What does it take to get into Harvard?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>What are the steps I should follow to get accepted to Harvard? I know there is nothing that guarantees admission, but what are some pretty sound tips to get into Harvard and the rest of HYPS+Wharton?</p>

<p>How high should my SAT be? Are my extracurriculars good ? (see below) I have perfect grades (straight A's in hardest classes possible), and I will do whatever it takes to get accepted.</p>

<p>Please make suggestions. I'm dedicated to whatever it takes!!! Thanks. :)</p>

<p>MY INFO:</p>

<p>ACADEMIC:</p>

<p>I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA and I'm in the top 1% of my class. I'm planning to take AP Calc AB, AP English, AP US History, AP Bio, and AP Psych next year as a junior...and also Marketing and Band, which are both extracurriculars of mine. I plan to take Band all four years. Is this enough to show commitment? It's the hardest schedule possible, and I'm really determined to maintain my 4.0, and I know I can do it if I work hard.</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS:</p>

<p>I recently campaigned and won a state officer position in DECA, so I have a state officer position as a sophomore and I plan to continue that leadership position as a junior. I've won lots of DECA awards, and I've heard that having a state officer position is extremely impressive to adcoms. Is this true? Because I just won my position but I heard it takes a lot of time, so I'm not sure if I want to do it again next year. Also, my state officer position relates to volunteering, and one of my focus areas is volunteering (see next paragraph), so will this help my application?</p>

<p>I'm also in band, which I've won lots of state comps. I play flute and I take lessons outside of school too. I intern for McNerney's campaign for congress, and I have lots of volunteer hours at the library, tutoring in India, as a Girl Scout (working to get Gold Award), for VT Seva, human rights club, and Unicef club. I'm treasurer for the human rights club, and I'm also an officer in VT Seva. This year, I'm going to run for an officer position in Unicef club and I know I will win because I already have so many leadership positions. Will having four leadership positions (DECA state officer, human rights club officer, VT Seva officer, Unicef officer) be enough for HYPS? If not, what other clubs should I join to get more leadership?</p>

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<p>How to get into Harvard?</p>

<p>Don’t try to get into Harvard.</p>

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<p>100% agree with idiosyncra3y. Don’t try to impress, just be yourself. If you’re just like every other paranoid student, then how impressive you are suddenly doesn’t mean much. Stay active in the community in a way that only you know how.</p>

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<p>choco: do you see a constant refrain here? Think about this and the other advice you’ve been given before. Top schools want top scholars and people of impact – not people who are focused on how to best market themselves. Focus on the former – not the latter. And tell your mom that too.</p>

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<p>chocofever: I’ve interviewed a lot of students like you who are focused on looking good on some piece of paper listing endless EC’s and awards and high test scores and great grades who don’t care about anything except the prestige of going to Harvard - solely because it’s the “best school” according to some magazine. You need to care about something, I mean, really care, and you need to truly want to be the best student/athlete/musician/club officer, whatever, you can be. If you don’t, you won’t really impress interviewers like me, or your teachers and school counselors, whatever your performance. I can’t tell you how many times I have interviewed kids who look great on paper but have nothing really to say about anything - because they aren’t really interested in the world or how to make it a better place; they are only interested in getting themselves branded as a harvard grad. I can’t speak for other interviewers, but none of these kids I’m talking about were ever accepted.
Don’t do stuff to “show” commitment; live and be committed!! OK, rant over.</p>

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<p>Be true to yourself. Participate in activities that make you feel incredible and that you enjoy doing. Don’t waste time retaking SATs or the ACT over and over again. Don’t run for an officer position you aren’t passionate about pursuing. It sounds like you are passionate about marketing- see what you can do to use this passion to help your community. Perhaps you can work for free on marketing campaigns for a local non-profit that supports a cause you are passionate about? This would help you stand out. Unfortunately, many applicants are going to have band on an application, so you might want to consider the marketing thing to help you stand out. </p>

<p>But like I said, most importantly, be true to yourself. Write honest essays that show who you are. In the end, if you belong at Harvard and you are honest with and about yourself, you will end up there. Good luck.</p>

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<p>Don’t be a tryhard, man. That’s so out.</p>

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<p>choco has been asking the same strain of question for a few weeks now and getting the same advice.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1100754-am-i-track-please-help-sophomore-hyps.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1100754-am-i-track-please-help-sophomore-hyps.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>dar5995: I think you nailed it. Questions on how to look and what looks good versus becoming a person of substance…</p>

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<p>T26E4: you’re a Yalie, right? My dad was class of '44; I did get accepted, the second year they let girls in; but I went north instead, for which I was never forgiven! I enjoy reading your posts! Have you read The Chosen? It’s really interesting for describing what admissions were like for most of the 20th century. Different world today, that’s for sure.
cheers!</p>

10

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<p>Truth.</p>

<p>It’s sad to see threads like this. If you really need to ask people how you can get into Harvard, then who’s to say that you actually have any genuine passion for further education in general?</p>

11

<p>I interview for Princeton, FWIW, and I would echo some of the advice you’ve been given.</p>

<p>1) Be passionate about something and pursue excellence in it. If Harvard wanted to, it could fill its campus with earnest strivers like you (or at least like you come off in this post). That’s not what they want. </p>

<p>2) Be able to answer the question “what’s special or unique about you that will add to our student body”? One really fascinating or unique aspect about an applicant can be more important than a 2300+ SAT composite. Sure, a threshold of academic excellence is necessary, but beyond that, it is an aspect of character that sets an applicant apart.</p>

<p>3) Don’t be desperate. Be it college apps, job apps, or dating, nobody likes desperate. Go into your interview confident that you will be fine whatever great school takes you, not because of the school on the diploma, but because of the person whose name is on it. </p>

<p>4) Finally - take a deep breath. Enjoy high school, don’t live it like it’s an extended job interview. Harvard is just one college among many excellent schools. Live your life around getting into Harvard and you are likely to a) not enjoy life, b) not get in to Harvard.</p>

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<p>Wow: we have quite the collection of advice givers here. Alumni interviewers from Harvard, Yale and Princeton. I wonder if this is sinking in for anyone…</p>

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<p>@op, you will get into many good and great schools including several combined programs with your list of accomplishments. On the combined program/premed board, there are many students like you who are successful in gaining admission to good programs. Looks like you need to develop passion in one or two items and see what happens. As the alumni interviewers from HYP say, these schools may still see you not very fit to their schools or not the knid of students they are looking for. But still, once you are in, and if your life goal is in medicine, working to ‘look good’ on resume for med school adcom is not the wrong thing to do as some premed advisors say on CC (norcalguy, bluedevilmike, et.al.) So, know that the attitude you have as to doing things to look good on app is not entirely wrong thing. It is just that these regular UG schools may not like such students.</p>