The Visionnaires MingXi Gu

What kind of students does Harvard admit?

David Cao is a bioengineering and computer science student at Harvard, freelance content producer, and Co-Creator of Babbl. Being one of the first to be admitted in his class as part of the early applicants, David tells everything he did from extracurriculars and academics, the mindset of a successful applicant, and the real experience once he got to Harvard.

Timestamps
2:00 - Overview
2:28 - Life Plan During High School
8:41 - Importance of Your Entourage/What You Can Control
11:26 - Extracurriculars During High School/CEGEP
18:31 - Program & Courses In High School/CEGEP
21:46 - Time Management & Balance
23:34 - R Score/Cote R (39)
24:13 - GPA (4.0)
24:58 - Importance of Grades & Effectiveness
27:40 - SATs Preparation
30:48 - SATs Score (1570/1600)
32:24 - SATs Prep Resources
33:42 - Early Application
35:26 - Recommendation Letters
35:55 - Viral Admission Video
37:14 - Admission Email
39:18 - Arriving On Campus & Loss of Identity
42:09 - Concentration (Bioengineering & CS)
44:47 - Workload & Life Sciences Course
47:51 - Extracurriculars at Harvard
51:05 - Misconceptions of Harvard
53:05 - Types of Students
54:46 - Reason for Choosing Harvard
57:29 - Finishing Freshman Year & CEGEP Advantage

From #10 - David Cao: Leaving Harvard for 2-Month Road Trip While Building a Social Media App

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Too many smart students go into non-scalable, repetitive jobs notably in law and medicine, obviously with the right reasons. However, David and MingXi raise the importance of entrepreneurship, research,  engineering, and innovation that could solve hard problems in the long-run.

From #10 - David Cao: Leaving Harvard for 2-Month Road Trip While Building a Social Media App

Check out our website!

Harvard student David Cao talks about the potential of a "voice-first social media platform" similar to Twitter and Instagram, but where voice messages and other audio-based content like music and podcasts will be the centrepiece. Babbl, a "voice-to-voice social platform" David and fellow McGill students are building,  is currently in beta testing, available for download on the App Store and the Play Store.

Try Babbl

From #10 - David Cao: Leaving Harvard for 2-Month Road Trip While Building a Social Media App

Check out our website!

David Cao is a bioengineering and computer science student at Harvard, freelance content producer, and Co-Creator of Babbl. David recently took a gap year to travel Canada on a 2-month-long road trip financed by the government of Canada. He is also building a "voice-first" social media platform called Babbl that puts audio at the centre.

What you'll learn in this episode:
Advice and tips on how to successfully get admitted into top universities like HarvardWhat Harvard is really like as a freshman and what people usually misunderstandTypical mistakes people make when looking to get in a world-leading institutionHow David convinced a government agency to pay him to travel around Canada while doing creative work in photography and videographyHow audio-based platforms could become the next big thing in social media Chapter 1: Harvard Admission and The Harvard Experience (4:37)
Chapter 2: Gap Year and the Roadtrip (1:36:07)
Chapter 3: Babbl (2:10:49)
Download Babbl
David's Instagram
David's YouTube

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David Cao disenrolled from his Sophomore year at Harvard to go on a road trip around Canada paid for by the government of Canada.

From #10 - David Cao: Leaving Harvard for 2-Month Road Trip While Building a Social Media App

Check out our website!

How do you convince people of an idea to the extent where they'll provide millions of dollars in resources? GoLoot founder and CEO tells the story of how one piece of paper raised $300 000 for his idea, and the mentorship that lead him to where he is now.

From #9 - Lucas Béland: Founding a $2.5 Million Startup as a 19-Year-Old Dropout