<p>I'm a high school junior currently, and my dream school is Harvard. I know it's incredibly hard to be accepted, but I still have a year and a half left of school that I'm trying to improve upon. </p>
<p>What do you recommend for students to focus on? If we haven't won any major awards, should we spill all our time into volunteering and extracurriculars? What really matters to Harvard, and what should I do to achieve that?</p>
<p>What you like and enjoy.</p>
<p>I imagine some will offer detailed suggestions on what you can do to improve your odds, but ultimately there is no magic formula for getting into any selective college.</p>
<p>My advice? Challenge yourself, do your best, broaden your horizons whenever possible, and avoid getting get fixated on any single college, especially one that rejects the vast majority of qualified applicants.</p>
<p>Most importantly, don’t take the process too seriously and find time to relax and enjoy life!</p>
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You are going at this backwards. You should do what matters to YOU, and when the dust settles, find the college that is the best fit for you based on your interests and strengths. Best wishes!</p>
<p>Agree. Do not fight with a single goal of Harvard, which may bot be a fit for you. If so, you’d regret in the rest of your life. </p>
<p>It’s pretty much too late for you, but you should be good at something and pursue accomplishments in it at a high level. If you look at all the archetypal admitted students to Harvard: music kid, science kid, athlete, kid who is really accomplished at economics or writing, etc., the one thing they all have in common is that they were really good at one thing. If you don’t have a development or URM or some other major hook, you create a hook by being talented.</p>
<p>You actually don’t have 1.5 years left to prepare, you have about nine months: .75 of a year. At this point, there isn’t much left for you to do besides write essays and get recs from teachers that know you well. </p>
<p>please please please don’t be a person whose sole aim in life is to go to Harvard. You will not gain any respect. You do not look any better. Be yourself. You’ll be a much better person that way. Harvard is not your life. It’s a step towards achieving your goals. </p>
<p>Better question: What can I do to make the most of my high school years?</p>
<p>At this point, as a second-semester high school junior, there is not much else you can do that will not look like resume-padding. Try to take advantage of your summer to do something really productive that is both enjoyable and a good learning experience.</p>
<p>And as for the whole getting into college part, study for the SATs or ACTs, work really hard on your college essays, and don’t let the college application process change who you are.</p>
<p>Try to raise money to bribe the admissions officer. I think this would be your best option unless you happen to become a sensation by discovering kidnapped kids who were locked up in a house. You endorse Harvard by telling news outlets that attending Harvard is your dream.</p>
<p>If you know your goal but do not know how to get there, you should not be there. </p>
<p>Study hard, do things you enjoy doing passionately, so forth.</p>