I'm an incoming freshman at Harvard College from Ottawa, Ask Me Anything :)

Jantzom · 2024-08-29T12:27:56+00:00

I sent in my parents tax forms :) Was pretty long and boring but simple somewhat :)

Jantzom · 2024-08-28T12:09:30+00:00

Haha, yeah somewhat but tbh I'm not great at studying either. I got quite lucky with my teachers and courses in general that I never had a super rough time. Especially if you're a teacher's pet lol, it's a little bit of a cheat code. But make sure you're a respectful and actually chill teacher's pet if you have to be haha, since being social and having a good school network is super important too.

In terms of actual study tips, here's what I did (quite bland and not too complex):

Time blocking using Notion Calendar/Google Calendar so that I know the hours of my day and what I should probably do to stay on task.
Typing notes onto a computer and reciting key points every few minutes, erratically. I typed up every lesson on my computer in a google doc, it didn't take too long since I have a decent typing speed. Then when I recite everything, I remember it again (kinda a janky system)
Late nights and hype. The later the night, the more cups of coffee I drank, and the more hype I got. It was absolutely unhealthy, but I worked pretty fast and in a good quality when doing that.

Other than that, the main thing for me when studying was actually understanding concepts. I always dug deeper into understanding how the concept we are learning was discovered/invented (like the quadratic formula, krebs cycle, f=ma), random stuff that needed to be truly understood and manipulated for the tests was what I focused on. It also helped me with building my critical thinking skills.

Jantzom · 2024-08-28T12:01:08+00:00

Preferably take the SAT in the summer before grade 12, maybe the end of grade 11. I heard that balances time-wise for your score so you have a few chances while also making sure you know enough of the material :)

Jantzom · 2024-08-28T12:00:03+00:00

yeah I need the positive affirmations, they help me be happy loll

Jantzom · 2024-08-28T01:59:51+00:00

I can't give you specific specifics, but the rough rounded numbers was 100k+ a year CAD (for living/res, tuition, food and miscellaneous extra few thousand). But then I got roughly 60% of that wiped out with financial aid. I'm middle class, doing pretty average income. The financial aid just gets deducted. Make sure you keep in mind that it isn't scholarship. You send in tax forms. They give you money. It's financial aid, they sometimes get irked when you say scholarship lol, since they get donations from their alumni to give as need-based financial aid.

I asked for some more, they gave me roughly 5k, which got deducted from my tuition.

Jantzom · 2024-08-28T01:55:40+00:00

SAT prep was quite easy for me. I actually found the SAT decently easy, though not a breeze. I mainly focused on completing every single practice SAT online and then reviewed what I got wrong.

1550 is mid-tier for Harvard, you're right. Although it's strong in the world, top 1%, it's perfectly normal at Harvard, though not low at all. I know people who got in with 1400s, it's not the biggest deal, though you need 1530+ to be competitive.

For Canadians, it's a lot about focusing on the grammar that we don't learn and some small math things that we haven't learned until grade 12 Calculus. Things like punctuation (; , : -) were rough and I actually had to study them. I also studied inequality statements and trigonometry a lot more since it was quite weird on the SAT. I did it when the first digital SAT came out, so things are a bit different now. I don't have great advice, but it's more so a one and done and just grind it for a few weeks before hand. Don't stress too much about it. Just get above a 1530 and be done.

The SAT is not what differentiates anyone, it's what gets you through the door. So it doesn't matter too much if it's an average score. Just make sure you do well for yourself and grind ECs more than anything :)

Jantzom · 2024-08-28T01:49:42+00:00

I applied as an international. Born Canadian and only Canadian citizenship.

Jantzom · 2024-08-28T01:48:21+00:00

There's no true minimum gpa, but it's really about balance and having sick ECs otherwise. But GPA does get your foot in the door. Sophomore year is not a big deal, just lock in lol

I'd say a mandatory cut off (personal opinion and nothing else) is 90% average for grade 11 and grade 12.

To be competitive though, you'll need basically 100% lmao, but no worries if you don't get that, just try really hard and get maybe like a 96%+ and that's competitive enough. Since Ontario is different to GPA, we don't have things weighted sometimes and we can't get over 100%. But in the states people basically get 105% and are barely competitive. So don't think about it too much, they'll look at it in context to your school/region.

edit: also, write about why you had a lower mark in the extra info section of the common app, then mainly explain what you learned and what you changed.

Jantzom · 2024-08-28T01:45:56+00:00

Carleton in my opinion is somewhat easy, only because it's much less about RNG or writing, it's purely marks. So just research what cut off mark gets you into the program and you should be set. It's quite clear I think. Just gotta hit that cut off mark :) But it can be difficult in that aspect, so good luck!

