<p>Hey, I pm-ed you, since my original post might’ve been in-depth enough for my friends to find me on here, and I’d rather avoid that :P.</p>
<p>Hi Lowellbelle,
I’m in grade 7 this year and would like to attend Harvard college in the future.I’m considering taking French,will taking it increase my chances in getting into Harvard?</p>
<p>I just have a quick question lowellbelle. You said you got GPA of 4.0. Does that mean you got straight A’s in your 4 years of highschool?</p>
<p>Hi, I would like to know if it’s possible to transfer to Harvard (or any Ivy leagues) from the University of Hong Kong? I should have taken SATs instead of ALevels. :(</p>
<p>I am an 8th grader at a small junior high school in western Pennsylvania, and preparing to go to high school next year. I strive to go to Harvard, and I’m willing to put 200% effort into getting there. I currently have a 3.9 GPA, and I’m in multiple clubs, such as
-stock market club
-PA Envirothon
-Hopewell Area Aqua Club
-Junior Varsity swim team (and planning on doing varsity next year)
-math counts
-algebra club
-gifted
-National Junior Honors Society
-science club
I spend a lot of time doing personal research on biological lifeforms in my environment, and I’m very passionate with biology and fitness, particularly with swimming and running, for I am joining the cross country team and two swim teams next year in high school. Also, next year in 9th grade I am going to take Algebra II (a 10th grade math class) along with Accelerated Geometry (9th grade math class), and Im planning on taking Latin and Japanese, along with many classes that I feel would be important, such as advanced chemistry and biology classes. I was wondering if you think I’m on the right track to get into Harvard for a medical degree to become a general surgeon, or if there are still things I am missing. The things I am worried about is that I dont have any connections to Harvard, my family has only an annual income of less than $100,000, and my school is public and not very well-known.</p>
<p>MAKE THE ABSOLUTE (!!!) MOST OF YOUR HIGH SCHOOL YEARS. TAKE EVERYTHING YOU CAN FROM–AND GIVE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE BACK TO–YOUR HIGH SCHOOL(S). TAKE THE BEST COURSES. DO THE THINGS YOU LOVE. </p>
<p>I love how this statement contradicts so much of your entry. A 1510 is shotty and you did not take the AP exams…Harvard doesn’t respect its undergrad students, too many TA’s, professors non-existant for office-hours. Ger your Phd at Harvard, go elsewhere for undergrad and masters. Harvard undergrad does get great recruiting, looks good on a resume, but you as an undergrad, are hard-pressed to actually deliver the goods.</p>
<p>@wordgirl928, I went to a tiny rural high school in the middle of nowhere, then transferred to a slightly bigger high school in a university town, which admittedly was a very good school but not like Dalton or Stuyvesant by far…and, thank God, managed to get in. I don’t really know what to tell you other than the fact that people at Harvard come from all sorts of schools. It really depends on how much you take advantage of what you have/go above and beyond what is available to you (seeking out extra opportunities).</p>
<p>lowellbelle, thanks so much for the tips. I have heard too many times from others how important grades are and how the SATs matter so much. I completely agree with you, and understand what you mean. I know that the SATs are a factor and so are your grades, but passion is what can set you apart from the other applicants and possibly help you get into Harvard. </p>
<p>The only thing I would like to request is some help on writing the essay. I’m approaching the college-entrance season, and just wanted some more tips. Could you possibly share some advice?</p>
<p>Thanks so much.</p>
<p>Lowellbelle,</p>
<p>and they do mean it when they say they want people with “potential”. Not necessarily “well-rounded”, because it’s difficult to do that if all you have time for is studying, but <b>people who are able to make the absolute most out of any situation they find themselves in…THAT is the important part. …
THAT ABOVE is your quote and now as a parent of ADD child, WHICH probably you never heard the term when you were growing up, what do you suggest I should do to make sure my child is happy being lets say “a potential” for the making a dent in today’s world ?
I agree with all you said and I had done everything, pleasant and non-pleasant approaches, medically and behaviorally, YOU NAME IT!
Unfortunately I have a belief, ADD and Ivy League valedictorian potential just can NOT be together even though my child is in 4th grade currently. You know, the natural being as a focus individual or an ADD individual.
