Does my DD have a chance at Harvard?

[Anonymous]

She’s a Freshmen and has had her heart set on Harvard since she was in 7th grade. She’s very bright. Straight A student, involved in band, student council and tennis. But her school isn’t the best and her father and I are geniuses.

Her guidance counselor says she has a chance if she works hard but can public school kids get into a school like that? She’s in a SAT prep class and a volunteer program to help prep for applying.

[Anonymous]

lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:lol

So no?

[Anonymous]

No. She doesn't really because she should already have a splinter skill that she can hoist to the national level (art, sports, whatever it is). Straight As in all her high school's hardest classes and a near perfect ACT or SAT is just buying the lottery ticket.

You should have nipped this "dream school business" in the bud as soon as it appeared, OP. Parenting fail.

[Anonymous]

there are thousands of kids just like her! She can always try!

[Anonymous]

This depends on a lot of stuff.

Schools like Harvard really favor rigor. So is she taking hard courses? AP options? Progressing in math and languages beyond what's just required?

It sounds like she's involved, which is good. Colleges like you to demonstrate interest in certain thing: have her continue to engage, but if she can, find ONE thing to focus on and volunteer, get an internship, etc... Have her meet with her counsellor and internship coordinator Sophomore year to tell them her plans (perhaps this year with her counsellor, when she's choosing courses.)

She will need high test scores. You do not need to pay expensive test prep companies. Online Khan Academy is good. Motivated bright kids can self-study that and if they are disciplined and do it a lot they tend to do very well. Have her sign up for mock tests (like Mock SATs and ACTs and the PSAT 10 next year) - her counsellor should be a resource for this.

Ignore the poster who LOLed at you. I assume you meant "her father and I aren't geniuses."

Finally, teach her there are a lot of schools that are good. She doesn't need to go to Harvard. It is most important to find a good fit. And even if she does everything very good and right, Harvard STILL might not accept her (it's a lottery at a certain point).

[Anonymous]

What’s her hook? You’ve described approximately 10% of all the kids in public school so her odds of getting in based on what you have written is much lower than 1%.

[Anonymous]

SAT prep in 9th grade? If she needs that much help it's probably not going to happen.

Sure she has a chance, but like any strong applicant it's a miniscule chance.

Love that you and your DH are geniuses but Harvard doesn't care about that unless you actually went there. They are looking at your DDs app, not your IQ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:can public school kids get into a school like that?

In 2019 the Harvard Crimson reported that 63% of students came from public schools so apparently, yes public school kids can get in.

[Anonymous]

Of course public school kids go to Harvard and every other top school. The problem is there are more qualified students than there are seats.

[Anonymous]

Maybe? Perhaps if she is at an underprivileged low income public school that will give her a small boost. Also if you happen to be in North Dakota or another underrepresented state, a small boost. Or applying through Quest Bridge.

But there is a slim chance for all of the very best students applying.

[Anonymous]

I would explain to her that the very top schools in this country are basically a lottery. If you have absolutely superb grades, test scores, extracurriculars, and essay, that simply buys you a lottery ticket. So if you qualify, go ahead and buy the lottery tickets to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford. You might get lucky!

But find schools she likes that don't operate like this to apply to as well.

Find out why she is drawn to Yale. If it's just the idea that it's the "best", start telling her now that there is no one best school for everyone and college is way more what you make of it. If it's something else about Yale that she is drawn to, find other less selective schools that meet those criteria. They absolutely exist, she just hasn't heard of them yet.

[Anonymous]

No if she needs SAT prep class.

[Anonymous]

So she can apply and see. Realistically she won’t get in though—no hook.

But, beyond that, she’s going to need to readjust her thinking significantly or the college app process will just bring her misery. My oldest is a junior and (though your daughter is great) has a lot more going for him. We really sat down and thought about what he wants to get out of college and even things like state/climate/sports teams/school atmosphere. For example, his school sends several kids to both Cornell and Carnegie Mellon each year and I’m confident he could get into one or both, but he won’t be applying to either because though prestigious, he’s not going to be happy on those campuses.

To this end, we’ve been curating a list now anchored by a school that should be an easy admit for him that he’s really excited about…plus some schools that he should get into, plus some reaches. All selected on what’s best for him as a person, not which school is the best.

Try to detach from the rankings, it’s going to be ok.

[Anonymous]

Just know that 95% get rejected and they have thousands of amazing applications to choose from.

Is there a chance? Yes. But there's a reason people talk about applying to top schools like it's akin to buying a lottery ticket.