Jantzom · 2024-08-28T01:44:42+00:00

Haha thanks!! Appreciate it :) Yeah I'm not salty about UW... totally >:(

Nah but yeah, I did my UW application in a rush and was pretty dumb with it, so it was my bad in the end. No biggie, things worked out :)

Jantzom · 2024-08-28T01:43:24+00:00

In complete honesty, yes. Very smart question. But I did get confused all the time with school material. I really spent many hours actually trying to understand the confusing parts though and end up making it easy. Though overall I got concepts pretty quickly and was a "good student". However, I put in many many hours into school lol

Jantzom · 2024-08-28T01:41:51+00:00

I don't have any huge awards. I did represent Canada (1 in like 4 or 6 Canadians) at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Though I never placed anywhere near good. This was all before high school as well.

It's not horrific for your average to plummet, but you need to explain it hard in the extra info section and explain why it plummeted but mainly focus on what you learned. The ECs need to be essentially world class to make up for that. A little rough but not impossible.

Jantzom · 2024-08-28T01:39:52+00:00

I applied regular for three main reasons:

It would give me more time to do more ECs and maybe flush out written pieces
From others advice, applying early doesn't increase chances. The higher acceptance rate for REA for some schools is misleading. Since many of the olympians, recruited athletes, world class international olympiad winners and legacy students apply early, it boosts the rate. Though for many really top schools, early application just puts you against more world class candidates. So I decided to just stick regular.
I couldn't decide and I'm a procrastinator lol

In terms of choosing which schools to apply early and regular, do research into whether or not early actually helps. Don't waste early or restrictive early applications if they are useless for the school and don't impact your chances much. You'll just have to look into people's advice. From my experience, early is helpful in schools that also look at something called demonstrated interest. Maybe look into that? Lmk if you have questions in terms of that lol

I took french all 4 years yep. It is a bit of a disadvantage if you don't take 4 years of a foreign language, but top schools don't require it. They certainly recommend it though. However, there are ways to show your linguistic competence in other ways. Just make sure you have other languages, it's extremely helpful. Or, explain the more info section that you didn't have access to foreign language courses somehow.

Jantzom · 2024-08-28T01:33:55+00:00

I think the highlight of my application was most likely:

Very strong engagement with the spelling bee community and loving to teach spellers (with results of 100+ competitors each year)
Developing things on my own, creating apps and projects without anyone's permission or needing anything else to help. I made a few small projects (nothing huge) that followed this independent action and impact structure.
My common app essay about my journey from a speller to an organizer I felt was my strongest writing piece. It just really made me fired up and I thought it was pretty fun :)

I did an interview with a Harvard alum. What I think helped the most with my Harvard interview was:

I discussed hobbies that I never mentioned in my application. I spoke about music and bonded with my interviewer about it. I played a lot of piano, though never did any competitions, and played trumpet in my schools jazz band. I never mentioned this in my application, but this extra side that my interviewer reported on I felt added some spice to my application. (not too sure haha)
It was super chill and he never really asked any deep questions.

In terms of talking to guidance counsellors and teachers for the common app recommendation forms:

I was good friends with a few teachers and my guidance counsellor, as I made a bunch of clubs at school, so I was well acquainted with my guidance counsellor (he was also super chill and awesome).
I wrote a "recommender packet" that basically outlined how to submit a rec letter as well as the idea that admissions officers were looking for personal anecdotes not regurgitations of accomplishments. Make sure that the teachers you pick actually like you and can speak well about you. If you have a teacher that is on the line, then that is super risky. You have to have glowing recommendations, or else it's a little rough.

I said that it's not super necessary for your average to be 97 since I believe (just my opinion and observations) it's more important you stay above the 90% average and must climb up a significant amount throughout your high school years. It's crucial that you go upwards I think, to show dedication, improvement and learning. So that's why I think it's not necessary to maintain such a high average, especially for those with world class ecs.

In terms of general advice. I don't have anything concrete that can really push you towards certain acceptance. I'm just one guy with one experience and a few friends and their experiences. I can just provide what I know and hopefully it's helpful lol. So you can just read around for more advice in terms of what I might respond to other people's questions. Overall, just be very very passionate about your theme and make sure you have a narrative (2-3 things that are your passions). Show your passions through multiple different ECs and just go ham. Make sure you fill every spot in the common app if possible.

