Any hope for a BWRK?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>And I'm not sure about the "well-rounded" part. I thought about posting this in the chances forum, but I wanted to avoid the knee-jerk "you're in" or "go to community college" responses that so often seem to grace the chances posts. I am probably applying SCEA.</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>4.0 UW GPA
36 ACT (36 math, 36 science, 35 reading, 35 english, 9 essay)
800 IIC
800 Chem
780 M. Bio
5's on Bio, BC, Chem, US Gov, Comp Gov, Macro, Micro, Art History
I'll take the SAT in October, PSAT was a 219.
Senior year courseload will be mostly AP's.</p>

<p>EC's/Awards:</p>

<p>Math team (9-12): USAMO qualifier (124 AMC 12, 10 AIME, 9 USAMO), top 30 Mandelbrot, state AMC champion
Debate (9-12): Policy co-captain, national qualifier, many local awards
Science Olympiad (9-12): two-time national champion, variety of state/local awards; (much of this took place 9th grade year)
Youth in Goverment (9-12): President, state cabinet member, state awards
Quiz Bowl/Knowledge Masters (10-12): Co-founder and captain, team qualified to national academic championships, state winners</p>

<p>National Merit Semi
National AP Scholar
USABO Semi
Will enter Siemens/Intel, probably just a participant, possible semifinalist if lucky</p>

<p>Summers: Governor's school, debate camps, lab research</p>

<p>Essays/Recs: hard to say; rec's should be adequate</p>

<p>Intangibles: Another student will likely also apply early from my school with a similar profile and the URM bonus. Also, I've already applied to a number of summer programs like RSI/NASA SHARP and was rejected, although some of the EC's and scores weren't in my profile at the time of those decisions.</p>

<p>I know that I look like every other asian male applying early, and that I am not particularly well-rounded or well-lopsided. That said, what are my chances?</p>

2

<p>Out of curiosity, did you take the AIME I or II?</p>

3

<p>You have to take it upon yourself to make your application stand out. </p>

<p>If you settle for being a BWRK, you don't have much of a chance of getting in.</p>

4

<p>AIME II. I was very lucky to pick the exam with the lower cutoff.</p>

<p>Lindseylujh, what angle do you recommend I take to make the application stand out?</p>

5

<p>Snafu:</p>

<p>If you are not going to apply to Princeton, there is probably no need to take the SAT. Your ACT and SAT--II scores should be fine; they certainly are for Harvard.</p>

<p>You look like a math-lopsided person like my S.In fact, he is even less well-rounded than you. He decided to write his essays to show that there is more to him than math (his love of math being self-evident from his list of courses) and wrote his essays accordingly. You could follow the same strategy.</p>

6

<p>I would be happy to not take the SAT, but I actually talked to my counselor about not taking it, and his response was that it would look a bit suspicious to not take it after taking the ACT; I got the sense that it would almost appear as if I had something to hide. Do you think his opinion is justified?</p>

<p>As far as the essays go, I'm torn between following that strategy and reinforcing the potential math-lopsidedness. Do I risk looking cliche if I write it about math?</p>

7

<p>Your stats are brilliant. Congrats on those fantastic AP scores. Dunno about harvard, but with those u can walk into Oxford.</p>

8

<p>If you want to take the SAT for Harvard, don't. H is serious about accepting the ACT in lieu of the SAT. As for the essays, you have two (there is the optional essay which I strongly recommend writing on top of the main one). If you can write a great essay about your passion for math, fine; then write another one on another topic so that adcoms can see that you are a multifaceted applicant.</p>

9

<p>Yes, Snafu has a good chance of being accepted if he writes a decent application. </p>

<p>Incidentally, what's a BWRK?</p>

10

<p>bright well-rounded kid</p>

11

<p>What about the soft ACT essay score? Is it defensible to take the SAT in an attempt to "compensate"?</p>

12

<p>Snafu 851
What state are you from?</p>

13

<p>Snafu:</p>

<p>There is no harm in taking the SAT; I just don't see the need. My S had an 8 on his SAT-Writing essay; not great, though his overall SAT-II Writing score was 750. If you think you can improve on your score, by all means. I would not be overly concerned.</p>

14

<p>Thanks for your analysis, marite.</p>

<p>I'm a Missouri kid.</p>