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West over, Tara. Educated. Random House , 2018.

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Tara's father told her and her family about the Weavers. They, just like the Westover family, did not send their children to government schools because they did not want them to be brain washed. Apparently, the government  went to their house and got mad at them for not sending them to school so the police shot the father and child that went to look for his father. This terrified the family and made them want to isolate themselves from the rest of the world more.
" They're freedom fighters. They wouldn't let the government brainwash their kids in them public schools, so the Feds came after them." (chapter 1 page 9)

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Tara's dad believed that when the year 2000 hit the world would end. Tara's father prepared for the days of abomination by packing peaches in a mason jar and buying gold; because gold would be more valuable than money in the end. These preparations frightened Tara and she tried her hardest to prepare herself for "the days of abomination" but when 12:00 am on December 31 1999 hit nothing changed.

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Tara and her family were very religious people. They did not do many things like other people. The West over family was Mormon they believed that the government would brain wash their children if they sent them to school so the family "taught" their children at home. Tara's life purpose was to get married and have children. Tara did not want to get married because in their religion, her husband would have many wives and she would just be another wife to him and nothing else. Tara and her family did not go to a hospital or use medical medicine. Over the years, Tara and her family got very hurt to the point of life and death but they never let any of them go to the hospital. Tara believed that she was worth nothing because of how she was treated and looked at by her family.

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Tara listens to music with her brother Tyler 

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Tara listens to music with her brother Tyler 

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Tyler was the only family member who had decided to go to college. Tyler would listen to music with Tara every night, she loved listening to music and developed a love for it. Tara later started to sing, her voice was beautiful. Tara's singing made her interested in plays and musicals. She stared in many musicals and it became her hobby and connection to the real world outside of her mountain. Later on, Tara also went to college and she went to college to learn how to properly sing.

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Tara sees the other side to her brother Shawn  

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Tara sees the other side to her brother Shawn  

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Tara had seen that Shawn would mentally abuse his girlfriend Sadie. Shawn began to treat Tara like how he treated Sadie, when Tara did not go along with what he said he quickly became angry. Shawn grabbed a fistful of her hair and started to pull it leading her down the hall to the bathroom. Shawn was telling Tara to apologize to him but she refused. When Shawn got to the bathroom he put her hands behind her back and started to push her head inside the toilet and only let her come out when she apologized to him.
" He grabbed a fistful of my hair; a large clump, his grip fixed near the root to give him greater leverage and dragged me into the bathroom". (Chapter 12 page 110)

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Tara would get abused by Shawn all the time. She tried to take it as a joke because she did not want to feel the pain, she did not want Shawn to have the satisfaction of knowing that he caused her pain. Tara is called awful names by her brother and is constantly being humiliated. Tara's family members did nothing to stop it.

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All her life Tara was not allowed to go to school she knew nothing but what her father wanted to tell her. Her mother used to teach to her but when she got older her Father wanted Tara to work for him instead of doing school. All of Tara's childhood she would work for her Father in a dangerous environment full of harmful weapons that had injured her father and brothers countless times. When the abuse with Shawn was too much for Tara she decided that she needed to leave and get an education away from Bucks peak, Idaho.

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Tara talks to her brother Tyler who went to Brigham young university. Tyler explained to Tara that what she needed to take one test in order to be able to be accepted into a university, the ACT. Tara took a practice test for the ACT and scored very poorly so she started to study, she went out and bought textbooks and began to teach herself. After weeks of studying Tara went to take the ACT. It was the first time she had ever stepped inside a classroom, she was 17 years old and had never been inside a classroom, it was a strange environment for her . When she sat down she saw a bubble sheet where they had to record their answers she had never seen a bubble sheet before. Tara takes the test and scores a 22 but she needed at least a 27 to get accepted into BYU. She was on the verge of giving up but she decided to take it once again and she scored a 28.  " I  scanned down to the composite score. Twenty-eight. I checked it again. I checked my name there was no mistake". (chpt. 17 pg 148)

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Tara applies to the same school her older brother went to and she gets accepted, after a couple weeks it was time to go to school. Tara's mother took her to her new home. She was going to share an apartment with two other girls. When Tara met her two new roommates she was shocked, she saw their clothes and thought that they were too inappropriate and she could not look at them (the "inappropriate clothes were tank tops and tight track suits) . Everything was different there, she heard so much noises that she was never used to hearing like cars and traffic and people talking outside.

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Tara took the wrong bus on the way to her first day of class which made her arrive late. When she got to her class the lecture was almost over. When the professor  looked at Tara she told her that she did not belong there and Tara was close to confessing everything about her childhood and her not going to school. The teacher then told her that the class she had signed up for was for seniors and that her class was different one for freshman.
" this class is for seniors" 'she said 'there are classes for seniors ?' I said. (chapter 17 page 155)

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Tara's first couple of weeks in school were very difficult, because of what her father would tell her during her childhood she was ignorant to many things. One day, Tara was in class and they mentioned the holocaust she did not know what that was so she raised her hand and asked, this made people think that she was trying to make a joke out of it. There were many things that Tara did not know she was clueless to almost everything and everyone they mentioned so she would have to go home and do research on her own.

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As the time went on Tara began to learn more and more and her eyes were opened. Tara learned that the things her father told her and her family were all false and she began to think a different way then them. For instance, Tara grew up believing that taking medicine was unholy and bad for you because if God gave you pain then you had to deal with it, they also thought that the medicine that the government made was only going to harm you. Later on, Tara realized that medicine was only used to help you. " mother always said that medical drugs are a special kind of poison, one that never leaves your body but rots you slowly from the inside for the rest of your life". (chpt 21 page 183)

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When the semester ended Tara went back to her home in bucks peak Idaho. She was anxious because she would have to face her brother Shawn. When she returned her memories from BYU faded and she was back in the reality that she hated, working with her father picking up metal scraps and dealing with her ignorant family. Shawn calls Tara horrible names but the difference is that now Tara knows what those horrible words mean.
" the word and the way Shawn said it hadn't changed; only my ears were different. They no longer heard the jingle of a joke in it". (chpt 20 pg 181)

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Tara gets accepted to Cambridge university 

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Tara gets accepted to Cambridge university 

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In the first four years of Tara's education she had many ups and downs. In the beginning she did not know a single thing, she did not even know that to study for a test you needed to read the textbook she only looked at the pictures in them and tried her best. As the time went on Tara became a very intelligent young woman; she had entered the university at the age of 17. When she got her bachelors degree she applied to a program in the university of Cambridge at first she was rejected but then one of her professors wrote to the administrators at Cambridge and she was accepted.

