Getting Into Harvard Month-By-Month: October

Each month, I will discuss the steps you should take that month to be successful in applying to colleges. For a discussion about last month, check out the September post.

Freshmen

Hopefully you have gotten settled into your classes by now and found an activity or two to join.

• Start looking into scholarship opportunities. You have relatively more time to do this now, and winning a few of these will not only look good on your application, you will also get some money to help pay for college.
  
• Be active in the extracurricular groups you joined. Try to spend one or two weekends a month either participating in tournaments or whatever activity it is that the group is involved with.
  
• Study hard! Your grades this semester count as much as any other towards your GPA. Colleges will not discount your grade just because it was your first semester in school.
  

Sophomores

The pace has probably picked up a bit by this point. Here are a few pointers:

• Continue looking into what you need to do to take the PSAT exam this year. Start preparing for it by learning vocabulary, taking practice exams, or even signing up for a test prep course.
• It is never too early to look into summer programs. Summers are nice way to have significant experiences outside of school that also look good on an application. Many colleges, including Harvard Summer School, also run summer school programs that you may be eligible for.
• Good luck on the PSAT!
  
• Study hard!
  

Juniors

Ah, juniors. This is the money year. This is the year in which a majority of your college application will be finalized. Good luck!

• If you are taking the SAT this month, good luck! If you signed up for January or May, keep studying when you have free time.
  
• Good luck on the NMSQT! Being a National Merit Scholar is definitely a big plus on your application.
• Try to keep up with your extracurricular activities.
  
• If you have teachers you liked and whose classes you did well in in previous years, go back and touch base with them. Tell them about interests and goals, with an eye towards perhaps asking them for a letter of recommendation down the road.
  

Seniors

Senior year can simultaneously be both very rewarding and very stressful. Just have a plan in mind, and things will be fine.

• Start preparing the Common Application for Harvard if you have not already.
• Start contacting teachers about recommendation letters. It is probably best to have teachers from diverse subjects, like an English teacher and a Biology teacher. Even better are teachers who can speak to your academic abilities as well as your extracurricular activities.
• Keep working on your personal statement (or get started!). This will take much longer than you expect to write! If you need help, there are many services that offer professional help with writing personal statements.
  
• Contact your local admissions representative with any questions you have about Harvard College or the admissions process. They can be your best friends throughout this process!

The November post is coming soon. If you are concerned about what you should have done last month, here is the September post.