<p>Hello, my name is Tyler and I have never been into the whole Ivy League thing. However, when I found out that if your family makes less than 60,000 a year you can get a full ride I quickly became interested. I am currently a junior so I still have some things to do to get ready for college, but I thought I would get a preliminary opinion. OK so here is my info.</p>
<p>GPA: 4.078
Rank: 1 of 714
Public High School
ACT( took as sophomore taking it again in like 2 weeks): 29 (hoping for 33)</p>
<p>Schedule: 10th
Honors Chem
ACC Algebra II
Spanish III
AP History (got a 4 on the exam)
English 10
Health
Drawing Fundamentals (got thrown in I hate art lol)</p>
<pre><code> 11th
AP Government (haven't taken exam yet)
English 11
Organic Chem
Analytical Chem
Bio II
Econ
ACC Trig
Spanish IV
Prospective 12th grade schedule
AP Calc BC
AP Bio
AP Chem
AP Spanish (spanish V)
English 12
Newspaper/Brit Lit/Sociology (i dont know yet)
</code></pre>
<p>Extra Curricular</p>
<p>Science Olympiad
Driven Club (christian club)
Spanish Club
Spanish Honors Society
NHS
Varsity Tennis
Young Republicans</p>
<p>I come from an extremely low income family (Less than 15000 a year.) My parents are divorced and I live with my mom. I am a first generation college attendee. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for your help. I know these can be annoying. Please be brutally honest</p>
<p>I don't think you've got a shot. 1/714 seems very impressive, but an ACT score of 29 or even of 33 immediately disqualifies that. SATs and ACTs are there for a reason, they put your academic record in perspective. The top schools have been known to excuse poor standarized test performance for things like cultural bias but there is nothing here that tells me you should have a much higher score. The rigor of your school's course offerings is seriously called into question, as is your qualification for Harvard. Good luck, but without any legitimate 'hook' I seriously doubt you get in. I could be wrong though.</p>
<p>Low-income and first generation will help, but as Beef touched on, you need to get your scores up. Your EC's are weak by Harvard standards and your course rigor isn't too strong. Does your school weight GPA's?</p>
<p>Umm both calcs, us and world history, spanish, french, german, bio, chem, physics, they used to offer environmental but not enough people, psyche, gov, econ, computer science, i think thats all of them</p>
<p>I dont think anyone from my school has ever gone to Harvard. As for awards my school is really dumb honors night is only for seniors but I did get highest GPA in 9th grade and I received the presidents award (which isnt that big of a deal) What other ECs do you guys recommend</p>
<p>ok stressed!-i don't know where these people go to school but I don't think they are giving you the best information</p>
<p>yea-your scores could be higher but we come from similar backgrounds (i.e-poor, my dad left I live with my mom and 4 younger siblings). I got a 29 on the act and I've had 2 harvard interviews and my college counselor thinks I have a decent (i.e-as good as anyone) chance of getting in. And my school is a new england prep school (a direct feeder school for the ivies) we have sent over 120 kids to ivy league schools (out of 500) from 06-08. Last year 16 kids went to harvard.</p>
<p>I'm guessing my school is much more academically rigorous than yours but I have a MUCH lower gpa than yours (its a 3.48-only a B+) and my school does not offer AP courses. Both my harvard interviewers told me they loved my app and essays because they felt one couldn't "learn the world from a book" and that i had successfully balanced school, ECs, family and work. they also said they sat and act were direct reflections of how much money one put into tutoring to prepare (not kidding-direct quote from a harvard admissions officer who interviewed me)</p>
<p>I would say work on your extracurriculars. but they also look very favorably on holding a part time job as well as going to school. my friend went from a horrible boston public school (with an 1880 on the sats) to harvard on a full scholarship. they are very impressed when underprivledged kids work to better their lives.</p>
<p>just to clarify-my school only offers an AP in language (they don't believe in sticking to a set curriculum in other subjects) but the intensity of your classes is VERY important. Example: I have Spanish 5 (regular) but we are reading DOn Quijote in the old text (think shakespeare in spanish), which is the same thing most spanish majors in college must do before graduating.</p>
<p>also any ECs in which you could work yourself up to a leadership position are important. colleges don't want to see you fill a resume. they want to see something your passionate about and have put time into. if you play sports than be the captain. if you work on a newspaper than be the editor. be the head of a club or start your own about somehting you care about.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot sbarkowski. I now have some hope. Oh and I just remembered that I organized Pro-Life day at my school and now we do it every year. I ordered T-shirts and organized the whole day. Its not really a club but Its something I'm very passionate about. Thanks again</p>
<p>There is a world of difference between a public shool and a private feeder in Harvard admissions. Harvard takes only the absolute best students from public schools. The question the OP needs to ask himelf is if he is one of the top 500 public graduates in the country this year. For prep students its more like, am I one of the top ten graduates from my class this year?</p>
<p>You guys are overrating the admissions game... </p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't think you've got a shot. 1/714 seems very impressive, but an ACT score of 29 or even of 33 immediately disqualifies that.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Bull****. A 33 is an SAT equivalent of around 2220 to 2270, more than good enough to be competitive for admissions. Yes, a 29 is far below average, but as the OP stated, he has never considered an Ivy level college up to this point, which may give him a motivation to study for the retake in early senior year. </p>
<p>
[quote]
The question the OP needs to ask himelf is if he is one of the top 500 public graduates in the country this year.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not even close... Harvard is not looking for statistical automatons without considering the context of their achievements. By what standards is "top 500 graduates" measured? Again, the prevalence of "top feeder schools" in admissions is highly overrated. Unless you go to a school like Exeter or Andover, private or public doesn't mean squat in admissions. </p>
<p>Now for the honest part. Your scores are dreadfully low at this point. Your rank and GPA is up there but your EC's do nothing to separate you from the pack. Many low income students in a similar position have applied to top schools and have been rejected. However, I encourage you to work on your weaknesses apply nonetheless. Good luck...</p>
<p>Wrong Gryffon, Harvard accepts different types of applicants who are expected to have different types of profiles. Hooked applicants (legacies, athletes, URM) make up 40% of the admits while about 60% are your run of the mill extremely smart kid who has proven himself/herself more acadmeically than just about anyone out there. The hooked applicants have much lower scores, so to get in as a regular unhooked applicant means your scores must be much better than average. The reason why Harvard's average SAT is so high while their percentage of hooked admits is also so high is because they take scores far on the other side of the spectrum (which is also why they have the highest per capita perfect scorer). You can't look at average or quartile scores. He needs to have at least a 34, in my opinion, to be anywhere close to competitive.</p>
<p>sbarowski clearly understands very little about the admissions process</p>
<p>Even as a low income student and first generation student, a 3.48 GPA with a 29 is unacceptable for Harvard. Any credibility that comes from the poor card also seems to minimalized by the fact that he or she attends an elite private school where 16! kids went to Harvard in one year. I'm willing to bet that all of those students had great SATs, GPAs, and ECs. </p>
<p>To the OP:</p>
<p>If I were you I would look very seriously into the Questbridge Program. It specifically targets lower income students < $40,000 a year, and attempts to place them into elite colleges in a separate pool from privileged public and private school students. I think if you can get a 33 and maintain your rank, you would have a great shot at Questbridge</p>
<p>Thanks Rferns a I am applying for the Questbridge program right now, all I need is my recommendation. Hopefully I get it. I really want to go to the summer program at Harvard so wish me luck</p>