Can I get into Harvard University with these statistics?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

Hi, I’m a rising sophomore and was wondering if I would have a good chance of being admitted to a prestigious university with these (hopefully) future statistics? (Please give me feedback.)

Statistics:

  • 15 5s, 4 4s, and 2 3s
  • 20-28 dual enrollment classes

GPA:
High school- Unweighted: 3.83+ and Weighted: 4.0-4.7 (not really sure)

College GPA- Unweighted: 3.83+

SAT Score:
1520+

SAT subject tests:
Biology: 750+
Chemistry: 750+
World History: 750+
United States History: 750+
Physics: 750+
Math 2: 750+
Math 1: 750+
Literature: 750+

AP tests taken:
9th grade: None
10th grade: 7 APs
11th grade: 7 APs
12th grade: 7 APs

21 AP tests in total:

Art:

AP 2-D Art
AP Drawing
AP Art History (maybe, though)

English:

AP English Language and Composition
AP English Literature and Composition

History and Social Sciences:

AP United States History
AP World History
AP Comparative Government and Politics
AP European History
AP Macroeconomics
AP Microeconomics
AP United States Government and Politics
AP Human Geography (maybe, though)

STEM:

AP Biology
AP Calculus AB and BC
AP Chemistry
AP Environmental Science
AP Statistics
AP Physics 1: Algebra-based
AP Physics 1: Algebra-based
AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism
AP Physics C: Mechanics

Predicted dual enrollment courses:

Art:
Art 15: Beginning Drawing - 3.00 units
Art 19: Life Drawing - 3.00 units
Art 17: Illustration - 3.00 units

Sciences:
Bio 1A: Biology for Science Majors - 5.00 units
Bio 1B: Biology for Science Majors - 5.00 units
Chem 1A: General Chemistry - 5.50 units

Chem 1B: General Chemistry - 5.50 units
Physics( maybe)

ELA:
Engl 1: Reading and Composition - 4.00 units
Engl 1H: Honors Reading and Composition - 4.00 units
Engl 2: Intro Literature Composition- 4.00 units
Engl 3: Argumentative and Creative Writing - 4.00 units
Engl 3H: Honors Argumentative and Critical Writing - 4.00 units

Engl 4: Critical Analysis of Literature
Engl 44: World Literature 1 - 4.00 units

History:
Hist 9A: History of China - 3.00 units
Hist 27A: African American History to 1877 - 3.00 units

Mathematics:
Math 40: Trigonometry - 3.00 units
Math 70: Second Calculus Course - 5.00 units
Math 80: Third Calculus Course - 5.00 units
Math 84: Differential Equations and Linear Algebra - 5.00 units
Stat 1: Elementary Statistics - 4.00 units
Stat 1H: Honors Elementary Statistics - 4.00 units

Foreign Language:

Sign 1: American Sign Language 1 - 4.00 units
Sign 2: American Sign Language 2 - 4.00 units
Sign 3: American Sign Language 3 - 4.00 units

Total:

22 (21 if I don’t take AP Drawing) predicted APs
28 predicted dual enrollment classes (I’m not entirely sure on this, though. These are mainly courses I plan on taking if possible.)

2

Your chance of admission would be 5%.

2 Likes
3

The acceptance rate at Harvard was 5.2% Strong academics will only get you past the first hurdle at a the hyper competitive schools. In addition to top academics you will need extremely strong ECs, LORs, essays etc. to have any chance at admission. There are many more well qualified candidates than there are spots available.

At this point you just have one year of a GPA and no standardized tests. It is unfair to ask people to chance you based on hoped for scores, classes, and grades.

It is good to take school seriously and know that college will be on your horizon, but it is too early to start planning for specific colleges. I would highly recommend that you get off of CC (except for the HS Life page) until your junior year.

For the next year you should focus on:
–Working hard, learning, and doing as well as you can in the most challenging curriculum you can manage.
–When the time comes study for standardized tests.
–Get involved/continue your involvement in activities you care about and work towards making meaningful contributions to those activities.
–Enjoying spending time with your family and friends

You should expand your horizons and come up with a list of reach (including Harvard by all means), match, and safety schools that appear affordable (run net price calculators) and that you would be excited to attend.

4

You seem to think that whacking a boatload of APs & DEs is the ticket to getting into Harvard- and if so, you are mistaken. It is really NOT a case of ‘s/he who has the most APs wins’. Moreover, doubling up on AP & DE subjects is a waste of time and money- AP Bio OR Bio 1, AP Eng OR Eng 1, etc.

I’m also not sure where you would find the time to do all those classes and still have time for meaningful EC involvement.

Go re-read @happy1’s post above & heed the advice!

