Harvard wants to revolutionize college admissions. Will it work?

For parents of burned-out kids, the recommendations of a new Harvard report sound like a fantasy world: No more endless extracurricular activities. No more juggling six honors classes, drama rehearsal, soccer practice and student council meetings with the hope of being accepted to an elite school.

And for low-income high schoolers who lack access to advanced-placement courses or fancy tennis lessons, the new parameters could help level the playing field.

The report released last Wednesday by the Harvard Graduate School of Education called for an admissions “revolution.’’ Instead of prioritizing high test scores and endless extracurricular activities, the report suggested admissions officials reward students who help out their families and strive toward the “common good’’.

The broad, sweeping suggestions are great in theory. But are they realistic?

“Obviously we want human beings to be more caring and compassionate,’’ said Carol Barash, the founder of Story 2, an online educational company that helps students with college admissions essays. “But the intentions of leaders at elite institutions can’t change the fundamental issues that create a system that’s vastly unfair.’’

Many high school students are unprepared for college (here in Massachusetts, 40 percent of high-school graduates are taking remedial classes when they enter four-year universities). Many can’t afford the cost of college without taking out thousands in loans. And the current structure of higher education is more focused on four-year degree programs than two-year programs that can train students for the workforce.

To truly help high schoolers who need it most, the nation should create more one-to-two-year programs that train students specifically for the workforce, Barash said. Higher education, she said, is still primarily figured as though students can take four years off from life.

“Many need to work, some have families, and many enroll in college later in life,’’ she said. “Education is connected to a life of meaning, so they could still benefit from a focus on community service in applications. But that doesn’t help if they can’t afford to stay in school or graduate with so much debt that they can’t live life fully.’’

The report suggests colleges allow students to write essays describing their experiences helping their families. Because not all kids have access to organized community service, this approach could ensure that underprivileged kids can show that they, too, “do good,’’ and that their activities, whether baby-sitting or caring for family members, are just as valuable as an internship at a prestigious college or company.

“Colleges have been thinking about the challenges of getting underprivileged kids in their pool,’’ said Sean Logan, director of college counseling at Andover Phillips Academy. “But it’s not only that, it’s how do you also get them to stay there, and what are the inclusivity issues?’’

This approach reinforces the values many schools have already been trying to instill in their students, said Mary Lammi, Student Support Service Director for Needham Public Schools, where educators are focused on social and emotional learning, which helps students develop skills to manage their emotions and make responsible decisions.

“It’s about helping students understand who they are as a person and the skills that are necessary for them to be successful in life and in their careers,’’ Lammi said. “It’s a process that we all should go through in regards to learning and growing and understanding differences, but it would also help them to reflect on it in their applications.’’

Despite the uphill battle ahead, the recommendations are a relief for some high school guidance counselors.

At Dover Sherborn High School, one of the top-ranked schools in Massachusetts, counselors have tried to discourage students from attempting to do it all. But their efforts have been thwarted by the intense pressure of college applications, said Ellen Chagnon Work, the school’s director of guidance.

“We might say to a student, ‘Take one less AP class if you’re dedicated to the soccer team.’ But students will say, ‘No, I have to do both because it makes me more marketable,’’’ she said. “Then they end up stressed out, anxious and feeling trapped, and not able to drop any activities because they’ll be seen as a ‘quitter.’ We felt stuck against college requirements and competitiveness.’’

The report is just the latest step in an ongoing reform movement taking shape at universities across the U.S. This past fall, more than 80 schools, including Harvard, announced they’d offer a new college application developed by the Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success to better target low-income and first-generation college students. A new version of the SAT will be offered in March. (Critics have argued it will be less challenging than the old format because it eliminates the most challenging vocabulary words and students won’t be penalized for guessing.)

The race-based campus demonstrations that took place nationwide last fall also drew attention to the issue of diversity in college recruiting and admissions.

“Some of the protests brought up ideas of ‘There’s not a lot of kids like me,’’’ Logan said.

This summer, Making Caring Common, the group that produced the report, will host a summit for admissions leaders and high school and parent representatives from across the country to develop a two-year plan to implement key elements of the report. Logan hopes the conversation around admissions will continue until then and long afterward.

“We need to talk about how to take back this process for all types of kids,’’ he said. “Of course, there are very different institutions with different priorities and resources. But we can find the common ground and be consistent in our message to discourage over-coaching, even when students fight back and feel they need to keep overachieving because ‘Everyone else is doing it.’’’