My feedHarvard prospective students
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@Aaditya_Singh
1 answer, 5 votes
 • 4 years ago •
Harvard prospective students

im finishing 8th grade and wanna get into Harvard
Answered

Hi so im going into 9th grade rn and I wanna get into Harvard. There are probably people here who have done it before and I was wondering what all you did to get in. Also can someone explain to me what I can do for financial aid as my dad makes like 40k dollars a year. Am from Asia btw

2025
2
8
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3 answers

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Accepted Answer
@EliasMiller
expert
144 answers, 158 votes
 • 4 years ago[edited]

@Aaditya_Singh I just want to add on to some of the good advice you got below. Building a strong extracurricular resume (having an "extracurricular spike"), getting perfect grades, and earning perfect or near perfect scores on standardized tests are good ways to make sure you have a shot at Harvard. I believe these things along with some very focused essays were what helped me get into Harvard.

In terms of scholarship money, Harvard is one of the very few schools in the U.S. that provides full-need-met, no-loan need-based financial aid to all students! So long as you are accepted, Harvard will do its best to ensure that you and your family can afford the cost of attendance (including not just tuition, but also room & board and even travel and miscellaneous expenses), no matter what country you come from and what high school you attended.

2
4
@katyazag
11 answers, 23 votes
 • 4 years ago

Hey! I'm so glad that you're already starting to think about college so early on in the game!

Definitely focus on building up your extracurriculars. Think about what you might want to major in, and start finding activities that align with that major. For example, if you want to major in biology on a pre-med track, look for organizations that volunteer in hospitals. Colleges also love applicants with leadership skills, so start a club at your school or gain a leadership position in a preexisting club! Overall, they want to see initiative, passion, and leadership.

Also work on keeping up your grades and trying your best on standardized tests. Take the most challenging courses available to you, and don't be scared to try new subjects!

In terms of financial aid as an international student, that can be really tough. Top universities like Harvard have great resources for low-income students and will give full rides to low-income students who live in the United States, but they don't tend to give full rides to international students. Keep working towards strengthening your Harvard application for now, and look more for sources of funding in the next few years.

4
[🎤 AUTHOR]@Aaditya_Singh4 years ago

I wanna do law so how do I go about that?

@EliasMiller
expert
4 years ago

There are many ways to go about doing law. You can study essentially anything in high school and college and then go to law school. You don't necessarily need to say anything about wanting to become a lawyer in your college applications. If you want to build your college applications around your eventual desire to go to law school and/or you want to start developing the skills you'll need as a lawyer now, I'd recommend the following:

@EliasMiller
expert
4 years ago [edited]

Take some challenging classes that involve a lot of reading and reading (for example, AP World History, AP English Lang, AP English Lit, AP US History, etc. If your school has an AP Capstone/Research program, that can be great as well). Take challenging classes that involve quantitative/logic skills (for example, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, AP Calculus, AP Statistics, etc.).

@EliasMiller
expert
4 years ago

Take other challenging classes that may directly help you in your work as a lawyer (for example, AP Psychology & AP U.S. Government and Politics).

3
@Aaditya_Singh
1 answer, 5 votes
 • 4 years ago

Thanks @EliasMiller and @katyazag u both were really helpful and I think I know how to go forward.

3
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SAT: 720 math
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