How To Get Into Harvard (by a Harvard student)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>I'm also a Harvard student, and I just want to agree with what Lowellbelle said about passion. I was WAYYYY into music in highschool, so much so that I only applied to 4 schools...Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Juilliard (music school). I was thinking if I didn't get into Harvard or Yale, I'd do the Columbia/Juilliard joint program. </p>

<p>Anyways, in my case I found it really helpful to pick one school you really want to go to (Harvard, in my case) and apply Early Decision/Action. It really increases your chances of being accepted, or at least deferred and maybe accepted during regular admissions. In my case, I was accepted ED. </p>

<p>My SAT scores weren't very high...i barely studied for them, gave up trying to memorize billions of vocab words. I got a 1420 out of 1600 and didn't take it again. I actually know someone who got a 1360 out of 1600 and got accepted. </p>

<p>I guess my point is: college admissions is pretty random. There are many qualified people who don't get in, simply because of lack of available spaces. But it's not the school that makes you successful in the future. Tons of state school students end up being just as successful as people from Harvard. There are also Harvard students who fail miserably. As long as you have the right attitude and drive, you'll be fine. Find something you like and really devote yourself to making yourself better and contributing to your area of interest. I worked REALLY hard in highschool (3 hours of music practicing every day + homework + musicschool on weekends + occasional lessons during the week). But in the end, it all pays off, no matter if you get into Harvard/Yale/Stanford/etc. or not, because you have cultivated something you're good at and hopefully love doing. </p>

<p>So work hard, but ENJOY what you're working hard at.</p>

62

<p>I don't want to go to Harvard. :)</p>

63

<p>Really, why not?</p>

64

<p>mytwocents: "In my case, I was accepted ED."</p>

<p>Hmm, I was under the impression that Harvard only has an Early Action option. Or this just a recent change to Harvard's application process?</p>

<p>Anyways, hi! I'm just one more of those many rising-senior, Harvard-hopeful fellows! (Who is in the process of finally making some sense out of approaching the application and EA vs. RD!)</p>

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<p>oops, i meant Early Action. =)</p>

66

<p>Wow...this thread is getting more interesting by the day.
As for what oracle1 said about "higher probability", that may or may not be true...I actually applied to the other Ivies for the choice, the ego thing (hahaha ;)), and--most importantly--to (in my perception) boost my chances of getting into Harvard, since (at the time) my thought was that if Harvard saw that I had gotten scholarships/acceptances at these other great schools, they wouldn't just gloss over my application. That sounds quite crass but it's not meant to.
No, I don't think Harvard has ED...EA only, which I didn't do because I only went to a "good" high school my senior year and wanted to send Harvard my 1st-semester grades to prove that I could get "real" As instead of the super-easy ones in my first three years of high school.
~lb</p>

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<p>it's a numbers game...nothing else really matters</p>

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<p>good insights my2cents and lb (once again)</p>

<p>matrix... i would call it a wholistic numbers game that include a lot more than just GPA and SAT. I could be wrong, but I think that is what lb meant.</p>

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<p>Again, Harvard only has Single Choice Early Action (SCEA), which means that if you apply SCEA to Harvard, you are not allowed to apply to any other college under ED or EA programs. However, you are allowed to apply for colleges that are under a rolling decision program. After you hear back from Harvard in mid-December, you are allowed to apply for colleges under the ED-II program and other colleges in the regular admissions cycle.</p>

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<p>GREAT post, mytwocents! I completely agree with everything you wrote in there. In my case, my passion is reading+writing+pretty much anything else to do with literature. I pursued independent projects in that direction and made it very clear how important those areas were in my life when I applied to unis.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I guess my point is: college admissions is pretty random. There are many qualified people who don't get in, simply because of lack of available spaces. But it's not the school that makes you successful in the future. Tons of state school students end up being just as successful as people from Harvard. There are also Harvard students who fail miserably. As long as you have the right attitude and drive, you'll be fine.

