hi @Rosey78987! I think it helps to start out with some small, concrete part of your life that’s significant to you. It could be an object, an activity, a hobby, etc. (mine was balloon dogs that then ties into other aspects of your character/personal story. Don’t overdo the metaphor, of course, but I found this a compelling, creative way to frame my narrative, while giving the reader a cohesive understanding of me as a person beyond grades and test scores and a laundry list of extracurriculars
Don’t be afraid to start writing!! Remember that there’s always room for significant edits and even topic changes, but having something down to look at is much more effective than empty brainstorming.
@DebateFish ^^answer to your second question! Applying ED (which Harvard doesn’t offer) is actually a bit different in that there is a real advantage. All schools want to increase their yields, and accepted ED students are “locked in” as commits, so by demonstrating this dedicated interest, your chances do go up a bit. Again, your own preparation is still the most important factor, and ED schools still fill the majority of their class with the RD round! The most difficult decision here is weighing whether to apply to an REA school like Harvard, and risk losing an ED advantage at another school. Go with your instinct, and please always consider personal fit over these numbers!
@DebateFish hope you’re having a great day too! Answered #2 by tagging you in a reply to a different question, will tackle the rest now:
I’d say my extracurriculars were a significant part of my application, but that goes along with the fact that they were a significant part of my high school experience, and really who I was back then. I did debate for 4 years and was captain my senior year, qualifying once for nationals as well. I considered myself humanities-oriented, but at the same time, I had hundreds of volunteer hours to demonstrate that I was serious about pre-med (pediatric oncology, to be exact). In terms of standing out, my advice would be to pursue concrete accomplishments within your chosen EC, and humanize those accomplishments through elaboration in your essays (Harvard has a short prompt dedicated specifically to ECs).
There’s a few prestigious summer programs (TASP, RSI) that are probably the simplest example of a “boost,” but they’re by no means necessary for being admitted! I didn’t attend one because I thought my time would be better spent through volunteer hours at the hospital, so as long as you’re doing something to continue demonstrating your academic/extracurricular interests (even outside of a structured program), don’t worry too much
I took my standardized tests as early as possible (the summer after my sophomore year), which is definitely a bit unusual, but I knew the SAT wasn’t based off of content knowledge, and I didn’t want to add another stressor for myself junior year. Other than that, it really was a learning process to figure out how to best organize my time. Being realistic, you’ll have to give up some things–consecutive nights out with friends, taking on a third sport season, etc, but high school shouldn’t be a mindless grind, either. When planning out your schedule, actively make time for the things that matter to you, not just to your college application. Burning out is also very, very real, and so not worth it.
Thanks for doing this! I’m a student-athlete Brown alumnus, but times have changed A LOT. My daughter would like to apply to Harvard, and a few other schools of similar academic rigor, but is concerned about the academics being so demanding that she won’t have time for outside interests. She is a competitive athlete (a sport that is not currently offered at the college level). She wants to continue to pursue that passion, which would include some travel. Obviously, student-athletes find a way to balance sport and studies, but this would be slightly different as it would require leaving campus, no on-site support or structure, etc. Do you think it’s possible to balance something like this at a school like Harvard? I’m guessing she’d spend about 10 hours/week on average playing and traveling two weekends per semester. It’s also quite possible that she arrives on campus and never wants to leave :).
Harvard parent here. Aside from the specific classes required for a major (depending upon major, this might only be a few), Harvard can be as easy or as demanding as the student wants to make it. This is unlike say Columbia, UChicago, or Princeton which are known for heavy workloads. There certainly are challenging classes at Harvard, but most are optional.
I have this question as well. My D22 wants some balance and a college experience that is not a constant grind.
Also curious about the competitive vibe. A girl from my daughter’s high school who went to Harvard found the competition among those on a pre-med course to be soul crushing. Wondering about your experience and if this is the case in a government concentration?
hi @mauiii12! I was seriously involved in speech/debate, hospital volunteering, and crew, though I didn’t end up recruiting for college. I think the strongest points on my application were a rigorous courseload where I studied 4 different languages to a pretty advanced level (backing up my intended concentration in Classics and an essay that connected my disparate interests in humanities and STEM.
hey @Its_Just_A_School! Just wanted to clear up first that this post is absolutely not involved in promoting a book whose most recent edition came out four years ago in 2017. I agree that would be extremely an misleading motive for an AMA post, especially when the admissions process changes so drastically even year-to-year.
We’d love if prospective students checked out our recent 10 Successful Essays article, which is 100% free and actually features advice/insights from college consulting companies as well, in an effort to increase transparency/accessibility to this kind of information. That aside, I’m here to answer any questions regarding the application process and life at Harvard if you have them!
