chance at harvard rd (deferred)?...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>-asian female
-moved to america 3 1/2 years ago... lived in malaysia for 2 1/2 years before that. born in skorea-still speak korean at home
-580v, 800m
-800 math iic, 800 korean w/ listening, 750 chem, 720 writing
-280/300 toefl
-did have an interview
-okay essays for early admission... sent in two new ones that were much better in my opinion
-4.54, 5/305 (cum gpa lower than it could have been b/c i took standard classes in 9th grade not knowing that there were ap/ib/advanced classes offered in america)
-ib diploma candidate
-violin for 7 years; youth orchestra, trio, concertmistress at school orch
-tutoring, mentor program, salvation army volunteers, nhs, nat latin honor society, secretary of ruriteens club (volunteer service club) etc
-summer governor's latin academy (one of the top 45 latin students in the state of va), nat youth leadership forum of medicine
-intended major: chem or math
-independent study latin since 10th grade.... latin 1 in 10th grade... now as a senior im in IB latin higher level
-indep study ap calc this year as well as 7 other ib/ap classes
-ib math studies 7, ib chem 6
-ap stats 5, ap chem 4
-academic difficulties i had due to moving to diff countries in middle and high school was all explained in "additional info" in my app...
-1 good and 1 excellent recommendation, 1 even better extra recommendation from my school principal
-international applicant... need financial aid : (
-recently was in Times Dispatch in a huge article about what ive gone through academically and culturally thus far in my life... so i mailed that in... hopefully that'll help</p>

<p>other schools:
yale
princeton
mit
columbia
upenn
duke
johns hopkins
uva (got a "likely" letter)
virginia tech (accepted)
stanford</p>

<p>do you think i have even the slightest chance of getting into harvard regular w/ this especially huge pool of applicants this year...?</p>

<p>what do you think about the other schools....
would they look at my additional info stuff and take into account the circumstances that ive been in before looking at my academic accomplishments that ive earned in these unusual circumstances..?</p>

2

<p>haha another asian aiming for harvard.... where do u live in VA?
btw, i wont comment on your chances because you know its not what u wanna hear</p>

3

<p>pretty slim to extremely slim chances</p>

<p>you still have those other schols and u should be able to get into johns hopkins. </p>

<p>johns hopkins is probably harder than most ivies academically but well worth it in grad school and job prospects</p>

4

<p>i was curious about the article so i googled it... frankly i dunno how harvard would take it. it just seems like the only reason you want to go to harvard is because it's harvard (""Ever since I was young, they wanted me to go to college in the U.S. because some colleges are really well-known internationally," she said. ...'s father said that in Korea, Harvard has the reputation of being the best university in the world. After he graduated from college he wanted to continue his studies in the United States, but then he married and it didn't happen. That desire rekindled after his daughters were born, and he passed it on to them, he said.")</p>

<p>the problem with that is harvard gets a lot of applicants who feel that way, so your obsession (including the article) does not set you apart at all. it also bothered me when the article talked about how you didn't know colleges cared about extracurricular activities before, so starting sophomore year you started joining clubs like hell (well, not quite in those words). i'm not saying that other kids aren't like that, but i would think that that's not something you want colleges to know about (that you're not really participating in after-school activities to explore your passions, do some real good, etc.).</p>

<p>it would have helped if you had written your essay on how moving around the globe has made you grow as a person, how the different cultural perspectives of the places you've lived in like malaysia (i grew up in indonesia) would be an asset to the campus. they are better lessons than not getting sleep on weekends to get into harvard. of course, you need to truly be sincere about these things, and it doesn't seem like you are.</p>

<p>also, just curious, why didn't you re-take the SAT to up your verbal score? i know you're international, but i came to america 5 years ago (earlier than you, i know), and didn't bomb (and sorry but 580 is bombing for harvard) the verbal part. i know a lot of kids who've been here as long or less than you have who've done a lot better on SAT verbal than you did.</p>

<p>all this said, i really think you are a talented individual. please don't let harvard's admission decision (whether for good or bad) dictate your self-worth (as in if you get in, don't become some pompous ass and if you don't, life's not over). and seriously consider in-state schools like uva and vtech! i go to one of the nation's top publics, and a third of the graduating seniors (including a LOT of koreans) usually choose UVa, and more choose vtech and WM (many even got into the ivies or schools like duke but decide that UVa and other instate schools make better financial sense).</p>

5

<p>taurustorus, do you go to Godwin?</p>

6

<p>taurustorus... thanks for the long comment, it was helpful for the most part...
to answer some of your questions... why did i not retake the SAT I to improve my verbal score; it actually went down the second time I took it (after actually studying for it, memorizing vocab, etc) so I was afraid that if I took it the third time and it went down some more, it could actually hurt me more. With all my IB work at school and stuff, I couldnt spend forever studying SAT vocab. Catching up with all my IB work and managing my GPA and class rank was hard enough for me, on top of trying to understand half of my teachers who really taught us in college style (no outlined notes; mostly us doing all the teaching for ourselves) with my not-so-good english when i first came.</p>

<p>but yeah... that's very true that many people apply to harvard just because it's harvard. and i guess i did sound in some way that i did the same. and the thing about what my dad "said," it's not 100% true, im not sure where the reporter got that from, but my mom's not too happy about htat statement because she thinks that now it sounds like my dad couldnt continue his study because of her, etc... but anyway... and yeah, that also is true that 580 was a very bad score, but.... im just wondering, where in indonesia were you born/raised? because unless you were born in rural areas i would think that you were fairly exposed to the english language from a young age? tell me if im wrong... but if it is so, i would say that if i was exposed to the english language for even a bit when i was younger, i might be much better than i am right now. but i'd have to say, im not happy with my 580 either.</p>

<p>and yeah, i'd love to go to uva, im not saying that life is completely gonna be over if i dont get into harvard... because it probably isnt. </p>

<p>and thanks a bunch about telling me about that extracurricular activity thing.... completely missed that because when i read it, thats not how i meant for it to sound like. but after seeing how you took it in, i guess that interpretion is also very possible... but what i really meant for it to sound like is that when i was raised, i was never taught that anything other than getting good grades was important, so i did not feel that ec would do me any good personally or college-wise. but after figuring that out, it's not that i joined tons of clubs to put on my applications but joined clubs that i actually found some interest in... but i guess it could have soudned wrong.</p>

<p>btw, i heard that godwin's a really school</p>

<p>but in all honesty, i guess i do want to go to harvard just because it is "harvard" but also for other little reasons.... but i think my true true true first choice is MIT, though i dont think i have too great of a chance there either. but who knows, right.... ill find all this out in about 4 weeks.</p>

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<p>ahahahaha...Godwin pales in comparison to some <em>wink</em> <em>nudge</em> schools we're talking about here...</p>

8

<p>eh....... IB math studies? no offense but the only people that take that class at my school are ones who had trouble passing precalc. if you want to major in math at harvard, i'd say IB further math is a must.</p>

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<p>ib math studies was required at our school for the ib diploma and yeah, it was easy as crap. but i took all the other higher level math courses offered at our school... ap stats and calc. i guess colleges cant blame ME for my school not offering more math courses.</p>

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<p>I believe that they were referring to TJHSST.</p>

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<p>tjhsst is an excellent school as well... but so is godwin.</p>

12

<p>do u go to atlee. it was in timesdispatch
i go to godwin... and yea, i hate it very much</p>

<p>oh well best of luck</p>

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<p>About the article, it was interesting to read, but I don't think it'll help too much. It might actually hurt you. It seems like you want to go to Harvard simply because it has the best reputation. Have you even visited the colleges that you applied to?
As for your chances, your academics are top-notch, but that is almost a requirement to get into the Ivies. Your EC's are somewhat lacking; violin is very common, especially among Asians, and community service is not much of a hook either. That, along with your verbal score, was most likely the reason for your deferral. If you raised your SAT verbal, you'd have a much better chance, but right now, you don't have much going for you. Nevertheless, I admire your life-long goal to attend a presitigious school. I'm sure you'll end up in a great school (maybe even Harvard). Remember, college is not a prize to be won; it's a match.</p>

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<p>ForeverZero put it well (and concisely, something i rarely can do, heh). </p>

<p>btw, lonelychickk i go to tjhsst, not godwin. as for where i was raised, i was raised in jakarta/capital city of indonesia. i guess you could argue that i (re-)learned english fairly quickly because i was born in the U.S. and lived here until i was two years old, so i guess in that sense i was already exposed to english. but since then, no one else around me spoke english for ten years (because i lived with my grandparents while my mom stayed i the U.S. to work). and i don't come from a financially secure family so we didn't live in a fancy neighborhood where i could take english lessons or go to bilingual schools or anything like that. when i came here tho, i worked my ass off to learn english. after cycling out of ESL after an academic quarter back in seventh grade, i subscribed to dictionary.com and merriam-webster's "Word of the Day" so i could learn "bigger words". i also read anything i run into, and starting in high school i do debate, model UN, and similar activities which would force me speak in front of a lot of people. </p>

<p>i'm not at all trying to suggest that you didn't try as hard, i'm just making a point that to improve in the verbal section, you really need to start preparing way before the test date, especially if english isn't your first language. i'm telling you all of this b/c if my memory serves me correctly, the article mentioned that you have a little sibling. you can pass this on to her...</p>

15

<p>honestly, if you're a foreign student, go to a state school where one 1) you'll be the best in your class 2) you open more opportunities to go to a great grad school</p>

<p>undergrad is greatly exaggerated and most of you make it sound like its the end of the world if you do'nt get in an ivy or top tier school for that matter.</p>

<p>undergrad is really b.s. and is like prep school really. its al socializing and partying really for the rich.</p>

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<p>i'd like to disagree. i think most of us were suggesting to her that UVa and other in-state schools would be pretty sensible alternatives (especially if she gets to be an echols scholar, which she def. has a good chance of since she got a likely). as i said, many grads from my school could have gone to the ivies and other top schools, but out of that pool, a sizable fraction still ends up going to in-state schools (mostly UVa). but undergrad is NOT bs. it might be for you. and whoever said partying and socializing are only for the rich? and whoever said that those things aren't an important aspect of the college experience? you need to live a little, man.</p>

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<p>wasting 160,000 dollars for the experience is b.s. you can go to a great school at a fraction of the cost, still have a great social life, and still end up at an ivy grad school if that's your thing.</p>

<p>and out of the pool of ivy undergrad who apply to grad school, most of them don't go to ivies.</p>

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<p>someone wanna link me to the article?</p>