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Writer's pictureIvy League Editor

How I got into Harvard (Interview 1)

Stats

SAT: 1590 (800 Math, 790 Reading)

ACT: 36 (35 English, 36 Math, 36 Reading, 36 Science)

GPA: 3.99

Rank in Class: 1

Size of Class: 290

AP's Taken: Biology, Chemistry, AB Calculus, BC Calculus, American History, World History, European History, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, English Language, English Literature, French Language, Statistics, Computer Science, Environmental Science, Physics Mechanics, Physics Electromagnetism


Extracurriculars

  • I was the captain of my school's soccer, wrestling, and track teams from Sophomore year until my senior year.

  • I was the President of my class from my freshman year until my senior year.

  • I was the co-founder and President on my school's chess and business clubs.


Short Personal Story

"I was absolutely shocked when I got into Harvard. Like I think I almost peed my pants when I saw it.


Not going to lie, the first thing I did was change my instagram bio and upload a picture of the admission. It probably wasn't the best and most mature thing to do, but I totally did it.


But, I was pretty thrilled! Boston was an awesome city and when my parents and I went up to Boston in the summer to visit Harvard I just found everything about it simply amazing!


The architecture, for one thing is gorgeous. The way the buildings are shaped, they way they're arranged, stunning. Two, coming from a big city I wasn't used to much open space and greenery so when I saw that there were a bunch of trees and grass and flowers on campus I was blown away and fell in love with it right away. Three, I was walking the same steps that my heroes like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg, Barack Obama, and Robert Kennedy walked through was just surreal. Nothing compares to that.


So when I got in, I was beside myself with joy, I could join this club of great people who had come to this place then gone on to do fantastic things which their lives and being a part of such a club is unparalleled."

Useful Advice "I don't really need to say this, but Harvard has a really low acceptance rate because it is super cutthroat and competitive.


I don't remeber exactly, but I think the acceptance rate when I applied was something like 5.2% or some number like that. So really low. But, there are a couple things to do to put yourself in the best possible light so that you can have the best possible chances to get in.


For me, my biggest thing which I say was really important was the essay. Standing out from a group of 40,000 applications is really hard if you try to do it with resume and grades alone. However, if you combine grades with a really compelling story which captures the application reader you might be able to make it to round two, or round three of the process and ultimately be accepted.


I'd say that people should focus on making a killer essay and not so much their SAT's because if you study for the SAT a certain amount, your score isn't likely to change that much, but the more time you put into your essay you'll see massive returns on it in terms of quality."


Harvard Undergraduate, Class of 2023

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