Expect sample conversations like "See, six Malaysians got into Harvard this year. Why you cannot?"
That said, we would like to congratulate all six students who will be part of the incoming Harvard College Class of 2026. As reported by The Star (which was updated to reflect six students).
Not to make you feel more inadequate but if you're wondering what extracurricular activites they pursued that pushed their application over the edge, Malaysian Harvard alumni and interviewer Nadiah Wan shared their exploits outside of the classroom in a Facebook post:
- Je Qin from Johor is involved in a variety of Astrophysics and Astronomy Olympiads -- while also coaching others.
- Ishant Shah from Penang is a national squash player who spends a lot of time with community work.
- Herman from Penang is a double bass player for the school orchestra and Chinese orchestra.
- Carisma from Sabah learned Kadazan herself and translated traditional songs and participates in the Model UN.
- Ee Jenn from KL led a fundraiser to raise flood aide for nine charities while participating in debate competitions and taking leadership roles in the Malaysian Youth Delegation and at the Model UN
- Editor's Note: While nothing was shared about Alyssa Yap's accomplishments, we know she's from Sarawak and interviewed in Singapore. We found a press release from Swinburne University that notes that Alyssa Yap Xin Yi, a Sarawakian won the WCS Malaysia and Swinburne Sarawak English microfiction challenge. She won first and second place in her age group of 13 to 15.
They beat out 61,220 students worldwide who applied and are among only 3.19% who were accepted, or 1,953 students who have the honour of being part of the incoming Harvard College Class of 2026.