How To Get Into Harvard (by a Harvard student) - Page 21

lowellbelle · 11-03-2009, 12:43 AM

Hahaha xingxingme, nah, I'm not bored with it, I just don't check it very often. Also, lowellbelle is no longer in Lowell, having graduated (literally) to the "real world"...

The only thing I wish is that this thread hadn't devolved into yet another "let me list my stats and you can tell me my 'chances'" discussion. I understand why people would want to post those, but again, it's not all about scores etc., at least as far as I can tell (I was a recruiter this spring for the admissions office and met all sorts of interesting kids).

The thing is, one thing that I can tell you (having both gone to Harvard and worked for a short while as a student recruiter--I do NOT have official decision-making capability, by the way!) is that Harvard DOES NOT look at schools in comparison to other schools. Therefore, asking "what are my chances?" is only relevant if you're thinking about your own school. As I said (long before I knew for sure that this was the process Harvard generally follows), think of your accomplishments in terms of YOUR OWN school/city/possibilities/etc. If you can go outside *that* framework and accomplish something amazing, Harvard will definitely look at that as something worth considering.

For example, in high school I took 9 classes per semester, but I went to a fairly easy high school until senior year, so the extra work was really more about honing my musical abilities/repertoire/etc. My senior year, my high school was much more difficult, so taking 2 APs plus doing lessons plus a job plus living on my own took on a whole different meaning.

Again, please, PLEASE keep in mind that you have to think about your situation IN CONTEXT. That's a huge mistake that I see a lot of kids make on this site, and they get really discouraged because of it. Harvard is about self-motivated people who go far beyond the norm (or the necessary) to do things they care about. I wrote the first post of this thread as a sophomore. I now have my Harvard degree, and I have a very different perspective on what it means to get into Harvard, attend school there, and finally leave. Scores mean very little if you don't have the right perspective and the right way of going about things.

sunnyvinny, I will answer your question briefly--I think doing a CD because you want to is a great idea, especially if, for example, you compose some of the music yourself.

Hope that helps, all...also, forgive me if I don't respond to messages. I literally log in about every four months, and am thus probably not the best person to ask for resume help etc....

tigerton · 11-03-2009, 06:21 AM

I think I truly understand what you are getting at. I think the reason I compare your stats are that no matter how creative/unique/passionate you are, academic prowess is needed just to be considered. I think it is then, at that point, where the passion comes in. I could write a killer essay, but I know I wouldn't get accepted, just because my SAT score is far below what's needed, and I chose not to take many AP classes (regretting).

chockyluver · 11-03-2009, 11:10 AM

hey!!
i live in the middle-east and i go to The British International on Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Do you think i have any chance of getting in Harvard? My school is pretty good but it doesnt do SAT's. it does the IB diploma....
Should i worry about racism or anything? Or are people in Harvard not racist? Im muslim btw..just to let you know...

phillymd50 · 11-05-2009, 11:56 PM

Well, lowellbelle is like, what? 19? 20 years old? But she is firmly situated in Harvard Yard and thus dripping with opinions and admirably draped in humility. Is she modest? Why even ask? Yes, she asserts that despite her imperious success she is "fairly ordinary." And she can prove it: "I went to states and nationals...valedictorian...I wrote a nutrition book.." You get it? She is the "fairly ordinary" ne plus ultra who beat the **** out of all you other aspiring high school students, published a book, and now wants you to give her credit for the tired expostulation: "Do the things you love." I know you're at Harvard, lowellbelle, and you are overflowing with self-congratulation. You feel you're on top of the world. But the world beckons, and it threatens, and those cliches you are serving up are not going to sustain you for long.

fauve · 11-06-2009, 02:06 AM

If you read lowellbelles #301 entry, she clearly states she has graduated and no longer lives in Lowell. She is already in the beckoning world, and seems to be doing quite well.

