any point in applying?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<h2>Academics</h2>

<ul>
<li>Asian Male, to-be Senior, Small public high school in MA (class of roughly 110)</li>
<li>School sends 5-10 or so graduates to colleges such as Swarthmore, Williams, Ivies etc. each year
-top 10% (class ranks aren't given out)
-unweighted GPA 3.77 (grades have been steadily improving since 9th )
-classes: all APs/Honors. I have only taken 2 APs (bio, statistics) since our school doesn't offer them till junior and senior year. The two APs I took in junior were classes/subjects that I had to double up in 9th + 10th to get "ahead of the track". School has a total of 9 APs or so (and all of them are senior year unless you get "ahead of the track" for sciences and math)</li>
</ul>

<p>In senior year, I plan to take AP physics, AP chem, AP french, AP calculus, honors english</p>

<p>APs- Biology 5 , Statistics 4
SATIs- 720 Critical Reading, 700 Math, 720 Writing (planning to retake again)
ACT- (planning to take)
SATIIs - 730 Bio M, 690 Chem (planning to take Math II, French)</p>

<h2>EC's</h2>

<p>-Band (throughout high school) - 1st/2nd chair
-Varsity Cross Country (4 years- captain 12th grade)
-Varsity Indoor and Outdoor Track (4 years)
-Science Fair (9th and 11th grade - won an award from the local pond for a project on it)
-Lifesmarts, an economics competition sponsored by the Federal Reserve, our team got 2nd at states
-Varsity Math Team
-Academic Bowl
-National Honors Society (10th to 12th)
-Helped at Hershey's Track (introduces track to youngsters)
-Peer Tutor (10th, 11th grade)</p>

<h2>Awards</h2>

<p>Placed in top 10% for National French Exam
Science Fair award from local pond</p>

<h2>Community Service</h2>

<p>Started a "Shovel for Seniors" project during the winter (10+ hours)
Other various community service work such as staffing school dances, local fair, local dump (30+)
Going to start a chess club for elementary school kids (30+)</p>

<h2>Recommendations</h2>

<p>2 good ones from my biology teacher (head of the science department) and economics teacher</p>

2

<p>You have a shot, nothing stands out about you but if you want to apply you should. Make sure to spend A LOT of time on the essay however.</p>

3

<p>I see ur from MA... thats probably not gonna help, but all else, u look ok... i agree w/ rh... work HARD on those essays and mayb ull get in... mayb...</p>

4

<p>waste of time to take SAT I's over </p>

<p>SAT</a> Retaking the Test</p>

5

<p>lol CharlesChan that's incredibly ignorant. It's not a waste of time to take the SAT I over again, especially if you think you can do better. Personally, I retook the SAT I in the fall of my senior year and scored around 200 points better. </p>

<p>Look, on paper, you're probably not gonna get in, but you might as well try.</p>

6

<p>Ignorant? From that site:
"Research shows that the average student who retests increases his or her combined critical reading, writing, and mathematics scores by approximately 40 points.
Overall, 55% of juniors taking the test improved their scores as seniors, 35% had their scores decrease, and 10% had no change."</p>

<p>So--only 45% no change or worse--average difference COMBINED sections in those that improved 40 points--nbot worth it...CNI--look at the odds in a sample of tens of thousands--not your one result! Who's ignorant?</p>

7

<p>How would being from MA hurt?</p>

8

<p>Haha okay, look at that "sample of tens of thousands." Do you really think that a sample size that large would be representative of Harvard applicants? Yes, 27000 is a huge applicant pool for Harvard, but that number is just a tiny speck, the top 1% of all seniors using collegeboard tests. So, by saying that 45% had no change or worse, you're really looking at the overall pool of millions of high school students, which is not at all representative of the Harvard applicant pool. If you're willing to study for the test, odds are that you're gonna do better. Furthermore, common sense would lead one to believe that students applying to Harvard have a bit more of a drive to succeed academically than those who apply to your local community college. </p>

<p>btw- 55% is still a damn good percentage.</p>