The Blue & White

by Janely Sanchez


Crystal Castro, a senior at Methuen High School, has recently been accepted into one of the best colleges in America–Harvard University. The Editor-in-Chief for The Blue & White, Crystal has been producing and editing articles since her freshman year. We are all extremely proud of her and her accomplishments, and this interview asked her questions about her acceptance into the prestigious Harvard program. Congratulations Crystal, and good luck!


Q: What’s your major?


A: “Human Developmental & Regenerative Biology, and I am also interested in Political Science.”


Q: What made you decide to send an application to Harvard?


A: “When I was younger, I kind of thought of Harvard as ‘The School’, like I got to apply! There was a point during my summer of junior year where I read a book that advised against applying to Ivy Leagues—and for a little bit I was not going to apply, but then my parents wanted me to apply because I’ve always wanted to go and it’s local, in Massachusetts. I wanted to stay local for college. I also got the Harvard Book Award as a junior, and that also encouraged me to apply. To be honest, I didn’t think I was going to get in, so I wasn’t putting my life on it. I was able to get an interview with a Harvard alumnus who graduated in the 1980’s when he reached out to me.” 


Q: What was your immediate reaction to being accepted?


A: “Here’s the story. Ivy Day was also Future Freshman night so I was running a table for BIPOC and to advertise the club to the freshman. At 7 PM, the results came and we were all in the halls and all my friends also applied to Ivy Leagues and were getting their results—but my parents wanted me to wait to get home to open it so I just watched my friends open theirs. Once I got home, I didn’t want anyone around me if I got rejected and I would get all sad and embarrassed, so I ran to a corner in my kitchen while my mom and boyfriend were in the living room, waiting. Once the decisions were released—I looked at the status update and I saw confetti! I went to my living room and showed my family and I kept on repeating ‘No way I just got into Harvard!’ It still doesn’t feel real, I still haven’t processed it to be honest.” 


Q: What programs, classes, opportunities or awards do you think made it possible for you to be accepted?
 A: “This is a good question, because I actually thought about this when I got the decision, I was actually thinking about this, like what made them want me? For a Harvard applicant, I didn’t believe my stats were anything out of this world. “I’m second in my class, Salutatorian. I have a 4.659 GPA, I’m Editor-in-Chief of The Blue & White, [and] a BIPOC Officer for three years. I’m not a complete straight A student. My SAT was incredibly below average for an Ivy League applicant. Usually, Ivy League applicants typically range to 1500’s to 1600’s, [and] I got around to the 1300’s.

“As for my [Advanced Placements], I’ve taken 11 AP’s. I’ve only reported my AP Lang., my AP Gov., and my APUSH scores which were 4’s and 5’s; 4 in APUSH and 5’s in Gov. and Lang. I withheld my 3’s in my science AP’s, which I thought would be red flags for them because I’m majoring in Regenerative Biology.

“But what I think helped the most was my interview–it played the biggest role in my application. What I’ve heard is that they look at the applications and decide whether or not it has potential for an interview. I was actually really nervous about the interview, I expected all the questions to be about Harvard—but when I actually had it, it was a genuine conversation about myself. [They were] trying to know who I was personally, [asking] “Who Is Crystal?”. I emphasized BIPOC and my work with that, how I’ve been in BIPOC for four years and my passion for activism [which] started with the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the revival of the Black Lives Matter movement. I stated that those things about me were what set me for high school.

“My personal statement was about how my curly hair is a symbol of my pride for my Puerto Rican heritage. My application had a very cultural theme and I tied in the Science aspect and I talked about health disparities faced by people of color and the things we talk about in BIPOC. I do believe they could see my passion and activism through that and that was possibly intriguing to them.

“It’s not always just your statistics, it’s also your passions and goals. It’s all about being honest with them. One of the questions was literally, “what are some things you would tell your roommate?” and I just said I loved vanilla scented lotion! I wasn’t trying to make them believe I was someone that I wasn’t—I wasn’t trying to sound overly pretentious, or like ‘a Harvard person.’ I was just being myself.”

Q: Any advice for other students?


A: “My biggest advice is, if you are a freshman, branch out as much as you can, explore as many clubs as you can handle—don’t overwork yourself but tackle all the things that interest you. Then, when sophomore and junior year comes, you can pick which ones you are truly passionate about because I think it’s better to do something you have a genuine interest for rather than doing something that will make you look good. You will perform better and be more motivated to do something you actually care about.

“My freshman year I was in so many clubs, like two clubs a day. I was trying to figure out what I was interested in, [and] this also included sports. By the time I got to my junior year, I really picked two clubs, The Blue & White and BIPOC, the ones I could really commit to. I recommend having great relationships with my teachers, they are the ones who are going to write your letters of recommendation, and you might go to Harvard!”