<p>Hi everyone. As weird as this may sound, I just got an email from the Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Program (includes Asians too) and I followed up. This is what the person (A Harvard rep) told me:</p>
<p>"While Harvard does not have an SAT/ACT/GPA cutoff, most successful applicants score at or above a 650 on each section of the SAT or above a 29 on the ACT. Keep in mind that these are just averages."</p>
<p>For those who have scores around this don't give up. The more I look into it, it really doesn't matter if you have a 2100+. I mean of course a 2300 kid has a statistically better chance, but if they're boring, then its all the same. </p>
<p>It would be nice if you guys could confirm this or provide your view. I always thought Harvard's avg was 2250. But I guess not.</p>
<p>Page 8: 25th% => SAT CR: 690, SAT M:700, SAT WR:690, ACT COMP: 31</p>
<p>One quarter of Harvard’s freshman class in 2011-2012 had those scores or BELOW. The Common Data Set does not break scores down into whether those students were minorities, recruited athletes, developmental students etc.</p>
<p>Three quarters of Harvard’s freshman class in 2011-2012 had those scores or ABOVE.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>One quarter of Harvard freshmen had scores at or below those levels for each test, but it’s unlikely that a quarter of Harvard freshmen had those scores or lower for all three tests. The 25% level for combined SAT scores is probably 2100-2110, maybe even higher, not 2080. It’s far more likely that someone was admitted with a 700 math SAT if she had an 800 cr score.</p></li>
<li><p>The Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Program was being deliberately vague and fast and loose with terminology in that letter. The “average” score of accepted students is way higher than 1950. The average – more likely median – score of rejected applicants is probably higher than that. (My guess is that the median scores of rejected students aren’t more than 20 points/test off the median scores of enrolled students. People with really low scores don’t apply to Harvard that much, and SAT I scores aren’t that important in ultimate admissions decisions.)</p></li>
<li><p>The number of recruited athletes, and URMs, and development candidates, is likely to be close to, but still below, 25% of the class once you eliminate double-counts. And of course lots of recruited athletes, URMs, and development candidates don’t have comparatively low scores. So those 25%-level scores probably represent some meaningful group of “real” people who are getting admitted. But . . . I bet that if you looked at the application files of kids getting admitted with scores at that level, it would be immediately, 100% obvious why they were being admitted. There would be some achievement, some story, some element of background that made them look stupendous. They are not just average kids whose names got picked out of a hat.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I think that Harvard is over the line where searching for “diamonds in the rough” crosses into promoting false hope among the marginally qualified.</p>
<p>SAT reasoning question:</p>
<p>Which of the following is true?</p>
<p>A. While Harvard does not have an SAT/ACT/GPA cutoff, most successful applicants score at or above a 500 on each section of the SAT or above a 24 on the ACT.</p>
<p>B. While Harvard does not have an SAT/ACT/GPA cutoff, most successful applicants score at or above a 650 on each section of the SAT or above a 29 on the ACT.</p>
<p>C. While Harvard does not have an SAT/ACT/GPA cutoff, most successful applicants score at or above a 700 on each section of the SAT or above a 32 on the ACT.</p>
<p>D. While Harvard does not have an SAT/ACT/GPA cutoff, most successful applicants score at or above a 750 on each section of the SAT or above a 34 on the ACT.</p>
<p>E. All of the above.</p>
<p>If you answered anything other than (E), it is unlikely you are qualified for Harvard.</p>
<p>A perusal of these sites will disabuse a student of false hope. Learning, after careful study, that he or she has a chance at admissions, is not the same as false hope. False hope, in fact, is a product of ignorance. But no one can accuse Harvard College of disseminating ignorance when it comes to admissions. They indicate quite clearly that they are looking for the hidden diamonds in the rough and diamonds on display, and that the hidden and conspicuous diamonds may demonstrate a range of scores from roughly 600 to 800 on each section of the SAT Reasoning Test as well as on the SAT Subject Tests. The problem is that not all applicants make the case or realize they have to make the case to Harvard that they are a diamond in the rough or a conspicuous diamond, while understanding that some diamonds, hidden or otherwise, glitter more than others.</p>
[quote]
The number of recruited athletes, and URMs, and development candidates, is likely to be close to, but still below, 25% of the class once you eliminate double-counts. And of course lots of recruited athletes, URMs, and development candidates don’t have comparatively low scores. So those 25%-level scores probably represent some meaningful group of “real” people who are getting admitted. But . . . I bet that if you looked at the application files of kids getting admitted with scores at that level, it would be immediately, 100% obvious why they were being admitted. There would be some achievement, some story, some element of background that made them look stupendous. They are not just average kids whose names got picked out of a hat.
<p>Within the higher and lower quintile of SAT scorers at Harvard, you will find a diverse group of students. The lower quintile is not exclusively the domain of African American and Latino students. Unfortunately, the same people who place too much emphasis on the SAT would be shocked to know that Harvard finds a lot of “AA and Hispanic” applicants with 2100, 2200, and 2300+ scores.</p>
<p>Hey swingtime I am my self AA!and yes it true!it was prove that AA and Hispanic get into ivies with lower grade and test score! I am not trying to insult any race I am just giving my point of view!</p>
<p>I’m glad Harvard sends a lot of mail. I think they may send somewhat too much, but there are wide swaths of the country that have heard of Harvard, sure, but believe it is an institution for People Not Like Them. Two of my (white, if it matters) friends said they wouldn’t have thought to apply without the mail, even having received SAT scores of maybe ~2100-2200, because the great academic successes at their high schools were the students who made it to four-year colleges. Harvard was definitely not on the radar. I’m very glad those friends, and others like them, applied.</p>
<p>workHaRd12, as TuftsStudent implied, you would be more believable as a person with AA Harvard status if you wrote better. But I will accept your 1900-2050 AA SAT figure if you provide a citation from a reputable source.</p>
<p>WorkHaRd12 is asserting AA status to buttress a “moral” right to make the unsubstantiated claim without presumption of any prejudicial intent. </p>
<p>In fact, a perusal of his posting history reveals that workHaRd12 is just a HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT; and a rather uninformed and prejudiced one at that, despite his claim to the contrary.</p>
<p>I am sorry but you misunderstand me i not an Harvard student nor an ivy league!I am sorry if I sounded disrespectful on my posts!by the way I am not that good at writing because English is my 5th language!peace</p>
<p>He is a high school student. It is his own assumption, not his own ESTIMATE. An estimate would imply some kind of model by which one arrives at an estimated or predicted result.</p>
<p>We could start to tread in nasty waters here if not very careful. So, let’s have some verifiable facts and (to mix metaphors) not trade in potentially prejudicial currency here. Please!</p>
<p>Really, why do these discussions always have to trend toward a hinted dismissal of minority students and their achievements, especially where Ivy League schools are concerned? With admissions increasing in difficulty there is this underlying assumption that the spots of non-URMs are being unfairly given to underperforming persons of color. It hasn’t been stated explicitly (though this IS where the high school student was going), but this SEEMS an underlying belief. As soon as relatively low scores are mentioned, we go straight to the subject of URMs. Sad. This is frequent discourse on a variety of CC forums.</p>
<p>swingtime, that’s just my point! Too many people on CC give ill formed estimates that are actually assumptions, which leads to another common problem on CC: There is too much prejudice and prejudicial information unleashed on CC!</p>