What are somethings i can do to get in Harvard?

[super star]

Hi I'm currently an 8th grade student and i was thinking about colleges/universities. There are many great schools out there i know and Harvard is a very special one. What do you think will help me have higher chances later on? I'm taking 2 high school courses right now, i have really good grades i'm in few clubs. The one thing i hear constantly is you have to stand out in something, excel in that area and i guess that's what i need to figure out, but i can't, any ideas?

[super star]

I'm in eleventh grade right now and was in the exact same situation you are in a few years back. The best advice I can give you is to continue doing as good as you are and continue doing extracurricular activities. Make your best effort, once you get into high school, to get involved with groups such as Interact club, student council, executive and homecoming committee, and National Honor Society. Of course, only if it will not interrupt your academics for that is your main priority. Once you enter high school you'll encounter a thousand new temptations and freedoms that you've not experienced yet, and it will be up to you to make the right decisions and those decisions will trigger the way to your future. Make sure you ALWAYS remain optimistic, be opportunistic, and also it will be very good if you do a lot of community service because colleges, especially those that are of Ivy League prestige, tend to prefer those students that are active in their community. It's good that you're thinking about your future early, just make sure you never give up or diverge into wrong paths, and since you are already taking AP courses, it all starts now so make the most of it and strive for success.

[irish*lad]

I Hope you get into a school that fits your personality, location, Major, and price. I do not hope you specifically get into Harvard unless you truly want to. I have written a little bit to help you with your application.

If you truly want to drive to Cambridge, Massachusetts and walk into Harvard University smiling You will read this and take it to heart. In 2015 when you graduate High school and people ask where you are going to go and you say Harvard, you will be glad you did.


Okay just so u know, because you are in eight grade. basically nothing u have done till now matters in the slightest. I'm going to be a little intense but it meant to motivate you. The choices you make for then next 3 and a half years will put you in Harvard or University of who the hell cares in nowheres ville Wyoming. Soo Do the absolute best you can. If you are on Yahoo, facebook, youtube, or anything like that, you are wasting time that could be spent studying. If you are walking to a class, to the cafeteria, going to the bathroom, or walking from your desk at home to the dinner table and you don't have a book in your hand your wasting valuable time. Don't even think about it, run and grab a textbook and review. When you come home and say you don't have homework, its bullshit form hear on out. You can always be doing work. No matter if your teacher assigned it or not. If you go to school one day and your friend asks you if you saw what happened on real world, jersey shore, dancing with the stars, American idol, family guy, or Freaking Oprah and you can answer it, you took the limited time that you have until you mail out your application, stuffed it in toilet paper and flushed it down the toilet. If you are doing something and you ask yourself "why am i doing this?" and you can't answer with a to get me into Harvard, to stay healthy, not to piss off my parents (who will probably pay) or so i don't die then you need to really figure out your priorities. When you get anything lower than a 100 on a test, go to the teacher, ask what you did wrong, what you can do differently the next time, and make sure you know how to do it by the next test or final.


LIST OF THINGS TO HELP
Beg your parents to donate a crap load of money to the school.
Get 4.0 gpa throughout high school.
Take tough APs
Get a 5 on the AP exams.
Get above 1500 on SAT
Volunteer a lot/ start a volunteer organization
Don't put anything incriminating on your Facebook, Twitter, Myspace that you wouldn't want Harvard to see. (yess they ave checked)
Have amazing reputations with all your teachers, advisors, administrators, and principal.
Get outstanding recommendations from high level courses junior year
Become super good at crew, soccer, baseball, golf, or sailing.
Be a prodigy in instrumental music
Find a relative that attended the school and point out that u are a legacy.
Be black, or extreme minority
Hope your parents didn't go to college so your a first generation college student
do great on your essays and interview
have tons of extracurriculars
do mock trial, model UN, or something like that
Never get in trouble with the law or suspended from school
Be in top 2% of your graduating class
Wish upon every single shooting start you see
Never step under a ladder, break a mirror, or open an umbrella inside
Hope to God that you stand out from the other 23,000 students that apply
Be in the seven percent that get accepted and join a group of about 2,000 thrilled high schoolers.
GOOD LUCK!
I DO Not hope you get into Harvard. I hope you get into a school that fits your personality

[Ik]

You are starting quite early, which I think is a good sign.
Firstly, don't get stuck to Harvard. It's a good university, but there are other really good universities too. And each of them has a personality, a style of working. Find the one which suits you best. You don't want to go to Harvard and be unhappy for four years. I would suggest don't think about any particular college now, because you are relatively young and your choices and tastes may differ in the next four years.

Ok, now things that you could do from your next year. The main thing is enjoy your high school. Do things that you like and do them with energy. Don't go into clubs that you don't like, just because you think they will look good on your application. Don't try to be an allrounder, because nobody is. Do few number of things, but do them passionately.
Grades are important, however, more imporant is growth. It doesn't matter if you are bad at studies right now. Keep on improving. Don't burden yourself with really heavy courses. Challenge yourself, but not too much. And you need to show that you have taken a variety of courses, like Math as well as Political Science, but again, choose those which you like. If you don't like something, it will show on your application.
Be nice to teachers, because they will give recommendations.

You are right, universities will look for one trump card you have (in academics and extracurriculars). Don't worry about it, you will come to know of it in the next two years.

The main thing is this, don't do anything for the sake of applying. Simply work hard and enjoy.