Ask a current Harvard student

<p>How’s Harvard dating?</p>

<p>Im an international student in my second last year of high school (same as junior year in the States). My academic track record has been great so far (A’s but mostly A+'s) , however I have not been doing very many extra-curricular activities so far in high school. I am a member of the school choir and I have volunteered at a charity art exhibition and volunteer at charity fairs. I also volunteered at a special needs school for a week. I am thinking of either doing neuroscience or medicine. My questions are:

  1. Is it too late to start doing more extra-curriculars?
  2. If I do extra-curriculars starting from now, is it too late for me to realistically think about Harvard because even if I start now? Will I not be considered competitive enough cause I haven’t been doing many of them/doing them for a long time?
  3. Does Harvard prefer to see all-rounders (a person who does extra-curriculars in all kinds of fields like: art, music, drama even if their chosen field of study is not related to them?) or do they prefer applicants who have extra-curriculars that are more focused on their chosen field of study?
  4. Any tips on what kind of extra-curriculars I could do? Any tips on how many should be done ideally?
  5. Do I need to take SAT subject tests? Some say its not compulsory, is that true?</p>

<p>@LexieA This is a dormant thread. You should repost on the general Harvard forum.</p>

<p>@T26E4‌ thank you- can you give me a link to that?</p>

<p>@LexieA There is a big orange button at the top of this page.</p>

<p>Never mind. I see you found it.</p>

<p>@WasatchWriter‌ - sorry, im new to this site, still trying to figure out how things work. i thought there was an official discussion page for Harvard, I didn’t know I had to create my own thread, just did that now</p>

How old is an average undergraduate first year harvard student?

Most undergraduate freshman are 18. My daughter was 17 when she started, but I think she was on the younger side.

Hi @ @sallyfahrae !

First off, I am also an international student. So I was wondering if (in your opinion) it is better to apply early action as an international?(especially if i am an underrepresented minority).

Why did you apply early action?

Thanks! :slight_smile:

Just realized this post was from 2012…

^^ Why don’t you start a new thread with your question.

Hi, Im a sophmore in high school, and I messed up freshman year, and well I’ve just been a lazy student up until now, do I still get a chance to get accepted if I try my best from now on?