So am I delusional?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I have had an odd high school experience... I would like to know whether or not I am completely out of the running. I don't expect anybody here to know whether or not I'd get accepted, but since I've done my schooling in a pretty weird way, I wonder if I'm an instant reject?</p>

<p>SAT:
Reading: 800
Math: 750
Writing: 800
SAT II:
Physics: 800
U.S. History: 800
German: 800
French: 790
Literature: 800</p>

<p>High School:
I pulled out halfway through the ninth grade to unschool myself. Nobody had any hand in teaching me. I didn't actually even "teach" myself at all... just sort of... did what I was interested in. The only structured stuff I did was SAT prep.</p>

<p>Other Activities:
-working about 30 hours a week on average for about five months now, about to start a full-time job
-on the board of directors of a rather small civil rights group that is primarily known for its publication
-run an online literary journal that aquires rights and pays the authors
-have had a few short stories and several articles published in various places</p>

<p>Personal:
-in foster care
-female
-standard boring caucasian</p>

<p>So. The unschooling. You think it's too weird?</p>

2

<p>who would write your recommendations?</p>

3

<p>I'm sure Harvard takes all that into account... hey, can't hurt to try.... though it will be a little wierd with no rec letters... get one from the people you work with. :) Good Luck!</p>

4

<p>u have awesome scores!.. and u speak german and french almost perfectly.. it wouldn't be too weird if u could also speak spanish :D..
great job!!!</p>

5

<p>I'll probably have to have people I work under write my recs. But yeah, I knew I'd be sacrificing normal letters of recommendation when I did this. The colleges I apply to will just have to deal. </p>

<p>And I don't know Spanish. I am okay at a few others languages, but mostly ones the SAT doesn't test.</p>

<p>I could take a few more of the subject tests, but wouldn't it be a little odd to have to take too many of them? I have only taken this many even because that's really all I have to show for anything outside of my talent and passion for writing.</p>

6

<p>Well, if I were in the Harvard admissions office, I would admit you. You show a rare drive and intellectual curiosity, something that I would think a school like that would value. You sound very "out of the box". If they don't admit you, I'm sure some other great school will. Your story reminds me of "Good Will Hunting"</p>

7

<p>I bet that you'll get accepted! Really. You are very different and are self motivated.</p>

8

<p>I don't mean to put you down or anything, but what exactly did you study? Did you do some sort of online learning program? How does Harvard know you didn't just drop out of high school and focus on SAT prep? I'm sure that a lot more people could get high scores if they had no schoolwork. Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm just curious.</p>

9

<p>Yeah, I'm sure Harvard would be REALLY interested to know how you spent your time since you weren't in school. Be prepared to give a lot of details about your activities.</p>

<p>This might be a good thing to contact the admissions office about. They will have some more information for you (like recommendations on what to do). We are just random people on the internet speculating.
You probably should wait until the end of May to call Harvard admissions (until then they'll be swamped with the current admissions cycle).</p>

<p>P.S. How did you drop out of school? Where are you from? Children are required by law to go to school until age 16, when they can legally drop out.</p>

10

<p>Very interesting background. I would take a few college courses in several areas as a special students to establish some GPA record to improve my chance.</p>

11

<p>Yeah, take some classes at a community college this summer or during the fall. Right now there isn't enough evidence to prove that you can succeed in a classroom--and that matters a LOT.</p>

12

<p>Given your SAT scores, you may want to take courses from Stanford's EPGY or online courses from Harvard's extension school. You need to take challenging courses and do well.</p>

13

<p>If everything you have posted above is accurate, you would be an "instant admit". Your style of learning appears to be like that of a well educated and dedicated lawyer; something that is well beyond high school or college. ( I hope that your post is legitimate.) With your background re: work experience and intelligence, you run the risk of boredom in most college or university settings. Look to alternative programs of study such as the computer based honors program at the Univ. of Alabama where you can create your own destiny and legacy without the traditional confines of a classroom curriculum. Look for other non-traditional programs that match your interests.</p>

14

<p>Sorry, but how is she an instant admit? She's obviously very very talented. But Harvard is a traditional learning environment. You learn in a classroom environment for 4 years. Harvard won't take someone who would fail in that environment, despite all their dazzling intellectual prowess. That would be a waste. Harvard tells us that they pick people who think will be successful at Harvard--hence why they do not hesitate to tell us that academic record is the most important factor in admissions. After academic record comes test scores, and then there is extracurriculars, etc.</p>

15

<p>Mallomar: You write as if you are angry and want to argue. How would you feel if I wrote that the poster "should" be, in my humble opinion, an "instant admit". Also, I disagree with your reasoning as neither you nor I know enough to judge as to whether or not the OP would do well in a traditional classroom setting. By the way, my response was clearly a play on the words of the OP. Harvard admissions has not in my experience made the statement as you use it. Typically Harvard states that almost all of their applicants could do the work and would be successful at Harvard, but that they look to build the best class from the pool of applicants that they can in order to satisfy many desired objectives.</p>

16

<p>MallomarCookie: I didn't drop out. I pulled out to homeschool in a very particular way -- it's still legally homeschooling though. I spent most of my time researching civil rights, but I also spent a good deal of time honing my writing ability and randomly learning everything I was interested in. The first few years were certainly more intellectual than years of action, which I realize is a problem to schools like Harvard, but I personally don't regret it because I managed to get a lot into my head. </p>

