Want to join an Ivy League school? Harvard graduate and content creator Avanti Nagral told Brut how it's done...
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00:00I studied science but instead of physics I took psychology. There is no right or
00:07wrong subject there's only the right or wrong subject for you. Namaste everyone
00:11this is Avanti and I'm an artist, singer and content creator and I just graduated
00:16from Harvard University in May of 2020.
00:21Should I take ISC, ICSE, CBSE, IB, the list goes on. Honestly it doesn't matter because
00:37at the end of the day there's people coming from all over the world and
00:40you're all going to be studying the same thing. What matters is that you take
00:45whatever the highest level of rigor is in your school. So if your school offers
00:50an AP exam then you should definitely take one or two. If they
00:53offer you know certain opportunities you should do that because they like to see
00:57if you have taken advantage of your school system.
01:04A lot of people have a misconception that you have to be a STEM student to get in and
01:09that's not at all true. I studied science but instead of physics I took psychology.
01:12Some of the other people who've gotten into these incredible schools have taken
01:16arts, commerce, it really doesn't matter. What matters is you are studying
01:20something you know you will do well at because they care about your grades and
01:24that you genuinely love so you can show and demonstrate that passion.
01:32A lot of people are scared when they hear the word extracurriculars because
01:37they think, oh I should rank national in the Olympics. Honestly it really does not
01:43matter what you do, that's the biggest misconception. So whatever it is that you
01:48love to do, say you love to dance, you love to sing, you love to do whatever it
01:51might be, figure out how can I take that to the highest level with the resources
01:56available to me.
02:01In the essay, it of course has to be well written but the main thing in this essay
02:07is conveying who you are as a person as opposed to what you do. They don't want
02:12to see your CV, they want to see you as a person.
02:18The price changes a little bit every year but it's approximately 60,000 US
02:23dollars which is a lot of money. Colleges like Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Yale and
02:29a few others are what they call need-blind for international students
02:32which means if you apply and if you get in, they will provide as much aid as you
02:38need based on your family income. So let's say they think your family can
02:42afford 50% of the tuition, they'll provide 50%. Let's say they think you can
02:46provide zero, they will provide 100%. But I do want to put out an important
02:50disclaimer. Studying abroad is a good option but that by no means makes you
02:57superior or necessarily more successful. Success is based on you, the hard work
03:02you put in and your own journey, no matter what your path is.