How to Hack a “Harvard”

Scholarships for Low Income Students at Elite Universities

I know you’re out there. The statistics prove it. While only a fraction of you actually applies to Harvard or Princeton, many more probably flirt with the thought then dismiss it’s too unrealistic, who would believe it, right? SAT records prove a much deeper pool of academically eligible low-income students than most educators would have us believe, or maybe no one expected, and expectations do play a part, don’t they?

The List

Here’s the list of colleges and universities, and it’s constantly growing, that provide full scholarships to academically talented low-income students (and you’re out there):

• Harvard
• Princeton
• Stanford
• Amherst College
• University of North Carolina
• University of Virginia
• Williams College
• University of Washington
• University of Chicago (starts Fall 2008)

One study showed that based on SAT scores, low-income students from over 10,500 high schools in the U.S. possessed scores that would make them eligible for Harvard’s admissions requirements, but that students from only 5,000 (that’s half, 50%) of those schools actually applied. If there was only 1 student counted from each of those schools, then over 5500 students chose something else.

Why?

Deeper factors contribute to the college choices made by underserved students, factors like family and parental opinions, even self-perception.

See Yourself to a Free and Elite Degree

1. Picture Yourself [ here], now fill in the blank with one of the names off that list right up there. Imagine yourself everyday on that campus; get a real good picture in your mind. Call or write for the catalog and cut out pictures of the campus & pin them up in your room, tape them to the fridge.

2. Reach out and contact someone on the campus. For example, many colleges and universities have student and faculty bloggers. Logon and ask questions, post a comment, become engaged with a piece of the college life. In the case of faculty blogs, this is an excellent way to make an academic contact, a possible mentor and someone who may be able to actually lend some gentle guidance and advice. A couple blogs I quickly found:

• A Harvard Economics Professor
• The Amherst Chirp
• Stanford School of Medicine student blogs

Just a few ideas… Take your catalog, your admission form, and contact information to your high school career counselor and tell him or her to picture you [ there].

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