Considering that Harvard EA applicants include very qualified candidates and also people like Malia Obama, who are the children of statesmen, does this significantly lower my chances of being accepted since the applicant pool for REA is seemingly more competitive? Or is it not actually relevant since the amount of these types of applications are ‘low’? Or does it just not matter because it can go Deferred ----> RD pool?
Thank you!
No one can validate whether you are screwing yourself or not without information such as test scores, GPA, course rigor, rank, ECAs etc. If your academic profile is ultimately very impressive and undeniably meets Harvard’s standards, then you should be a competitive enough applicant, regardless of the level of qualification of the other candidates. Provide these and people will be able to answer your question.
Outright rejection will only happen if you’re clearly out of your depth. Anyone who would be accepted during regular should 99% of the time be either accepted or deferred.
So the worst case scenario for an “average” candidate is that they get two chances; once in early and once in regular if they get deferred. If you’re totally set on Harvard, and your resume is legitimately competitive, there are no disadvantages to applying EA.
@htms13ytk Thank you for the insight! I’ll copy paste my info from another post:
I’m an asian male from SoCal. Both of my parents went to grad school.
GPA******************
-4.26 Weighted / 3.91 Unweighted- Kind of weak, made a few mistakes here and there. My graduating year was the first year in which pretty much all of our honors courses don’t give grade boosts, which is kind of lame, but that’s life
-Also, I took multivariable calculus at UCI. I got an A+.
AP********************
-5’s on World History, Computer Science, Calculus BC, Biology.
-4 on US History.
-I self-studied Environmental science too and received a 4 also.
Other Test info*************
-2250 on old SAT. 2290 superscore.
One sitting was (710R/740M/800W) 9 Essay
the other was (670R/780M/800W) 11 Essay
-35 on ACT (36E/36M/35R/33S)
-SAT Subject tests
800 Biology-M
780 Math II
720 US History
Senior Coursework*****
AP Comparative Govt. (AP Macro 2nd semester)
AP Physics C: Mech
AP Art History
AP Statistics
Regular English
Extra Curriculars*********
-Delegate in YMCA Youth and Government 10-12. It’s a model legislature and court based off california’s. I passed a proposal through the board of education as a panel member. I also won an award of ‘pollster of the year’ in my own delegation (150 members) for outstanding polling of the program’s members (approx. 4000 students)
-Cross Country and Track and Field, did it 9-11 and was JV. I was alright.
-Academic Decathlon 11-12. This year, I’m the treasurer. Our team kind of sucks since we don’t have it as a class and we don’t really have anyone that is an expert on the subject(s), but we have some kids that score pretty high individually.
-FBLA 10-12. just a regular member.
-Internship at a local tech company 11-12. They’re a security app that’s on a bunch of HS campuses nation-wide. I can’t say much but they’re also partnered with a fortune 500 company to keep workers safe and a very large (multinational) governmental organization. I do quality assurance there and work with the software engineers. I’ve created a master QA checklist for the company that the whole development department uses. I also help a little with customer interaction (calls and email checkups).
-League of Legends: since forever. Not sure how relevant this is, but I’m good at it. (peaked diamond IV/top 2% of North America). It’s also the subject of my CommonApp Essay, which I think is pretty good.
-Internship/Shadow under two different neurosurgeons 12: Both are/were head of their departments in their respective hospitals. I don’t think I’ll be getting a recommendation letter, but It was a great experience nonetheless. I get to take call and also help around the clinics and sit in on some surgeries.
-Speech & Debate 12: Only this year, and its mostly for fun; I’m only a member.
-Friday Night Club 10-12: We help special needs teens and young adults and engage in fun activities with them to help raise awareness of their situations.
Work Experience**********************
-Tutor: Math Tutor 11-12. My specialty is standardized math (ACT & SAT) and AP Calculus, but I also help in the lower divisions of math. 20$/hour, and I’ve had very good success with the students (ie. B’s to A’s/23 ACT Math to 28)
Awards*****************
-CSF 9-12
-AP Scholar with Distinction
-National Merit Commended Student (1 point of, fk California lol)
-Academic Letter with Honors (school award for 4.0 cumulative GPA)
Volunteering************
-160 hours of community service at a local nature preserve over the past 3 summers. I acted as a camp counselor for kids at summer camp and engaged them in nature and taught them about environmental responsibility.
Thank you so much for reading all of this!