Harvard Applicant Profile: Leadership Potential / Underserved Minority

Today's Harvard Applicant Profile is the leadership potential / underserved minority. Harvard has in recent years placed an emphasis on creating a diverse student body. This post is not meant to be a critique of those policies, but rather a statement of the reality they create. Under such policies, students are actively recruited from underserved groups, primarily for their leadership potential. Please note that underserved groups range across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic spectrums. Furthermore, leadership potential extends beyond politics to mean leadership within communities, be they social communities or academic ones. In other words, a poor Caucasian male student from the Deep South who is an Eagle Scout fits this profile as well as a well-to-do Pacific Islander female student who is interested in botany.

Why lump these together? Basically, this profile is for students who are unique due to their backgrounds and experiences, and who can hopefully take away from Harvard a broad, world perspective to advocate for their interest groups. They will serve as a voice for their communities in the future is the hope.

Clearly, either you fit this profile or you don't, and there isn't much one can actively do to change that. However, for those of you who have "non-traditional" backgrounds, i.e. didn't go to prep schools, don't have connections, don't have any particular talent, don't think that Harvard is out of your reach. If you have performed well academically in an environment where the odds were against you, Harvard may very well be interested in having you join its student body.

Next time, I will discuss the applicant profile that probably fits most people visiting this blog: the academic.

Who Should Write Your College Recommendation Letters?

Recommendation letters are an important part of the application process, but not necessarily for the reasons you might think. The letters may not 'make' your application (your standardized test scores, grades, and other accomplishments will), but they can break your application. A poor recommendation letter really stands out since most recommendation letters are written from someone who strongly supports the applicant and writes a strongly positive letter. Therefore, it is important to get letter writers who you are confident will write you a strong letter.

A few pointers on recommendation letters (including the usual advice, in case you have not already read it):

• Get letter writers who know you personally. A personal anecdote detailing how you show leadership or how you are talented goes a lot further than someone simply regurgitating your resume in letter form.
  
  
• Find letter writers who can speak to different strengths of yours, especially if your application is heavily tilted towards one field. For example, if you are strong in the sciences, you should definitely get one letter from a biology or chemistry teacher. However, your other letter should be from an English teacher or history teacher or track coach, showing another dimension of your personality and talents.
  
  
• Ask EARLY. Popular letter writers often get swamped with requests, and may only be able to write a certain number of letters before the deadlines you have to meet.
  
  
• Help them help you. Provide them with a resume detailing all your accomplishments as well as any other material necessary to complete the letter (this includes stamped and addressed envelopes if necessary).
  
  
• In addition to providing background material, ask the letter writer if you could talk to them for a few minutes (or just do this when you hand them the materials). Tell them what you want said in the letter. Discuss what your plans and goals are. Trust me, it will help them write a more coherent narrative about who you are.
  
  
• Seek out advice from the class above you about who good letter writers are. Good letter writers are enthusiastic, punctual, and willing to discuss your letter with you.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

Harvard Applicant Profile: Artistic Talent

Today's Harvard Applicant Profile is the artistic talent. If you are not a legacy or an athlete, perhaps you are a world-renowned artist. While the arts may not be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Harvard, the University actually has a strong presence in many artistic fields. The Office for the Arts at Harvard documents the many arts-related events occurring at Harvard. Students can participate in many art-related projects inside their courses and out. These projects are often presented at the annual ARTS FIRST festival, held each spring.

Many talented artists are Harvard alumni, including various authors, artists, musicians, directors, and actors. Famous alumni include:

Mira Nair

John Lithgow



Jack Lemmon


Yo-Yo Ma



Matt Damon

and


Natalie Portman

What does all this mean to you as an applicant? Well, if you are a world-class talent, congratulations! You're in! But, even if you are not, that's okay. If you are a superlative talent in a particular well-known field (ex. playing the violin) or if you have a unique artistic talent (ex. playing the tabla), you will certainly stand out from the crowd. However, you will still require good academic credentials. Furthermore, if your main 'argument' for why Harvard should accept you is your artistic talent, it had better be something very noteworthy. This is not meant as discouragement, but rather merely a statement of fact. Many students at Harvard are artistically talent; it is the rare few who are there primarily because of that talent.

Next time, I will discuss the Leadership Potential / Underserved Minority profile.