[/quote]

Probably the truest statement in this thread.</p>

71

<p>Yeah I kind of regret my attitude about Harvard: the only kids I know from my school to go to Harvard are the kids I've hated...kids who are study machines who really aren't that smart. But I'm not bitter...my best friends have been ones who are at Yale, Stanford, Duke, and plenty of other comparable schools. So am I wrong, Harvard folk, to assume that Harvard has a higher concentration of perfectionists/prestige-mongers than other schools?</p>

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<p>i'm only a prefrosh, but i'm not a perfectionist or a prestige monger. im actually rather lazy and tend to procrastinate. i hope im not an exception, but from the kids i met at prefrosh weekend, i dont think i am</p>

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<p>Kids at Harvard are definitely not study machines. We do have, after all, huge Economics, Government, and Psychology concentrations that are definitely not known for study-hard students. That said, there are obviously kids who hole up in their room and never come out, but that happens at every school.</p>

<p>As for the perfectionists/prestige-mongers, I also think there will be these types of people wherever you go. At Harvard, sure there are the type-A perfectionists, but there are also the laid-back procrastinators, as well as everything in between. I think that having the choice to be whatever type of student you want to be is great. </p>

<p>It's been my experience that all kinds of kids are able to work together to make Harvard what it is, because of the diversity of personality, learning style, lifestyle, etc. Competitive students can use other competitive students as motivation. Procrastinators, like myself, can also look at competitive students for motivation (i.e., OK...I proooomise next semester I'm going to work more). Perfectionists can learn from their laid-back friends to be more relaxed, etc. you get my point. </p>

<p>I personally love the fact that everyone around me is motivated, passionate, and busy and hardworking. It will prepare you for the "real world", where everything is up to you and how much you put into your success. That said, it's perfectly fine to go to Harvard, take your classes, and do nothing else, but why would you want to do that? College is the time to throw yourself into learning and doing what you love, so why would anyone NOT want to take advantage of that? </p>

<p>Final point: everyone seems to have stereotypes about every college. I had also heard the stereotypes about elitism, arrogance, etc. at Harvard. However, I have rarely encountered any such examples during my time here. It is common to meet a fellow classmate, hang out several times, then find out 2 months later that you have just been talking to the best freaking painter in the world, who is now concentrating in physics, or something crazy like that. Everyone is extremely talented, but rarely do people brag or try to exclude you, etc. So stereotypes suck. Just visit the place and decide for yourself!</p>

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<p>mytwocents, you rock. :) Exactly...I personally am one of those weird combinations of perfectionist procrastinators...I'm not sure how that actually works...hahaha. As for talking to the "best freaking painter in the world" and all that...so true. Harvard is an absolutely amazing place and I don't believe that the stereotypes hold true in 99% of cases. Yes, there is the occasional arrogant little prick (haha) but generally they haven't gotten over the high school mentality and other people recognize that (and subsequently don't hang out with them).
mytwocents, I feel like we've probably met...what house are you in? Are you in any choral groups? You don't have to reply if you don't want to; I'm just curious :)
~lb</p>

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<p>yeah i agree, that's why i regret my attitude about harvard. i'm open to being convinced: why harvard over yale? i personally adore cambridge, and i have family members in the faculty, but other than that, how is harvard better :) i'm asking you because you would obviously know something true about harvard.</p>

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<p>For minorities, what type of scores would you need if, minimum, if you finish high school with 14 AP classes, 4.3 GPA, played 2 instruments in marching band/ wind ensemble, top 8% of class, volunteer hours, and was a section leader? Like do those things get accounted for? Also, doesnt it depend on your major you apply for? Has minorities ever made it into harvard who scored like in the 500's on a verbal section?</p>

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<p>urcool, over half of the students admitted to Harvard are valedictorian or salutatorian. Granted, the admissions standards for minority applicants is often lower. However, it is still very evident that grades are the most important factor. What this means is that high scores will still be necessary, likely in the 2200 range and perhaps that might not even be enough.</p>

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<p>Umm....a 2200 is enough.<br>
If everything else is mediocre or not very interesting, a 2400 won't get you in. If everything else is great, the 2200 is not a problem.</p>

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<p>urcool: A 500 verbal score indicates that the student has not read much and does not know how to really dissect and extract information from readings. Most students I know had verbal scores above 600, whether they were minorities or not.</p>

80

<p>xjayz
first run at SAT's i got </p>

<p>2000 on SAT I </p>

<p>The rest of the application is really strong, will this hold me back </p>

<p>( i do plan on retaking for higher..but no guarantees lol)</p>