<p>"I already know that you can’t just wait and assume you can get into Harvard just because you do what you love and keep up good grades. "</p>
<p>You certainly can’t “wait and assume” that you’ll get into Harvard by doing what you love and getting good grades, but the truth is that a vast majority of Harvard admits did these two very things Factor in a bit of luck, and they were admitted. </p>
<p>“I would like to know the steps to take in order to succeed. There might not be a specific list of steps but I would at least like to know the general expectation if these colleges.”</p>
<p>There really are no specific “steps” beyond achieving academic, extracurricular, and personal excellence. All elite colleges will tell you that there’s no formula for admission. In all reality, admission offices aren’t supposed to give students directions about how to get in; instead, they serve as talent scouts with the best interest of the institution in mind. Because the pools at schools like Harvard are so good (90% of applicants are qualified to do the work and 50% are qualified to do the work at an honors level), a lot of the selection process comes down to highly subjective factors (how they ‘feel’ when reading your app) and is difficult to predict.</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 evidences by winnin 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 cast 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>