So I am an 8th grader in middle school, and I really want to go the Harvard. I live in Missouri by the way. I was wondering if you guys can give me some tips and pointers on how to best reach my goal. I have already started studying for my ACTs and SATs (bought a few books to study), and I am in advanced classes at my school. I have a 4.0 GPA, one of the top students in my classes. I have played viola for 4 years (at an advanced level). I also plan to do community service all throughout high school and also do some tutoring. I work a seasonal job as well at an amusement park for minimum wage. I currently do not play any sports though. I really love chess, so I plan on taking chess club next year. I also really love Rubik's cubes, my fastest solve with a normal one is around under a minute. I plan on taking the classes Harvard recommends to best prepare yourself. https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/preparing-college/choosing-courses
I have read through most of Harvard’s website, I really want to be somewhere in the engineering field, or medicine maybe. I love to work with my hands. I have Harvard logos everywhere. On my phone, computer, etc… I have read about the acceptance process and how random it can be. I do not have a family member or relative that has attended Harvard so I am not a legacy applicant. I don’t really have a crazy story of my life. I study geography also, and am preparing for the geography bee held at my school, I aim to go to state at least.
It would really be helpful if you guys can leave some pointers or give me some advice. Thanks for reading :).
Keep working hard. Learn for learning sake. Do activities that you enjoy. Enjoy life.
Don’t focus on a single school especially one that only admits a tiny fraction of applicants. There are a lot of great schools.
@Harvardbound168 do something crazy within the next 4 years of ur life climb mount everest with a monkey on ur back, be an eagle scout, have an internship with nasa, all while having the time to study for the SAT to score a 2350+ (preferably a 2400)
good luck! lol honestly tho harvard is crazy, just try to be president of every single club and found a bunch of random clubs at your school and take president and founder positions for those clubs too. And maximize the amount of AP classes in ur scedule
lol, @thegrant, I know you’re kidding, but what would be the moral of the Mt. Everest with the monkey on your back story? “As you can see, Harvard, I truly have the world by the tail.”
Just wanted to let you guys know, I am motivated and nothing will stop me. There is no excuse for failure, everything is right in front of me, I just have to use it. I will study day and night if I have to. I will be accepted into Harvard.
Useful trope for meetings with the sales staff – but reality is about 1000% different. I’d gag if I had to utter this phrase. If I actually heard someone utter this, I’d have to expend enormous energy just to keep my eyes from rolling around in my skull.
That’s funny. All those who will be packing their bags for Cambridge in Sept ’15 aren’t like this whatsoever.
Over the years this outrageous statement has been oft-repeated here on CC. That’s akin to saying
Yeah…. You’re exactly the kind of one-dimensional person that no one actually finds on campuses of ultra select colleges, to be frank. Your wholesale ignoring of gibby’s post #6 says volumes of your ability to gauge yourself in a broader context. You feel that your own motivation and drive is superior beyond all things. Yet you fail to humble yourself to the possibility that in the pool of extraordinary applicants to HYPMS schools, you might be extremely average as much as you might be strong. Whom do you think are the 96% of people that are rejected by Harvard? Some of the most salient features of kids who are viable for these sorts of schools is their ability to affect and influence others, their ability to learn from a variety of sources and a general insatiable hunger for knowledge. My youngest is your age. If any of her acquaintances were to say to me “I’m will be accepted into Harvard”, I’ll show you someone who is 1) likely laughed about behind her/his back by the other students, 2) exceedingly mis-informed about the realities of competitive college admissions and 3) seemingly closed off to being told otherwise.
I sincerely hope you find some people in your sphere who actually have attended some competitive colleges. I hope you’ll observe them, their outlook on life and learning and emulate that. You utterly fail to see that the avg. Harvard student doesn’t aim for Harvard.
I could be 100% wrong and you might not be who you claim to be and are just pulling our legs. That’s fine too. I won’t make any more replies.
Just to add to T26E4’s post: Many of the administrators, professors and coaches that Harvard student’s learn from received their undergraduate degrees elsewhere, including:
Drew Faust, President of Harvard College, graduated from Bryn Mawr
Rakesh Khurana, Dean of Harvard College, graduated from Cornell
Michael Sandel, Harvard Professor, graduated from Brandeis
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard Professor, graduated from Yale
Tim Murphy, Harvard Football Coach, graduated from Springfield College
Remember that next time you say “My dream is to go to Harvard!”
Frankly, I think this discussion is a bit abstarct for most eighth graders. How does one explain the qualities of “passion, intellect, curiosity and mettle”?
Many kids will fall in to the high school exercise of resume building toward their dream school, and, though most will fail, they will likely go on to good colleges. There’s nothing wrong with that IMO.
The ones that “can’t be missed – like a flare streaking across a starless nighttime sky” are likely too consumed by their own interests to seek general advice on how to get in to Harvard.
^^ Those are the students that Admissions looks for – students that are self-directed by their OWN interests. Which, IMHO, is why an 8th grader should leave websites like College Confidential and develop their own interests, as Harvard is not interested in students who’s life long dream is going to Harvard.
“There is no excuse for failure, everything is right in front of me, I just have to use it. I will study day and night if I have to. I will be accepted into Harvard.”
Are you able to articulate a single reason why Harvard is a better destination for you than any other top-notch school? You want it. Fine. So do 30,000 other applicants. Why specifically? Can you articulate ANYTHING other than a desirable brand name that Harvard offers that a bunch of other schools don’t additionally offer?
If you want to guarantee admission you should develop yourself into a D1 athlete over the next 4 years. Unfortunately, that probably requires some genetic gifts that are beyond your control. Maybe you should think about this in terms of “what can I do so that Harvard wants me?” instead of wanting to know what to do because you want Harvard. Classroom accomplishments and great test scores aren’t going to be enough.
OP seems very naive of reality. Wait till high school rolls around. there are plenty of smart and hard working students, who happened to the wrong stuff at the wrong time, and it came back to haunt them. Others might say hard work and determination will get you into harvard, but I think luck is an equally important factor.