Cracking the Code to Harvard and Oxford: Harvard grad and Rhodes Scholar Dhruva Bhat breaks down his path to success

Welcome to The Thirsty Scholar newsletter—if you’re an international high school student in India and elsewhere, looking to study at a top college in the US, UK, and beyond, this is exactly where you need to be!

Why this Newsletter?

Over these years, I have mentored and worked with students and guided both undergrads and MBAs to top universities in the US and UK, including Stanford, Wharton, Harvard, Columbia, MIT, Amherst, Williams, Brown, Northwestern, Dartmouth, Duke, NYU, Carleton, INSEAD, LBS, Imperial and many more. Through this newsletter, I am keen to share my insights and demystify the entire process for as many students (and families) so that we unlock the secrets of college success and make the very best of educational opportunities accessible to all.

IN THIS ISSUE

A young student from Chennai (India) makes it to Harvard College on full scholarship; it doesn’t stop there - he goes on to Oxford University for his PhD as a Rhodes Scholar. A world-class debater, he also serves as President of the Harvard College Debating Union.  

In this edition, I interview a Harvard grad and Rhodes Scholar who reflects on the factors that contributed to his success during the US college admissions process, helps us understand the differences in pedagogy from his experiences as a student at Harvard and Oxford, and shares plenty of valuable advice for international students preparing for their journey to top universities like Harvard.

Discover the drive, determination, and dreams fueling his journey and how through Lumiere Research Scholar Program he’s paving the way for high school scholars worldwide.

This is the story of Dhruva Bhat, an academic sensation and my rockstar friend!

1. Tell us a little bit about your childhood/ growing up?

I grew up in Chennai, in South India. I was immensely nerdy as a kid - I consumed every book I could get my hands on, and thought doing a summer program learning German as a 13-year-old was the most fun thing I could do with my holidays. From when I was six years old to when I was sixteen, if anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I was older, I said that I wanted to be a fiction writer; in high school, as I started doing more competitive debate, those interests started shifting more towards economics and policy.

2. Which high school did you attend in India, and how did it shape your academic journey?

I attended the same CBSE school, P.S. Senior Secondary School in Chennai, from kindergarten all the way up to senior year. My school was academically strong in that a lot of alumni went on to top engineering and medical universities in India, and it taught me to work hard and keep my grades up. I think I was pushed to develop other skills (like creativity, critical thinking and intercultural competence) outside school, in independent activities like debate or theater.

3. When did you first know you wanted to study in the US?

In the 9th and 10th grades, one of the biggest questions that we had to answer was which academic “stream” we would pick for our final two years of school - our pre-packaged options were (a) physics, chemistry, math and computer science, (b) physics, chemistry, math and biology, or (c) math, economics, business studies and accounting. Many of my friends were very clear about what they wanted to do, picking one of the four professional paths of engineer, doctor, lawyer or accountant. I, on the other hand, was entirely confused and struggled to pick a subject I wanted to study at university. 

In the ninth grade, when I was researching college options, I discovered the liberal arts system in the United States; I still remember naively emailing my dad a link to the Brown website, saying that the US’ flexibility in picking a major appealed to me. My dad indulged me, but we were never serious about it - we didn’t know a single person from India who had studied in the US for undergrad. 

I first realized that it was possible for me to imagine studying in the US as an undergrad when I went to the World Schools Debating Championships in 2011 as part of the Indian national team. There, I met Team UAE (which comprised of a bunch of Indian expats), who were flying after the competition to begin their undergrad journeys at Yale, Stanford, NYU and Penn. That’s the first time I met an international student who was going to the US, and began seriously considering applying.

4. What specific steps did you take to prepare for your application to the US?

Of my graduating class of 250 in school, I think only 3 students applied to the US for undergrad. Our school didn’t have a guidance counselor, and weren’t familiar with the concept of a “transcript” that had grades from across high school (Indian universities typically did not take into account grades you had received before your final year). 

I first had to do research on the application process, reading up online and seeing if any family members in the US could help me think through this. I realized that I had to write the SATs and the SAT subject tests, and I went to the library at the US embassy every day during the summer holidays before my senior year to prepare. I began putting together my CommonApp essays, and asking my teachers for recommendation letters (most of them had never written one for a US college before). 