At least she is being helpful and positive. Why the vitriol philly?

phillymd50 · 11-06-2009, 10:48 PM

I guess I am not as easily impressed as you fauve. Lowellbelle celebrates the elite crowd at Harvard of which she considers herself a redoubtable example: "Harvard is about self-motivated people (like yourself, lowellbelle?) who go far beyond the norm (once again, like the self-congratulatory lowellbelle) to do things they care about." Actually, the world is full of dedicated intelligent people who have not graduated from Harvard and do not imagine there is a distinction between "motivated" and "self-motivated." I think lowellbelle is a snob, and I don't like snobs.

marite · 11-07-2009, 08:23 AM

Did Lowellbelle suggest that only at Harvard can one find self-motivated students who do things they care about?

Harvard is super-selective. Many if not almost all the students posting on this board are wondering what it takes to get into Harvard. Lowellbelle offers her own experience, not just as one of 6,000 undergraduates but also as one who worked for a time in the admissions office. She would have had no role in deciding who got in or not, but would have been privy to many discussions by members of the admission committee, perhaps just by overhearing them. She is not the oracle of Harvard, but offers her advice.
But I will say this: from my S's experience, Harvard is full of self-motivated students who go far beyond the norm to do things they care about. Not all of them, and not all those who fit that description can be found only at Harvard. But the description applies to a lot of the friends and classmates of my own kid. After meeting some of them or reading about them, I could only think that my S was not that special after all.

u§ername · 11-07-2009, 11:32 AM

You know, I wonder, could it be possible that since most of harvard are arrogant snobs like people commonly sterotype, but since they're all snobs themselves they don't realize that everyone around them is a snob also, and thus conclude that there aren't more snobs at harvard than anywhere else?

I dunno, just a thought. But the people from harvard giving advice here seems nice enough

fauve · 11-07-2009, 01:10 PM

If you think Harvard kids are snobs, and you don't like snobs, why are you reading a thread entitled "How to get into Harvard (by a Harvard student)" ?

Me thinks he doth protest too much.

Or he is riddled with that virulent disease: Crimson Envy.

u§ername · 11-07-2009, 01:30 PM

who said I didn't like snobs?

As I said, just a thought.

I just read these threads because I need something to do as an excuse to procrastinate... There's no way in hell I'm getting into harvard...

fauve · 11-07-2009, 09:33 PM

Username, I was answering phillymd50.

Code H · 11-07-2009, 09:37 PM

being a bit of a snob and elitist is kinda accepted at Harvard (actual words by a Harvard junior that I know). it is 'okay' to be a bit "we're better than you!" in a joking way, because it...kinda-sorta...is true when you consider the crazy admissions chances.

so if you are the kind of person who absolutely detest snobbery in any way, shape, or form...then you need to loosen up once you get there (if you apply and get in).

my $.02

BrookeWaggoner · 11-07-2009, 10:57 PM

Just an aside:

Wow, I think phillymd50's writing style is extremely good. I may not in support of his opinions but the way he advocates his assertion is really, really articulate and interesting to read.

lowellbelle · 11-14-2009, 08:20 PM

Good morning all,

First of all, thank you fauve and marite! I really appreciate you standing up for me. As for phillymd50, I am in fact 22, have graduated, am working two jobs to support myself, and am in fact not a snob, having grown up in a very poor rural area (not to mention the drug neighborhoods of L.A./Long Beach). I have been working since I was 13 to support my family. I'm not sure that I ever said that people outside of Harvard are *not* dedicated/intelligent/(self)-motivated/etc., just that kids at Harvard are, as a rule, all of those things, generally to ridiculous degrees. I think "self-congratulatory" is not quite the right term to apply to me either. I will, however, say that I have indeed gone far beyond the norm and am highly self-motivated, but that doesn't equate with being boastful or arrogant. I'm not trying to impress anyone on this forum.

(To clarify, there is indeed a distinction between "motivated" and "self-motivated" that's not really apparent from the names...by self-motivated I mean that you're just a "driven" person in general and are not acting in response to particular situations, like a test or a reward or something. In my case, I am always doing some sort of project because my personality is that way--I don't really "relax" in the traditional sense all that often. It works well for getting work done, haha.)

