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HACKING HARVARD:
You don't need to be brilliant. You just need a plan.
The Hack:
Get one deadbeat, fully unqualified slacker into the most prestigious school in the country.
The Crew:
Eric -- the good guy, the voice of reason.
Max -- the player with the most to lose.
Schwarz -- the boy genius on the inside
Lex -- the little miss perfect valedictorian who insists on getting in the game.
The Plan:
Break into the Ivy League. Don't get distracted.
Don't get caught.
The Stakes:
A lot higher than they think.
Click here to read an excerpt of Hacking Harvard
Click here to learn about how I got in and how to get yourself in |
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| FAQ |
Q. Did you go to Harvard?
A. Yes.
Q. How did you get in?
A. I have no idea. No, seriously, I realize that's completely unhelpful, but it's the truth. When I was in high school, I read pretty much every 'how to get into college' guide in existence, which was enough to convince me that no one gets in anywhere. So when the acceptance letter arrived, no one was more surprised than me. In college, there was always a rumor that you could go to the admissions office and take a look at your application, complete with admissions officers' comments. I always wanted to do it...but never did. Maybe because I was afraid of what I'd find! (Every year a few people have got to get admitted by mistake, right?) |
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Q. Was it your first choice school?
A. No -- for most of senior year, I was convinced I was going to Brown. I had the sweatshirt, the windshield sticker, the heavily thumbed course catalog, everything.
Q. How did you stay sane senior year?
A. Barely. But it helped that my friends and I rented "How I Got Into College," the greatest college applications movie ever made, over and over again. Highly recommended. |
Q. Can I use the info in Hacking Harvard to hack Harvard?
A. Um, no. Not recommended.
Q. Is the character of Lex based on you?
A. Sort of. I'd like to think I wasn't nearly that ruthless or obnoxious, but I was definitely just as stressed and obsessed, if not more. Unlike Lex, I didn't sell my soul to some losers from the other side of town -- also unlike Lex, I didn't hook up with the class pranksters and find out how it felt to break the rules. |
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Q. Do you have any advice that might actually be helpful?
A. Not only do I have one piece of advice, I might even have three. First -- like those annoying commercials say, the more you know...the better off you'll be. Unfortunately, college admissions is a game. Fortunately, that means you have a big advantage if you figure out the rules. Second -- get someone you trust to proofread your application. (For evidence of why that's necessary, see below.) Third -- and this may sound like it contradicts the first -- be yourself. Don't be afraid to show off your real personality in your essay and your interview. Don't think you can game the system and turn yourself into the person the admissions committee wants you to be. You can't. They're onto you. |
Q. What's the dumbest mistake you made while applying to college?
A. I applied to college back in the stone age, when you had to submit applications by snail mail. Each application came with space in which you could handwrite your essay, but everyone knew you were supposed to type it up and then just write "see attached" in the big empty space. Which is exactly what I did. Except that I wrote "see ATTATCHED." On every single application. And, because I refused to show my applications to anyone, didn't catch the misspelling until after they'd all been sent out. When I realized -- or rather, when my father pointed out the mistake with a look of incredulous horror on his face -- I think they probably heard my screams all the way up in Cambridge.
More questions? email me! |
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| My Applications |
Yes, I went to Harvard. No, I didn't have to hack my way in.
(Although I'll admit, sometimes I was tempted to hack my way out . . .)
I've now been out of college longer that I was ever in it (scary!), but I still remember the applications process with fondness.
Um, make that fondness mixed with horror.
Most evidence of that era went straight into the trash, but I did manage to scavenge a few artifacts from the archives (aka my parent's basement). |
| Click on the image below to launch the gallery: |
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| Getting Yourself In |
When it comes to college applications, knowledge is power.
And it's pretty much the only power you've got, so probably want to get as much of it as possible.
(Just don't obsess. Not that I did...at least, not much.)
Hacking doesn't work in the real world. (Not unless you want to go to jail and/or end up a comic relief anecdote on the evening news.) But here are some things to help you get in the old fashioned way. |
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Fiske Guide to Colleges
Of all the guides, this one's always been my favorite. I still have most of it memorized.
Princeton Review Guide to the Best 366 Colleges
What's hot: Useful two page descriptions and plenty of stats. What's not: Annoying attempts to capture local color that feel like they haven't been updated since the 90s.
Admissions Confidential: An Insider's Account of the Elite College Selection Process, by Rachel Toor
Because knowledge is power. |
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The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, by the Yale Daily News Staff
Real students tell you what you really want to know.
Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College,
by Jacques Steinberg
Remember knowledge? Still power (especially, in this case, if you happen to be applying to Wesleyan...)
Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Drive Kids
You are not alone |
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| If you enjoyed Hacking Harvard... |
Must read:
If At All Possible, Involve a Cow:
The Book of College Pranks, Neil Steinberg
Crunch Time, by Mariah Fredericks
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie, by David Lubar
And when you’ve finished reading, make sure to hit your local video store (or mailbox) for:
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Must see:
Better Luck Tomorrow
How I Got Into College
Dead Man on Campus
Animal House
Revenge of the Nerds
PCU
Weird Science
Can’t Hardly Wait
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Orange County
The History Boys
Ocean's Eleven
Sneakers
The Italian Job
Kicking and Screaming*
Back to School
Road Trip
*the one starring Josh Hamilton, not the one starring Will Ferrell |
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