Hello,
As the title states I am a Canadian student in grade 8 preparing for highschool and eventually university.I have applied to the best IB school in my district,As I have read that the Ivies Harvard in particular wants to see that you have challenged yourself academically. I also have been developing relationships with local service groups in my community as I volunteer at the children nursery at my church & at a nursing home. At school I am Fundraising chair of Me-to-We,On the debate team, Finance chair of the sports event planning team and a bus safety patroller,to get used to clubs and such.
I am thinking of starting a Non-Profit to tutor underprivileged children in my city.
Am I on the right track? If not what should my next steps be?
Any advice for me?
Thank you in advance for any help/advice!
All that plus have a high GPA and a high SAT/ACT and your chances of admission will still be below 10%.
You really need to think about doing your best and do not fixate on getting into a single school. There are literally thousands of great schools in the US and Canada. You could be the best student in your province, have perfect stats, start a nationally ranked activity and still be denied. Of the 1 in 20 who get in, almost all have excellent stats.
Okay, what should I do to improve my chances of acceptance over the next 4 years?
Look at their website and see what they want. Be sure you take all the courses Harvard suggests.
Here’s what Harvard says on their website:
How Can You Best Prepare for Harvard?
We hope you will read our thoughts about choosing high school courses that will provide a strong base for a liberal arts education. But in summary, we recommend:
The study of English for four years: close and extensive reading of the classics of the world’s literature
Four years of a single foreign language
The study of history for at least two years, and preferably three years: American history, European history, and one additional advanced history course
The study of mathematics for four years
The study of science for four years: physics, chemistry, and biology, and preferably one of these at an advanced level
Frequent practice in the writing of expository prose
Various important secondary school subjects, such as art and music, are not specifically mentioned in our recommendations. The omission of these subjects should not be interpreted as a value judgment. We are concerned only with secondary school subjects for which we have data that suggest they are specific prerequisites for college work.
It is way too early to think about specific colleges (especially the hyper-competitive ones). You don’t even have one full year’s GPA and you have no standardized testing. You also need to recognize that HS should be an experience in and of itself – a time of learning and growth and not just a 4 year college application prep experience.
It is good to take school seriously and know that college will be on your horizon, but it is too early to start planning for specific colleges. I would highly recommend that you get off of CC until your junior year.
For now you should focus on:
–Working hard, learning, and doing as well as you can in the most challenging curriculum you can manage.
–When the time comes study for standardized tests.
–Continue your involvement in activities you care about and work towards making meaningful contributions to those activities. (Starting a non-profit is fine as long as it is what you want to do but I’d first check to see if there are existing organizations you can work with so you don’t have to re-create the wheel.)
–Enjoying spending time with your family and friends.
When the time comes asses your academic stats (including GPA, standardized tests, course rigor) as well as your financial needs and apply to a wide range of reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (you will have to run a net price calculator for each school you consider) and that you would be happy to attend. You need to expand your horizons and recognize that there are many wonderful schools out there where you can have a great 4 year experience and get where you want to go in life.