I won’t delve into the legacy point, particularly as a first-gen college student, because you’re right in that the college admissions process is holistic and I can’t know the exact reason I was accepted. However, I do think that the essay is one of the factors on the application that is a bit more in every student’s direct control, hence our focus on it.
hi @lemonsky! Harvard has you apply under an intended general area of study (i.e. Humanities) rather than a specific concentration, but I specifically mentioned my interest in Classics in my personal essay (while connecting it to my interest in STEM). Throughout high school, I studied four different languages to a pretty high level of proficiency, with two of them being Greek and Latin. As for extracurriculars, I portrayed speech/debate as aligning with my passion for language/human communication.
LOVE the Classics department here!! I actually took a summer class at Harvard before my junior year, and beyond their level of expertise, the professors are all so genuinely kind (they even bring their dogs to work sometimes ). It’s a smaller department compared to the “big” concentrations at Harvard (CS, Gov, Econ), but it really does feel like a family, and I’ve met amazing friends through my classes, even virtually. Gregory Nagy has taught two of my favorites, and while I’m not involved in research myself, I know friends who have gone to Italy/Greece/Asia Minor on archaeological digs!
@Polybius tagging you in this answer as well! Re: concentration requirements, 4/12 courses need to be in Greek and/or Latin–so still a core component with lots of amazing profs + support, but definitely leaves room for exploration in other directions
@Mtwthfss Regarding collaboration/competition, I’d say it definitely depends on the types of classes you’re taking/extracurriculars you’re in (ex. the big-name pre-professional ones vs. cultural orgs). My experience with humanities classes has been amazing–nearly everyone is genuinely interested discussing in the material and in becoming friends outside of class. The larger introductory STEM classes are a bit more of a mixed pool, because there’s less individualized support and you can feel a bit lost in first few weeks of the semester. Still, it’s absolutely possible to find a study group with the type of people you want to be around, no matter what class/club.
With big company names floating around during recruiting season, it is a bit easy to get caught up in trophy-seeking. Still, everyone, even people that I’d consider have “competitive” personalities, is interesting in their own way, and it’s easy to strike up casual, engaging conversations in the dining halls, house common areas, or in line at Insomnia Cookies
Thanks for your reply! I also took a summer class at Harvard (Greek language)! I’m familiar with Gregory Nagy from the Center for Hellenic Studies. I was so surprised when I saw the lecture/class video when Rick Riordan joined his class. It was so cool that they shared it with us too. Archaeological digs sound so exciting; what kinds of research do your friends typically do on these digs?
I’m also really interested in how you wrote your essay since you mentioned it a couple of times in this thread. How did you connect your interest in Classics with STEM? You seem to have a lot of things going on about you (STEM, Classics, language, speech/debate); was this harder to express the connections between your interests or advantageous because it showed multiple dimensions of your intellectual curiosity?
Also, are you in a general humanities program? I know many colleges have a year-long course overviewing all texts regarding Western civ, history, literature, philosophy, etc (usually intensive). Do you know anything about this at Harvard?
@lemonsky yes! you might’ve heard about Harvard’s Expository Writing Program for first-years–another way to fulfill the Expos requirement is to take Humanities 10, a year-long course that starts with the Odyssey and ends with the Iliad, spanning everything from the Inferno to Frankenstein in between. I definitely found it challenging to adjust to the reading workload at first (averages out to around a book a week, and these are difficult books!), but the lectures and small-group seminars are extremely insightful/fulfilling.
Hi! I’m not sure if this Q&A is still running, but just in case it is I’ll post a question on here
What is student life like at Harvard? Is it stressful? How many opportunities and experiences does Harvard offer its students? Do you get to meet all sorts of amazing people on a daily basis? Is Harvard a diverse school? I’m super excited to go to college and meet all sorts of incredible people so diversity is one of the biggest things I’m looking for.
I plan to give it a try during Early Action and see where things end up!
Is a 3.85 GPA bad for an Asian student? As I heard that Harvard puts more emphasis on GPAs if you are Asian. My GPA fell in my Freshman year where I got 2B’s. But it got really tanked in my Sophomore year when I got 1 C and 2 B’s in Sem 1. I did badly because I was still adjusting to High school which is not a good reason. But I did better my other years afterward. However, I have a good weighted GPA to make it up.
that then ties into other aspects of your character/personal story. Don’t overdo the metaphor, of course, but I found this a compelling, creative way to frame my narrative, while giving the reader a cohesive understanding of me as a person beyond grades and test scores and a laundry list of extracurriculars 
). It’s a smaller department compared to the “big” concentrations at Harvard (CS, Gov, Econ), but it really does feel like a family, and I’ve met amazing friends through my classes, even virtually. Gregory Nagy has taught two of my favorites, and while I’m not involved in research myself, I know friends who have gone to Italy/Greece/Asia Minor on archaeological digs!