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Tara really excelled at Cambridge she was a great student and had a close bond with one of her professors, professor Stein-burg. Although Tara excelled academically at Cambridge she still felt like an outsider around all those people. There were girls with wealthy families that dressed nicely and had gone to Europe 10 times but she was different she grew up isolated on a mountain. When professor Stein-burg read Tara's final essay he had said that it was one of the best he had read.
" ' I have been teaching Cambridge for thirty years'... "And this is one of the best essays I've read. (chpt 28 pg. 240)

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During her final days at Cambridge professor stein berg had asked Tara if she had ever considered going to Harvard. She thought about how she would pay for Harvard she didn't like using scholarships because she felt guilty but she still used them because she could not pay for school on her own. Tara told him she would like to go and the professor organized everything for her. When Tara arrived at Harvard for the first time she did not feel like an outsider, she felt like she actually belonged there which was a big change from all her other first day of school experiences.

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Over the years Tara's relationship with her family wasn't the best but she decided to tell them something that was troubling her for many years. Tara finally decides to tell her family about all the abuse Shawn had gave her. At first she told her mother and her mother told her that she believed her and she knew that her father would believe her too. This gave Tara a big relief she was so glad her mother believed her. Then, Tara went to go talk with her sister Audrey who told her that she had the same experience with Shawn and that she too would confess to her parents.
" it's being dealt with,' she said. 'I told your father what you and your sister said. Shawn will get help'". (chapter 31 pg. 272)

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When Tara heard that her mother believed her she became more confident, and she felt better with who she was. Tara went back to bucks peak. Tara's mother told her that her father believed her too and that he supported her. When the day came to talk to her father it all went the wrong way. At first, Tara went out with Shawn he was acting really nice she even thought he changed. When all of a sudden Shawn stopped the car and asked her if she had talked to her sister he then said that she was a liar and he would put a bullet in her head, this clearly terrified Tara. When Tara got to her house she went to talk to her dad, she told him everything but he just asked her if she had proof because if she did not then he could not believe her. Tara looked at her mother to back her up but her mother said nothing. Tara felt betrayed.
" Every time I suggested that Shawn was violent or manipulative in any way, dad shouted at me, 'wheres proof? Do you have proof?'". (chapter 34 pg 284)

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When Tara went back to Harvard she was shocked by what happened. She regretted ever telling anyone, other than her father not believing her when Tara asked Audrey to tell her dad that she experienced the same thing she denied everything. Tara's entire family stopped talking to her, they thought she was being possessed  by the devil because she kept telling them that she was telling the truth.  Until one day Tara doubted herself she stopped trusting herself and became depressed, she stopped studying and spent her days in bed watching TV she was a mess. She wrote to Shawn's ex girlfriends so that they could reassure her that he was evil but then she believed that they were lying as well, until one day she met with a man and he recognized her last name, Westover, he asked her if she was related to Shawn, he then said that Shawn almost killed his cousin by abuse and this is when Tara realized that she was right and not crazy. " ' well the last time I saw your brother'... 'he had both his hands wrapped around my cousins neck and he was smashing her head into a brick wall". (chapter 35 pg 295)

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Tara finally got her life back together. She had not seen her parents for years. Her mother refused to see her because Tara was not ready to see her father and Tara's mother said she would not go anywhere without her husband. Tara graduated from Harvard and earned her PHD she was now Dr. Westover, she had done it she did everything she ever wanted to do, she escaped her abusive home, got an education, became successful and she grew into a strong independent woman. Tara traveled and studied in different  countries around the world, she lived with her boyfriend in a flat in London. Tara did it she was now educated.

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A conversation with Bill Gates and Tara Westover

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Here's my book.
And some of the things people said about it.

"Beautiful and propulsive."
- VOGUE

★★★★ out of four
"A heartbreaking, heartwarming, best-in-years memoir."
- USA TODAY

"Alluring...courageous."
- NEW YORK TIMES

"An amazing story, and truly inspiring. It's even better than you've heard."
- BILL GATES

"Superb."
- THE TIMES

"Fit to stand alongside the great modern memoirs."
- THE SUNDAY TIMES

"Westover writes with uncommon intelligence and grace."
- NEWSDAY

"A transformation so courageous, so entire, as to beggar belief."
- FINANCIAL TIMES

"A one-of-a-kind memoir."
- THE ATLANTIC

"Fascinating...extraordinarily evocative."
- THE IRISH TIMES

"One of the most talked-about and critically acclaimed books of the year."
- PBS NEWSHOUR/NYTIMES BOOK CLUB

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"Beautiful and propulsive."- VOGUE ★★★★ out of four"A heartbreaking, heartwarming, best-in-years memoir."- USA TODAY "Alluring...courageous."- NEW YORK TIMES "An amazing story, and truly inspiring. It's even better than you've heard."- BILL GATES "Superb."- THE TIMES "Fit to stand alongside the great modern memoirs." - THE SUNDAY TIMES "Westover writes with uncommon intelligence and grace."

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Editor's note: The Preston Citizen newspaper recently interviewed Franklin County resident LaRee Westover on her new memoir, "Educating." As the title suggests, the book is in some ways Westover's answer to her daughter Tara's highly acclaimed and bestselling 2018 memoir, "Educated," which described the difficulties of growing up in an isolated, survivalist family where the children were largely kept away from the outside world.

LaRee Westover feels that she, like Robert Frost, has taken "the path less traveled," and it has made all the difference.

