It wasn’t her school, it wasn’t a Web site, and it certainly wasn’t a recruiter that got Yichen Chen ’11 to apply to Harvard in 2006. It was a little help from her friends.

Like many students from mainland China, Chen, a native of Beijing, had to navigate the application process largely on her own. A loose network of friends, including other applicants, served as guides—even encouraging her to apply in the first place.