Luckily, there goes an element of LUCK, Michael Phelps CAN focus superbly in the water all his life that earns him the most OLYMPIC medals in the world IF he does earn them in London 2012.</b></p><b>
<p>Please advice how to SOLVE this dilemma for my three kiddos with ADD.</p>
<p>Thanks so much
SS</p>
</b>
<p>SannaSontel,</p>
<p>Your child is in fourth grade? It may be a little premature to start worrying specifically about which college your child might attend.</p>
<p>I didn’t get into Harvard, but a boy in my class got a non-athletic likely letter (I know, I too bowed down) and also got into Yale EA. He had not taken all or even most of the AP’s in the school, which are little to begin with, did not have 100 EC’s and, to my knowledge, did not get perfect scores on his SAT and SAT ii’s. He was an excellent student, for sure, and will probably graduate valedictorian, but I believe truly made him stand out was the fact that he has participated in a very prestigious debate team ever since middle school and has demonstrated immense commitment. Granted, I guess I should mention that he has also worked backstage in plays and has been part of the student council, but the debate team is something that he dedicated himself fully to and took full advantage of every opportunity that came with it, from being president of the club to travelling to national competitions and winning first place there. In class, he’s one of the most passionate students you’ll ever meet, a trait that probably stood out in the letters of recommendation. </p>
<p>So what does it take to get into Harvard then? Well, I’m obviously no expert, but based on that anecdote I would say that passion. Passion for your classes and passion for one or two extra curricular activities that you go the extra mile for. Really, regardless of what college you aim to go to, that should be your general attitude in high school. Don’t take AP Biology just to impress Harvard/Yale/Princeton/etc. if you will not enjoy it and don’t be part of the school’s orchestra if it will feel like a chore. Take the rigorous classes in subjects that truly interest you and be part of EC’s that you’ll enjoy fully and be able to stand out in. </p>
<p>I could be wrong, maybe he had some sort of hook I’m not aware of, but I think that what I describe above is really the best way to go about in high school in order to both enjoy it and succeed. I mean, the point of high school is to grow as a person and learn skills that you’ll later develop in college, not to slave away unhappily in order to get into Harvard. Those are my 2 cents to this conversation, cheers!</p>
<p>^ lol Isaac S-B?</p>
<p>^ Lol, stop by U Chicago in October and maybe I won’t be too busy reading Locke for you to give me English language classes.</p>
<p>Um, I’m not sure if you intentionally meant to sound sassy, or if your post just came off that way. If it was intentional, then I also don’t know what giving you English classes means. I assume it’s meant to insult my use of “lol.”</p>
<p>You described someone publicly on the internet. I happen to be acquainted with that person. I found that humorous, particularly because he quit debate in January. That’s all.</p>
<p>Congrats on the U of C.</p>
<p>My roommate freshman year was fairly seriously dyslexic; it’s certainly possible, although certainly difficult, to get into Harvard and be successful there even with a learning disability.</p>
<p>with a really good extra curricular, is 85 average from grade 9-11 not good enough?, what is a good mark :s this is just really stressful please help me out !</p>
<p>As per advice given to you in your other thread, an 85 avg without any other extraordinary hook and unless you are the singly top student in your HS – you are not a viable candidate whatsoever for Harvard or other very selective colleges.</p>
<p>lowellbelle:
I noticed that in your first post that you said that people who go to Harvard fit the school. What types of traits did you have that made you attractive to the school? I want to know if I will fit with Harvard or whether I should look to attend another school, one that would be much better for me and would be the best thing for me. Thanks.</p>
<p>is it bad when someone (only in elementary goin to middle school) know what college to go to?</p>
<p>Is investing a good extra-curricular? I’m thirteen right now and have absolutely fallen in love with investing. I spend all of my time reading and thinking about value investing. It’s the summer right now and I’m reading a Wharton textbook. I want to go to Harvard. I hope to start investing with the value investing method in the beginning of high school. If I do a lot with investing and prove that I love it, will it be considered a full-fledged extra-curricular. I could even manage the portfolios of people. That’s one of the things I’m planning to do. I also do tennis and piano, but those are just things I do for fun and don’t spend a lot of time on. Thanks.</p>