Am I Qualified for Harvard Pre-Med

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

Hello,

Harvard is one of my top choice schools (I am looking to major in Biology and follow the pre-med track). These are my current stats so far. I haven’t taken the ACT yet so I don’t have any scores to include. Let me know if I can get into Harvard and what I can do to improve my application.

3.8 GPA
4.2 Weighted GPA

Advanced Classes Taken or Taking (so far - APs aren’t offered at my school, honors is the highest level course):

  1. Honors History 10th
  2. Honors History 11th
  3. Honors Conceptual Physics 9th
  4. Honors Bio 10th
  5. Honors Chemistry 11th
  6. Honors Algebra 2 10th
  7. Honors Pre-Calculus 11th
  8. Honors Lit 10th
  9. Honors Lit 11th
  10. College Photography class (4.0 gpa)

Extracurriculars:

  1. Varsity Basketball (first person in my family to play-- self taught after hospital visit, joined the team a few months after)
  2. Varsity Soccer (starter)
  3. Seasonal orchestra
  4. Violin
  5. STEM Institute
  6. School-wide art exhibition (photography)

Leadership:

  1. Founding member of school STEM institute (on the Board of Directors)
  2. VP of Architecture Club
  3. Director of STEM Institute outreach (youtube channel)
  4. Led lectures at educational conventions on STEM education in high schools
  5. Worked with companies to produce educational games (through the STEM Institute)

Work Experience:

  1. Volunteer at UCLA Health
  2. Reading to kindergarden students
  3. MOU partnerships with companies through STEM institute

Clubs:

  1. Architecture club
  2. STEM club (9th)

Volunteering:

  1. Volunteer at UCLA Health
  2. Reading to kindergarden students

Accomplishments:

  1. Designed the school STEM lab for the STEM Institute (Head Architect)
  2. 2x published photographer in LA times travel section
  3. Published 4 times in school scientific journal/magazine
  4. Varsity Letter

Future Classes:

  1. Advanced Biology Honors
  2. Calculus (honors not offered)
  3. Political Science
  4. Honors Lit 12th
2

In a recent Harvard freshman survey, 54% of admitted students said they had a 4.0 in high school, with the average GPA reported being 3.9. That said, course rigor varies from high school to high school. Even though Harvard does not consider rank, every student SHOULD. If your GPA places you in the top 10% of your class, then you’re on the right track, as Harvard’s Common Data Set reports 95% of admits were in the top 10% of their class. See C10 data points: http://oir.harvard.edu/files/huoir/files/harvard_cds_2014-15.pdf.

3

You most likely meet benchmarks for consideration. The work you do with the STEM Institute, the lectures and the work with the companies look interesting. Do you do anything outside of school? I can’t tell if the section on leadership is a bit, well, overstated.

You probably have a shot like many others. Noone can tell you. Just go ahead and apply and have a good attitude about the results. And have alternative schools you would be happy at.

As for premed, there is no premed program or track at Harvard. And students who major in all kinds of things can go to medical school. One of the top groups for admission to med school is actually music majors. So major in what you love at the undergrad level.

Many high schoolers want to be doctors and a good number of them change their minds. Once you are exposed to the complex options for work, you may find you have other goals. Don’t get too locked in prematurely. Use college to explore and enjoy it!

4

@compmom What do you mean by other things I do outside of school? Do you mean like EC activities or other leadership opportunities?