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- I grew up in Uruguay; my family couldn't afford tutors or consultants to help get me into Harvard.
- After hours of research, I taught myself about the college essay and Common App.
- Thanks to my own hard work and research, I got into Harvard.
When the pandemic was at its peak, the idea of studying seemed impossible for me. At that time I was living in a small town in the south of Uruguay, and I was working to financially support my parents, who had no income because of the quarantine.
I was aware that with our standard of living, achieving anything beyond graduating from high school would require at least something as impossible and distant as winning the lottery.
Applying to Harvard, for me, became just that: a lottery in which to occupy my quarantine time and feel that, however improbable, I had a modicum of control over my future.
I had to get into Harvard with no extra help
I knew parents in the US pay hundreds of thousands of dollars on consultants to get their kids into Ivy League schools. My family couldn't afford that.
I had to teach myself how to get into Harvard. I was left with a million online resources. Every day, I spent hours reading all the free resources online.
In a matter of days, I went from being an international student who didn't even know what the Common App was to an expert on personal essays, the ideal way to tell and choose your extracurriculars, and the absurd system of admissions statistics.
I learned how to write the perfect college essays by condensing my life — with my struggles and my desires — into two short essays and a list of extracurriculars that didn't seem to be enough. Still, I wondered how I could capture my life story on a piece of paper. How do I tell my story in a way that would demonstrate to 40 or so people on the other side of the world that I'm worth it?
Online communities became the support I was missing
Closer to the decision date, and before I submitted my own application, I became obsessed with reading the stories on College Confidential, an admissions forum where kids and parents go to ask one another questions. I turned to the forum for advice and guidance because I had no one else to turn to.
I asked the forum whether there was any possibility that a kid from Uruguay with no access to private tutors or consulting services would be able to get into Harvard.
"At least they will take a solid look at it," one person responded. "You have a strong backstory, make sure your application includes other aspects that make you seem a fit for their 'community.'"
The response left me with more questions than I had started with. It made me wonder whether all my research and all the work I put into my application would really make a difference.
My dream became a reality: I was finally accepted into Harvard
December 17, 2020, will stick in my mind as one of the best days of my life. The words "Welcome to Harvard" filled my computer screen as my eyes fought back tears. My parents and I stared in disbelief, wondering whether, in the next 30 minutes, someone would tell us that this was a bad joke and it would be just another pipe dream.
But in the end, we accepted it. On that day, I received a golden ticket to possibilities — changing my life and that of my family.
It was also the day I learned that even pushing back and attempting the seemingly impossible can be the key to achieving things that seem unattainable. I learned and became empowered by the power of my story, which is something that no consulting service could ever replicate.
Plus, I was infinitely grateful to myself — for encouraging myself to try, to be wrong, and to fail. I had no one by my side telling me whether I was doing everything wrong and doing the one thing that would cause my application to be discarded and forgotten.
But I kept believing in myself, and now I'm a Harvard student.