<p>-SAT: 1660, but taking in October
-GPA: 91 or 92 unweighted
-Immigrant from the Carribean, and I have been in America for 14 years now.
-First generation student
-Extracurriculars: Model Congress, Tennis, Volleyball, XC, Men's Choir, Symphonic Choir, Select Choir, Junior Class, probably student government for this year (12th. GRADE), Peer Leaders, and more I can't think of.
-I have only taken Honors (9th.), A.P. (10th., 12th.) , S.U.P.A. (12th.), and I.B. (11th. & 12th.) classes</p>
<p>any one? haha</p>
<p>A B average and a 1660 SAT is about the 75th percentile of students taking the SAT. You’re just not a realistic applicant for schools with admit rates such as H. I invite you to look at the metrics of forebears who were rejected from the class of 2018. </p>
<p><a href=“*** Official Harvard University 2018 RD Decisions Only*** - Harvard University - College Confidential Forums”>*** Official Harvard University 2018 RD Decisions Only*** - Harvard University - College Confidential Forums;
<p>Please make an appt w/your guid counselor who will share with you schools where kids with your academic metrics have successfully applied. A top 20 college should not be under consideration in any reasonable circumstance. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>91 and 92 average is a A- average. You have that first gen and URM background, and I don’t know if you are nationally recognized or have awards in your extra curriculars so I will assume that you are normal in your EC etc. I’ll say write an essay that will make Mark Twain shed a tear, and tell them as much about you as you can. As you are already a senior, I can’t recommend anything else you can do, and I advise you go EA, and simply hope for the best. Make the application as best as possible, read your recommendations and make sure they are superb, and simply see what happens. If you are deferred waitlisted or rejected in the EA round, I advise applying regular decision to a good university that will cost you as little as possible and make you as happy as possible.</p>
<p>Good luck,</p>
<p>Truthfully, the 1660 SAT score stands out. But it shouldn’t be a kiss of death, since the SAT is completely teachable. Just practice diligently, and raise your 1660. You should ideally aim for at least a 2000, but the higher the better. What is your class rank? It’s important to consider yourself in the context of your school as well.
Good luck applying! </p>
<p>Raising one’s SAT score by 350 points is easier said than done.</p>
<p>If the original poster can achieve such a jump, in light of the fact that he or she is an URM, first generation, etc., and what appear, on the surface, to be reasonable extracurriculars, it’s possible that the applicant might make a competitive application to Harvard. However, even with considerable work, a 350-point jump would be unusual.</p>
<p>Here is an article from the College Board on retaking the SAT:</p>
<p><a href=“Understanding SAT Scores – SAT Suite | College Board”>http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-reasoning/scores/retake</a></p>
<p>In the article, it states that about 55% of folks retaking improve their scores, and the average improvement is about 40 points on the three subtests combined. About 4% of folks improve by a total of 100 points or more.</p>
<p>Thus, while one can’t quite rule out a 350-point increase, it seems that admission to Harvard is a more likely result (given good grades and test scores to begin with) than such an increase.</p>
<p>Re-take the test, apply to Harvard if you wish, but make sure you apply to a range of schools that reach way down from the level of Harvard. Without a very unusual increase in SAT score, Harvard isn’t really within reach.</p>
<p>I don’t think so… seriously </p>
<p>For anyone who will be of constructive use, I am somewhere within top 15% to 25% of my class.</p>
<p>@chickenbutt35,</p>
<p>Most folks admitted to Harvard do much better than the top 15% - 25% of their class. Much, much better. </p>
<p>With regard to your SAT, you say that there’s a story behind the rather mediocre showing. Can you give a guess of what you might have done without those circumstances? Do you have a guess what you might do on a retake?</p>
<p>Harvard is a reach for everyone including applicants with perfect SAT and GPA. Apply and hope for the best.</p>
<p>chicken: as a Harvard aspirant, we’ll assume a certain level of analytical ability. Why don’t you look at the 2nd through 5th stickied threads on this forum – the results of SCEA and RD applicants to the classes of 2018 and 2017. See how many had 1650 SATs, 91% percentile grades and are in the 15-25% rank of their classes. If you look at that data, then you won’t need to suffer our narratives and opinions.</p>
