<p>Having toured about 20 colleges with both my kids several years back, I’ve found that all presentations say basically the same things:</p>
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<p>Some colleges give better presentations and tours than others; some student’s give better tours than others. Harvard doesn’t put much effort into their presentations or tours because they don’t have to – they are one of the most selective colleges on the planet. If you don’t like what you see, go elsewhere. (Harvard is also a big tourist attraction for many visitors to Boston, so when you tour the school, you are also touring it with thousands of daily visitors with cameras, who are not there looking at the college for their son or daughter. It’s just another stop on the tour of Boston.)</p>
<p>What I found to be helpful is to look beyond the presentations and tours of pretty buildings – after you’ve been on a couple of them, you really never need attend one again! Instead, talk to students on campus and ask them: Are the majority of your classes lectures or small classes? Are you expected to contribute to classroom discussions on a daily basis, or are your classes mostly the professor talking? Is the reading load manageable? On average, how long does a pset take you to complete? If you could change anything about this college, what would it be? If you had to make the decision all over again, would you choose this college? Does the university go out of it’s way to make the campus environment a fun place for students? Are there scheduled events, such as picnics, boat rides, ski trips? Or, are student’s left on their own to find and make their own fun? Personal questions like that are far more telling than what you will learn from any Admissions Office presentation or tour.</p>
<p>Jamaxmom- Thank you for sharing your daughter’s experience. What an amazing kid you raised and you should be very proud of her! BTW- Where did she end up going? That’s one lucky school!</p>
<p>Hi everyone,
I’m back - I kind of forgot about this site for a while (am in grad school). Regarding visiting Harvard, I would strongly (!) recommend that you speak to current students and/or have your son/daughter stay with a student (you can arrange an overnight stay for a prefrosh with the admissions office). I honestly almost didn’t go to Harvard because everyone (the recently-admitted prefrosh group) was so obnoxious - I think a lot of people felt insecure and were trying to impress others. Once I thought about it, the people who had chosen to go there and had suffered through exams etc. were the ones it made sense to listen to - they’d lived the student experience.
The classes are generally excellent, and yes, the workload is tough. The resources are practically unlimited. It’s the students you have to live with, though - so talk with them, and don’t pay too much attention to obnoxiousness. Also, please please don’t touch the statue’s foot if you visit.
As for Jamaxmom, honestly I have no idea - every class is different, and I don’t know what exactly they look for. I have the feeling that being driven and having apparent significant potential are two high factors on the list, but there is so much that goes into each admissions cycle. The huge number of applications doesn’t really help. Where’d your daughter end up going?</p>
<p>hi…first to present myself …i am a student living in france. i would like to study in harvard but i am scared that my grades wont let me. the thing is that it hasn’t been long since i came in france ( 2.5 years now) and due to the language barrier i cant have my desired scores. but because i was english schooled until 8th grade…(i am not from an english speaking country either) …i do believe that i have at least required minimal skills in english . and yes i am trying to improve my skills and knowledge about the language. but it gets really tough to actually learn 2 languages at a time from the bottom depth. you know french and english. so it explains a bit of my insufficient result (i score 60% like 12/20) . could you please tell me if there’s even a chance for me to get to this school. i ask you because you have been there, have you ever encountered a similar situation as mine. (i hope it wasn’t too much to read but i felt like explaining ) </p>
<p>Hi guys, I’ve been killing time on this oh-so-lovely snow day and happened to read this thread and felt that I just needed to comment!</p>
<p>Many people have been saying “what do I need to do to get Harvard to notice me”. That is the main problem. Harvard does not have a “mold” that they want students to fit. They want students who show initiative and show that they have the potential to really change the world (as cliché as that sounds). By desperately trying to fit a mold, you are being a follower, not the future leaders that they are looking for!! So stop worrying! As silly and annoying and cliché and overused as this advice is, it’s true: find something you love and pursue it. Show commitment!</p>
<p>That being said, you do have to have excellent academics. That may sound harsh, but let’s be honest, it’s one of the top universities in the world, you need to have an outstanding academic record. Note: outstanding DOES NOT MEAN flawless.</p>
