So I’m a freshmen in high school and I want to teach but I don’t really mind what subject I teach. I’ve wanted to go to harvard and my grades are good so far and I’ll try my hardest to not let them slip. I do want to go to education grad school, my state has a really good one but I really want to go to harvard then be a counselor or principal. What advice would you have for me in picking an undergrad major now so I can get involved with things of that nature, preferrably a major that harvard currently offers. For some background I am in marching band and would consider myself talented in music as well in a mock legislature club and octathalon and plan to go into decathalon plus I take education classes at school.
All students admitted to Harvard are admitted as liberal arts majors. Students do NOT pick a major (or concentration, as Harvard calls it) until the end of their sophomore year. It’s the same with Yale, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth and the little ivies. (Students’ at Cornell apply to specific schools within the university, so it’s a bit different there. Ditto with UPenn.) That said, Harvard does NOT grant a degree in education or teaching. For that you will need to attend graduate school for a Masters in Education: For available concentrations, see: https://college.harvard.edu/academics/fields-study/concentrations
HYP et al asks about a prospective student’s “intended” major to gauge an applicant’s interest, but as more than 60% of matriculated students switch majors at least once during their four years of college, a student’s “Intended” major does not translate into anything Admissions can use as a recruiting tool. So, bottom line: Relax and forget about identifying a major and just pick courses in high school that interest you. The same with your extracurricular activities.
Here’s a great article you should read: http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways. Although it’s about MIT, everything in it pertains to Harvard and all selective colleges.
Seriously, just study what is interesting to you in college! You’ll have to go to grad school anyway, and that is when you will focus in on education.