<p>You would be far better off getting realistic quickly and focusing on schools that match your statistics. You are so far from Harvard level stats (or any school within shouting distance of a school like Harvard) that this is just not worth pursuing in your case. I am not trying to be mean, but there is no way to say it without it sounding a little harsh. It is easy to just say “apply, see what happens” but I don’t think that serves your best interests. JMHO.</p>
<p>^ Agreed, right now application looks quit boring ( if it’s boring to me it’s going to be boring to admissions). Ignore the bunch of people ahead of you, it’s to late to beat them as they already won. Your goal now is to stand out from the crowd, in a very unique/interesting way. You got ok stats to get in, you can play the first gen and URM to your advantage because your environment will likely not teach you about higher aspirations for yourself, and you got a few months left to make a mark. Your ultimate weapon is not your stats nor credentials, but your skill at social convincing. Remember that the person holding the admitted/rejected stamps is a person, with emotion and not much different from you. You need to make a application that screams (Look at me), and make the person convinced enough to get you in.</p>
<p>I understand that advice is not quite useful atm, and I’m one of the most positive repliers on this forum. However many posters here have experiences as their own children where in your shoes and succeeded, and they have the knowledge necessary to teach you the skills needed to get in. Right now your application is boring, inferior to many other applicants (50 percent of valedictorians generally are rejected from the top colleges every year), and just make me want to stamp rejected and burn it with a blowtorch. You are trying to compete with people better than you in every way, and suffice to say your going to lose. In football you don’t see the skills line up and take the linemen head on, because they will destroy you as they are better than you in every single way. You play your strengths (speed and agility), and run away from the big scary monsters and hope they don’t catch you, allowing the much more nimble but more in your league linebackers to be your primary opponent. You need to stand out OP, I don’t know what makes you shine or what makes you tick, but remember they are people, and you need to convince them to accept you. It’s that simple.</p>
<p>you have an amazing sat score. You will definitely get in. Please note my sarcasm. </p>
<p>i talked to a harvard admissions officer and they said that would consider it given the other applicants. so, there is no need to post on this thread anymore. thank you for the advice!</p>
<p>Good luck w/your college apps, CB. Of course, what the H AO said is what you’d expect them to say if you think about it. However, please consider what I wrote earlier: </p>
<p>"Please make an appt w/your guid counselor who will share with you schools where kids with your academic metrics have successfully applied. "</p>
<p>They’re the ones who have prepared 100s of college files for previous students. If you HS has sent any kids to very competitive colleges like Harvard, they’ll absolutely know the contents of those applicants’ profiles and can advise you accordingly. And like before, you can mine the results threads to see how you compare in order to get a realistic projection of your Harvard chances. Have a great senior year!</p>
<p>Hello,
I am in my junior years of high school in New Zealand. I can see that most universities require a school transcript that outlines my GPA. May I ask if my grades in small junior school exams will be counted? Or only my senior grades are counted?
Many thanks
I’m asking in this thread as it is quite an active thread.</p>
<p>@BevxNZ It’s rude what you’re doing — it’s called “threadjacking” You should post this on either the College Admissions forum
<a href=“Applying to College - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/</a>
or International Students forum – not a Harvard forum.
<a href=“International Students - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/</a></p>
<p>“Can I get into Harvard?”</p>
<p>No, your username is chickenbutt.</p>
<p>Seriously though, Harvard is hit or miss for even the most qualified applicants. You’d need to raise your SAT score from the 75th percentile to the 98th percentile to be basically competitive, and even then you should expect a rejection.</p>
<p>The Harvard admissions office you spoke to wants you to reply because, when they reject you, you will boost their selectivity rating. I am really not trying to be mean. I am giving you some tough love so that you can spend your hard-earned money applying to colleges that you’re competitive for. You’re definitely a good student, and you’ll go far wherever you end up. Good luck.</p>