Harvard-bound locals offer insight on admission

Taylor Yi and Linda Ge just graduated from Westview High School at the top of their class.

They’re both headed to Harvard, where they will most likely continue with the heavy academic scheduled that got them there.

So, do they plan to focus on fun and relaxation this summer? Not entirely.

Both Yi and Ge want to help high school students accomplish their Ivy League dreams.

Together, Yi and Ge — 2007 valedictorian and salutatorian at Westview — are holding a one-week seminar to help high school students prepare for the college application process.

The seminar will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. beginning on Monday, July 23 through Friday July 27. It will be held at the Hua Mei Chinese School, 3337 Industrial Court in San Diego.

They’re charging $288 per student and limiting the class to 25 people.

“A lot of people in the past have asked me, ‘How did you go through high school?’” Yi said. “I thought that since so many people have asked me, I might as well make some money out of it.”

Yi said he will probably use whatever money he gets for college.

Based on their track record alone, both Yi and Ge appear to have mastered the college application process.

Yi applied to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Duke, the University of Pennsylvania and UCSD and UC Berkeley.

He got into all of them except the Pennsylvania school, where he was put on the waiting list.

Ge, meanwhile, applied to many of the schools Yi applied to, and also to Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth and MIT.

She received acceptance letters to 12 of the 14 schools where she applied.

Combined, they were awarded more than $200,000 in merit-based scholarships.

The seminar will cover topics including what to do in high school to stand out from other college applicants; time management skills; the college application process; scholarship tricks; interviews and testing techniques.

Yi said good essay writing skills are very important. Yi said he edited his essays several times and asked his teachers to read them.

“The numbers can tell you a lot about a person, but to get them to know who you are you really need a good essay,” he said.

Yi also suggests that students get to work on college applications early.

“I had my application done a month in advance,” he said. “A lot of people were scrambling to get them done at the end.”

For more information about the seminar, e-mail sdcollegeseminar@gmail.com.