Video: alum Rachel Zhang shares how clay penguins helped her get into Harvard University on “ADMITTED” podcast

Ryan Chen, Editor-in-Chief • August 12, 2025

ADMITTED is The Classic’s premier college admissions podcast, where we sit down with Townsend Harris seniors and discuss the essays and strategies they used to get into their dream schools. In this episode, you will hear from class of 2025 alum Rachel Zhang and her journey to being accepted into Harvard University. You will hear about Rachel’s passion of clay sculpting to her interest in engineering. This episode is part one of the conversation with Rachel, covering her personal statement and supplemental essays. Next week, part two will be released, and will include a discussion on the rest of her college application. Watch the full episode at the link above or on Spotify here.

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About the Contributor

Ryan Chen, Editor-in-Chief

Ryan is a junior at Townsend Harris High School, and he plans to pursue a career in business/finance. He enjoys taking photos but wants to improve at “making” photos. His favorite Classic project he worked on is the 2025 FON Saturday night live stream. He will forever remember the moment the song “Dynamite” started playing during the intro segment. After technical difficulties on Friday night, hearing that intro song and knowing that things were working came as a huge relief. His favorite Classic piece created by others is the video “High School Teachers Define Gen Z Slang.” He genuinely didn’t know half of the terms going into the video, and it helped him understand conversations during high school.