She has been a midwife. She has been a home schooling parent. She is a business woman, a wife, a mother, and grandmother. But at the heart of all she is and has been, she says, is a teacher. And it is to "all who have the heart of a teacher" that she dedicates her new book, "Educating."

"I have drawn from my collection of loose notes, poignant personal memories and pages of journal entries. ... I hope that the principles, coupled with the events and difficulties of my life, may inspire those who have chosen to live their lives differently from their neighbors," wrote LaRee in her book.

If she could only share one principle, it would be that "it is OK to choose differently, to be who you really are."

Although LaRee has had the book in her mind for years, two years ago she quietly began putting in words the attitudes and ideals that she employed to teach six students, three of whom went on to get Ph.D. degrees. They are her children. One of them, Tara Westover, gained international acclaim for writing her own book, "Educated," which portrayed her upbringing in the Westover family as a challenging experience.

Taking a break from a recent class she was teaching as part of her successful business, Butterfly Expressions, LaRee Westover explains that she hopes her new book will encourage parents faced with the new normal of online, at-home schooling that they can do more good than they know.

"The educational changes being implemented as a result of COVID-19 are changing perspectives about education. Parents everywhere are now carrying more of the responsibility of educating their children, and they are discovering how challenging - and how rewarding - it is to interact with your children in this way day in and day out. I see parents having the same desires for their children's educations that we had in our day," LaRee has said.

LaRee's first two children were attending public schools when her third child became physically sick from anxiety about kindergarten, and she decided she could provide a better atmosphere for him to learn at home.

Over time, she taught all of her children. She recognized that most of them came with ADHD, and one came with a variety of learning disabilities. But the kids never knew it. To their mother, her children's challenges weren't disabilities. They were merely differences in how individuals learn.

"I didn't learn like other people, but it was fine," she said her son with learning disabilities told her. "I don't think it ever occurred to him that he couldn't learn. He learned differently, but he had his own talents and abilities."

Since this child was not going to learn the way the average child did, LaRee found new ways to engage him: games with his older brothers.

"They would cut letters out of sandpaper so he could feel them," she said, noting she also discovered that letters in the color green were easier for him to remember.

That child was a tactile learner. Another child learned "upside down, hanging from a swing set."

The point, she said, is that everyone can learn, they just learn their own way. "ADHD is not a disease. It's genius intellect. They are the most brilliant kids on Earth. That's why they can't hold still," she said.

One son called her three days into a special program for giving mechanical engineers opportunities to apply the principles they'd excelled at on paper. "He was bored silly," because he'd already learned what they were trying to teach as a kid helping his father build hay sheds, build fences and other hands-on activities.

That way of learning, she said, was really no different than the way her father taught her. A postal worker who received his high school diploma when he was 90 years old, Richard Hunt inspired LaRee with tales of Roman history as he peeled apples with his daughter.

Today, LaRee's daughter Valaree Sharp teaches her children at home, as do others of her children.

"Homeschool is only hard with the first one because after that, you've got the older children to help to teach the others. And they learn it. When they have to teach it, they really learn it," Valaree said.

Learning is one thing, however, and testing is another. To help her children pass the tests required to gain college entrance, she said she took a year just to teach them how to pass tests.

Her main educational desire is that children learn how to think, she said.

Another portion of LaRee's book addresses her experiences as a midwife and "healer" through her herbal remedies. Included in the book is a chapter on the premature birth of one of her grandsons.

"He slipped into this world at one pound, 14 ounces," during one of the worst winter storms she remembers. Keeping him alive required getting him and his mother from home to the Franklin County Medical Center. LaRee delivered two children at a hospital herself, she said. It took time for her to feel confident enough to handle a delivery herself.

The prevailing attitude that has guided the path she has taken, she said, is the idea "I can do it, myself."

This isn't LaRee's first book. She's written four others about various aspects of applying herbs and essential oils for better health. Despite her excitement for having completed her memoir, LaRee said she does have concerns.

"It may make my daughter mad," she said. It doesn't fit the narrative found in "Educated."

Furthermore, since that book captured the attention of the world, LaRee and the rest of her family have been continually faced with the dim view many readers of the book hold for her and her husband's views and way of life.

For eight years in a row, Butterfly Express, which was founded by LaRee but is now owned by her husband, Val Westover, enjoyed 30% to 50% growth each year, but business fell off once "Educated" gathered a large audience.

LaRee has a completely different view of herself than how she is described in Tara Westover's "Educated."

"I want to tell the story of my life as I really lived it. I want my grandchildren to know who their grandmother is and was, and I want to be a force for good in their lives. Also, I feel a compelling desire to shine a light of accuracy on homeschooling, herbal medicine, and the living of a conservative and Christian way of life," LaRee writes on the Indiegogo website where her book is being pre-sold.

"I hope this modest memoir may bolster someone's resolve to achieve their own goals in spite of naysayers and roadblocks," she writes.

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Mother of "Educated" author tells her own story about life off grid in Idaho

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Editor's note: The Preston Citizen newspaper recently interviewed Franklin County resident LaRee Westover on her new memoir, "Educating." As the title suggests, the book is in some ways Westover's answer to her daughter Tara's highly acclaimed and bestselling 2018 memoir, "Educated," which described the difficulties of growing up in an isolated, survivalist family where the children were largely kept away from the outside world.

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What are Harvard's admission requirements? While there are a lot of pieces that go into a college application, you should focus on only a few critical things:

GPA requirements

Testing requirements, including SAT and ACT requirements

Application requirements

In this guide we'll cover what you need to get into Harvard and build a strong application.

School location: Cambridge, MA

This school is also known as: Harvard University, Harvard College

Admissions Rate: 4.7%
If you want to get in, the first thing to look at is the acceptance rate. This tells you how competitive the school is and how serious their requirements are.

The acceptance rate at Harvard is 4.7%. For every 100 applicants, only 5 are admitted.

This means the school is extremely selective. Meeting their GPA requirements and SAT/ACT requirements is very important to getting past their first round of filters and proving your academic preparation. If you don't meet their expectations, your chance of getting in is nearly zero.

After crossing this hurdle, you'll need to impress Harvard application readers through their other application requirements, including extracurriculars, essays, and letters of recommendation. We'll cover more below.

