Chance for Harvard SCEA

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>So my whole application is done, sent out, interview over, but I'm still freaking out. I just want to know what my chances are (numerical estimate?). I'm debating procrastinating working on other applications until Dec.15, or just starting now, lol.</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 800M 800CR 730W
[</em>] ACT: n/a
[<em>] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 800 World History
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/450
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Physics C Mech 5, AP Physics C E&M 5, AP World History 5, AP US History 5, AP English Lang. and Comp 5, AP Calculus BC 5, AP Chemistry 5
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Statistics, AP English Lit. and Comp, AP Govt and Politics, AP Biology, AP Chinese, AP Economics
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): U.S. Physics Olympiad Semifinalist, U.S. Chemistry Olympiad Semifinalist, AIME Qualifier
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate 4 yrs. (Captain), Math Team 4 yrs. (Captain), Volunteer Club 3 yrs. (VP), Piano, Violin. Won 3x state debate competitions, local math league competitions, qualified for All-State Orchestra 2x, won a few local piano competitions.
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: n/a
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Not great. 50 hours total. Not much depth, was like 10 hours volunteering at random places.
[<em>] Summer Activities: Past summer learned Chinese at home and also some computer programming.
[</em>] Essays: Decent. Gave them to multiple people and they all said were solid. Main essay on experience in hospital with grandfather before his death, also criticized hospital system and things that should be fixed. Made several readers cry. Probably because I was crying while writing the essay :P. EC essay on piano and how it gives me intellectual freedom, but also talked about how music offers a social aspect and brings people together.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Decent. Both teachers enthusiastically offered to write the recs. One should be very good, other should be good. Not sure if they were stellar though.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Who is my counselor? Just kidding, should be okay, but I barely know him and he barely knows me.
[<em>] Additional Rec: n/a
[</em>] Interview: Decent. My passion for learning shown through. I might have come across as a little rehearsed. Also I probably shoved in too many resume details to the point of it interrupting the flow of conversation. End of interview interviewer said "amazing person, amazing student" and "very impressive"- does this mean anything or is it just to make me feel better?
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): CT
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): n/a
[<em>] School Type: Large Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: 250k
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Decent objective stats. Somewhat well-rounded. Some national recognition. Essays probably decent.
[*] Weaknesses: Was not a passionate student until senior year, so junior year recs may be contradictory to interview? Also, forgot about some time commitments, so when interviewer asked me for times, I gave less than I put on the Common App. Another contradiction. Also, stereotypical Asian and not outstanding.[/ul]</p>

2

<p>Did you read this thread first: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1420290-chance-threads-please-read-before-posting-one.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1420290-chance-threads-please-read-before-posting-one.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>No, I did not, and I will read it now :)</p>

4

<p>I think you’re the exact type of applicant whom we can’t offer any chances. There is no doubt you are qualified, with great objective stats (SATs, GPA, rank, APs) and solid ECs. So no one can say you have a below average chance. That means it’ll come down to the essays and teacher recs, and we have absolutely no idea how good yours are, so we can’t say you have a good chance either.</p>

5

<p>Can I share my essays online?</p>

<p>@ gibby While I understand chance threads are meaningless since nobody on here is an admissions officer, I still think that the judgment of multiple people online holds for something. I could very well be wrong haha but I just need to figure out what to do.</p>

6

<p>^^ NO. That is absolutely NOT something you should do, as someone else may read them and intentionally, or not, use an idea, a sentence, or even a paragraph.</p>

7

<p>You’re definitely qualified (and seem like a cool person), but so are most applicants. My opinion doesn’t hold much weight at all. But I’d say you have a stronger chance than most people including me :P</p>

8

<p>You should also go back and reread what William Fitzsimmons said about teacher recommendations:</p>

<p>“Mr. Fitzsimmons agreed. “Our applicant pools are more homogenous than ever,” he said. “So recommendations are more important than ever.” He shared that at Harvard, recommendations are ranked from one to six based on the strength of the endorsement of the student.”</p>

