<p>This was a story I found from the book "Get Into Any College Secrets of Harvard Students" By Gen S. Tanabe and Kelly Y. Tanabe.</p>
<p>"Story From Real Life: You Can Be Normal & Still Get Into Harvard"</p>
<p>"Eugene's experience demonstrates that you don't have to be an academic or athletic superstar to get into a great school. Both your accomplishments and your approach to admissions are important. Success requires effort and a thoughtful approach."
-Gen and Kelly </p>
<p>"I am living proof that you don't have to be a superstar to get into Harvard. Although I went to a competitive high school, I was far from being an outstnding student. Unlike my friends who had perfect 4.0s, my report card was littered with "B's." I did get "A's," but still my transcript was nothing to get excited about. I got average SAT scores. They weren't terrible, but they weren't great either. I was a member of a few groups although my highest position was secretary for my school's public service club. I have to admit that when I filled out my college application even I was shocked at how "average" I was on paper."</p>
<p>"My only chance I felt was to work really hard on the essay and hopefully get good teacher evaluations. I don't know what my teacher's wrote, but it must not have been that bad. I was the kind of student who always tried hard. I also spent a lot of time on my essay and must have written and rewritten it a dozen or more times. But still nobody ever imagined that I would get into Harvard."</p>
<p>"Was everyone shocked when April came. Even I was stunned when I opened the acceptance letter. In fact, soon after I arrived at Harvard my roommates and I had a late discussion about how we got in. We began comparing SATs, grades, and anything else to see why we were chosen. When I told them what I had gotten, they couldn't help but tease, "How in the world did you get in?""</p>
<p>"It was pretty obviois that it was not my grades, scores, or activities that got me in. I think I owe it mostly to my essay and evaluations. My point is not that admissions is arbitrary (I think the opposite is true), but I hope all of you who are thinking about applying to Harvard will not be discouraged just because other have better grades, higer scores, or are more active in clubs or sports. As I found out, it's not a prerequiste for you to be school president, valedictorian, and football team captain all at the same time to get into Harvard."</p>
<p>"Harvard does take normal people too. At first I was embarrassed at how low my scores were in comparison to my roommates. But now I freely admit my "averageness." And Harvard must know a little about success since I have consistently gotten better grades than my roommates who, based on their high school records, are far more outstanding than I." </p>
<h2>-Eugene, who is at Harvard and is still normal</h2>
<p>The reason why I put up this thread is because I am seeking to find people who like Eugen would be considered by many people as average, but they still geot accepted to Harvard. I would apreciate deeply if those people would be willing to give the following stats about themselves, since college confidential mostly has students with perfect or near perfect students applying to the ivy league colleges. I am sure many College Confidential members would benefit from this thread.</p>
<p>SAT I:
[ *] SAT IIs:
[ *] GPA:
[ *] Rank:
[ *] Other stats:
[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Essays:
[ *] Teacher Recs:
[ *] Counselor Rec:
[ *] Hook (if any):
[ /list][ b]Location/Person:[ /b][ list]
[ *] State or Country:
[ *] School Type:
[ *] Ethnicity:
[ *] Gender:
[ *] Extracurricular Activities:
[ *] Leadership Positions:
[ *] Volunteer Activities:
[ *] Total # of hours volunteering:
[ *] Teams:
[ *] Number of years or season played in the teams:
[ *] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses:
[ *] Why you think you were accepted:
[ /list][ b]Other Factors:[ /b]
[ b]General Comments
[ *] Advice</p>