Take college preparatory classes in high school. Academics are a key factor in increasing a student’s chances of getting into Harvard. The following are high school courses that Harvard University recommends that all students have during their four years in high school. High school students who have a number of these recommended courses have an advantage over other applicants who do not.
Students must have four years of English with extensive experience in writing, four years of math with advance course work in geometry and calculus, and four years of science with classes in biology, chemistry and physics. If a student’s school does not provide these classes, then it is vital that parents get him some type of tutor for the work since this knowledge will also affect his SAT and ACT scores.
In addition to the college basics of math, English and science, Harvard expects their applicants to have three years of history, including American and European history, and four years of a foreign language. Applicants should try to have as many of the recommended academic courses as possible in order to increase their chances of acceptance.
Save for college. Harvard is an expensive college to attend according to CollegeCrunch, a website that reviews colleges. It costs roughly $47,215.00 in tuition and board to attend each year. Having a large portion of the tuition saved will increase a student’s chances of attending. She will not have to compete with students from more disadvantaged backgrounds for financial aid.
Review your family’s ancestry. Minority candidates naturally have an increased chance of getting into Harvard. However, Americans of mixed heritage often overlook this important advantage when applying to a college.
If students are not sure of their mixed heritage, then they need to research the family tree to determine if they have any blood relations that are given minority status in the United States. Minority groups include Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Indian tribes, Asian Pacific Americans, and Native Hawaiians. A student with as little as 1/16 minority heritage can mark the “Other” box for ethnicity on a college application. Women are given an automatic minority status at many colleges.
Harvard applicants must also have impressive SAT or ACT scores. College Crunch recommends SAT scores in the 2080-to-2370 range or an ACT score of 31 to 34. Students with the highest SAT and ACT scores have an edge when it comes to Harvard applicants.
Get into the top 10 percent of your graduating high school class. Harvard University only accepts the highest-achieving students. High school seniors need to be in the top 15 percent of their graduating class to even be considered. However, to increase a student’s chances of getting into Harvard, high school students need to be in the top 10 percent or higher, especially if they will be needing student aid to attend.
A way to increase a student’s chances of getting into Harvard is through their extracurricular activities and personal references. Glowing references from the director of a charity where the student has donated time, or from a U.S. government official whose re-election campaign the student volunteered for, are all pluses for Harvard. Personal recommendations from senators and other government legislators carry a certain prestige.
Visit the school. An excellent opportunity for networking and meeting teachers is by participating in Harvard's Summer Program, which is open to incoming high school seniors. Students with excellent academic records have the best chance of getting accepted into this program, but the networking opportunities are the greatest. The program takes place at Harvard and it allows students to meet and become acquainted with Harvard faculty. Students that are proactive may also come away with faculty recommendations at the end of the term to add to their Harvard admissions package.