<p>My son is in 8th Grade right now. He wants to go to Harvard, however, he is not sure what are the prerequisites/achievements that will help him push through the applications once he applies for it. What qualities are required to get into an IVY league school Like Harvard? What is that one special thing that counselors look for in applications? Please help.</p>
<p>Please tell me you are joking. </p>
<p>But on the off chance that you are not…admission to an Ivy League school like Harvard is a crapshoot. Even admitted students sometimes can’t tell you the special something that got them admitted (recent NPR broadcast interviewed students…and most said they had absolutely no idea what was special about their applications).</p>
<p>Your son will need SAT or ACT scores as close to perfect as can be. He needs a 4.0 unweighted GPA with a rigorous course load. He needs to have outstanding letters of reference and essays. He should have an EC or two in which he excels and shows leadership.</p>
<p>Even WITH all of the above, Harvard accepts less than 10% of applicants. This means that 90% are rejected. In the 90% who are rejected, there are plenty of well qualified applicants…very well qualified applicants. In fact there are many class valedictorians who do not get accepted.</p>
<p>I would strongly suggest that your young student look at the qualities of Harvard, and also look for a variety of colleges that have similar characteristics.</p>
<p>And keep in mind…lots can change between grade 8 and grade 12 when applications are sent.</p>
<p>8th grade is way too young to be thinking about college but any student at any age should continue to do the best they can in school and should challenge themselves alittle with classes they chose plus get involved with things they love/like/care about. There is no one special thing. My second son had a friend who went to Harvard and honestly I couldn’t put my finger on any “one special thing.” Just a great student, active in high school and outside of high school…just a really nice all-around person. </p>
<p>OP. I highly doubt your 8th grade son WANTS to go to Harvard. Most likely it is YOU (the parent). Our kids couldn’t care less about any particular college in 8th grade even up until beginning of senior year in high school…</p>
<p>…they both excelled in the activity they were both interested in at the highest level year in and year out (national/international level) with many other complementary and supplemental achievements and accolades associated with those academic/EC talents…</p>
<p>…after getting into all the schools REA/SCEA and RD they applied to…they both chose the school they wanted to attend based on FIT…</p>
<p><a href=“http://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/504/transcript”>http://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/504/transcript</a></p>
<p>Read or listen to the prologue. It’s actually interviewing Columbia freshmen, but the same would apply to Harvard. Bottom line…most had no idea what made their application stand out in the 30,000 that were received.</p>
<p>Quoting Harvard: it welcomes students from across the country and all over the world, with diverse backgrounds and far-ranging talents and interests. That’s what S is up against. </p>
<p>I’ve posted this before; I think it’s on point. I once remember reading an article in some magazine (Time, Newsweek??) that, in part, included an interview with a Princeton admission officer. The officer stated that she could go to some 3 story campus parking structure and throw off all the applicant files (20-30K) that Princeton had received and then go down and the first 3000ish files she picked up randomly could be offered admission and would be comparable to each other in what an applicant brought to table in that each file would probably reveal an incredible applicant. I’ll guess a Harvard admission officer could say something similar. Ivies and others (e.g. Stanford) typically receive thousands and thousands of applications from all over the world from superstars who almost all fail to gain admittance. Harvard’s admission rate is under 6%, most recently 34K+ applicants, just over 2K admits. There is no one factor that gets your S in. Here’s a link(s) that you can start with:</p>
<p><a href=“Guide to Preparing for College | Harvard”>https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/preparing-college</a></p>
<p>As S is approaching HS, from purely academic perspective, I’d say that S should take the hardest possible courses that HS offers and that he can do well in (meaning get As) and do also well SAT/ACT. I know this is rather generic advice but it’s a viable strategy to gain admission at many colleges. Harvard???. I truly wish S the best, but he shouldn’t limit his options. I’d also say that as it’s HS he’s starting, he should make big attempt to enjoy these years as they’ll go by fast. </p>
<p>As a note there is currently another thread on this forum where OP stated her S has wanted to go to Georgetown since Jr. high. He was accepted and has been there for 5 days and hates it and asks to come home. I do not require an answer but can your S articulate why he wants to go to Harvard? </p>
<p>Good luck to you and S.</p>
<p>be rick and cure cancer</p>
<p>^ yes, Rick always gets in :)</p>
<p>Take a look at the Harvard message board to see what the applicants and students are like. This should provide a lot of information about what is needed to be a competitive applicant.
<a href=“Harvard University - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/</a></p>
<p>Back in 8th grade, my daughter (who is now in college) thought she wanted to go somewhere completely different than where she ended up. She never did file an application for her 8th grade “dream school,” and the school was an academic and financial match.</p>
<p>Right now the best thing for your 8th grader is to encourage him in all areas of academic and extracurricular interest. Its way too early to know if he has even the slightest chance at Harvard or any other Ivy League school.</p>
<p>The application fee to Harvard is basically an expensive lottery ticket. Don’t expect to get in, but rejoice if you do. Harvard brags about how many valedictorians and students with perfect SAT scores they reject.</p>
<p>I think that your kid wants to go to H because he’s heard of it, and heard that it’s tops, not for any better reason. Just like a different type of kid might think that he wants to go to Notre Dame.</p>
<p>There are other great schools out there, and eventually he will find out about them.</p>
<p>What he needs to do now is expand his academic and personal horizons and live his life. Eventually he will find schools that work for the person HE has become. </p>
<p>I would look at the Harvard results thread for last year’s class. It’s truly humbling, reading about all these applicants who were vying for that one spot in Harvard, and it makes you realize how much of the admissions process really depends on luck, no matter how qualified you are. </p>
<p>So…what happened to the OP?</p>
<p>I always think the Decision threads are worth a look: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/894548-official-harvard-university-rd-decisions-class-of-2014-p1.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/894548-official-harvard-university-rd-decisions-class-of-2014-p1.html</a> Plenty of kids with great scores and activities getting rejected, plenty who don’t seem that special when you just see a list of stuff that get accepted. Some with lower scores, but extenuating circumstances get in. It’s really hard to predict what it takes. </p>
<p>Honestly I think your best bet is to do your best, do what you love and see where you get in. </p>
<p>Get the book “How to be a high school superstar” by Cal Newport</p>