I have a Native American tribal card and am curious if this will really boost my chances.
I have a 4.0 unweighted G.P.A. and am thinking about publishing a novel I wrote. I am too young to have yet taken the SAT or the ACT (fall of freshman year), but am preparing. I am not a legacy.
With that in mind, how much will my race really help my application to Harvard?
It will be a plus but you need all the other things Harvard is looking for too - good grades (and really, you are a freshman and have a long way to go), test scores, good letters of recommendations, a lot of EC’s that show them you are an enthusiastic student.
Enjoy high school and don’t worry about Harvard. Plenty of good schools for you.
It is way too early to think about specific colleges (especially the hyper-competitive ones). You don’t even have one full year’s GPA and you have no standardized testing.
You also need to recognize that HS should be an experience in and of itself – a time of learning and growth and not just a 4 year college application prep experience.
It is good to take school seriously and know that college will be on your horizon, but it is too early to start planning for specific colleges, especially hyper-competitive ones like Harvard. I would highly recommend that you get off of CC until your junior year.
For now you should focus on:
–Working hard, learning, and doing as well as you can in the most challenging curriculum you can manage.
–When the time comes study for standardized tests.
–Continue your involvement in activities you care about and work towards making meaningful contributions to those activities.
–Enjoying spending time with your family and friends.
When the time comes asses your academic stats (including GPA, standardized tests, course rigor) as well as your financial needs and apply to a wide range of reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (you will have to run a net price calculator for each school you consider) and that you would be happy to attend. Your tribal affiliation can be a positive but it won’t get you into a college that you are not otherwise qualified for.
You need to expand your horizons and recognize that there are many wonderful schools out there where you can have a great 4 year experience and get where you want to go in life.
Are you Native American. Or did you just have a card. Harvard does check these things
Well said Happy1. Forethought, enjoy being a teen and growing up. However, I admire your enthusiasm. Set couple of goals: academic and activities. Be sure that they are supporting your long term goals. Learn leadership that will help you mature and learn through mistakes. Do activities that will challenge you and give you experience facing adversity and ethical dilemma. You cannot get these experience if you’re not in ECs that will put you through many tests, socially, economically, and culturally. Learn to be brave and develop moral courage. Become a leader in athletics, music, STEM, Humanities, Scouting, somewhere where you can lead others and issues. Most importantly develop a good human relations with your friends and family. If you’re good with those closest to you, you can be good with most others very different form you. And lastly, travel travel and travel. You’ll learn many things during your voyage!