Can somebody chance/help me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Hello I am currently a junior in high school and I am interested in attending Harvard. I'm not sure what my chances are of getting in; I feel like my resume is a little generic and cookie cutter. My SAT I score that I posted is from the first time that I took the test, but I retook it and feel I made around 730 in CR and a possible 800 in Writing although since those aren't confirmed yet I didn't want to post them. Can anybody tell me what more I can do to make myself stand out among a sea of applicants, or if there is any part of my resume that needs work? I know people will say to 'follow my interests' and delve deeply into an area I feel passionate about, but in practical terms I have about 6-7 months before I will actually be applying to college and I don't know what area I can focus on and become nationally recognized in within that time frame. I also have a good chance at becoming an officer of Rho Kappa, NHS, and Science National Honor Society, possibly president or vice president in each of them; however, these aren't confirmed yet either (still have to run for election) so I didn't put them in.</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown): 2210 (770 Math, 680 Critical Reading, 760 Writing)
• ACT: N/A
• SAT II: 800 World History, 740 Math Level 1
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/475
• AP (place score in parenthesis): World History 5 (Currently taking Psychology, Human Geography, United States History, Government & Politics, and English Language & Composition)
• IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus AB, AP Statistics, AP Environmental Science, AP English Literature, AP European History, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, Marine Science II honors, Biology II honors
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): </p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<ul>
<li>Extracurricular (place leadership in parenthesis): Chess Club (President all four years), Jewish Awareness Club (Vice President Sophomore & Junior Year, President Senior Year), Ping Pong Club (Founder and President), Student Government Association (Treasurer Freshmen, Sophomore, & Junior), Youth Group (Vice President of Programming Sophomore Year, President Junior & Senior Year), Rho Kappa (History Honor Society), Spanish National Honor Society, National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Library Teen Council, Philosophy Club, History Club, high school robotics team, Varsity Tennis Team, USTA Tennis, Peer Connector, Key Club</li>
<li>Job/Work Experience: Private chess tutor</li>
<li>Volunteer/Community service: Tutored senior citizens in computer usage at a local library (100 hours), Various food drives at United Methodist Ministry, Relay for Life fundraising for national cancer research (30 hours), Volunteered at local food pantry (20 hours), About to begin volunteering in the emergency room at a local hospital</li>
<li>Summer Activities: C.I.T. at local Jewish Youth Camp, Robotics workshop, Youth visit to Israel for a month, Volunteering at hospital emergency room</li>
<li>Essays: N/A yet</li>
<li>Teacher Recommendation: N/A yet, but several teachers in mind who have a reputation of writing phenomenal recommendations</li>
<li>Counselor Rec: N/A yet</li>
<li>Additional Rec: N/A yet</li>
<li>Interview: N/A yet</li>
</ul>

<p>Other</p>

<ul>
<li>State (if domestic applicant): Florida</li>
<li>Country (if international applicant): </li>
<li>School Type: Public</li>
<li>Ethnicity: Caucasian </li>
<li>Gender: Male</li>
<li>Income Bracket: Lower Middle Class</li>
<li>Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None</li>
</ul>

<p>So can somebody please chance me at getting into Harvard and tell me what areas I should work on to improve my resume? Thank you :)</p>

2

<p>Because it’s very difficult to gauge how impressive an applicant really is just by looking at a chance me post, I might sound a little ambiguous with my response. I might also sound a little harsh, but hey, that’s how it is – I’m going to pretend I’m an adcom from the most selective college in the US. But here goes…</p>

<p>Score-wise, you are decent. Your scores aren’t impressive, but they aren’t going to risk your admission alone. You aren’t going to stand out with those scores, but hey, they’re aight.</p>

<p>Rank/Senior Course Load: I have no comment on this. Your list looks pretty rigorous, but that depends on the school you’re in. If you are taking the most challenging classes offered, you are good to go.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: Here’s where I lost interest. You have a laundry list of clubs that are really easy to join. Because you do not list any awards or show any sort of culmination of your efforts in these clubs, I’m going to say that you have a lot of work to do. Frankly, nobody cares if you’re president of the Chess Club. It’s just a title. What is your FIDE ranking? How often do you compete, and how do you fare? If I were an adcom, I would laugh if I saw “Ping-Pong Club - President/Founder” on your application. It’s not that ping-pong isn’t a cool sport. It’s that you aren’t demonstrating that you’re any good at it, and I can only imagine how little that club actually does. And really? USTA Tennis? That doesn’t show anything except that you’re willing to pay yearly membership to USTA. </p>

<p>Bottom line: There are superhumans out there who can partake in as many clubs as you do and demonstrate effort and excellence in all of them, but those people are rare. Most successful applicants have fewer EC’s than you do, but are much more accomplished in them. Again, I have no idea what you’ve accomplished in those clubs you listed, but my instinct is that those clubs are just filler titles that mean nothing.</p>

<p>Volunteering/Comserv: Everyone has 9823 hours of community service. What separates admits from the rejects in this category is initiative. What kind of projects have you spearheaded, and how successful were they? Again, here’s the trap that many applicants fall into – they think that titles and hours mean something, but frankly, they don’t in and of themselves. You need to back them up with substance. </p>

<p>Summer Activities: Nothing prestigious, but it looks okay. You might want to think about attending a selective program or something.</p>

<p>Based on what you’ve provided, you have no shot at Harvard unless you are omitting some serious accomplishments that provide a backbone for these titles you’ve listed. </p>

<p>Adcoms are looking for ways that you stand out. Frankly, you have nothing that is really special listed here. Nothing selective, nothing that really proves to the reader that you’re someone special. Don’t think titles or hours. Think accomplishments, impact, self-actualization. Find ways to make yourself outstanding. You aren’t applying to that state school down the street. This is Harvard – an institution that is supposed to represent that best and the brightest of the US (and abroad, sort of). Do you really see yourself as a future student in that community? If you were accepted right now, do you think you’ve done enough to convince people that you’re truly worthy of that spot?</p>

<p>Spend some time alone thinking about what I’ve written. A wise friend once told me to do this, and it’s paid off – I’ve been accepted to Yale, one of my dream schools. It’s my turn now to show someone else the door. It’s your turn now to walk through it.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the honesty, I appreciate it. I know I have a long list of clubs but I wanted to include everything in case there were specific ones people suggested I take out or things that I emphasize. I’m applying for a highly selective law program this summer but I don’t know if I’m going to be accepted or not until a few months down the road. The AP’s I’m taking are the most rigorous offered at my school; there are a few more but out of everybody else in my grade I am taking the most difficult workload. </p>

<p>The EC’s are where I’m concerned… I’ve heard again and again that it is a bad idea to join a laundry list of titles but instead to delve deeply into a few and really make a difference. With the clubs I’m apart of at my school I don’t really see a way to make them stand out, the things that I do are plan events for the club/run events/increase membership in the club. If anything my youth group is what I’d say I am most involved in, but there are thousands of kids who actively participate in their youth group.</p>

4

<p>It’s fantastic that you have the right perspective – your application can only improve from here. I was a junior when I started admitting to myself what you already know, and I had enough time to shine. You sound like a good character. And with those stats, you’re pretty much a solid applicant to most selective schools in the US. Now it’s all about clinching that acceptance letter to the school of your choice.</p>