SAT II: Math1(730), US History(780), and Spanish(710)
SAT Essay: 7/8
APs: 9
AP Tests:
• ApEuro(5)
• ApUS(5)
• APmacro(5)
• APspanish(5)
• APEnglish(5)
Awards: (nothing special)
• National AP Scholar
• Virginia Pilot Award of Scholastic Achievement
• Hickory HS Award of Academic Excellence
• Honor Roll
My extracurriculars is where I shine:
All-Conference Captain of my State Championship HS Lacrosse Team
(4 years participated)
Founded a startup worth six figures, it has three employees and pretty steady revenue
Did a fundraiser on Instagram to save the Amur Leopard, got about 1000 people to donate money (about $10,000 dollars)
Senior Officer of my school’s community service club (4 years). I organize service projects around the community
Organized a carnival at the Edmarc Children’s hospess
Organized a service project at the Eastern Shore Community Hospital
President of my School’s Spanish Honor Society (4 years)
Environmental Club (4 years)
Letters of Reccomendation:
One from a UVA graduate was VERY good; she said I was a “literary prodigy” and the “smartest student she’s ever taught”
Didn’t read the other one
I have never met my guidance counselor so it’s probably not that great
Essays:
Common App Essay was quite good, talked about my goals of combining business and environmental stewardship (reflected in my ECs)
“what are my chances of getting accepted RD at Harvard?”
Probably not much different from the average for all applicants, which was 5.4% fairly recently. You stats definitely put you in the running and being top in your high school class might help. Your profile (from your list above) doesn’t do anything to help you. Acceptance percentages have generally been dropping slowly at the most selective schools.
It is probably worth applying. DEFINITELY have other more realistic options.
Grades:
• 4.7 GPA
• 12 APs
• Valedictorian (out of 420 at a competitive public school)
Scores:
• 1540 SAT
• 7 on SAT essay
• Spanish SAT II Test: 710
• US History SAT II Test: 780
• Math 1 SAT II Test: 750
• All 5s on AP Tests
Extracurriculars:
• Started a successful start-up that is projected to make six figures this year
• Have a popular social media page with 20k+ followers on which I post my political thoughts
• I am an all-conference captain of my state championship lacrosse team (on the team for all 4 years)
• Officer of my local community service club of which I have been a member for four years (5-10 hours of service per week)
• President of Spanish Honor Society (which helps our hispanic community)
(4 year member)
• Member of Environmental Club for all 4 years
Reccomendations:
• One from a UVA graduate which was quite good, said that I was “a literary prodigy”
• The other was good as well, but not on the same level
Essays:
• Common App: good essay, well written, fit into the theme of my application which was both business and stewardship
• Upenn Supplement was good but not a show stopper
I am hoping that my grades and scores are good enough to at least put my application on the table, and that my extracurriculars (business, online presence, service, and state athletics) will elevate me over other applicants. Is this realistic? What are my chances?
“So you don’t think my startup would significantly help my application?”
It might; it’s definitely the most interesting thing about your app IMO since most of the Harvard admits will also have “stellar” academics (and potentially be able to describe them a bit more modestly.) How did you come up with the idea and in what field does it operate? Did it use family connections or was it something you developed on your own?
I built it myself (i.e. no connections), it basically uses algorithms to sell people’s stuff for the best prices, and I came up with it after doing some research about that specific market. (Also, I promise I’m not trying to brag about my academics)
I’m in agreement with @Veryapparent. Many student’s apply to Harvard and UPenn having created a start-up or business. Case in point: My daughter’s freshman year at Harvard, she knew a student who sold his start-up for $5M prior to attending the university and then purchased a penthouse apartment in Harvard Square so he could throw parties without university interference.
IMHO, Harvard and UPenn could care less about your start-up. Yes, it’s impressive, but HOW does it benefit the university or make the life of student’s attending the college BETTER? It really doesn’t. However, if you can play Lacrosse at a Division 1 level, then you would be bringing something to the table that Harvard or UPenn wants and needs. Have you contacted the Harvard and UPenn Lacrosse coaches and let them know of your interest in the college?
The fact that you have a startup itself may not be interesting or the only case the admissions office has seen, but your experiences with it could be interesting depending on how you describe gaining the skills to build it, how you handled difficulties encountered, any insights it gave you on aspects of society, government, economics, human interactions that you were previously unaware of. As a business owner you might have interesting and unique perspectives on what you really need to get out of college to be successful and ways you can contribute to a college. Your business experience may have changed your ideas on politics or social issues in ways that might he mature and interesting to a college.
I’m assuming if you have the skills to be a recruited athlete, that would have already happened by now. And although yes, there will be other Harvard applicants with their own startup, it’s highly likely that they’re still less common than the number of white upper middle class lacrosse players so you might want to emphasize how and why you’re unique and bring something new to the table.
If you highlighted that in an essay it might make the CS Department sit up and take notice. FWIW: The Dean of Harvard’s CS Department, Harry Lewis, who taught both Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of the Admissions Committee. And, I imagine applicants who demonstrate a keen interest or ability in CS have their applications reviewed by Dean Lewis.
I agree that you are definitely competitive and your start up is fabulous. So I did not mean to diminish that at all. Doing the tours this year including the Ivies the admissions drumbeat was don’t pile on all these impressive accomplishments and AP courses. It feels like a paradigm shift where they are now looking for something different. That would be consistent with my D’s friends who have applied ED and SCEA…the incredibly mind bogglingly impressive ones seem to have been deferred while the wholesome passionate kids got in. Seems unfair in many regards because the message to be super impressive has been pounded into the heads of motivated smart kids. I think the winds of change are upon us.
Your stats are perfectly fine, don’t worry about them. The only thing that could possibly affect you is your 730 Math II. I got into Wharton ED this fall with scores similar to yours. If you meet their middle 50% scores it’s all down to your essays. I posted my stats on a previous post if you want to see them. You seem very successful so far so don’t worry too much; it’s not your university that defines you. Most of admissions, as almost anyone will tell you, is a crapshoot. The biggest thing I can tell you is focus on your essays because they are the ones that will make or break your application. Good luck with your applications and if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask!
