Hello! I hope you can help me to chance me for Ivy League (especially Harvard).
Demographics: Latin American, female. Middle-income. LGBTQ+ and pagan.
4 languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese, and learning French (not fluent)
Course load: At my school, we don’t have AP classes, so I don’t know how to explain this part lol. My courses were the hardest offered in my high school)
Rank: top 2% approx
GPA: 98/100 (uw)
I couldn’t take standardized tests these years (I’m very worried about it)
Intended major: Biological Sciences
Ecs:
-Founder of an Itinerary Academy of Science (in progress).
-Director of an International Science Fair
-Attended to represent my country on one of the most prestigious science forums in Europe
-Attended an international science competition in Asia to represent my country.
-Concertmaster/ also played the viola in my school’s orchestra and a statal orchestra.
-Religious group (paganism)
-Scout, leader of projects of LGBTQ+, feminism, etc.
-Speech and poetical declamation
-Research on National Universities
2 research projects, one on biotechnology and the other one on environmental sciences (high impact).
-Science Communicator and researcher on an NGO for the protection of an endemic species.
Awards:
-Silver medal on an international science competition in Asia.
-Ranked on top 10 projects on an international science forum (over +100).
-Award for the Civil Merit (school)
-Award for academic GPA (school)
-1st place regional science fair (6x)
-1st place national science fair
-1st place national Speech competition (4x)
-1st place national Poetical declamation competition (4x)
Rec. Letters:
-1 from a teacher that I meet +5 years ago (very nice).
-1 from my biological sciences teacher in high school (nice letter).
-The one of my counselor is short but very sweet and she described me as one of the best students my school has ever had.
-1 from one classmate (I know this one could be weird but in my dumb mind I thought it would be good for the AO to see me in the eyes of one of my classmates lol). Really good letter.
-1 from a woman that is a deputy and a secretary of environment in my country, super nice letter tbh it was better than I expected, very long and very descriptive.
Essays:
-Common App essay: About how I think all human cultures are beautiful and describing are the things I admire the most of some of my International friends, and how we all should work forward to create a better world without caring about the borders. I honestly loved this one, if they don’t like it at least I will be always proud of it and it makes me cry lol.
-Supplementary essay: About an experience I had on a religious group, and the way it helped me to know how to describe myself without any title. I talked about many aspects of myself, I liked it but not as much as the other essay.
And well that’s it, thank you for reading me and I hope y’all are fine! Greetings
Are you applying this year, regular decision? Or are you getting ready to apply for next year? Either way, I think that you sound like a fascinating candidate, with an impressive record. This year is test optional, but in your case, a standardized test would have really been useful, because it is difficult to calibrate the rigor of the school you come from. I’m sending you a private message.
The issue in this case is that a great standardized test score would go a long way to confirming high achievement at a school that the colleges may not be familiar with.
Harvard (and other top ranked schools) have a very well calibrated idea what to expect from a top ranked student at many High Schools in the US. There are also a few High Schools outside the US with a long history of sending kids on to elite US Universities that are also on AOs radar. Unless OPs school is one of these, he/she would be much better served by submitting outstanding standardized test scores than by going test optional.
Do you happen to be attending an International, IB, or American school abroad? Could you let us know what kind of school it is exactly?
You mentioned you weren’t able to take your tests, but does that also include a missing TOEFL (in case you weren’t already attending an English speaking school abroad)?
You look pretty solid in stats. Other than that, I’d start burning some candles to yours truly.
Hello Lil_Shortay! My school is not an IB nor an American School. Nevertheless, it’s a fully bilingual school, so most of my subjects were taught in English.
About the English exam, I uploaded the results I got on my TOEFL IBT about one year and a half ago. I got a 100/120 (low, to be honest). Before the pandemic, I was able to take the Cambridge Certification and I got a C1, but that exact certification is not between the ones they asked for.
So yep, that is also a factor that affects more my chances. Maybe the best should be to take a GAP year and take the SAT and the TOEFL again.
Greetings! I hope everyone is fine, thank you for reading me
Hey! If it were me, I’d upload the Cambridge Certification through your online portal anyway, even though it isn’t being asked for. (I’d also do that ASAP if it were me.) The CC still shows language proficiency, so what do you have to lose, and that’s the info they’re needing to know to make their decision. If they don’t want to look at your CC score, they don’t have to, but I’d be covering my tail with that lower (for Harvard) TOEFL score that I wasn’t able to retake. That TOEFL score will probably come up in a committee discussion and the admissions officer/s who wrote your file up could then at least explain that you scored a C1 on the CC, and that’s saying a lot. Those Brits don’t play!
100 is not low. It is the minimum for many colleges. But many others have a lower benchmark. There are no bonus points awarded for scoring above the minimum.
Not required, but she did send the score, right? So, won’t they still look at it if sent? Just wondering. I thought a 100 is around the 80th percentile. Even if optional, will the admissions office not care if they see that? I’m asking what you think about this. I’m curious. Also, although an acceptable score, wouldn’t Harvard want higher if at least they were looking at it, even if not required? I realize we aren’t talking about HKS, but I believe they want to ideally see at least around a 104/105 range, although 100 is their minimum.
TOEFL is like the test to get a driving license. You get one with a 70 or with a 200. And the cop writing the speeding ticket does not care what you scored.
The college merely wants to ensure that the applicant is proficient enough to do well in an English-speaking environment.
lol