<p>Im an international student in my second last year of high school (same as junior year in the States). My academic track record has been great so far (A's but mostly A+'s) , however I have not been doing very many extra-curricular activities so far in high school. I am a member of the school choir and I have volunteered at a charity art exhibition and volunteer at charity fairs. I also volunteered at a special needs school for a week. I am thinking of either doing neuroscience or medicine. My questions are:
1) Is it too late to start doing more extra-curriculars?
2) If I do extra-curriculars starting from now, is it too late for me to realistically think about Harvard because even if I start now is there a chance that I will not be considered competitive enough cause I haven't been doing many of them/doing them for a long time?
3) Does Harvard prefer to see all-rounders (a person who does extra-curriculars in all kinds of fields like: art, music, drama even if their chosen field of study is not related to them?) or do they prefer applicants who have extra-curriculars that are more focused on their chosen field of study?
4) Any tips on what kind of extra-curriculars I could do? Any tips on how many should be done ideally?
5) Do I need to take SAT subject tests? Some say its not compulsory, is that true?</p>
<p>1) No
2) Not from an extra-curricular standpoint. But, realize that Harvard has “soft quotas” for international students. Usually no more than 11% of the incoming class are internationals. Harvard matriculates about 1660 students every year, and of that total, only about 170 to 190 are international students. So, to be admitted to Harvard, you have to be the best-of-the-best from your country.
3) Harvard is an academic Institution, not an extracurricular play space. Your transcript, teacher recommendations and essay are vastly MORE important than your EC’s.
4) Do what you love. Please read this thread from MIT as everything in it pertains to Harvard Admissions: <a href=“Applying Sideways | MIT Admissions”>http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways</a>
5) This is Harvard’s first year of not requiring SAT Subject Test scores, so it’s difficult to say how it will play out. As an international student, if you can afford to take the SAT Subject tests, I would take them. And, if you come from a non-English speaking country, I would recommend taking the TOEFL even though Harvard doesn’t require it.</p>
<p>@gibby- thanks a lot!! I appreciate it! xxx</p>
<p>@gibby- does the ‘soft quota’ thing apply to all US universities? Is it a minimum percentage they swear by or can they admit more than that percentage of international students? </p>
<p>They they are free to admit anyone they want or any number of applicants from any country. They’ll never admit to a quota, hard or soft but, I agree with gibby, they do have one. </p>
<p>@LexieA: Although the quota-thing applies to all US universities, many US colleges are balancing their budget by admitting large numbers of international students who can pay the full fare. If you don’t need financial aid, there are many other schools where your chances are better. See: <a href=“http://www.forbes.com/sites/zheyanni/2014/07/30/the-chinese-are-willing-to-pay-60000-for-a-college-application/”>http://www.forbes.com/sites/zheyanni/2014/07/30/the-chinese-are-willing-to-pay-60000-for-a-college-application/</a></p>
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<p>Top schools that offer financial aid to International students, including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton all seem to have a hard-line in the sand in terms of the percentage of international students. I may be wrong, but I don’t think the percentage of international students at HYP has ever been over 12%.</p>
<p>For Ivies and top unis in general, will I have a less chance of getting in because I haven’t been doing EC’s for a long time and for many hours a week?</p>
<p>I attend a Science conference club that operates once a month and I plan to attend other science conferences/talks and festivals. Do they count as EC’s? </p>
<p>Not sure attending conferences, unless you present a research paper, is going to be meaningful</p>
<p>@jym626- thank you! its hard because that kind of stuff has quite some weight when it comes to UK Personal Statements</p>
<p>@gibby- is the quota thing applicable to UK universities too?</p>
<p>^^ Sorry, but I don’t follow UK universities, so I have no idea.</p>
<p>@gibby- no problem! </p>
<p>One more thing, I don’t know whether to take the SAT or ACT -does anyone have any inputs? How do they differ? Is one better than the other?</p>
<p>Harvard has no preference. For more information on the tests, and which one might suit your testing style, look here: <a href=“Test Preparation - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/</a></p>
<p>@wasatchwriter - thank you! </p>
<p>Also, does anyone know what Ivies’ preferences are for extra-curriculars- depth over breath? or not?</p>
<p>Definitely depth over breadth.</p>
<p>@JHS- that sucks cause i only have two yrs of school left (one yr before i apply!) and i haven’t been doing many activities. </p>
<p>I would also like to know if anyone knows whether the Ivies prefer all-rounders or not because I am just going to focus on doing science-related extra-curriculars otherwise?</p>
<p>“I would also like to know if anyone knows whether the Ivies prefer all-rounders or not because I am just going to focus on doing science-related extra-curriculars otherwise?”</p>
<p>I’ve heard from some folks that Harvard prefers the “well-rounded” student, I’ve heard they prefer the student is extremely strong in a particular area, I’ve heard the term “oblong” used (pretty good at most everything, great at one or two things).</p>
<p>All I can tell you is that my two sons probably fit best into the model of “well-rounded.” Academically, one son was somewhat stronger in humanities than in math and science, the other, just the opposite. But the son who is stronger in humanities still did well in math, taking AP Calc BC in high school, Physics 16 at Harvard, scoring 5s on all his AP science exams, etc. And the younger son, although he’s a math guy, still was the top student in his high school class for English, German, and Latin. In terms of extracurriculars, they both participated in a wide range of activities, neither won any Intel prizes, published any novels, or cured cancer. But they held leadership positions in different organizations, and had long-term participation in a few.</p>
<p>But mostly, they did what they liked. They followed the path of their own making. And still do.</p>
<p>If you’re good at science, if you like it, do it, and do it well, then do it! Take charge of your school career and your life, do worthwhile things with them, and that will, incidentally, give you the best preparation for acceptance and success at highly-selective schools.</p>
<p>@notjoe- Thank you!! That was really good advice. Yeah I got the highest grade possible across all my subjects inc. maths, sciences, geography and even art last year. So grade-wise I guess you could say I perform well in all areas. However, I’d like my extracurriculars to be more focused on the sciences because im applying to the UK as well and they put much much more emphasis on doing EC’s related to ur subject of study.</p>
<p>-However I don’t have any leadership positions though? Am I at a huge disadvantage?</p>
<p>There is a difference between being a leader and having a leadership position. A leader takes charge and gets things done, makes sure they are done well, and even expands the boundaries of the organization. Any member can be that person.</p>