The one thing that I did not consciously do was to try and build a “profile” for university. I was lucky that my parents and teachers encouraged me to do things I was excited by, and by working at them had naturally built “spikes” that worked for me - I just had to think about how to communicate them effectively in my essays.

5. Can you describe some of the notable extracurricular activities you were involved in during high school?

My most consistent extracurricular activity in high school was debate. I debated with the Indian Schools Debating Society, representing India at the World Schools Debating Championships  in 2011, 2012 and 2013 in Scotland, South Africa and Turkey respectively. In 2012 and 2013, we made it to elimination rounds and I ranked among the top 50 English-as-a-Second-Language speakers. 

In addition, I had spent time outside of school learning German. My school didn’t offer foreign languages at the time, but I had happened to do an introductory summer course for teenagers when I was thirteen through the local Goethe Institut. Through that, I got the chance to do a fully-funded language course in a small town near Frankfurt. I continued weekend classes after I returned, and went on to participate in the selections to the Indian team at the International German Olympiad. I represented the country at the Olympiad my senior year, where I won a bronze medal.

Finally, I was also involved in student government and was elected Head Boy my senior year. 

6. You were part of the Indian National Debate Team. What is your advice for anyone who is interested in debates? Were there any resources that stood out as particularly helpful to you?

Debate is a sport, and like any sport it demands intensive training and preparation. When I was on the national team, I would spend hours every day watching recorded debates of other teams, practicing speeches in front of the mirror, and reading up on current events. In the run-up to competitions, we would spend weeks in conference rooms practicing as a team and pushing ourselves to be better. If a student wants to do well in debate, they need to know that it is a serious commitment that will require time and effort. 

There are hundreds of videos of debates online: from the World Schools Debating Championships, the World Universities Debating Championships, or the Asian Universities Debating Championships. In addition to these, there are more informal debates and speeches: Oxford or Cambridge Union debates, collections of famous speeches. The important thing is to watch these videos critically, by placing yourself in the position of these speakers, trying to give a speech in their stead, and comparing your effort to theirs.

Debate also requires a deep knowledge of the world. Reading widely, including news sources like The Guardian, Al Jazeera or the New York Times, and longer, more analytical pieces in outlets like The Economist or Foreign Affairs, is crucial. 

7. It might be said that getting into Harvard is more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack. Were there any specific projects or achievements that made your application stand out?

I was a strong applicant with a good academic record (both school grades and SATs) and multiple international achievements (the World Schools Debating Championships and the German Olympiad), but I also think I got immensely lucky. Top universities receive enough applicants to fill their classes multiple times over: I applied to every Ivy League university other than Columbia, and was rejected by all but Harvard.

8. Could you share your insights on university selection. How many universities did you apply to?

I knew that I would need full financial aid in order to go to university in the States - there is no way my family could have afforded it otherwise. However, most US universities are not need-blind for international students; that is, if you apply for aid, your chances of getting in fall. So I went with universities that I thought I would have the best shot of giving me aid: these were the wealthiest universities (i.e. the Ivies and Stanford), those that were need-blind for international students (Amherst), and those that had some other feature going for them (I applied to Carleton because they had a debating scholarship, and to Emory because I had family living in Atlanta). I ended up getting into Harvard, Amherst, and Emory.

9. Did you get any scholarship to attend Harvard?

I got full need-based financial aid to attend Harvard. Harvard’s admissions process did not consider whether or not I needed aid. When I received an acceptance letter from them, I was overjoyed, but did not allow myself to get too hopeful because I still did not know whether I could afford to go. We had to fill out the FAFSA form and submit our family’s income and tax documents, and Harvard evaluated whether we met their criteria for need to determine my financial aid package.

10.What advice would you give to Indian /international students aspiring to attend Harvard or other Ivy League schools? (Be yourself, doesn’t count)

My biggest piece of advice would be to use your time in high school productively, towards doing things that you are interested in and are good at. High school is a time to build skills and hone your talent: find out what kinds of activities excite you, and spend a ton of time and energy doing those. Becoming really good at something (whether that’s research, a sport, or an art form) and achieving recognition in that field is great because it gives you a real sense of pride and sets you up well for everything you do next - the fact that this helps you get into universities is just the icing on the cake.

11. What was your favorite and least favorite aspect of your experiences at Harvard?

I don’t know where to start! 

At its core, a university is an academic experience - so maybe that’s where I start. I loved my classes. I took courses in economics, statistics, political science, German, psychology, English literature and cultural studies. My professors were some of the world’s best known experts in their fields– and every week, they’d take time out to walk us through the things they know so well, and to pass on their passions to us. Those classes shaped me as a thinker and inform who I am today. 

I also gained so much from the community of students around me. If you think you’re good at something in high school - there’s someone in your class at Harvard who’s better than you at it. You have students who were Olympic athletes and Carnegie Hall performers in high school; the two best debaters from the World Schools Debating Championships were in my year. But I did not find Harvard to be a competitive place. Rather, I think this community pushed me to think bigger and become better, while helping me find friends for life. 

But the flipside of that relentless pace of activity can be burnout. I think I dove into a culture that encouraged you to do more: in your classes, in your extracurricular activities and in your social life. I lived my life at Harvard by my Google Calendar, and that Calendar was always full. I think I would have benefitted from taking more time to reflect and breathe, rather than pushing myself to constantly be moving.

12.Looking back, is there anything you wish you had done differently during your time at Harvard?

I wish I had been more prepared coming into Harvard. I had never had to write a long essay or a paper before. I had only been exposed to a tiny set of fields (chemistry, biology, economics, etc.) and had no idea how to navigate options like anthropology, Romance Languages and Literatures, or philosophy. Having read and experienced more in high school, and coming in better understanding what my options in college were, would have helped me plan my time better and make fuller use of the opportunities available.

13. Why did you decide to continue your studies at Oxford after Harvard?

At the end of undergrad, I knew that in the long term I wanted to work in international development: that is, in impact-oriented work focused on developing countries. I figured that whether that was through academia, non-profits or international institutions, a PhD would be helpful. My training at Harvard had been focused on quantitative economics and I thought I would go on to do a PhD in economics. But towards the end of undergrad, I felt like there was a lot more to development than statistical analysis; I wanted to learn more about the history, sociology and politics of development. Unlike most master’s degrees in the US, the MPhil in Development Studies at Oxford provided exactly that interdisciplinary, critical study of development. 

I applied to the Rhodes Scholarship so that I could receive funding to do this degree. Once I won the scholarship in November of my senior year, my decision was locked in - the Rhodes only provides funding to go to Oxford.

14. For a student, I consider the Rhodes Scholarship as equivalent to winning the Nobel Prize. Just how did you go about preparing for it?

For most of my time in undergrad, I wasn’t eligible for the Rhodes (for many years, the Indian Rhodes Scholarship was only available to students who had done their undergrad degree in India). The rules luckily changed my junior year, and I realized I could apply for the scholarship. The Rhodes is the oldest postgraduate scholarship in the world, and despite its colonial history, is still known for being highly selective and looking for people who have the potential to make a real difference in the world. I knew it would be hard! 

When I applied, the Rhodes selection process for Indians required an application essay, six recommendation letters, and two rounds of interviews. For the application essay, I began by trying to write down on a large sheet of paper everything that mattered to me - people, places, experiences, and values. I looked for common themes that connected them and used those to develop some ideas for an essay. For the recommendation letters, I reached out to a number of professors that I had taken classes or done research with, as well as my high school headmistress. The two interview rounds were a combination of technical and general questions, and I did about ten practice interviews with my professors to prepare.

15.What would you say are few fundamental differences between your experiences as a student at Harvard and Oxford?

It’s hard to put my finger on the specific differences between Harvard and Oxford, as opposed to between the US and the UK, or between the undergrad and postgrad experiences. But there are a few structural differences between the two universities that I noticed. 

First, Oxford’s academic spirit is very much one of independence and self-guided discovery. Classes would often have long reading lists, and you were expected to navigate these by yourself and use the material to learn the things you were excited by. In comparison, Harvard was a lot more prescriptive and guided. 

The grading systems were also different. Oxford uses an examination structure, where the exams at the end of each year count towards your final score in your degree. On the other hand, Harvard uses a GPA structure where every assignment you submit, your class participation, and your final papers/exams can all count towards your grade. This spreads out the stress across the year, but also makes every submission feel higher-stakes!

16. Tell us about Lumiere. What inspired you to start a company focused on academic research collaborations? How does it reflect your own educational experiences?

Lumiere is a 1-on-1 research mentorship program for talented, ambitious students from around the world. 

Going into undergrad, I didn’t really know what research was (in fact, I didn’t know a single person with a PhD before I got to Harvard), and I think my experience would have been so much smoother if I had had the opportunity to learn about research in high school. I wanted to try and make that opportunity available to other high school students. 

My first experience with research was doing a program at the Harvard Business School called the Program for Research in Markets and Organization, where I got to work with a professor one-on-one on a research project for the first time. That totally changed the trajectory of my life, and I went on to do research through the rest of my time in undergrad and then on to a PhD.

Many years later, a friend from that program and I started talking about how much that program had shaped our trajectories - and we realized that we would have loved to have done that kind of thing in high school. So we started Lumiere in the summer of 2020 with 12 students, and have only seen the hunger among students for intellectual experiences like this grow every year.

17. What role do you think research plays in a student's academic and professional development?

I think research is one of the most incredible training experiences that a student can have in high school. Let's take a step back and think about what doing research involves. 

First it begins with identifying your interests - you've got to look at all of the different things that you have read, thought about, studied, and think “Okay what of this am I actually passionate about and excited by?”. That’s helping you identify your passions and interests. 

Next, you have to shape that large, ambiguous, amorphous area into a research question that is tangible and that you can reasonably tackle in the time that you have. Those are skills of structuring ambiguity program management and thinking through work plans. 

Then you actually have to do the research you have to wrestle with the data. You have to talk to people, read and understand complex material and from all of that develop an argument or a perspective that adds a unique contribution to the literature. Those are critical thinking skills and analytical skills that you didn’t have before. 

Along the way you will run into issues, you will encounter obstacles. You will face difficulty, and you need to figure out how to combat that and pivot either to do different kinds of analysis or change the direction of your project. 

In particular, if you do research with a mentor in a structured program like Lumiere, you also develop those relationships with mentors who can give you advice feedback and become people that are important in your life long after the end of the program like this, you learn how to work with others, how to give and get feedback and how to maintain a relationship with someone over time.

18. How does your company help students engage with faculty and gain research experience?

Lumiere’s goal is to provide students a structured, mentored environment in which they can experience research (often for the first time), and write a 15-20 page paper that they can be proud of. 

In terms of our program structure, I think the closest analogues are the Oxford tutorial experience or the experience of being a PhD student with a supervisor. Lumiere is a one-on-one program where we match high school students with mentors who are PhD candidates, post docs, or professors at top universities in the US or the UK. These mentors then work virtually with the students, meeting with them for an hour each week helping them first explore the topic area they’re interested in, then to pick a research question and then guide them as the right research paper. Along the way we have program managers who are overseeing the progress of the student and checking in with them, making sure that they’re hitting the deadlines (whether those are the research question deadline or the milestones to the final paper), and we also have writing coaches to give the feedback who gave the students feedback specifically on the quality of the writing, the structure and so on.

In the last few years, we have also dramatically expanded our financial aid efforts, becoming one of the world’s largest free research programs as well. This summer, 17% of our students did the program entirely for free as part of the Lumiere Foundation and over the next year we aim to work with 500+ high achieving, low-income students to do the program.

19. What are examples of some particularly incredible research work that students have been involved in?

We’ve got students doing research in pretty much any field you can imagine, ranging from physics, computer science and engineering, to economics, business, political science and all the way to cultural studies, art history and so on. I’ve seen some incredible research papers. We had one student build a robot that attempted to monitor students in a classroom and identify, using machine learning, when students were disengaged. The goal was to serve as a teaching assistant to the teacher. This was a project that the student then got to present at a conference in Barcelona, where they were the only high school students presenting. We have another student who looked at historical methods of architecture and how environmental principles were embedded in those historical modes of architecture that could inspire and inform architectural practices today. 

What is especially interesting is what students then go on to do after the program. So one student for instance did research on India’s domestic violence laws - unfortunately, marital rape is still legal in India. After finishing the paper, she organised a conference bringing together academics, non-profit leaders and others on this topic with the goal of increasing conversation about this issue. Other students have gone on to write blog posts on their research, start non-profit campaigns, or do internships to build on their experience.  

20. How do you envision the future of global education evolving in the next decade?

Schools do an incredible job in trying to educate students - but we are seeing that students are hungry for (and deserve) more. I think the future of learning is more personalized, adaptive learning - whether that is one-on-one programs like Lumiere, or AI-powered tutoring software like Khanmigo.

21. What are the most valuable lessons you've learned from your educational journey across continents?

The most valuable lesson that I’ve learned from my educational journey is that each learning experience has many different things to teach you. When I was working on my PhD, I was learning how to do research - but I was also reflecting on my goals and interests, figuring out how to set targets for myself and keep myself motivated, understanding how to write in a compelling style. The only way to recognize these multifaceted learnings is to keep reflecting as you go through learning experiences and to keep asking yourself: what am I feeling at this moment? What barriers am I facing, and why? How do I overcome them? 

In building and running Lumiere, a global organization with students from more than 80 different countries, I am understanding that my learning journey doesn’t stop with the end of my structured education. To do well at Lumiere, I have to keep learning - more about pedagogy, about growth, about management. 

22. What are some studying hacks/tips you have found particularly helpful through your years as a student?

The first is to take good notes. Any time you are in a class, watching a video, or reading something, you are likely to overestimate how much of it you will remember. Taking good notes ensures you have a record of what you learned, and helps internalize the material.

But simply internalizing material isn’t enough - to make sure that you have really learned, you need to be able to create output. Can you point out the flaws in an argument? Can you offer alternate hypotheses? Can you write a blog post or a paper explaining a concept to someone else? That is when you can be sure you’ve mastered something.

23. What is a particular insight that you would like to share with young students?

For young students - especially those in middle school or early years of high school - I think the main thing I’d suggest is to explore. When you look at the world around you, what makes you go “hmm, I’d like to understand that more”? When you’re scrolling on your phone, what catches your eye? What have you found the least boring at school? Take opportunities to dig deep into those things, whether that’s by reading, watching videos, or doing activities related to it. Through exploring, you’ll begin to understand what you’re good at and love, and can then run with that through the rest of your time in school. 

24. Finally, what is that one piece of critical advice you'd offer to students preparing for their journey from India to top universities like Harvard?

I have now met thousands of students who have gone on to study at top-50 universities, and almost every single one of them found that they were happy with the university they ended up - even if it had not been their first choice. So you do need to work hard, build your skills and put together a strong application. But recognize that the final outcome isn’t in your hands, and you will be fine - that you will have a great university experience that sets you up well for whatever you want to do next. 

BEFORE YOU GO… Dhruva’s Recommendation Corner

5 Books you would recommend every high schooler read

• The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good by Michael Sandel 

• Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez by Richard Rodriguez

• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

• India after Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Favorite YouTube channel(s)

To be honest, I’m more of a podcast person than a YouTuber - but here are some that I like! 

• CrashCourse

• The Ezra Klein Show

Favorite insta page

• I follow a lot of recipe pages on Instagram (like Justine_Snacks or tracesoats).  I have been trying to increase the amount of protein I eat as a vegetarian, and it’s a lot harder than it looks! The recipes are helping me figure out how to sneak more eggs, tofu and greek yogurt into my diet. 

Favorite restaurant

• My favorite restaurant in Chennai (where I come from) is Sangeetha - it is a classic from my childhood that serves crisp masala dosas, vadas dunked in sambar, and sweet filter coffee. It’s hard to pick a favorite in London (the city where I currently live) - but if I had to, I would say Legare, which is a fantastic Italian restaurant near Tower Bridge.

What songs are you listening to now?

• Like a lot of the rest of the world, I am currently listening to Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. Her songs are fun, reflective, and unapologetic - and they resonate so much with me.

That one favorite podcast

• Less than two months from the US elections, I have been religiously listening to Pod Save America, a podcast where former staffers from the Obama administration break down the week’s news from US politics.

What are you reading now?

• I am currently reading Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation.