Recruitment from Harvard? Why?

Question

I received a recruitment letter from Harvard College, but I have never understood why. I only have a 3.52 GPA, and 1720 total SAT score (at the time I received the letter). Sure, I play sports year round, and I have hundreds of community service hours, but honestly, I don't think it is anything particularly special. (At least not "Harvard special".)

So why in the world would Harvard want me to apply? I am asking, because I wish to exploit whatever it is they like about me, and make it the highlighting point on my application.

What factor is so important to Harvard that it outweighs my only average grades and test scores?

I come from a single parent household with three children, with a total income of about $72,000 before taxes. I live in California's S.F.Bay Area, and here, that is not wealthy at all.

Dear ******Mother,

I can assure that my recruitment letter from was indeed authentic. It did not ask me to provide any information, did not have the "fine print" you mentioned, and Harvard even sent me a follow up packet that included a copy of the paper Common Application and Harvard Supplement. I even showed the letter to my guidance counselor to verify it.
My grades may be mediocre, but I can assure it is because I am a slacker, not an idiot that can be fooled by faulty letters and advertisement schemes.

Thank you for the laugh though. I'll have you know that i was realistic and I did apply for state colleges.

Answer 1

..........how wealthy is your family?

Answer 2

This is indeed NOT a recruitment letter from Harvard but a slick advertising letter sent in the mail to many a college senior. I got the same one and my SAT was 1040 and GPA 2.9.

When you apply you will see that the signature line on the bottom below the fine print releases the Harvard "email industries" University your social security number and all kinds of information to several different industries that they can make money from.

It is a waste of time to fill this out. You may as well go to your local, state school and pursue your mundane plans as you will never, ever go to Harvard. Be realistic.

Answer 3

Sometimes selective colleges mail out information/recruitment packages to prospects because those prospects represent a segment of the population that is under-represented on campus. It would not hurt to call the admissions office, or whatever office sent you the packet to find out more.

Please be aware that given the highly selective nature of Harvard, they may be haughty, maybe even downright rude. It is also part of the New England behavior. Most people in the Boston area consider the rest of the country to be inferior. I hold a masters from an excellent university in the South and I still have people looking at me askance because I went to "one of those schools in the south".

If you want to find out a little more about what to expect out of people that go to Ivy League schools, watch "Scent of a Woman" with Al Pacino and Chris O'Donnell. Perfect depiction of the type of snobs that get to go there. After seeing it, I was glad I was already safely esconced in my charming southern school instead of being disappointed that I didn't even apply to some of the schools that sent me recruitment letters.