Want to build the best possible college application?

We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League.

We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools.

Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.

Harvard GPA Requirements

Many schools specify a minimum GPA requirement, but this is often just the bare minimum to submit an application without immediately getting rejected.

The GPA requirement that really matters is the GPA you need for a real chance of getting in. For this, we look at the school's average GPA for its current students.
Average GPA: 4.18
The average GPA at Harvard is 4.18.

(Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA.

With a GPA of 4.18, Harvard requires you to be at the top of your class. You'll need nearly straight A's in all your classes to compete with other applicants. Furthermore, you should be taking hard classes - AP or IB courses - to show that college-level academics is a breeze.

If you're currently a junior or senior, your GPA is hard to change in time for college applications. If your GPA is at or below the school average of 4.18, you'll need a higher SAT or ACT score to compensate. This will help you compete effectively against other applicants who have higher GPAs than you.

SAT and ACT Requirements

Each school has different requirements for standardized testing. Most schools require the SAT or ACT, and many also require SAT subject tests.

You must take either the SAT or ACT to submit an application to Harvard. More importantly, you need to do well to have a strong application.

Harvard SAT Requirements

Many schools say they have no SAT score cutoff, but the truth is that there is a hidden SAT requirement. This is based on the school's average score.

Average SAT: 1520

The average SAT score composite at Harvard is a 1520 on the 1600 SAT scale.

This score makes Harvard Extremely Competitive for SAT test scores.

Harvard SAT Score Analysis (New 1600 SAT)

The 25th percentile New SAT score is 1460, and the 75th percentile New SAT score is 1580. In other words, a 1460 on the New SAT places you below average, while a 1580 will move you up to above average.

Those who live near Harvard may want to look into tutors in Acton and elsewhere in the Boston area to strengthen their test performance.

Here's the breakdown of new SAT scores by section:

Section Average 25th Percentile 75th Percentile
Math 770
740

800

Reading + Writing 750
720

780

Composite 1520
1460

1580

SAT Score Choice Policy

The Score Choice policy at your school is an important part of your testing strategy.

Harvard has the Score Choice policy of "Highest Section."

This is also known as "superscoring." This means that you can choose which SAT tests you want to send to the school. Of all the scores they receive, your application readers will consider your highest section scores across all SAT test dates you submit.

Click below to learn more about how superscoring critically affects your test strategy.

How does superscoring change your test strategy? (Click to Learn)

For example, say you submit the following 3 test scores:

Section

R+W

Math

Composite

Even though the highest total you scored on any one test date was 1000, Harvard will take your highest section score from all your test dates, then combine them to form your Superscore. You can raise your composite score from 1000 to 1400 in this example.

This is important for your testing strategy. Because you can choose which tests to send in, and Harvard forms your Superscore, you can take the SAT as many times as you want, then submit only the tests that give you the highest Superscore. Your application readers will only see that one score.

Therefore, if your SAT superscore is currently below a 1580, we strongly recommend that you consider prepping for the SAT and retaking it. You have a very good chance of raising your score, which will significantly boost your chances of getting in.

Even better, because of the Superscore, you can focus all your energy on a single section at a time. If your Reading score is lower than your other sections, prep only for the Reading section, then take the SAT. Then focus on Math for the next test, and so on. This will give you the highest Superscore possible.

Exclusive: Want to learn how to improve your SAT score by 160 points?

Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and SAT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.

Harvard ACT Requirements

Just like for the SAT, Harvard likely doesn't have a hard ACT cutoff, but if you score too low, your application will get tossed in the trash.

Average ACT: 34

The average ACT score at Harvard is 34. This score makes Harvard Extremely Competitive for ACT scores.

The 25th percentile ACT score is 33, and the 75th percentile ACT score is 35.

Even though Harvard likely says they have no minimum ACT requirement, if you apply with a 33 or below, you'll have a very hard time getting in, unless you have something else very impressive in your application. There are so many applicants scoring 34 and above that a 33 will look academically weak.

ACT Score Sending Policy

If you're taking the ACT as opposed to the SAT, you have a huge advantage in how you send scores, and this dramatically affects your testing strategy.

Here it is: when you send ACT scores to colleges, you have absolute control over which tests you send. You could take 10 tests, and only send your highest one. This is unlike the SAT, where many schools require you to send all your tests ever taken.

This means that you have more chances than you think to improve your ACT score. To try to aim for the school's ACT requirement of 35 and above, you should try to take the ACT as many times as you can. When you have the final score that you're happy with, you can then send only that score to all your schools.

ACT Superscore Policy

By and large, most colleges do not superscore the ACT. (Superscore means that the school takes your best section scores from all the test dates you submit, and then combines them into the best possible composite score). Thus, most schools will just take your highest ACT score from a single sitting.

We weren't able to find the school's exact ACT policy, which most likely means that it does not Superscore. Regardless, you can choose your single best ACT score to send in to Harvard, so you should prep until you reach our recommended target ACT score of 35.

Studying for the ACT instead? Want to learn how to improve your ACT score by 4 points?

Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and ACT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.

SAT/ACT Writing Section Requirements

Both the SAT and ACT have an optional essay section.

Harvard requires you to take the SAT Essay/ACT Writing section. They'll use this as another factor in their admissions consideration.

SAT Subject Test Requirements

Schools vary in their SAT subject test requirements. Typically, selective schools tend to require them, while most schools in the country do not.

Harvard has indicated that SAT subject tests are required for admission. Read further to see how many and which ones they require.

Typically, your SAT/ACT and GPA are far more heavily weighed than your SAT Subject Tests. If you have the choice between improving your SAT/ACT score or your SAT Subject Test scores, definitely choose to improve your SAT/ACT score.

Our Expert's Notes

We did more detailed research into this school and found the following information.

Two SAT Subject Tests (in addition to the ACT/SAT) are strongly recommended, though not required. If taking Subject Tests causes a financial burden or if you feel other parts of your application (like AP or IB scores) convey the same information, you don't have to submit scores.
Source

Final Admissions Verdict
Because this school is extremely selective, getting a high SAT/ACT score and GPA is vital to having a chance at getting in. If you don't pass their SAT/ACT and GPA requirements, they'll likely reject you without much consideration.

To have the best shot of getting in, you should aim for the 75th percentile, with a 1580 SAT or a 35 ACT. You should also have a 4.18 GPA or higher. If your GPA is lower than this, you need to compensate with a higher SAT/ACT score.

For a school as selective as Harvard, you'll also need to impress them with the rest of your application. We'll cover those details next.

But if you apply with a score below a 1580 SAT or a 35 ACT, you unfortunately start out with the odds against you and have a tiny chance of getting in. There are just too many students with high SAT/ACT scores and strong applications, and you need to compete against them.

Want to build the best possible college application?

We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League.

We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools.

Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.

Admissions Calculator

What are your chances of admission at Harvard College?

Chances of admission with these scores:

Here's our custom admissions calculator. Plug in your numbers to see what your chances of getting in are.

Pick your test:New SAT ACT

Note: Your admission decision relies not only on your GPA and SAT/ACT scores, but also on your coursework difficulty, extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, and personal statements. This tool provides only a simplistic estimate of your chances of admission. Instead of treating this tool as a crystal ball, we recommend you consider the big picture of what your chance means:

80-100%: Safety school: Strong chance of getting in

50-80%: More likely than not getting in

20-50%: Lower but still good chance of getting in

5-20%: Reach school: Unlikely to get in, but still have a shot

0-5%: Hard reach school: Very difficult to get in

We recommend you apply to schools across a range of chances. Applying to some safety schools will guarantee you have a college to go to, while applying to some reach schools will give you a shot at getting into the school at the top of your range.

How would your chances improve with a better score?

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Application Requirements
Every school requires an application with the bare essentials - high school transcript and GPA, application form, and other core information. Many schools, as explained above, also require SAT and ACT scores, as well as letters of recommendation, application essays, and interviews. We'll cover the exact requirements of Harvard here.

Application Requirements Overview

Common Application Accepted, supplemental forms required

Universal Application Accepted, supplemental forms required

Electronic Application Available

Essay or Personal Statement Required for all freshmen

Letters of Recommendation 2

Interview Required

Application Fee $75

Fee Waiver Available? Available

Other Notes

Testing Requirements

SAT or ACT Required

SAT Essay or ACT Writing Required

SAT Subject Tests Required

Scores Due in Office March 6

Coursework Requirements

Subject Required Years

English

Math

Science

Foreign Language

Social Studies

History

Electives

Deadlines and Early Admissions

Admissions Office Information

Other Schools For You
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Reach Schools: Harder to Get Into

These schools are have higher average SAT scores than Harvard. If you improve your SAT score, you'll be competitive for these schools.

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Same Level: Equally Hard to Get Into

If you're competitive for Harvard, these schools will offer you a similar chance of admission.

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Safety Schools: Easier to Get Into

If you're currently competitive for Harvard, you should have no problem getting into these schools. If Harvard is currently out of your reach, you might already be competitive for these schools.

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What You Need For Harvard: Admission Requirements

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What are Harvard's admission requirements? While there are a lot of pieces that go into a college application, you should focus on only a few critical things: GPA requirements Testing requirements, including SAT and ACT requirements Application requirements In this guide we'll cover what you need to get into Harvard and build a strong application.

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This is a detailed summary of Educated by Tara Westover. For those short on time, each section begins with bolded text that summarizes that section.

Part One
Prologue (Introduction) The prologue introduces Tara Westover, her survivalist father and the unconventional way (no birth certificates, no medical records, etc.) she and her siblings have been raised on a mountaintop in Idaho.
The book opens with Tara at age seven. It explains that her family is different from others. They live on a mountaintop in Idaho. Tara and her siblings don't go to school. 4 out of 7 of their siblings don't have birth certificates, medical or school records. Legally, Tara does not exist. Tara's father is a survivalist, busy stockpiles supplies in preparation for the "World of Men" to fail.
Chapter 1 - 3 (Tara's Parents) These chapters introduce some basics about Tara's family Tara's parents. They live in a Mormon community, and her father, Gene, is asurvivalist. He believes in self-sufficiency. His dogma becomes entrenched after an incident where the neighbors were attacked by the government. Her mother, Faye, is the town's midwife, a practice that is illegal in Idaho. Faye had a very normal upbringing, and Tara believes Faye married Gene as rebellion against it.
The Westovers live in a small Mormon community in the mountains of Idaho. Tara is the youngest of 7 kids. The live close to their Grandparents from their dad's side (Grandma/grandpa-down-the-hill).

Tara describes an event that happened when she was six. As it was explained to her, a nearby family, the Weavers, has been under seige and shot at by the government for being "freedom fighters." Tara views this as a tuning point for when her father ("Gene") becomes increasingly paranoid about the government. He becomes a survivalist - he worried about the Illuminati's influence, stockpiles food (and later gold/silver) and weapons, and wants to live as "off the grid" as possible.

At one point, Gene interprets a bible verse to mean they shouldn't eat dairy products and bans milk from the house. Tara ends up going to Grandma-down-the-hill's house for milk and cereal in the morning instead. Her grandparents offer to take her to Arizona with them to live a more normal life and go to school, but she can't get herself to leave her family.

Tara and a number of her siblings do not have birth certificates because they were born at home. (Though, Tara's mother ("Faye") eventually gets them for all the kids so they can get drivers licenses.) Faye also becomes the midwife for their community (a practice that is not legal in their state). Faye's mom was considered the "wrong" sort growing up, and wanted Faye to live a very prim and proper life so she could be accepted in society. and Tara believes she married Gene (the exact opposite of that) as a form of rebellion.
Chapters 4 - 6 (Tara's Family's Views) These chapters discuss Tara and her sibling's lack of schooling, medical care and the like. When Faye is in a serious accident during the move to Idaho, they don't get medical treatment for her and she has chronic headaches after that. Gene is against schooling, but Tara's oldest brother Tyler ends up going to college anyway. Tara decides she needs to go, too. Tara also recalls a incident where her brother Luke is burned, though he family's recollection of what happened is all different.
The Westovers prefer not to get medical treatment; Faye is a herbalist and has her own way of treating ailments. She also uses other alternative medicine treatments like testing chakras and massaging pressure points. Faye also uses "muscle work" - testing her body's natural response to things, to get answers to questions. When they were much younger, they lived in Arizona, but Gene decided to move the family to Idaho. In the process, there's a car accident and Tyler (brother) is driving. Her mom is injured but refuses medical treatment and gets chronic headaches after that.

The kids are homeschooled, but apart from learning how to read, it's not a priority. Gene believes it's mostly brainwashing. Still, Tara's second oldest brother, Tyler, ends up wanting to go to college and leaves. Gene wants him to stay and work in the scrapyard with the rest of them, but he refuses. Tara and her brothers Luke and Richard work in the junkyard without gloves or helmets, resulting in numerous injuries over the years. When Tara gets a piece of metal stuck in her leg, her mother treats it with flowers, and it cements Tara's decision to go to school like her brother.

When Tara is ten, there is an incident where Tara's brother, Luke, accidentally starts a fire and his leg is burned. Now, 18 years later, Tara tries to reconstruct that memory, but finds that her family has different recollections of who put out the fire or who tended to Luke and whatnot.
Chapters 8 - 10 (Tara's Early life and Y2K) These chapters deal with young Tara's desire to change her life, her interests and her hobbies. She starts babysitting and sings, though around this time Gene starts getting preoccupied with preparing for Y2K and is depressed when nothing happens. Shawn also returns home.
At eleven, Tara starts babysitting and packing boxes, hoping to get away from the scrapyard. Tara also starts taking dance lessons which she loves, though Faye tells Tara not to tell her father. When they finally tell him, he's furious and finds the costumes obscene. Instead, they push her towards singing, which Gene is much happier about, and she gets cast in the town's production of Annie. Her mother gets her the dress she needs, and Gene attends every performance. Tara continues to participate in town plays.

Around this time, though, Gene's survivalist tendencies are also ramping up as Y2K approaches, and the whole family is busy canning fruit in preparation. He also buries a thousand-gallon tank of gasoline. When it finally arrives, nothing happens and he slips into a state of depression afterwards. The family takes a trip to Arizona to cheer him up, and on the way back the car skids off the road. Tara's neck is stiff and she has migraines after that. Shawn, Tara's brother, returns home after a long absence and fixes her neck, though in a very rough manner.
Chapters 11 - 14 (Shawn Westover) These chapters are about Shawn and Tara's relationship with him. They have a caring relationship in some ways, but Shawn also has a dangerousness to him, and he can be mean, controlling, physically and emotionally abusive and violent. Meanwhile, Tyler encourages Tara to go to college.
Tara is 14 now, soon to turn 15. Tara is happy to spend time with Shawn and help him to train a new horse, and he helps rescue her when her horse gets out of control. At the same time, she notices he can be a bit of a jerk to the boys in town. Shawn takes over a long-haul driving gig for their oldest brother Tony for two weeks and takes Tara along. They play games, and he teaches her to fight. When Tara signs up for a play, Shawn joins as well. There, Tara notices how Shawn can be mean and demeaning to Sadie, a girl who likes him.

Tara's sister Audrey gets married. After 9/11, Gene believes the end of days is near, but again nothing happens.

When Tara playfully dumps a glass of water on Shawn's head one night, he responds by forcefully dragging her by the hair into the bathroom and threatening to dunk her head into the toilet until she apologizes. When Tara wears lip gloss for the first time, Shawn calls her a whore.

Shawn dumps Sadie, and Sadie starts dating Charles (who Tara is friendly with). At this point, Shawn becomes very irate. One morning, Tara wakes up to him choking her, throwing her onto the floor and calling her a "whore" and "slut" for being friendly with Charles. He's stopped by Tyler who has come home to visit. Shawn later remorsefully gives her a pearl necklace and even helps her install a bolt on her door.

In October, Shawn, Luke and Audrey's husband Benjamin are working with Gene when there's a forklift accident. Shawn has a serious injury and a brain bleed, followed by him having a scuffle with Gene after Gene tells him to get back to work. As a result, Shawn has a serious enough reaction that someone finally calls 911 - something that the Westovers have never done. After the injury, Shawn is weak, disoriented, but also nastier and has blind rages. At the time, Tara tells herself that this is because of the accident, but now she thinks perhaps he was always this way.

Meanwhile, Tyler encourages Tara to take the ACT and go to college, and Tara starts studying math in her free time. Tyler helps to tutor her, too.
Chapters 15 - 16 (Applying for College) These chapters are about the lead-up to Tara leaving for college. She takes the ACT and applies to BYU. Her father is firmly against it and continues to be volatile and dangerous. Her mother and other family members discreetly try to encourage her.
Gene is staunchly against Tara's desire to go "whore after man's knowledge" by pursing a college education. When Tara tells her mother she has changed her mind, she is surprised to see that her mother is disappointed and encourages her to reconsider, but stops talking when she hears Gene coming. When Tara's ACT scores come back, Tara's mother is happy for her, but Gene tells Tara she should move out. Her mother at first agrees with Gene but relents when Tara reminds her that she's only 16.

One day Gene brings home a dangerous and poorly made machine for cutting iron. Luke gets injured from operating it, and as Gene is trying to get Tara to do it instead, Shawn intervenes. Shawn and Gene fight about whether Tara should do it, and Shawn says he's going to help Tara with it if she has to to it. Shawn and Gene continue to get into scuffles nearly every day, and Shawn encourages Tara to go to college.

One night, Shawn gets into a serious car accident, which Tara comes across on her way home. There's blood pouring from a large hole in his head. Her father tells her to bring Shawn home to be treated, but Tara drives to the hospital instead. When it turns out to be not that serious, Tara feels ashamed.

Tara retakes the ACT and her new scores are good enough to get into BYU, and she gets accepted.

Part Two
Chapters 17 - 18 (Starting Off at BYU) These chapters are about Tara's settling into her new, strange life. She experiences culture shock as well as difficulties in school since she is far behind the other students going in.
Faye drops Tara off at BYU, and Tara soon meets her roommates, Shannon and Mary. Tara's is shocked by Shannon's clothing and by Mary choosing to go grocery shopping on the Sabbath. As Tara hangs out with them, she worries about becoming a "gentile" (someone who's not truly religious) like them. Tara also finds that her hygienic standards (only showering once a week, not washing her hands, etc.) are below theirs.

When classes start, she's confronted by things all the other kids seem to know, but she is unfamiliar with. She doesn't know what "essay form" is and other kids think she's making a tasteless joke when she asks what the "Holocaust" is. She's also struggling to keep up in school, has trouble with basics like spelling and fails her first exam. Tara calls home to talk to someone to console herself and Gene picks up. To Tara's surprise, instead of berating her, her dad encourages her and tells her it'll be okay.

Tara's friend Vanessa helps her to study for her next exam, and Tara reveals she didn't realize all the answers would be in the textbook. Tara gets a B on that exam.
Chapters 19 - 20 (Visiting Home) This section is about Tara returning home for the summer. She starts hanging out with a boy from town, Charles, and starts to see her previous life as being a little backwards.
After the semester concludes, Tara goes home to Buck's Peak. Gene insists that she work at the scrapyard while she is there. Charles asks Tara out on a date, and she agrees and buys new clothes for it. They start hanging out every day. Meanwhile, Gene and Shawn think she's become "uppity" and want to drag her back down. They seem to want to team up by calling her names. When they call her a "n***er", Tara starts to recognize how ignorant her family is.
Chapters 19 - 22 (Assimilation and Struggles) Tara returns to school in the fall. She continues to assimilate into her new life. She's also stressed from academic pressures, though she manages to get by though. Charles sees the hostile, abusive environment in her home and feels in over his head and breaks things off with her.
The day before she returns to school, Tara gets a headache, Charles gives her an ibuprofen, and Tara is shocked to experience medicine that actually works. Back on campus, Tara has new roommates and one of them, Robin, helps to teach her to assimilate, including improving Tara's hygiene.

Stress from trying to learn algebra gives Tara ulcers since she's stressed about keeping her scholarship, and finally Charles tells Tara to go talk to her professor, a thought that had never occurred to her. Her professor tells her anyone who gets an A on the final will get an A in the class. Tara manages to get a perfect score on the exam.

Over Thanksgiving, Shawn hassles Tara for inviting Charles. Charles sees Shawn's violent and abusive behavior towards Tara and afterwards tells her this stuff to much for him. When they meet up one last time, he tells her that she needs to save herself. Later, Tara and Shawn are at a store, and Tara thinks Charles may be in there. Tara looks unkempt and wants to avoid him. However, Shawn wants to force her out of the car and yanks her out, spraining her wrist, and dragging her inside. Shawn later apologizes, pretending it was all in fun, but Tara recognizes that he was trying to humiliate her.

At Christmas, Tara's surprised to find out Gene is encouraging Richard to go to college.
Chapters 23 (Financial Stresses) This chapter is about the support the church Bishop at school gives to Tara and also about her financial stresses.
At school, Tara rejects any man who asks her out, and eventually the Bishop asks her what's wrong. Tara ends up meeting with him regularly to deal with her feelings of shame and immodesty when it comes to men. When Tara needs dental work but can't afford to fix it (she can barely afford her rent), the bishop encourages her to apply for a federal grant. However, Tara refuses due to her distrust of the government. He also offers her church funds, but she declines saying it's "sacred." He finally writes her a personal check. She's tempted but refuses.

Tara manages to get by the next few months, but eventually decides to apply for the grant. She has to break in to her parents' house in order to get their tax returns in order to qualify. She soon gets a check for four thousand dollars.
Chapters 24 - 27 (Gene Westover) These chapters are about Tara's relationship with her father and an injury he gets. She realizes that he likely has bipolar disorder and starts to understand the truth of the event that happened when she was a child. He gets into a bad accident, and the family cares for him for weeks. When he heals, it strengthens Faye and Gene's beliefs that traditional medical treatment is unnecessary.
When Tara takes an introductory psychology course, it dawns on her that Gene probably has bipolar disorder. She also learns about the Ruby Ridge incident which involved someone who was bipolar, and Tara realizes it was the incident from her childhood where Gene said the neighbors were attacked by the government. She learns that the incident was a white supremacist raid gone wrong and that it had been followed up with settlements, official inquiries and oversight. The next time Tara goes home, she yells at him now that she's found out the truth and stops visiting or answering his calls.

Tara soon starts dating a boy named Nick from church. When she gets strep throat, he insists she go to a doctor.

One day, Audrey calls to say that Gene has been in a bad accident involving an explosion and a fire. Her family is convinced he is going to die, but he still refuses to go to a hospital or even take pain medication. The Westovers all tend to his burns for weeks. As he recovers, Tara has a chance to talk to him as he asks her questions about her life. After Gene is improved (though still disfigured), Faye's essential oil business employees seem to now be in awe of their dogma - the see how Gene managed to recover from a very serious injury with just salves and tinctures.

Shawn gets engaged to a girl named Emily and gets married. Tara breaks up with Nick, unable to confide in him about her family. Tara drops her music major and decides to study history and politics. A professor suggests a study abroad program at Cambridge and helps Tara get accepted. Emily has a difficult pregnancy, though they aren't giving her special treatment for it. When she gives birth too early, Faye takes the baby, Peter, to a hospital and he survives but they warn that he will always be weak.
Chapters 28 - 29 (Study Abroad at Cambridge) These chapters are about Tara studying abroad at Cambridge, where her professor takes an interest in her and encourages to believe in herself. She also graduates and decides to pursue a Master's Degree at Cambridge.
In Cambridge, Tara is in awe of the campus. Her supervisor, Professor Steinberg, takes a special interest in her and describes her as one of the best students he's had. He encourages her to get her Master's degree. He reminds her of the story of Pygmalion and the importance of believing in herself. Steinberg encourages her to apply for the Gates scholarship at Cambridge, which she wins. Tara is interviewed about it, but does not acknowledge her homeschooling. Her dad chastises her for not acknowledging that she was home-schooled.

