How To Get Into Harvard (by a Harvard student)

<p>well thanks anyway,,
i hope you get in!! good luck!!</p>

<p>what do you guys think about an ACT score of 21....i know its really really low, but wat if there were "circumstances" that i dont feel like diving into. wat are ur HONOST opinions</p>

<p>Your ECs must be amazing. like out of this world. your gpa better be near perfect. your excuse better be good also. if you dont fulfill these criteria (all of them preferably), then sorry man, I dont think you have a shot.</p>

<p>I'm currently a High School sophomore and I never really wanted to attend Harvard. I knew the weight of it's name and how many people wanted to get into Harvard, but I really didn't care about any of that. I was all for Ivy schools, but Harvard just wasn't one of them. That is, until I came here. People are so completely motivated and driven to get into that ONE school it's almost ridiculous. I mean, Harvard is great, but what happens if all your doing is setting yourself up for failure and extreme dissapointment. If you've wasted four years of your life building up credentials to get into Harvard and you're rejected, what happens then? I, for one, am not good with failure. A character flaw, I admit, but it's just the way I am.
I want to hang around people as driven for success as I am, but when i read some of the posts here, I kind of just sit back and wonder, is THIS what it takes to get into Harvard? Have expectations become so high that students work harder than they've ever worked before only for 75% of them to be rejected?
I'm considering Harvard, but I'm also aware of the fact that HARVARD ISN'T EVERYTHING. The chances of anyone getting in are really slim, but if you really, really, REALLY want to get in, go for it, just don't bust your a** and lose yourself on the way there. As impossible as it may seem, there IS life after Harvard...and not only that, but Yale, MIT, Princeton, Brown, U-Penn, and all those other "second-rate" schools are available for consideration...</p>

<p>The OP is exactly the reason you do NOT want to go to harvard.</p>

<p>those kind of people :/</p>

<p>Happens on a lot of other threads too... kids who got into great schools "giving advice" on how they got into them but really just boosting their own ego.
But whateva! They are also the ones who don't get past the brand name and think they just achieved their lives biggest goal: getting into college.</p>

<p>^ who calls any of those schools second rate?</p>

<p>@ compmom: thank you very much. I am starting to realize more and more that optimism and drive will take you far, no matter where you end up. Also, most anyone with a solid work ethic and thirst for knowledge can go to a really great school. The ultimatum isn't Harvard or state-school; it can be Harvard or Reed or UChig or Swarthmore or Dartmouth or any other great, albeit slightly less selective school.</p>

<p>Everybody should relax. Harvard is not the only place to pursue a passion for science or math or English. Science is my thing, and there are PLENTY of schools other than Harvard where research opportunities and like-minded people are abound.</p>

<p>Oh.. and thanks for the reference to the AP scholarships. i am taking a few of those exams this year, so that might work out. EPGY is a great resource for online classes. i just found it and I am enrolled in Number theory, Physics C, and linear algebra for the summer.</p>

<p>I never meant is as some sort of "Holier-than-thou-all-you-stupid-mortals-suck-because-you-want-to-get-into-Harvard" statement. My response was a testament to most of the posts in this forum. Not just this particular forum, but the whole harvard forum in general. People are busting their hineys to get into that ONE school, and it really discourages some people. If someone with a perfect GPA, perfect ACT and SAT scores, and outstanding EC activities is here asking us to chance them, what the hell are the other hopefuls with just-above-average grades, and all that shiz supposed to do? It really sucks.
I'm just saying Harvard isn't everything and that people should just chillax alittle...</p>

<p>P.S. The whole comment where I said Yale, MIT, and Princeton schools were "second-rate"...I was just being sarcastic. SARCASM PEOPLE!!! I guess it's true what they say...sarcasm really ISNT'T well recieved in the internet/world wide web community. Yeesh.</p>

<p>You know, actually, kshul4444, if by OP you mean original poster (i.e. me), I was NOT writing this thread to "boost my ego". I wrote this because I was reading all these far-flung ideas on how to get into this school and thought it might be helpful to point out how, from my experience, the process actually works. If you'd rather not go to Harvard with me, as one of "those kind of people", because I seem helpful as opposed to the stereotype of the stuck-up, full-of-themselves Harvard student (which is not true), then fine. I'm actually taking a break from writing a very important paper to check up on this thread, which I read once in a while, because I actually do care about people being able to get into this school, and eventually would like to work as an admissions officer, either here or elsewhere. And to be very honest, I don't need to go on a high school forum to boost my ego, thank you very much. </p>

<p>As for the other poster, SilentRevolution, you're right--Harvard is NOT "everything", nor is it for everybody; I know people who have been miserable here because they picked it solely for the name. I picked it because I came to visit as a prefrosh and realized that it was exactly what I wanted; that said, I have lots of friends who are perfectly happy at other schools and wouldn't have chosen anywhere else. Harvard just happens to be a place with significantly more amazing resources than anywhere else I know of on this planet, except maybe governments of countries (and I do mean that literally), but as for education quality itself, you can get a similar education at many Ivy League and top-tier schools. That said, Harvard <em>has</em> been "everything" to me and I admire that some people really are willing to do what it takes to get in here, which is essentially analogous to scaling a cliff without climbing gear, because that's the type of personality you're going to need to succeed here: not only the upward momentum, but the willingness to hang on, and not, as you mentioned, lose yourself on the way. </p>