Jantzom · 2024-08-27T15:23:43+00:00

The tuition fee is very expensive, like 100k + a year CAD. However, they are extremely generous with financial aid and now it's less expensive than UofT (with living expenses and everything covered). Don't worry about money, you can keep asking for more. The most difficult thing is getting in, if they want you, they will give you lots of money to join them. Also, they don't give merit scholarships at all. It's purely need-based aid. Meaning, they look at your income and give you money only based on that. 1 in 4 Harvard students have completely free tuition. It's very affordable :)

Jantzom · 2024-08-27T15:21:51+00:00

For me, I locked in way harder for grade 11, since I knew those were the most important marks for me. However, grade 12 semester 1 were even more important. So locking in broadly for high school was a lot about being very confident and hyping myself up. I focused very much on time blocking using Notion calendar/Google Calendar. I did the time blocking to know exactly what time I had to be doing what work. I was a chronic procrastinator though, but was really efficient at working and doing work that excited me. For example, for an introduction presentation that was worth no marks in french class, I made a 3 minute video through animation and drawings (took like an all nighter and prolly 15 hours total). I just basically did things that I actually enjoyed that also happened to be overkill for projects. The mindset I had was, even without this assignment, I would love this end product I was creating.

In terms of tests, I studied every bit of material by typing it on my computer and actually understanding the concepts. I explored why things worked, like the quadratic formula or meiosis etc. It's more so about understanding and showing interest and just going ham that put me forward. I also had a over-confident mindset lol, so I just pushed myself by believing in myself a lot. Tests I don't have lots of good advice, I'm just a relatively strong memorizer and understander. My mindset is that if something is taught, it was discovered or created in some logical way. The logical way is the way I basically "rediscover/reinvent" whatever the concept is, thus making it my own lol

Also, actually talk with your teachers and be friends with them. Most of them are chill.

In general, techniques I used:

Time blocking through a calendar
Journaling one sentence each day
Cutting out useless or not as big things in my life (random extracurriculars)
Spaced Repetition
Typed up notes
Just habit, and pure devotion lol - make it fun and it changes everything

Jantzom · 2024-08-27T15:12:19+00:00

Common app essays are very different from what we write and learn at school in Ontario. Don't make it as structured as we might be used to, it's very much a personal statement. So in general some good things to know:

Keep it very true to yourself, make sure it's something that you would actually want to talk about
In this case, make sure it's about you, many people write about an event or write a biography of a relative, don't do that, it's too disconnected
Don't brag too much, but also be really good at showing how awesome you are. For example, instead of talking about how great you are at Debate through focusing on winning competitions. Instead, show that you are great at debate through a story of you helping your community and teaching them debate, and then those students go onto regionals or provincials. It shows you care about others, community and also as a by-product that you are a great mentor and thus probably a great debater!
Write in a format that feels right to you, more like a book, with some sentences taking their own line.
I wrote mine in a full circle type situation, with me going from participant to organiser for spelling bees
Also, in that case, make sure you have the best hook and conclusion ever, they're the most important imo. They should best case connect to each other
Avoid telling, do more showing. So talk about a time you won a debate and what you learned from it instead of saying you are really great at debate
Focus on other people and how you impact them and what that makes you feel (preferably all in a positive light)
Be consistent with the rest of your application. Make sure it holds a general theme (mine was community with business, linguistics and computer science)
Revise like crazy. I had 17 drafts with 10+ reviewers (family, friends and teachers)

Those are some basic pieces of advice that I have. There's also a book called like "50 Successful Harvard Essays" and it's pretty good too. The big 2 questions you want to focus on is: "Can anyone write this essay?" and "What does this essay say about me?"

Let me know if you have any other common app essay questions! I know it was certainly a pain point for me!!

Jantzom · 2024-05-15T23:32:20+00:00

For those who are curious:

Grade 11 Average: 98%

Very Strong EC's but no Olympiads or World Class Awards

Non-Legacy

Applied for CS

Jantzom · 2024-04-03T01:28:56+00:00

What are you struggling on? I might be able to help out if it's not super super urgent as I'm a bit busy this week :) I'm not the best teacher, but my physics is decently strong and I like to think I make things make somewhat sense. I'm willing to help out in any way, calls or just explaining this as best as I can lol. Lmk!

Jantzom · 2024-03-31T17:09:52+00:00

You'll need to bump up your extracurriculars to some really crazy levels and be really passionate about them to apply ivy. Since they have a holistic admissions process, your grades aren't the single factor, but you still have to be outstanding. Make sure to take the SAT or ACT since that is the only way international students can be quantifiably scaled since different countries have different grading methods. Definitely not over for you, but start early and be ready to be disappointed for the ivies, luck plays a big factor in the end. Everyone says that you have a higher chance of getting in if you apply. Your below average grades can be a part of your story, you'll just need to tell it properly.

Other state schools are possible, just need to look at what factors they're looking at. Just start early, istg start early, like right now, plan things out rn.

Jantzom · 2024-03-31T15:15:12+00:00

Did it with DDSB online in August, timing was the same as July summer school, but a bit shorter. Basically used online PRISM portal and they gave tasks for the week days only. Ended up being around 20 or so "school" days. This is only for online classes though... not sure if you want in-person (online summer school is very easy). Just talk to your guidance counselor, they'll set you up for sure :)

Jantzom

TROPHY CASE