<p>Is the Hopeless to Harvard book a scam or is it worth the $47?</p>
<p>I haven’t heard of it - but no book will get you into Harvard.</p>
<p>Your free subscription to CC is worth more and more likely to help you.</p>
<p>I have to agree with tokenadult. All the advice you need to get into harvard is available on this forum.</p>
<p>It definetely works.</p>
<p>My friend from school is now in Harvard and when he found out he got in I was with him and he brought up that book you mentioned and he said it helped give him that extra edge he really needed to get in. </p>
<p>I still keep in touch with him and he’s lovin it… so jealous!</p>
<p>Sure sounds like a scam. From a post on diggit:</p>
<p>There are hundreds of knowledgeable, reliable sources of information on college admissions. Books, websites, columns, and blogs offer sound advice on every aspect of the admissions process. I’ve written often about the sources I find to be essential reading for every high school student and his or her parents.
I’ve also pointed out that there is some incredibly misleading, confusing, and waste-of-time information out there, too. But this gem takes the proverbial cake. Checking out “From Hopeless to Harvard” (I couldn’t make this stuff up) is a lesson in critical thinking. The first thing I noticed on the website is that the author of this $47. e-book prefers to remain anonymous, using the pen name John Dorian Chang because “I share a lot of sensitive information below and want to avoid upsetting former employers.” Hmm. You may have heard about Michele Hernandez, author of the very popular A is for Admissions. She worked in Admissions at (and got a degree from) Dartmouth before writing her book. There’s no doubt the folks at her alma mater weren’t pleased, but taking on a nom de plume wasn’t necessary. Red flag number one.</p>
<p>Mr. Chang has a post on contestblogger.com titled “Three Steps to Extracurricular Activities that Impress Harvard.” Here’s a bit of his sage advice: “Here’s what you must accomplish: Schoolwide leadership positions such as student government and class council. It’s hard to argue with accomplishments that are impressive across your entire school.” Really? Never would have guessed. But the impressive advice (and bad writing) isn’t all you’ll get. Click on one of the many hyperlinks in the post, such as “school” or “Harvard” and you’ll get directed to ads for Proactiv. Red flag number two.</p>
<p>The prolific Chang also has a couple of articles on articledashboard.com, including “How to Write the Mid-year Report that gets you into Harvard.” The focus on getting into Harvard, or any highly selective school, is red flag number three. There is no magic piece of advice or strategy that’s going to work. It’s pretty simple. Schools like Harvard reject valedictorians with perfect SAT scores because they can. Anyone who promises to help you with an overpriced e-book may be making him- (or her-, who knows?) self some money. Just make sure it’s not coming from you.</p>
<p>N of 1 doesn’t prove anything.</p>
<p>There’s really no ‘secret’ to getting into Harvard or any other top school. Unless you have some kind of connection or what CC likes to refer to as “hooks,” you need to be an excellent student with good grades, good test scores, procure good letters of recommendation and write an excellent essay.</p>
<p>For example, these are the author’s tips for students that don’t go to a fancy private or well-known public high school - the ones that are available publicly on his website:</p>
<p>-Have a very strong GPA
-Try to get top grades
-Find an opportunity excel in extracurricular activities
-Be well-rounded when it comes to your EC activities
-Have a really distinct essay
-Get very good letters of recommendation</p>
<p>Duh. Any 9th grader who’s been around on CC long enough can tell you that. It’s definitely not worth $47.</p>
<p>The subtitle of his book is “secrets of how I got into Stanford and Harvard with B+ grades and a 1360” That’s not a secret. He refers to his SAT scores as “rather sorry” when a 1360 is within the middle 50% range of the average Stanford student (that would be an average of a 680 on both sections) and only slightly below that of Harvard’s.</p>
<p>Is this book sold in stores? If yes, I’d suggest going down to your local bookstore and thumbing through it first before you decide to buy it. If it has any groundbreaking discoveries about what Harvard admissions officers want (which I doubt) then it might be worth a buy. The description of the book on the website didn’t seem to be anything I either didn’t already know or didn’t learn from CC already.</p>
<p>The bottom line is, the majority of ‘average’ students won’t get into Harvard or Stanford because Harvard and Stanford (and other top schools) are seeking above-average students. If this guy sold a copy of this book to every average student in the country, the admissions rates wouldn’t change and Harvard and Stanford’s stats stay the same. No, you don’t need a 2300+ to get into Harvard, but one is far more likely to be admitted with a 2300 than with a 1700.</p>
<p>ADDED: Oh, and by the way, we’re talking about a $50 book that’s only about 49 pages long. I’ve spent less money on textbooks before.</p>
<p>You just have to realize how stellar the applicants to Harvard are. They’re insane.</p>
<p>Any book that you ask “Should I spend $X on this thing?” about, is a book your home-town librarian can help you borrow for free through Interlibrary Loan.</p>
<p>I bought the book on line to use as a guide for my daughter’s application. I am both a public school teacher and a parent. Some of my daughter’s friends spent thousands on private advisors to help them through the “Ivy” process. WE DO NOT HAVE THAT KIND OF MONEY. This book spells it out CLEARLY with no punches pulled. It is worth every penny. I read it. My daughter read it. My husband read it. We used it as a road map. I only wish that I had known about it earlier. My daughter was just admitted to Yale for the class of 2014 and she is thrilled. </p>
<p>There is ONE thing that could have been mentioned more in the book. BE NICE. BE KIND. BE THOUGHTFUL. BE YOURSELF. Teachers love to write letters for kids that are caring, as well as all those other good things. Oh, yes, the book tells you to shoot for an SAT score of 2100. Sound low? My daughter’s was 2120. SAT is NOT what it is all about. Read the book. Thanks Yale. She will be there as soon as her feet touch the ground!</p>
<p>The book is really good. He tells you exactly what te schools want to see and has a lot of information that isn’t shared in the articles. It is worth the money.</p>
<p>Dam I’m getting too old for this - I thought the title was referring to the 2003 TV Movie… Of the same name…</p>
<p>Hahahahah…am I the only one that noticed that all of the above users who are praising “Hopeless to Harvard” have fewer than three posts [in the case of YaleParent, only one!] Moreover, YaleParent’s post is IDENTICAL to one of the “testimonies” [obviously written by the “author” of this shady, scam-book] on the book’s website? He obviously made a CC account to praise his book, and hasn’t utilized it since! $50 for a 49 page book?! That’s ludicrous! At that rate, ~$1/page, most novels that I read would cost me upwards of $400! No book is worth that price, certainly not one on such a shady website with blatantly obvious, poorly written info! SCAM!</p>
<p>And as for tall123…well, he/she obviously has the money to fritter away on USELESS, shady, poorly written ebooks.</p>