<p>I am afraid you may be underestimating what it takes to get into Harvard.</p>
<p>Unless you come from a really prominent high school or prep school (New Trier HS, Stuyvesant, Phillips Exeter, etc.), you probably need to be one of the most remarkable students in your graduating class–maybe even in the last few classes. </p>
<p>For Harvard, 30 isn’t really a very competitive ACT score; 75% of the current freshmen who reported ACT scores had 31 or above.</p>
<p>In order to be considered a legacy, one of your parents would have to have attended Harvard College; other Harvard affiliations don’t count. There’s often vigorous debate on this forum about just how much legacy matters at Harvard. Harvard insists it’s not much more than a feather on the scale; I’m inclined to believe them.</p>
<p>The sad reality is that Harvard could fill its freshman dorms many times over with applicants who rank at or very near the top of their graduating classes, who have SATs > 2300 or ACTs > 34. Even most applicants with those stats don’t get in.</p>