a better idea to go to a different school for grad school (Harvard => Yale Law, Yale => Harvard Law). I also remember hearing that Harvard undergrads are at a disadvantage in applying to Harvard Med School (because they want as many affiliations as possible or something) and that the high # of acceptances is mostly because there are more applicants (but I could definitely be wrong here - just something I remember reading).</p>

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<p>I don’t think you can research a college’s atmosphere. Regardless of what people tell you about it, it’s ultimately YOUR feeling, YOUR decision, and whether or not YOU fit into the school. And, as I’ve mentioned before, Harvard may be considered the best school out there, but “obviously has superior academics” is an exaggeration.</p>

<p>All in all (I hope I don’t sound offensive), you seem to be trying really hard to justify your love for Harvard, and your reasons are unfounded. I’d recommend doing more research.</p>