<p>If your teacher recs are not 5-6’s, I imagine your application does not move forward, no matter how great the GPA, test scores and essays.</p>

9

<p>Well, I doubt both of my teacher recs are 6’s. Maybe one of them will be, but they’re probably like 5 and 4. So time to start working on my other applications =&lt;/p>

10

<p>“I just need to figure out what to do.”</p>

<p>You should stop procrastinating and get to work on your other applications!</p>

<p>When my daughter applied to college several years back, she was just like you. She applied SCEA to Yale (this was before Harvard had gone back to having SCEA), and was so sure that she would be accepted, she didn’t work on the rest of her applications. Mid-December, she was a bucket of tears because she had been deferred from Yale and had to complete 9 other applications in the last two weeks of December. Needless to say, her Christmas-New Year’s break was a complete hell, as was ours. You should learn from other student’s mistakes and get to work now. You don’t have to press the submit button until Mid-December, but you should have everything ready to go.</p>

11

<p>OK so one last question. At the end of my Harvard interview interviewer said “amazing person, amazing student” and “very impressive”- does this mean anything or is it just to make me feel better?</p>

<p>I think the recommendations won’t hurt, but they probably won’t be too specific. In which case the adcoms would be looking at my interview report.</p>

12

<p>^That’s not true. If, say, your counselor’s rec is mediocre, then Harvard will look into your other rec letters, but if all of your rec letters are not very specific, then that’s actaully pretty bad. The interview really doesn’t mean anything unless you did terribly bad-the interviewer has only seen you for like 1 hour but your teachers have known you for at least a year, and Harvard is smart enough to figure that out. In general, teacher/counselor recs>>interviews.
Interviewers sometimes even tell students that they would strongly advocate them in their reports because they are a “perfect fit” for Harvard, and then these students still don’t get in.
You should’ve applied MIT EA</p>

13

<p>OK. Thanks for the advice. Why should I have applied MIT EA btw?</p>

14

<p>am i the only one to be frequently annoyed by gibby??? must we endlessly hear about gibby’s brilliant children and scolded for not following every little rule? these are nervous, insecure teenagers - worried about their future reaching out to others like themselves for a little reassurance. and many of them (certainly this pianiseemo - op

  • i think that is the terminology op??) are highly qualified and will sail into top universities on the back of all their brains and hard work. gibby should lighten up on the sanctimonious attitude. piani - if harvard doesn’t take you it will be their loss. </p>

<p>and for the record i have never ever posted anything on this website - but there is a first time for everything. and this is it.</p>

15

<p>I like gibby’s posts. She has an amazing amount of knowledge especially around ivy league.</p>

<p>BTW-the fact that her children are also brilliant is even better imo.</p>

16

<p>gibby’s post was about her daughter procrastinating and being deferred at Yale. There was no showboating. </p>

<p>Everything gibby says is valid and incisive, even if it sometimes comes across as harsh.</p>

17

<p>These kids need truthful feedback and not padded compliments which do them no good. I for one appreciate Gibby’s insight and honesty.</p>

18

<p>Two more days lol</p>

19

<p>Well gibby’s generally correct and has good concepts. I’m especially benefitted from her links to several pages that have good stuff.
But regarding chance posts, there’s one thing we need to realize: most of ppl who post chance threads know where they stand, but they are just looking for confirmation and approval along with some praises. Everyone knows it’s impossible to chance him or her for Harvard, but one’s egotistic nature and striving for peer approval make these chance threads so common.</p>

20

<p>Gibby is arguably the most knowledgeable poster on this board and has the unique perspective of having two kids at two different top schools, which is very valuable information to have access to. While I understand why kids post chance threads, they ARE ridiculous. Just because she admirably and consistently lambastes chance threads does not make her wrong. </p>

<p>Best of luck, pianiseemo. 46 hours! :)</p>