Thanks username...and Code H, yes, what your friend said is kind of true (and I'm curious as to who it is), but mostly because once you get there, you realize how scarily bright and motivated all the people around you are--there are so many people who are convinced that they are an "admissions mistake", and Harvard admissions officers have told me again and again that there ARE no admissions mistakes. Eventually you realize that you can hold your own in certain ways and have to concede gracefully in others, such as that you're just NOT as good as your roommate at physics/soccer/what-have-you, and realize that you are indeed "Harvard caliber", at the risk of becoming elitist. Then you do something stupid like lock yourself out of your dorm in January and wonder how in the world you managed to get through high school, let alone Harvard. Marite, your final sentence is 100% true. (What's really annoying are the ones who are super attractive, athletic, double-major premeds. I hate them, haha...just kidding, but seriously. Wow.)

phillymd50, to close, I don't want credit for "the tired expostulation 'Do the things you love'". You can find that in all sorts of guidebooks. I just wrote it out clearly on this site for students to access for free, and I figured that my "Harvard status" would make people give it a second look. Also, I still believe that doing the things you love can give you a better college experience than doing something you hate for the sake of money/practicality. One last thing: you said "Actually, the world is full of dedicated intelligent people who have not graduated from Harvard..." I agree. Very definitely so. In fact, Harvard is in many ways more about the incredible (and I do mean incredible in the "unbelievable" sense) resources than the students themselves. We're all pretty dumb when we're 20 years old, haha.

Best of luck to all of you...

~lb

lowellbelle · 11-14-2009, 08:43 PM

One more thing...someone sent me a message asking "I want to go to Harvard; it's my dream school. Can you tell me what I need to do? I am willing to do anything to realize my dream."

I think it's wonderful that people say that Harvard is their "dream", but I want to clarify that it's a good idea to know WHY it's your dream, and not just "because Harvard is the best" (Yalies, feel free to argue with me, haha...or Princetonites (?), or...etc. The list goes on. You're all great schools. I'm a little biased toward my alma mater, of course, but I think HS students need to be aware of what exactly it is that they're pursuing, and that they might *gasp* be happier at another school/in another program/etc.!)

Read on...(thank you, you know who you are, for your message, by the way!)

-------
Hi [name],

Thanks for contacting me--I hope I can help. I unfortunately don't have any "magic formula" other than what I've written on my various posts throughout the thread--see the main (first) one and then look at the last couple of ones (most recent pages of comments). Basically, Harvard is not an easy place. It's not only hard to get into (I mean VERY hard), it's also very difficult to succeed when there, because there's a lot of pressure (!) put on you. That said, I loved it and would happily go back. I wish that I had two more years there, as a matter of fact. It was one of the best times of my life so far.

Ask yourself this: what is your dream, exactly? Is it to go to Harvard in particular (whether for the name, the resources, the prestige, etc.)? To study a certain subject at a place known for being a great center of scholarship on that subject? To be in a certain group of students (passionate about public service, really good at biology, whatever)? WHY do you want to go to Harvard? Why not UChicago or Yale or Duke or Cornell or Stanford? Having visited is very good--it's 100% necessary, I think, to visit a college before you go there, because (and people don't seem to understand this) you will be LIVING there for the next four years, including in the dead of winter when midterms + getting colds + walking through the snow + stress all combine to make life painful. There are people who go to prestigious schools for the name alone and hate life.

(My "tips" on this thread will be useful in the application process for most high-level colleges, by the way!)

Basically....(1) figure out where you want to go and WHY you want to go there, (2) find out the (basic guidelines of) academic requirements and test scores, (3) figure out how to make yourself "stand out" in general (by doing something you care about and doing it WELL), (4) meet with people at the college/talk with an admissions counselor/sit in on classes/do whatever you can to get a good sense of the place and, perhaps, have them remember you, and (5) IMPORTANTLY, remember that in the end, college is not something that bestows the blessings of an amazing education, glittering society, etc. on you just by virtue of you being there (something that unfortunately tons of Harvard freshmen think until they start taking exams, hahaha)--it's something that you have to work for, all the way through, and you can learn just as much at another school if you seek it out and fight for it. (Ironically, that last bit is how I got into Harvard in the first place, I think...)

Good luck to everyone...

~lb