international education
campusreview.com.au
Harvard bound
Corbin Duncan is headed to Harvard in August. Photo: supplied
As Ivy League colleges diversify, a native
of Mackay, Queensland, describes
what it’s like to gain admission.
By Loren Smith
T
his year, Harvard admitted a record high 20.3 per cent
of students from modest or low-income backgrounds.
Also, for the first time in a decade, a majority
(50.1 per cent) of its admissions were female. There’s even an
argument that it’s becoming so diverse it’s sidelining merit in its
admissions process.
Swept up in this wind of change is Australian and incoming
Harvard undergraduate Corbin Duncan. Hailing from Mackay,
a small city on Queensland’s northern coast, he never expected
to study at the venerable Ivy League institution.
“I applied to Australian universities with the expectation of
attending one of them,” the former St Joseph’s College, Nudgee,
student said. After applying to Harvard thinking it was a long shot,
he was shocked to receive an admission offer.
His entry to the globally top-ranked university is more profound
considering neither of his parents went to university. In fact,
his father dropped out of school in Year 10 to pursue a mining
apprenticeship in the Bowen Basin.
Ironically, his father’s story is what helped him impress Harvard
admission officers. In one of many application essays, he wrote
about his family’s move from Mackay to Brisbane just before
the economically crippling mining downturn, and how this got him
politically engaged.
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“[It] taught me a lot about voters’ disenchantment,” he said.
“It also allowed me to focus on moments in my life that have really
shaped who I am.”
This, he said, is the key to a successful Harvard admission essay.
You needn’t be disadvantaged, but you must demonstrate how
you’re “following your passion in new, innovative ways”.
So, what is Duncan’s passion? There are two: politics and
economics. He is spending his ‘mini gap year’ working for a local
councillor until he moves stateside in August. At Harvard, he
intends to focus on macroeconomics, while concurrently studying
democratic structures.
“For example, the difference between republics and the
Westminster system, prime ministers versus presidents,”
he explained.
“[Harvard] has thrown more doubt into my career path
because it unlocks so much more potential,” he said. A first-
world problem – one likely shared by the several other Australians
who were recently offered admission to six of the eight Ivy
League universities, with the help of education consultancy
firm Crimson Education. Their success is amplified in the
context of record-low admission rates for these institutions, due
to increasing applications.
Nonetheless, Duncan thinks anyone interested in studying at
an Ivy League university should begin the year-long application
process, “even just for the experience of self-discovery”.
“I’ve been really lucky. I’ve had a great upbringing and have
a nice family,” he acknowledged.
“It’s up to the individual to form their [application essay] story.
When you really dig in, you find out that everyone has a unique
reason for their passion.
“I absolutely encourage all to apply.” ■