5

if you havent taken these classes yet theres no point asking to be chanced

6

All you are posting are predicted classes, predicted test scores and predicted grades. I agree with @bigmood, no one can chance a student with this criteria. Follow @happy1 ‘s advice and do not get fixated on a school with a 5.2% acceptance rate.

7

This is not a productive way to approach this. Nothing wrong with looking ahead and setting high targets, so in that regard, go to Harvard’s (and any other school you are interested in) admissions website, review its freshmen class profile and look at its common data sets over the past few years.

From that information, you can see the range of test scores and GPA that you will need to meet to be competitive. You will also see a listing of the types of classes you will need to take. Competitive though means you are in the pool of 10 - 15,000 applicants who meet the base objective academic criteria competing for 2,000 spots. You can also get a sense of “what they look for”.

You cannot approach Harvard or any selective college that practices holistic admissions as a game of checking the most boxes. Certain minimal standards will need to be met, but after that, most of these schools are making fairly subjective predictions on 1) which students will benefit the most from the school’s resources and succeed and 2) even more importantly, which students are going to benefit the school community the most. They make that determination based on your essays, your LoR’s, EC’s and the accomplishments in your areas of interests, academic and non-academic. Also remember there is not one template of an ideal student. In fact, these schools go out of their way not to have too many students with the same characteristics. A good analogy that is often used is that a school class is put together like a symphony orchestra. You cannot have all first violins.

In the meantime, it is not healthy or realistic to fixate on 5-10 schools with single digit acceptance rates as determinative of your future success or your current worth.

1 Like
8

You’re missing the big picture. Harvard won’t be impressed by you taking 21 AP tests, 8 subject tests, and a 1520 SAT. Here on CC, many people would say that trying to take all those tests makes you a test-taking drone, and colleges do not look favorably on that.

What’s the rest of the package? Do you know what Harvard is looking for, and how can you show them that you have what they want? You need more on your application than just a lot of test scores. Dig deeper.

9

You should read this article about MIT admissions. I do understand that MIT is not Harvard, but they are similarly competitive.

https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways/

I took a similar approach that did get me into competitive universities.

My suggestion is that you take the classes that you want to take, participate in the ECs that you want to participate in, and do as well as you can. Take every class seriously. Treat everyone with respect whether they deserve it or not. Do not take classes to impress university admissions. Take classes because you want to take them and they make sense for you.

And find some time to have fun.

Also when it comes time to apply to universities keep an open mind, think very carefully regarding what you want in a university, and keep your budget in mind.

I think that this will maximize your chances of getting into Harvard. However, it will also maximize your chances of getting as much as you can out of high school and finding a good university to attend whether it is Harvard or not.

2 Likes
10

21 APs will certainly get noticed. This is a wonderful accomplishment (if it turns out to be true). And if you get SATs in the 1500 range, that also is amazing.

But will it be enough to get you accepted at Harvard? This is difficult to say. There often is no rhyme or reason on how they choose. Not all Harvard students have the same story. And so there is no single formula that will make you a competitive candidate.

Suggest that you go to the Harvard sub here and look back at the profiles of past students who were accepted. You’ll see that there are a wide variety of things that can get you noticed.

11

Are you planning on full time DE for the next 3 years? You have 102 DE credits on your list. That is more than 3 years of classes.

12

Great post @DadTwoGirls.

It is unlikely that academics and stats alone would get you into Harvard. There is no need to pile on so many AP and DE classes. Leave something for college!

Follow your interests inside and outside of school and don’t think about college at all for a few years. Early junior year is a good time to start thinking about it. Make sure to make good friends and have some down time too.

At that time you may have a better idea of what college will be the best fit for you. In the meantime, don’t try to fit yourself to a school.

13

After a certain number of APs (around 7-8), elite colleges won’t give you any more credit for taking more. And even fewer are ok if they are not easily available in your high school system.

What matters much more is getting excellent grades, stellar recommendations from your teachers, and meaningful extracurriculars that you love and where you excel. This is the recipe that worked for both my kids.

14

And some elite colleges, like Harvard, give a grand total of zero credit.

But after 7 or 8 AP courses, there will be no benefit in terms of increases rigor. The highest a GC can rate a schedule is “most demanding;” there is no super duper demanding category.

15

I meant “credit” in terms of improving chances for admission, but that was a poor word choice on my part.

16

No worries.

17

My son got 18 APs before senior, and all of them were 5 (full score). His SAT was 1580, and SAT II math level 2: 800, Physics: 800, Chemistry: 800, Bio-M:800. He also got 150 (full score) in AMC12, and 13 in AIME, Semifinalist in USAPho and USABO, Platinum in USACO… He wrote 3 research papers too. GPA 4.0… Still rejected by Harvard, even without an interview

1 Like
18

Quite impressive achievements. Where is he at now?

19

Wow, outstanding numbers and an obvious ambition to excel. Whatever institution that he selects (selected?) is lucky to have him.