Harvard

They say the hardest part about Harvard is getting in. During the tour and info session I participated in, social life and extracurriculars were stressed and residence halls seem to be amazing. Virtually all students live on campus and have seemingly unlimited opportunities to participate in sports and clubs, attend lectures and concerts by the biggest stars, and get involved in organizations and events in Boston. Students take 4 classes per semester after the ‘shopping period’ that allows students to test-drive a class prior to finalizing their schedule and 97% graduate. No classes start before 9am, make that 9:07-‘Harvard Time’!

As far as the getting in part; it’s also reported that Harvard receives applications from enough valedictorians to fill their entire freshman class. Instead, they do take students from every state and around the world. They also need about 1500 athletes on campus to fill the rosters of their varsity and JV sports programs. So while they do accept about 10% of all applications overall, students from New York State who are not sports recruits probably have an even tougher time.

America’s oldest college is also the alma mater of several US presidents and famous alums too numerous to mention.