Chance at Harvard or other Ivies?

Applying to College
1

<p>Thank you in advance for reading this post and commenting! It's greatly appreciated.
All classes are honors unless otherwise indicated
Our school also only offers students only one AP class per year until Senior year, and no APs freshman year.</p>

<p>Transcript:</p>

<p>Freshman --
French: B+
English: B+
Algebra: B-
World Cultures (no honors offered): B
Biology: A-
Jazz Band (not honors): A</p>

<p>Sophmore --
French: A-
English: A-
Geometry: A-
History (not honors): A
Chemistry: A-
Jazz Band (not honors): A
Music Theory (not honors): A</p>

<p>Junior --
French: A
English: A
Precalculus: A
U.S. History: A (AP test, 5 after self studying)
AP Chemistry: A (AP test, 5)
Physics: A
*made honors Jazz Band, could not fit into schedule.</p>

<p>Current GPAs:
Weighted: 4.531
Unweighted: 3.711</p>

<p>Senior Schedule --
AP English language
AP Calculus, BC
AP European History
AP Biology
AP Computer Science
Concert Choir
*Made A Capella group</p>

<p>SATs:
2310 combined (770 Math, 770 Writing, 770 Reading -- 9 essay)
800 Bio SATII
790 Chem SATII
760 MathII SATII</p>

<p>ECs/Sports: All JV unless otherwise indicated
Freshman: Football, Track, Baseball
Sophmore: Crew, Crew training, Crew (first boat on second season)
Junior: Crew (V), Mock Trial (no JV or V, but requires tryout), Track. In Pitband during Fall play.</p>

<p>I haven't kept track of my community service hours unfortunately. I think it is around 100-200 hours.</p>

<p>Internships:
Summer 2010: Photodetectionsystems Inc. Worked with engineers manufacturing PETCT scanners, learned Linux. 6 Weeks. Understand Java from program of summer 2009.</p>

<p>Summer 2011: Harvard Institute of Medicine, Kuchroo Laboratory (should I send in data/a poster from my time here?) 6 Weeks.</p>

<p>Letters:
I think I will have excellent recommendation letters. One is from my Chemistry teacher, who taught me both Sophmore and Junior years, and saw my passage from a so-so student to one much more competitive. Another will be from my Junior year English teacher, who I got to know very well. My third will be from my mentor during the 2011 Summer internship.</p>

<p>I also have some Harvard legacy:
My father, grandmother and aunt all attended harvard.
Thank you again for reading my post and commenting! It means a lot.</p>

2

<p>First of all, take pride in knowing that whether you get into Harvard or not, you’ll still make it to an excellent college. Harvard seems a bit of a reach for you, solely because an UW 3.7 is sort of low. Your weighted is fine, so I guess that kind of redeems it. When it comes to Ivy Leagues, most people have excellent GPA and SAT scores, so you’re at a slight disadvantage. I know it seems silly, but try taking the SAT again and aim above a 2350. Also, one thing about legacy: it’s only pertinent if your family continues to make donations to the school.</p>

3

<p>You are in the possible range for all those schools. The only ones who can give you a realistic assessment of your chances are the members of the admissions committees at those schools, and then only when they have your complete application package in front of them.</p>

<p>This message is MIT-specific, but the principle applies to all selective colleges:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10581800-post1.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10581800-post1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Make sure your college list includes some safeties - schools where your stats are well above the norm, that you can pay for under most pessimistic FA assumptions, and where you’d be happy.</p>

4

<p>Thank you guys very much for commenting. I know, my Freshman grades really drag my GPA down unfortunately. But I don’t think I am going to retake the SAT, I doubt that the difference between a 2310 and 2350 is going to be the difference between getting into a school or not.</p>

5

<p>Really kicked it up a notch after ninth grade, didn’t you?</p>

<p>I agree with annasdad: you look good enough to get in. But the sad reality is that a lot of students, including legacies, who are good enough to get in don’t get in.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I don’t think so. Tell them, if you wish, that your summer resulted in presenting a poster at [insert name of conference], but they really don’t care to see the poster.</p>

6

<p>Regarding your research, you should email the schools you plan to apply to and ask what to send, if anything, from your research. I found that most schools wanted me to send an abstract and maybe a layman’s summary of the research, but most didn’t really want a poster. This is really dependent on the school, though.</p>

7

<p>Definately worth your applying to any school in which you are interested.</p>

<p>Obviously, Freshman year could have been stronger, but you have an excellent overall GPA with a strong upward trend. Legacy at H will help. SATs look good, etc. Personally, I don’t think a 3.7 is as bad as others do. Add to this, you have straight As for two years running. I Honestly don’t think your grades put you in bad shape at all.</p>

<p>At the end of the day (as you will undoubtedly hear over and over again) the admissions rate is miniscule <10% for H, so no one is a sure thing. Still, all in all, you should definately apply. Go for it!!</p>

8

<p>You are in the ballpark, but class rank might be a bit of a drag. You will undoubtedly get into some very good schools. Harvard is a crapshoot. Good luck.</p>

9

<p>DEFINITELY worth applying to. You have alot of legacies at Harvard, so your chance increases alot. I would say apply. 3.7 GPA isn’t bad if you look at it by the rigor of the course and schools policy.</p>