But I Have managed to maintain my top 5 rank since 9th class and every student has seen a decrease since 9th class due to various rigorous classes and cutoff marks being 98 since 10th class.In my nation all the above are considered as A+ Grades…Will this kill my chances of getting into Harvard?? Every opinion is very valuable to me so do try to help…
Although Harvard doesn’t consider ranking, it’s very easy for an Admissions Officer to line up applications from each high school in rank-order, so they can understand the rigor of each student’s transcript and where each student stands in the pecking order. That said, if the top four students from your high school will also be applying to Harvard, those students are your direct competition and your application, recommendations, essays and EC’s will be directly compared to those students first, and then the rest of the application pool. Nothing you can do about that, but hope that your file stands out more than theirs. Best of luck to you in the applications process!
Since u mention nothing but grades, I assume u have no particularly interesting extracurricular activities or extraordinary talents. That alone will kill your chances.
@GMTplus7 That is very true. I’m very anxious about this because I feel like I’m lacking in that area. For example, I volunteered and will have about 200+ hours by the end of this year, am the president in 1 club, and I play an instrument. However, I don’t have any major awards for my playing on the instrument, which is a disadvantage. I feel like this will destroy my chances.
@HobbitTon True… I just have to find a way to be unique and different than others; that’s what they’re most likely looking for. If you think about it, the general rate of admission would be that 100 students apply, only 5 get accepted, which is terrifying.
nobody’s chances are dead. Seriously. you never know with Harvard. People get in with 3.0’s. People get rejected with 2400’s. Stop asking, and just take the risk. Nothing we say here is going to alter your destiny.