<p>nutmeg: I absolutely did NOT study online. When I say I didn't have any strict sort of studying, I don't mean I just sat on my butt. (I'm not trying to sound snarky, btw, just trying to explain) Rather, some examples...</p>

<p>To learn French, I downloaded Firefox in French so I'd have to learn those basic words for computer use or else **** up my computer. I listened to loads of French music, found loads of French people to IM with and email online, read books in French by plodding through with an English to French dictionary. I didn't do it, however, because I thought I should. I just did it because I felt like it, which I suppose makes me different from the average student. </p>

<p>I simply consider everything and everyone a learning resource. You'd be amazed at how many professors and scholars I've bugged through email just so I could pick their brains. </p>

<p>It's okay -- I don't take it as an insult. That's a valid concern, and I'm glad to know what I should be prepared to explain when I apply. So, to elaborate: Even if I had just studied for the SAT, that would make me exactly the same as the average high schooler -- in other words, studying to the test. It would also mean that I studied to the test better than most and had given myself a better grasp of the basics than most people in high school get. </p>

<p>About taking classes at a community college: I've considered it. I might still do it. But I am sort of... well... stubborn. And my stubborness involves not doing **** just to make an admissions council like me. I am of course interested in whether or not Harvard would even consider me, but if the answer is no, I'd rather go somewhere else than do something I wouldn't do otherwise just to impress them. But I'm still considering. I was, however, in the ninth grade for half a year before I pulled out. I had over a hundred percent in a few classes and like 98% in the others (my GPA wasn't weighted at all, I just had done extra credit in addition to not messing anything up in a few of my classe), so I think they might realize that a kid who was doing that well wouldn't pull out just to eat donuts and play video games. </p>

<p>Inverse: Thanks for the tips! I will think about that.</p>

<p>Garrity: I used to not want to go to college at all because I figured I could simply do my thing without it, and to some degree I still believe I could. After all, getting published doesn't require a degree, I know I'm not crap at writing, and I am nothing if not persistent. But I befriended a prof who managed to change my mind. If he turns out to be wrong when he said college would be good for me, I'll make sure to make him pay me back for all my application and SAT fees LOL. And to be serious again, in the past eight months I decided I reaaally want to be a lawyer. So I obviously need schooling for that.</p>

<p>I do think I am going to apply, and I'll make sure to let you all know whether or not I get accepted at that point in time. I know that's forever away, but I'm sure the info will be useful...</p>

17

<p>Sweet, best of luck dis-grace! Harvard would be lucky to have you!</p>

18

<p>Yeah, best of luck! You sound like an amazing individual with your passion and intelligence...have you been identified as "gifted?" I think you sounds like a perfect (or even beyond perfect) candidate for gifted education, but sadly many school boards across the continent have cut it out due to budget issues.</p>

19

<p>Btw... I am quite used to people thinking that learning means less if it is not a long, hard slog. For me, learning is fun. It's my hobby. I do it because I like it -- not to impress a college or the adults around me. I could elaborate on my theories about learning and the average school for several hours, but everybody here would be quite bored. If any of you are curious as to my general opinions about schooling and why I chose to do things as I did, read "How Children Learn" by John Holt. It's fascinating.</p>

<p>When I was in the seventh grade, I read an article by a girl who schooled herself. She spoke of how happy it made her, how learning was a joy, etc. Her descriptions made learning sound like a near-religious experience, which I have come to think it should be in the average case. It should be as beautiful as somebody slaving away at a barre so they can dance on a stage in New York, and it should be as consuming, and it should be something that one wants just as much as this imaginary ballerina wants to create beauty with her movements. </p>

<p>I was fascinated with this idea of self-teaching after reading that article. I'd always done well in school, but I'd also felt a little annoyed by how difficult it was to be at the right level. I skipped a level of math between the seventh and eighth grade, and then I wanted to do the same in the ninth. My counselor said, "Aren't you happy just getting As?" and meanwhile my history teacher was talking about how Thomas Hobbes believed in Divine Right, and it just seemed so ridiculous. As far as I know, Harvard often emphasizes that a person must make best use of the opportunities they have. I made best use of my opportunities to learn by LEAVING school, as weird as that sounds.</p>

<p>Before I left traditional school, I had thought I adored learning. And then I realized I'd had no idea what it meant to love learning until then. It became so that it wasn't something I got done so much as something that happened in me... and that's... the best I can explain it.</p>

<p>Edit: Thanks, Mallomar.</p>

<p>lubinli: Yes, I was identified as gifted. In elementary and middle school, the gifted program was actually pretty awesome. It was just in high school that such things became pointless and awful. I had some amazing teachers when I was younger though. One of them read Greek mythology for kids to all the gifted students when I was in the first grade! She didn't underesimate us, and I just remember how awesome that was and how much we loved it.</p>

<p>And thanks much for all your input. You all have brought up some things that I'm sure will be useful to me.</p>

20

<p>wow! it seems like you have an amazing life! best of luck...i'm sure that Harvard will be struck by your uniqueness and individuality.</p>