<p>Good luck with all your choices/applications, everyone...I'm signing off. Back to my paper.</p>

<p>Hey LB...great advice it has really inspired me to make the best of my life at high school....Currently I am achieving a 4.0 GPA and I am in 3 clubs (1 in which i am an exec, one i have made, and one i am a general member).....Sometimes i feel like that isn't enough...but on the other hand I have done volunteer work at a major hospital and i have a job at Futureshop (part of Best buy)...i really do not know if this info would come as an advantage during the application process...I have yet to complete my SAT......but to sum up I am just really looking for "inspiration" because sometimes i feel down (in the sense that i feel that what will I do if i don't get in)....Harvard is my dream College and I am willing to do anything to get there</p>

<p>Please replace the second inspiration with the word motivation....i just realized i contradicted myself lol</p>

<p>Umm, I'm not sure if someone asked this question already, but I really didn't want to go through 11 pages, so... here's my question:
1. I got an e-mail from the Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Program, which many on this probably did as well, but are the coordinators just trying to get you to apply or what?</p>

<p>you are correct in that assumption</p>

<p>^kshul4444 is going around posting about how everyone who goes to HYP are prestige whores and stuck up *****es. It's just a defense mechanism where one tries to put down those who are above him or her.</p>

<p>Just ignore him, and be glad that your top school has less of these kinds of people.</p>

<p>I am a sophomore in high school and i am looking forward to applying to harvard my senior year. I got a 1400 on my SAT in 7th grade and i just received a 174 on PSAT this year. I am currently in 9 clubs at my school; 5-6 of them are long-term clubs. I am in marching band, all-county, science olympiad, FBLA, French honor society, history club, french club, Math team, and mock trial, with a few others. I have a 99.6% GPA out of 100% currently and i came 3rd in scripps national spelling bee in 8th grade. What other tests and activities should i do to even think about applying to harvard, besides taking the SAT and PSAT again in 11th?</p>

<p>^that's a lot of clubs. try to get some leadership positions and do something meaningful to you within those clubs.</p>

<p>well in 9th grade i was secretary of FBLA and this year im historian. I'm aiming for president for 11th and 12th. What would be a good source for volunteer work and what other standardized tests do i need to take. I'm also taking the hardest courses my school has to offer for my grade, which includes World History AP. Should i take the satII for world history this year? Please help!
Also, what ethnicities have a better chance of making it to harvard?</p>

<p>So I want to go to Harvard...</p>

<p>I was never very motivated in school, but had a change of heart recently. However, my transcript is what it is.</p>

<p>I have lots of extra curricular and volunteer stuff under my belt, courtesy of Boy Scouts and snowboarding.</p>

<p>My SAT score is 2000 (1450 math and reading), but I can easily get it up to near perfect if I study.</p>

<p>So my transcripts SUCK, and I've been out of high school for two and a half years. Two of those semesters I was at Queens College in NYC, with a high 3 average. The rest of the time I was snowboarding.</p>

<p>So my question is the following:
Is there anything I can do to get into Harvard undergrad? Or is it too late?
Thanks!</p>

<p>does anybody even reply back to this post? it would really help me out if i got some guidance from harvard students.</p>

<p>Actually, Richard, I looked it up, and the definition of a loser is someone who is so dissatisfied with their life, that they resort to spending their days tearing people they don't even know down on internet message boards.</p>

<p>I'm not a loser. I am an aspiring pro snowboarder who was very disillusioned by education until I realized that there are places where the subject matter actually matters, and the professors and students alike are engaged in their learning experience. Having found that out, I would like to get admitted to such an institution. Is Harvard my dream? No. Would going be awesome? Yes.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I just contacted an admissions officer at Harvard and was told that they don't accept transfer students. I don't really consider myself a transfer student since the "education" I received at Queens College was of little to no value to me. Is there any way I could apply as a freshman and toss out my credits from queens college? If i just don't send them my college transcript, will they still have a way of finding out? Thanks!</p>

<p>Belle is just trying to help everyone out and let them know that your success as far as getting into a school doesn't boil down to statistics.</p>

<p>You on, the other hand, are a hater, pure and simple. Good day.</p>

<p>Mike, it's probably a bit too late for you, but there are tons of other top schools that are less competitive where you can do just as well. Just get involved and do what you love.</p>

<p>pyrojet, take the World history satII and do well on the ap exam. hispanics, blacks, and native americans are the large underrepresented minority (URM) groups. Take 2 more SAT IIs, take the SAT and/or ACT. Get heavily involved in FBLA or something and get national awards. Do something you're passionate about. Use volunteermatch.com to find volunteer opportunities near you. Goodluck.</p>

<p>Lastly check out Harvard's undergrad website for more information and look at the Harvard 2012 decisions thread for ideas and what applicants look like. Just remember, BE YOURSELF!</p>

<p>and Richard, lay off. you have no life.</p>