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The following story comes from a student we interviewed for the first edition of our book Get Into Any College: Secrets Of Harvard Students. We were collecting what we called "Stories From Real Life," short personal narratives to give readers a chance to learn from students who had gone through the admissions process and to hear about their experiences in their own words. Eugene, who at the time was an undergraduate, insisted that he had something important he wanted to tell college bound high school students. The following is his story in his words: I am living proof that you don’t have to be a superstar to get into Harvard. Although I went to a competitive high school, I was far from being an outstanding student. Unlike my friends who had perfect 4.0s, my report card was littered with “B’s.” I did get “A’s,” but still my transcript was nothing to get excited about. I got average SAT scores. They weren’t terrible, but they weren’t great either. I was a member of a few groups although my highest position was secretary for my school’s public service club. I have to admit that when I filled out my college applications even I was shocked at how “average” I was on paper. My only chance I felt was to work really hard on the essay and hopefully get good teacher evaluations. I don’t know what my teachers wrote, but it must not have been that bad. I was the kind of student who always tried hard. I also spent a lot of time on my essay and must have written and rewritten it a dozen or more times. But still nobody ever imagined that I would get into Harvard. Was everyone shocked when April came. Even I was stunned when I opened the acceptance letter. In fact, soon after I arrived at Harvard my roommates and I had a late night discussion about how we got in. We began to compare SATs, grades, and anything else to see why we were chosen. When I told them what I had gotten they couldn’t help but tease, “How in the world did you get in?” It was pretty obvious that it was not my grades, scores or activities that got me in. I think I owe it mostly to my essay and evaluations. My point is not that admissions is arbitrary (I think the opposite is true), but I hope all of you who are thinking about applying to Harvard will not be discouraged just because others have better grades, higher scores, or are more active in clubs or sports. As I found out, it’s not a prerequisite for you to be School President, valedictorian, and football team captain all at the same time to get into Harvard. Harvard does take normal people too. At first I was embarrassed at how low my scores and grades were in comparison to my roommates. But now I freely admit my “averageness.” And Harvard must know a little something about success since I have consistently gotten better grades than my roommates who, based on their high school records, are far more outstanding than I. -Eugene, who recently graduated from Harvard and is still normal.
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