<p>Another thing that was mentioned was the apparent “cockiness” of the school. The actual school, once you are a student there, is not like that. On those visits and such, they are trying to both sell the school and “put on a good show” so to speak for the tourists. Really, they don’t have to be super careful with that because the reality is that they are Harvard, so people are going to apply whether the admissions office really “sells” the school or not. But anyways, overall point: the school/students are not nearly as “cocky” as they are made out to be.</p>
<p>So anyways, I just really wanted to comment because I just think that there is so much unnecessary stress during this process! Be your own person, not who you think a school wants you to be. Try to reach your full potential. If you’re doing what you love and present that to a school, you will be accepted at schools where you will truly fit and be rejected from schools that just are not for you. It in no way means that you “aren’t good enough”, it just means you don’t fit at that particular school. So relax and be confident that wherever you are accepted, that is the right place for you (if you presented yourself honestly in the admissions process of course ). Sooooo….GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE </p>
<p>Jamaxamom, I feel your disappointment. Especially when scholar athletes with a 3.85 GPA, decent SAT score and some meaningless community service get in. It’s ashame that students are able to find a back door to get into these amazing universities, and so many others, like your child, clearly are going to do GREAT things in this world get denied. I just don’t get it. Yes, Harvard needs a football and a baseball team. But the discrepancy kills me. </p>
<p>@Living61: If you want to apply or have your kids apply to schools where there is no athletic recruiting, recruiting of world class musicians, notable celebrities, development admits, legacies, kids from urban or rural areas or other under-represented sub-groups plenty of them exist. One can’t just say to college X: “I think you allot too many spots to international applicants. I don’t think you’re doing enough to support American families. Please review my application and give me generous Fin Aid, please”</p>
<p>You take the whole package. If the Harvard Corporation wants to focus on science recruiting for the next 5 years at the expense of other applicants, it’s their prerogative. If they want to reduce or increase the advantages conferred to legacy applicants; again, it’s their choice. But your problem is with the entire philosophy – don’t just focus on athletics. Why not decry international applicants? or those pesky musicians or theater people? </p>
<p>Hello, I hope that someone can answer my question because I am a bit lost. I<code>m from Croatia and I was thinking of applying to Harvard. My GPA is not perfect (3.8) my SAT</code>s are in June. I know this doesn<code>t sound good but I do have a great amout of extra curricular activities and I speak 6 foreign languges not including Croatian and English. I</code>ve been playing the piano and flute for 10 years and I do volontaire work. I<code>m very passionate about debate and I</code>ve been to the world debating championships. With all this considered I don`t know do I have any chances of being accepted so I would be very gratefull if someone with more experience would answer me. Thanks :)</p>
<p>@Living61 I don’t understand the anger about athlete admits. They worked for their skill and accomplishments. Their work tends to be harder than the kind of work people put into various clubs and community service because the competition will include not just Ivy League hopefuls but also everyone else. In the case of sports like Basketball, Football, and Baseball, one also has inner city kids to compete with. There is also the issue of why all these parents whining about these “advantages” didn’t just get their kids to go into sports.</p>
<p>Athlete admits are at least better than URM, legacy, and developmental preferences. At least becoming an skilled athlete isn’t something one is born with but is rather something one can put work into.</p>
<p>Living61- There are plenty of H athletes who have great SATs and GPAs: XC,track and field, swimming, tennis, crew, skiing, xc-skiing, squash, fencing, field hockey, soccer, etc. </p>
<p>While there are Academic Index allowances made for the helmet sports (and basketball), those are regulated by the Ivy regulations, and are balanced out by many helmet athletes with fine scores.</p>
<p>Harvard has THE MOST VARSITY SPORTS TEAMS of the entire Ivy League. Athletics are viewed as positive contributions to the community, so if you prefer a campus of admitees who spent all their time prepping for extra points on the SATs, look elsewhere. </p>
<p>Athletes exhibit teamwork, resilience in the face of defeat, stamina, courage, and loyalty. Corporations love to hire athletes because they know they will not fall apart from failure, obstacles, or criticism. The majority of H athletes gained regional or national level sports recognition AND great scores. Take a look at Rhodes Scholars to see the power of athletic-academic stars.</p>
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). Sooooo….GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE