Advice in SD---

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I need some advice. At the current, I’m a rising junior who hopes to apply to Harvard EA in the winter of 2006. Here’s my problem: I really want to attend Harvard, but my family doesn’t think that I’m “good” enough to even apply. They say that if I do, I’ll never get accepted, and I’m starting to question that very same thing.</p>

<p>I have lived my entire life in South Dakota, and I must say, it hasn’t been a good one. My father turned into an alcoholic when I was very young, and it came to the point where the abuse was so bad that my mom finally divorced him. Now they’re remarried, and he continues to drink, but that’s another story. Between the first grade and now I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD, Social Anxiety Disorder, depression, etc… Most of which I’ve grown out of or am currently receiving treatment for, and that’s just the “mental illness” side of things. </p>

<p>In the past my attendance in school has been bad, and they thought I was always faking an illness to get out of something. This past school year (my sophomore year) things got really bad. I missed 35 days of school, from what we thought were allergy problems. However, after getting 45 allergy-testing shots that came out neg., they decided to get my head scanned. They found out that I have chronic sinus problems. These are so bad that I have to go to a specialist in Sioux Falls (the biggest city in the state), and I’ll eventually have to get surgery, from what they tell me. </p>

<p>Even with all these “issues,” (including the 35 days missed of school), I’ve still managed to maintain my 4.0 GPA. However, my extracurricular activities until now have been limited because of the obvious. However, last spring I started a job at a grocery store, in which I work 25+ hours each week year-round. I keep the job because I need it to buy my own clothes, schools supplies, money to get back and forth between work, and, obviously, for college. I’ve been in the German club at school for two years, and the Spanish for one. The only other club that’s offered in my school is key club, which I plan to join next year. My mother is a Para-educator and works with children who are mentally disabled and I plan to start volunteering at her place of employment next week to help the children with math and reading. </p>

<p>My school offers very few courses. We have 4 AP courses, all of which I won’t be able to take until my senior year: Calculus AB, English, chemistry, and biology. I tried taking AP Government online through APEX, (I was, when I took this, the only student in the building even doing an online course.) However, that didn’t go well because of physical illness and the fact that my new job had begun around this time. I really enjoy advanced math and social studies/ sciences. I know, two totally different things! Anyway, this summer I’ve started preparing for the new SAT, secretly. From the official practice tests in the CB blue book, I score in the upper 2300’s, and on one of them, I got a perfect score… I plan to take the real deal in October. </p>

<p>The strange thing about me is, however, I would love to travel and meet diverse people. This is why I’m taking 2 foreign languages in school (none of which I’ve been exposed to) and I’m also teaching myself Italian. So I can speak four languages. I’ve talked to fellow employees at work who come from all over this country, and one of them even lived in Germany, Japan, France, etc… When I’m with these “sophisticated” and “worldly” people I really “hit it off.” Unfortunately, because my family makes an income of about $40,000 a year and we’re dysfunctional, we don’t go on vacations. </p>

<p>My family believes that even though I have a 4.0 GPA, will have taken 4 AP courses by the end of HS, probably will have a close to perfect SAT, at least a few clubs and a job to put in for extracurricular(I’ll try to find more to do and or advance in my position within, of course) , great recommendations from teachers and employers, can speak 4 languages, still think that I won’t be good enough for Harvard because I’m poor and from SD and they say that only rich people go there. They say that you don’t have to have good grades, just money. My grades, scores, and teacher / employer recommendations are all good, but I’m still trying to find more to do for extracurricular activities, which are hard to find around here, being that not many are offered. </p>

<p>What can I improve and or do in my next two years of HS to increase my chance of admission? </p>

<p>At the current, how much of a shot do I have? </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>Everything looks good so far, but the final hurdle will be your SAT II scores. For perfect scenario/hook's sake, if you happened to score a 770+ on two of the foreign language exams and toss in another 800 on an SAT II of another subject, then you are as good a candidate as any other out there. Congrats on all your accomplishments, best of luck,</p>

<p>TTG</p>

3

<p>"However, last spring I started a job at a grocery store, in which I work 25+ hours each week year-round. I keep the job because I need it to buy my own clothes, schools supplies, money to get back and forth between work, and, obviously, for college. "</p>

<p>Working a job --particularly out of necessity and to earn needed $ for college -- is an extremely impressive EC. Consider having your employer write a recommendation that you can submit as an extra recc. A sincere recommendation from an employer who can cite examples of your maturity and ability to handle responsibility can go far -- even if the employer makes grammatical or other mistakes because of lack of education or sophistication.</p>

<p>Your teaching yourself Italian also is impressive.It is an example of independently pursuing an intellectual passion. It will be even more so if you can document your skills by doing well on some kind of exam (such as if you can take an SAT II in that subject).</p>

<p>I don't suggest highlighting your various physical and emotional problems except to have your GC note that even though you had some medical problems that forced you to miss a considerable amount of school, you still maintained a 4.0 average. </p>

<p>Otherwise, highlight your considerable strengths. </p>

<p>I don't suggest making a decision about whether to apply to H based on responses on various CC boards. Most people are extremely uninformed and simply are guessing. Even alum interviewers like me don't have the inside info that adcoms have nor can we predict how the admissions process might change.</p>

<p>If you look at stats about H's freshmen class, you'll see that you are in the ballpark, so certainly you should apply.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, do whatever it takes to continue to do well in school and to have great scores. Make sure that you prep for the PSAT (which differs in some ways from the SAT), and sign up to take it in Oct. as the junior year PSAT score is the qualifying test for National Merit Scholarships, and that means $ and can also impress some top colleges.</p>

4

<p>What should I do for a college essay (when the time comes)? Write about how hard it has been to get to the point that I am at with no motivation but myself, and how I'm poor and don't have many opps?</p>

5

<p>I suggest writing an essay that talks about how you've made opportunities for yourself -- worked a job, self-taught a language -- despite there being relatively few opportunities in your area. </p>

<p>The point will be to portray yourself as being hard working and very motivated (which shouldn't be hard to do since you're obviously both of these) and to avoid writing from the perspective of "Poor me. I am a victim."</p>

6

<p>That's what I was thinking. Thanks for all of your input, NorthStarMom!</p>

7

<p>$40,000 is below the average of Harvard's applicants, but it is by no means "poor," especially if you live in South Dakota. You have a thousand other hooks to use- it'd be a serious mistake to pursue this topic and could downright blow your otherwise-solid chances. That aside, I was presented with a similar situation. You must be very tact with it, and you should mention that your family does not make an exorbinant amount of money as opposed to something that alludes to being "poor," the definition of which varies, but be aware that Harvard has seen just as accomplished individuals with a whole lot worse (in terms of finances). It's funny that you should connect not having the opportunity to travel and the constraints of your family's income because that's exactly what my personal statement was about! By mentioning that you have not had the financial ability to pursue distant travels, that should already say enough to Harvard admissions officials that "Hey, this kid doesn't come from a super-rich family" which should be a good start, and by furthering the discussion about your situation should give the adcom officials the picture that you're trying to paint. I suppose if you would like to see a copy of my essay, you can just PM me. Best of luck,</p>

<p>TTG</p>

8

<p>Darn it, I just finished by beautiful explanation and Northstarmom's already jumped in again! Man, she's good. hahaha =)</p>

9

<p>Yes. She reads and types extremely quickly.</p>

10

<p>My GC says that only like a few people in my state apply... He says about 95% of them are from really wealthy families in Sioux Falls. Does anyone have a map that shows how many applied from each state and how many were accepted?</p>

11

<p>The map you want doesn't exist except possibly with adcoms. There might be a map on the H site that you can find that shows the # of freshmen from each state. Some colleges provide such info. I can't remember if H does.</p>

<p>Regardless of the actual map or info, the bottom line for you is that being from an underrepresented state, being from a rural area and being relatively low income are all assets when it comes to colleges like Harvard and many other top colleges that are seeking very diverse student bodies.</p>

12

<p>I think I read one that was put out by Yale at one time... Does anyone know anything else about this? Also, how would I get interviewed for Harvard? Would I have to travel 400 miles to the twin cities?</p>

13

<p>Interviews are conducted by alum and whether you get one depends on whether there's an alum in your area. Since there aren't many H alum in your state, it's likely you'd be offered an interview at a distance from your home. All applicants from the US are offered interviews if a willing alum can be found.</p>

<p>Harvard does not hold it against you if an alumnus can not be found to interview you, but if you get an offer of an interview that you can get to, jump on that offer unless it's absolutely impossible for you to get there.</p>

<p>This school year, a student from, I think, rural southwestern Minn. posted on the CC H board about not accepting an interview that would have been a couple of hour drive away. He declined because of the distance and because he was at that time living by himself while his parents were out of the country. They had told him that they didn't want him to drive out of town.</p>

<p>He asked H to find him an alum who lived closer, but apparently H couldn't find such an alum. The student then got his parents' permission to drive to see the original interviewer. When the student called the original interviewer, though, the person no longer had the time to interview him. </p>

<p>The student ended up being rejected. I don't think it was because H held the lack of an interview against him. I think it was because the student missed an opportunity to really shine. If the student had gone to the interview on his own and had talked about how he was living on his own in a rural area, the interviewer probably would have been very impressed by his maturity, independence and sense of responsibility.</p>

<p>That info in the interview report could have tipped the student into Harvard.</p>

<p>Don't be like that student who applied to only one reach school, H. Given the odds of acceptance (1:10), if you want to go to a top college, apply to several, not just H. Since costs are a factor for you, also make sure that the colleges are likely to offer you the aid you'd need. Few things are more heartbreaking than to get a great acceptance, but to have to turn it down because of lack of good financial aid.</p>

14

<p>Yes... Of course... I will, however, apply to Harvard EA... Even though I won't have a better chance because of it... And then, if I don't get in, I'll re-apply RA, and, of course the other ivies.</p>

15

<p>Yale has a map of admits, but it is accessable only to other admitted students.</p>

16

<p>You don't re-apply to the regular decision rounds, that's what "deferred" is for. You either get Accepted/Deferred/Rejected (once you're rejected, you cannot re-apply for the same term).</p>

17

<p>So, when they defer you EA, they look over your application again during the RA "period"?</p>

18

<p>NorthStarMom--
Do you believe that Harvard is a reach school for everyone? No matter what their scores, grades, ecs, and "hooks" are?</p>

19

<p>Yes, your application gets shuffled into the Regular Decision and will get re-evaluated. If you've won something or done something nice from the time you turned in your EA application to the time Regular Decision application are due (January 1, usually?), you may submit more stuff (but only if you think it'll help out your application). One EA applicant to Harvard at my school was concerned after his deferral, because he said he now only stood a 1-2% chance of getting accepted the second time around (during Regular Decision); now, I don't know if that's true, but I'm sure someone can verify that statistic for you. </p>

<p>TTG</p>

20

<p>Does anyone else have some input?</p>