<p>“I’m fully aware that the Harvard admissions office has a rather abstruse method for determining who will be admitted. I wanted opinions because I knew no one had any conclusive factual knowledge of how the admissions process actually works.”</p>
<p>This is not entirely true. William Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, has on numerous occasions described in detail “how the admissions process actually works.” In no way is Harvard’s method “rather abstruse”…its results are just unpredictable because their pool is so good that they decide based on incredibly subjective nuances. </p>
<p>Look at the extensive (and very informative) set of interviews Fitz did for the NY Times:
[William</a> R. Fitzsimmons - The Choice Blog - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/author/william-r-fitzsimmons/]William”>William R. Fitzsimmons - The Choice Blog - The New York Times)</p>
<p>And watch this:
[A</a> Glimpse of the Admissions Process - YouTube](<a href=“A Glimpse of the Admissions Process - YouTube”>A Glimpse of the Admissions Process - YouTube)</p>
<p>If you want to make admission very likely, you’ll have to be a recruited athlete, the child of a major donor/famous person, and/or the child of a faculty member. </p>
<p>If you want more info about whom Harvard admits, watch this:
[Harvard</a> Admissions Dean Fitzsimmons Interview (On Harvard Time) - YouTube](<a href=“Harvard Admissions Dean Fitzsimmons Interview (On Harvard Time) - YouTube”>Harvard Admissions Dean Fitzsimmons Interview (On Harvard Time) - YouTube)</p>
<p>Basically, if you don’t have any of the aforementioned ‘hooks,’ then you can maximize your changes by being ‘very unusual academically’ (as evidenced by winning academic competitions and having ‘best in career’ recommendations, not just by getting good grades/scores) or by having ‘some type of distinguishing excellence’ (national/international champion of something). If you can do neither of these (which is the case for most people), then simply strive to be what Fitz calls a ‘good all-arounder’: strong academically, extracurricularly, and personally. Most people in the pool are good all-arounders, so by becoming one you are by no means guaranteeing admission. However, you would be maximizing your chances. How do you become a good all-arounder? Do well in the classroom, do what you love outside of the classrom and do it really well, and be a genuinely nice person. Which is the advice offered in Applying Sideways.</p>