Chance a Junior for Harvard 2014

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>I'm a Junior this year planning to apply to HYP next year. Please take a look; in your opinion, what are my chances? Should I try to work on anything or do you have any suggestions? Thanks a bunch for any input!</p>

<p>Stats:
Female, large public high school in central US, Asian, family income <60,000</p>

<p>SAT: 750 CR, 800 M, 780 Wr = 2330 (1 sitting). First time: 740 CR, 730 M, 730 Wr = 2200</p>

<p>SAT II: 740 French, 700 World History <--planning to take Math II and Bio and hopefully each above 750, maybe retake French (760 for credit)</p>

<p>W GPA: 4.7, Rank top 5 out of 600</p>

<p>AP exam results so far: 5 US, 5 World, 4 Euro. Others will most likely be 4's or 5's
Total AP classes taken by senior year: 13</p>

<p>Junior Schedule APs: Bio, Calc BC, French, Psych, English Lit
Senior APs: Econ, Gov, Environmental Sci, Stats, English Comp</p>

<p>Clubs, years, positions etc:
International Club 2006-2009, Vice President 2008-2009
French Club 2006-2009, Vice President 2008-2009
Operation Smile chapter at school 2008, co-founder, raised money, etc
National French Honor Society 2007-2009, tutoring
Student Council 2007-2009, attended many leadership conferences and assemblies, 60+ volunteer hours
NHS 2008-2009, 20+ volunteer/tutoring hours
Academic Team 2008-2009
Freshman Mentor 2008-2009
some other random clubs...</p>

<p>Music:
Local youth orchestra 2007-2009, viola (high level group, several members attended Juilliard/Curtis every year)
All-State orch 2008, assistant principal chair
Honors national youth american symphony 2009, viola <-- not real name but it is a national youth orch
school orchestra 2006-2009, principal chair
piano (many years), perfect score at state competitions, recitals, etc</p>

<p>Awards:
2nd place in business plan competition, $200
winner in local university high school math contest
2nd place in french competition
most likely some sort of AP scholar, NMF?</p>

<p>Volunteer/work:
Tutoring French twice a week, $15
Volunteering at public library over summers 50+ hours</p>

<p>Summer activities:
2008 Studied for 7 wks in France during summer with university program (complete immersion with host families, attending classes, etc)
2007 Studied for 7 wks in China during summer with host family, etc to learn Chinese</p>

<p>So that's me in a nutshell. There's some things I didn't include that seemed insignificant like some clubs or other and I probably won't include them in my actual resume...Thanks for any comments! :)</p>

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<p>Solid application. Could be imperfected. Good luck.</p>

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<p>Keep up the good work. The grades/scores are definitely there. If you can, try moving up in the rankings. 5/600 is sick, but you are competing with many valedictorians and salutatorians. This year, there was about 4000 valedictorians competing for roughly 2000 spots. Its not a major concern, but it will help your chances if you move up a bit (top 3). Anyways, you seem like a very well-rounded student (French, Business plan, etc.) Please avoid one thing: laundry list of extracurriculars. Your Ex-Cs are very mediocre for a Harvard applicant, especially the NHS, French Club, and Academic Club. Because you are Asian, you have to beat down some stereotypes and prove you are more than a very smart kid who is puppeteered by his parents in order to get into top level school. For example, Orchestra and academic club do not beat down that stereotype. The 2nd place award in a business plan is an example of a unique accomplishment; winning a math contest is not (but it certainly looks good). In general, your awards are mediocre for the Harvard applicant pool. You are dealing with people who win national research awards and national science olympiads. Rule of thumb: state and national awards/tests can affect your applications. School awards are almost useless. </p>

<p>It truly is about standing out. There was a post about a white applicant who got into Harvard with a 1900 SAT and no hooks (athlete, legacy, etc). How did he get in? He showed his great passion for unicycling ( by starting a club, helping others learn how, etc.)<br>
Just ask yourself: what makes you different than the rest? It is definitely not going to be your race or test scores (many applicants score that high). </p>

<p>That said, I think you have a great shot. Mind my criticism; I am just trying to point out any weaknesses in your application, so do not stress out and do not take all my advice! And when you look at chance threads here, don’t forget this was the most difficult year in college admissions (due to applicant pool). Next year, there will still be a ton of applicants, but things should tone down a little. I think it will take up to three years until our whole mini baby boomer generation is through high school. And another thing: most accepted students at Ivies, do not get into all the other Ivies they applied to! It is a very random process, but if one is qualified (as you are) they should at least get into one Ivy or Ivy caliber school. So do not get emotionally attached to one school, and make sure you devote a good amount of time to all your applications. Good Luck.</p>

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<p>^^ dude that was awesome, i want to pm u when i make my own chance thread lmao</p>

<p>but yeah i’d probably repeat the same thing as he said, just try to focus on certain things… show ur passions through ur essay… the essay matters a lot more then ppl give it credit</p>

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<p>@waitn184</p>

<p>Thanks so much for all your advice! It really did help put perspective on it :slight_smile: Actually my rank is actually more like 3 than 5 but it has fluctuated a small bit in the past 3 years so yeah. I see what you mean by laundry list and how they don’t stand out as much and tried to emphasize leadership positions in them. With the admissions this year, is it predicted that it will be easier next year? I’ve also heard that it might peak for class of 2010 - hopefully that’s not true. </p>

<p>Again, thanks for the suggestions - it was really helpful :)</p>

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<p>Thank you, I have spent way too much time on CC to know all this stuff, lol. This is the first time I have been on in a while, and I dont intend on being on all that much anymore after college decisions are done with. Feel free to PM me about anything, but remember I am no college admissions expert, nor was I successful with my own college applications this year :(. </p>

<p>And, what you said was very important. Essays are everything.</p>

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<p>@ OP, No problem :). I am not absolutely certain about the demographics. My teacher, who used to do alumni interviews for an Ivy, told me 2009 was the peak year. He is a very intelligent/reliable person, so I am taking his word. But you can make a thread about it if you really want to know. In my opinion, it will still be a difficult year. This year, the amount of applicants was 29,000. My baseless guess for next year would be 23000-27000</p>

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<p>your stats are eeriely simliar to mine XD (2330 single sitting, french, similar ECs, etc.)
honestly I’ve decided that next year will be a crap shoot and that whether you (or I) get in or not will be very heavily influenced by the essays + luck, so I would follow waitn’s advice and really spend a considerable amount of time on your application =D</p>

<p>As for the demographics (my main reason for posting since waitn so expertly advised you :slight_smile:
Next year the # of graduating seniors will be almost the same (its either increasing 1.2->1.3mil or decreasing 1.3mil->1.2, so acceptance rates probably won’t change very much (unfortunately).</p>

<p>Good luck next year, maybe I’ll see you at Harvahd ;)</p>

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<p>Distinguish yourself. It looks like you just threw together a list of extracurrics to impress colleges. Focus on something and do it.</p>

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<p>Looks impressive to me. Just be honest and show what you are truly passionate about, I would say… Let it come out in your essays too.</p>

<p>Wow, 7 wks in France, 7 wks in China!</p>

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<p>Very impressive academic stats. Certainly in the range for ivy applicants. Work on distinguishing yourself from everyone else (who have similar stats) with your ec’s, awards, national recognition, etc. Essays and teacher recs are very important. Applying to HYP is very random in terms of acceptances. Just know that you will get into good schools, but there are no guarantees with respect to HYP.</p>