I have been obsessed with Harvard for my whole life. I love every single thing about it, from the campus, to the philosophies they hold, to the students, I just love it all. I know in my heart that it is the place for me.
I’m so scared though because the percent of admission for the class of 2023 was like 5.7%. If I don’t get in I will be heartbroken… Do you think I have a chance of even getting an alumni interview? (Please Please Please be honest, I don’t want any sugar-coating because I don’t want to get my hopes up)
STATS: on a 4.0 scale, I have a 3.96 gpa unweighted, and a 4.3 weighted (I am an IB diploma student taking 3 HLs; math, art, and spanish… the rest of my classes are all SL)… my main hooks are that I created my schools first art club and I founded a non profit that creates art opportunities for third world countries, of both I am the president; I am also an avid ballet dancer and I teach dance to kids with disabilities like down syndrome and autism in addition to my other ECs (of which my other ECs are pretty vanilla, like some clubs, volunteer work, and advanced studies programs)
(edit: I am not just interested in Harvard, I also love Northeastern and BC and Yale and a ton of other colleges, I am just super super passionate about Harvard!)
I’d strongly recommend that you give up the idea of a dream school and work to create a solid college list that includes reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (find out your parents’ budget and run the net price calculator for each school) and that you would be excited to attend. The people I see who get hurt by the college admission process are the ones who focus on one or two hyper-competitive schools and then don’t get in. Cast a wide net and recognize that (assuming no major hook) Harvard is a reach for pretty much everyone. It is time 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.
Given Harvard’s low acceptance rate – and that of Yale as well – EVERY student needs to apply with the expectation of being rejected. You don’t need to be admitted to Harvard or Yale or BC. Really. You. Don’t. In fact Admissions tends to “run away” from those students that think that way.
So, for starters, you need to change your way of thinking and understand that you can receive just as good an education, maybe even better, at another top college. While being rejected may have been heartbreaking for these student’s, it worked out just fine for them. It will for you too if you are rejected: https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3201481&page=1
You don’t “need” to get into H. And being obsessed isn’t one of the factors they seek. If you’re properly researching any holistic elite, you should know this. AND, when any kid follows up the dreaming with stats and a few activities with titles, it just underscores they don’t understand what the colleges look for.
Founding an art club is not a “hook.” Nor is a nonprofit for a 3rd world country any show of how you roll up your sleeves locally and have some impact. You need to consider what your major may be and what actvities show the right drives in that direction, what maturity and sense of purpose. It’s not what’s “in your heart,” but your match. As they see it. Or not.
No college is perfect. If you can’t critically assess the college and develop a realistic understanding of it then I think it’s going to be difficult to show them how you fit their needs.
<10%. Really, think more critically about this. Say Harvard is a company selling a product; maybe it’s shoes, maybe it’s cars. The Harvard brand on them doesn’t make the shoes better or the cars better, but it triggers an unwarranted emotional desire that is unhealthy. As you go through the college application process it is important to remain emotionally healthy and balanced. Go on campus tours of a dozen schools. Get time away from the keyboard and the Harvard website. Find alternative places that are loaded with strong students like you who have aspirations and plans and drive. Those students are everywhere, and most of them didn’t apply to Harvard because they found something they liked better elsewhere. Remove the emotional connection to a company name.
As an IB diploma grad with a 4.0 - that’s an average applicant there (you didn’t say your SATs, but that avg would be around 1540 or so), and they accept less than 10% of that pool. Find your other schools and spend this summer getting to know them. Start creating your safety net now.
Focus on building a realistic list of colleges to apply to, based on both Admissions AND Affordability. That means you need to have a Money Talk with your parents, and get them to give you a yearly $ amount that they are willing and able to fund your college education.
Start with a Safety or Two–colleges you can afford, where your stats are above the 75% mark. A Safety that you don’t like and will not attend is not a Safety.
Matches and Safeties are the foundation, and then throw in a Harvard application “just because” you can. It is a complete lottery pick, and should be viewed as a complete waste of your time completing their application. Your application fee buys you a Lottery Ticket, and your chances of winning a spot at Harvard are about the same as winning the Lottery.
Have you ever visited Harvard? Sat in on classes? Spoken/emailed with Professors, or read something a favorite professor has written? Obsessed, love every single thing about it, know in my heart, these are phrases young school girls use to talk about a person they have a crush on. An adult woman will know who she is, what she sees as her future career, and what program of study, internship, grad school path will help her reach her goal.
Tell us what kind of person you are, what makes you tick, brings you joy, and what academic passions do you have? That kind of detail is what will show if Harvard might be a good place for you to study. Choose Academics first, and then figure out if the school with the right academic program is also a good fit for you personally and socially.
“I have been obsessed with Harvard for my whole life. I love every single thing about it, from the campus, to the philosophies they hold, to the students, I just love it all. I know in my heart that it is the place for me.”
This is very worrisome. What do you mean by “the philosophies they hold” and who is “they”? You have a very unrealistic picture of the place. Harvard is a great school but hardly perfect. For instance, do you want lectures with grad TF’ teaching sections, or would you prefer small classes with a professor in the room? Do you understand the impact of being in school with peers who are smart and talented: would that make you feel pressure? These are the types of specific things to think about.
Many times the type of person who writes that their “dream school” is Harvard is a person who doesn’t know much about other colleges. Find a school that fits you and stop trying to fit yourself to a school. It does not matter whether you get into Harvard, or Yale, or wherever. Start by looking at the Colleges that Change Lives website, perhaps.
It does sound like you like Boston, so look into schools there, yes. BC, BU, Northeastern, Brandeis, Simmons, Suffolk, UMass Boston, Lesley, others.
If this obsession with Harvard continues, I would suggest some counseling. I would hope that you could enjoy high school and not suffer stress from this “dream”- which is unrealistic for most people honestly.
The idea you could be obsessed since younger is superficial. Too many kids think some school is ideal for them and never get to what sort of students the colleges want. That’s your responsibility. It’s not what your high school wants. Elite colleges aren’t high schools.
Ask not what Harvard can do for you but what you can do for Harvard…
Forget your obsession and ambition to attend Harvard (they don’t care), focus on what you can do to make your application suggest you will add to the Harvard community. Good luck.