At home, the essential oils business is booming. Tara also begins to question the way Mormonism views women and the practice of polygamy. Tara graduates and her parents send her off.

Part Three
Chapters 30 - 34 (Confronting Shawn) These chapters are about Tara beginning her PhD program and her attempts to confront her family about Shawn's behavior. After more culture shock, Tara finally starts feeling like she's fitting in at Cambridge. On the home front, Audrey and Tara discuss Shawn's abusive behavior. It results in more violent and angry outbursts from Shawn. When nothing changes, Tara talks to her father who refuses to believe her, and Faye tries to convince Tara her memories are wrong. Shawn says he's cutting Tara out of his life, and soon Audrey recants and cuts Tara out as well.
When Tara starts her graduate program, she again feels out of place. When she tells her mother, her mother offers to adjust her chakra from afar to help. Tara gets vaccinated and gradually makes friends at school. She drinks coffee for the first time. She starts learning about feminism, a topic that was taboo at BYU. Tara goes on a trip to Rome with friends. She drinks wine for the first time. Eventually, she starts feeling like she's fitting in. She starts dating her friend Drew.

Faye's essential oils business is making a lot of money. Richard, who is finishing a chemistry degree, is living a more mainstream life with his wife Kami. One night, Emily comes in crying, saying that Shawn physically attacked her and threw her out. Gene gives a stern lecture to Shawn, but that's all.

One day, Tara gets an e-mail from her sister Audrey about wanting to confront Shawn about his behavior. Tara agrees. Audrey loops Faye in as well, and Faye finally acknowledges his behavior and tells Tara that she's sorry she didn't protect her. Soon, Faye tells Tara that she talked to Gene and that Shawn is getting help. However, when Tara goes home to visit, Audrey says that nothing has changed.

The next time Tara goes to visit, Shawn suddenly confronts her about talking to Audrey. He rants about Audrey, saying that he would "put a bullet in [Audrey's] head" except that it'd be a waste of a bullet. When Tara tells Gene, he demands proof and refuses to believe Tara. Then, Shawn shows up at their house with a bloody knife while Gene lectures Tara. Finally, Shawn hugs Tara and apologizes.

The next day, Tara finds out that the bloody knife was from Shawn killing their dog with his son watching. Tara also realizes that Faye lied when she said that Shawn was getting help.
Chapters 35 - 38 (The Aftermath) In the aftermath of trying to force her parents to recognize Shawn's behavior, Shawn threatens Tara, and then cuts her out of his life. Audrey soon follows suit. Her parents continue is gaslight her. Tara finally tells them goodbye and walks out. Tara's work on her PhD suffers, but she's able to get back on track when Tyler surprisingly supports her. Tara gets her PhD.
Back at school, Tara soon gets a threatening call from Shawn and messages saying he's going to hire people to kill her. Again, Faye and Gene don't believe her. When Shawn tells Tara he's cutting her out of his life, Gene says that it's justified. Faye tries to convince her that her memories are incorrect. Tara soon gets an e-mail from Audrey saying that Audrey is going to forgive Shawn and cut off Tara from her life. It's clear Audrey has been forced to choose between the family and Tara.

Tara starts feeling distrustful of her own memories. Tara calls Erin, an ex-girlfriend of Shawn's, to get her take, and Erin confirms that Shawn was violent and abusive. When Tara goes to Harvard for a fellowship, her parents come to visit. They discuss how to "reconvert" her, with Gene taking them to a temple and lecturing Tara for two hours. Tara realizes if she simply accepts their version of events, she can have her family back but she can't do it. They leave, with Gene telling Tara her room is filled with an evil presence.

After their visit, she is distracted and doing poorly on her PhD program, so she goes home to try to resolve things. On the computer at home, she's shocked to see an e-mail exchange between her mother and Erin where they both agree that Tara is delusional. Tara decides to leave and says she's going for a drive. Before she walks out, Gene tells her "I love you, you know that?", and Tara's last words to her father are, "I do. That has never been the issue." Tara soon follows up with a long e-mail to her parents saying that she needs to cut them off for a while to figure things out. Tara's work for her degree continues to suffer.

Tyler calls and is supportive of Tara. But by the fall, he lets her know that he hasn't been able to convince their parents of Shawn's issues. They've threatened to disown him over it. Tara assumes Tyler will end up choosing them, just as Audrey did, but is surprised when he and his wife decide to support her instead. Tyler's support helps Tara to clear her head and refocus on her PhD. She changes her dissertation topic to the "nature of family and familial obligation." That September, Tara is awarded her degree, becoming Dr. Westover. She's also living with Drew and is happy.
Chapters 39 - 40 (Conclusion) In the final chapters, Tara goes home after a long absence, but has not reconciled with her parents. Tara reflects on her fractured family.
When Tara finally visits home, Faye's parents tell her that her family is now renown in the valley due to the essential oils business they've built. Tara drives over to look at the house, which now has been expanded many times.

Tara visits her Aunt Angie (Faye's sister) who has also been ostracized from the family for seeking unemployment, since Gene does not trust the government. She also sees Tyler and Stephanie who are family outcasts as well. Richard has recently written to apologize for not supporting Tara.

Tara wants to see her mother but isn't ready to see her father. However, Faye refuses to see Tara without Gene. When Faye's mother passes away, Tara goes to the funeral, but sits apart from them. Shawn does not look at Tara during the service. Audrey chastises Tara for being unwilling to see Gene. As of the publication of the book many years later, the funeral is the last time Tara has seen her parents.

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Summary, Review + Family's Response: Educated by Tara Westover - The Bibliofile

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Educated, by Tara Westover, was one of the bestselling books on 2018 and has continued to top the charts even now, despite being released over a year ago. I put it on my to-read list thanks to Bill Gate's book blog, and Ellen Degeneres read it after Michelle Obama recommended it to her.