chance me for harvard (early action); upenn, umich, uchicago

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I know Harvard looks for very special individuals, and those who have taken full advantage of all the opportunities available to them. Please tell me if there is anything “special” that stands out to you below (anything out of place, anything unique, etc.). Also, is there anything in my application I need to emphasize (ethnicity, research, writing ability, etc.)? Thank you.</p>

<p>Please chance me for the current admissions cycle for Harvard Early Action (application due Nov. 1). Also UChicago, UPenn, and Umich. I appreciate your feedback!</p>

<p>School: Public- suburban/rural (99.8% white).
Region: Midwest
Family income: ~$80,000
Class Rank: 1 of 430
GPA: 4.264 on 4.0 scale
Rigor of curriculum: Most Rigorous
Senior year course load: AP Spanish, AP Calc BC, AP English Literature, dual enrollment at State university (not community college) in Genetics, Organic Chemistry, and Undergraduate Lab Research.
Grades: All As except for one B+ in AP science class
APs: AP Scholar with Distinction; self-studied AP psychology junior year
ACT: 32 composite (12 on essay, and 35 on English- intending to apply as humanities major)
SAT II: Biology (M) and English (scores pending, but expect to do decent)
Ethnicity: Asian</p>

<p>Leadership Experience:</p>

<p>• Editor in Chief of International Publication on Kashmir conflict (published seasonally)
• Founder and Head Coach of Science Olympiad Team at local middle school
• Founder and President of career-oriented club (club for pre-med students)
• Captain of Science Olympiad team
• Founder and President of local Young Democrats chapter
• Secretary and Treasurer of school’s National Honor Society
• Class Officer (treasurer)
• Selected Participant for medical school camp for underrepresented minorities and economically disadvantaged students (one of 50 competitively selected applicants)
• Interviewed: world recognized female mathematician; the interview was published by the Association for Women in Mathematics. </p>

<p>Teaching Experience:
• Online instructor for humanities course for underprivileged students; taught fundamentals of rhetoric to 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th graders
• Assistant Instructor for weeklong Spanish immersion course at local library for elementary school students </p>

<p>Mentoring Experience:
• Online Science Buddies
• Volunteer Mentor to middle school forensics team- led team to Nationals (acknowledged as part of a group effort in local paper).
• Freshman Orientation program at school</p>

<p>Research Experience:
• 2 school years of laboratory research experience at University of Michigan Medical School; wrote 18 page paper and intend to submit with application;</p>

<p>Clinical Experience:
• Interned abroad in a hospital in India during the sophomore year; performed basic clinical procedures such as wound care and suturing; I paid for my internship through money earned as a tutor (see below)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
• Paid Private Tutor (courses: English, trigonometry, biology- tutored in 9th, 10, 11, and 12 grade)
• Kumon Math and Reading Center </p>

<p>Administrative Experience:
• Executive Board of Spanish Club
• Founder and President of Debate Club (won $5000 scholarship in middle school for debate wins)
• Diversity Club Board member</p>

<p>Sports/Music: Bhangra (dance- outside of school), tennis (school team), soccer (recreational/community), clarinet (school), drums (outside of school)</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:</p>

<p>Two-time Qualifier for National Tournament of Champions (two time State finalist in Extemporaneous Speaking)
Regional Awards for Science Olympiad </p>

<p>Languages spoken: fluent in three languages; proficient in two others (Spanish and Arabic) </p>

<p>Supplemental materials I am sending:</p>

<p>• Scientific research paper, (plus recommendation from research mentor)
• Collection of Persian poetry
• List of activities and accomplishments (a type of “resume”)</p>

<p>Other: I am applying as English major</p>

2

<p>Pretty average, nice ECs. Around a 5% chance for Harvard. 15%+ for the others. Good luck.</p>

3

<p>joifnok, thank you so much for your response! You mentioned nice ECs. Was there any particular EC(s) that stood out to you, and for what reason?
How would you increase 5% chance for harvard- that is, do you feel my weaknesses lie in grades or act score, etc.
thanks again.</p>

4

<p>For Harvard, it’s a crap shoot really. You could get you, you have the grades for them. You may want to raise the ACT score to a 34. Otherwise, you have a great chance for the rest of the schools mentioned. I would say your chances are probably way higher than %15 and probably a little higher than %5. Maybe 10 to 20 percent there for Harvard, but I’m not really sure about that school. It’s hard to guess for that one.</p>

5

<p>OldArnold, I appreciate your feedback, thank you so much. O.K.- I just took the ACT yesterday, so maybe I could raise my score? Hahaha, no one is sure about that school! Thanks for your advice, I appreciate it.</p>

6

<p>Honestly, it looks like you’re applying as a Humanities major to give yourself a boost since that is rare among asians…too many science credentials. I don’t know, you may be telling the truth. That’s just what stuck out to me as I read this.</p>

7

<p>I think you have a decent shot at Harvard, well relatively speaking. It would definitely help you if you could raise that ACT score up to a 34 because of the competitiveness of admissions, every single bit counts. Penn and Chicago are easier and I think you should be able to get in as you are very strong everywhere but your ACT score. I’m also guessing you’re from either Michigan or the Chicago area because you say you’re from the midwest and are applying to Michigan. Whether you’re IS or OOS, you will get in there easily. I know of people who currently attend all four schools, and your credentials match up to theirs. The only part where you don’t match up for Harvard, Penn and Chicago is your ACT score. They all had at least a 34 on theirs. But their ECs were just about the same as yours and their GPAs were about the same as well. But the high school they went to is one of the best public high schools in the state of Michigan and it consistently sends about 10 people to Ivies, Stanford and MIT a year, then probably another 10-20 to near-Ivies and then 100+ to Michigan.</p>

8

<p>collegeinfo1994, thank you for your response. The reason I was thinking of applying as an English major is because my ACT English (Essay and actual English part) was much higher in comparison to my science and math, and since my ACT composite isn’t that stellar as it is, I thought that applying for English may be better. Seeing as I like both subjects (science and English), I thought I should pursue my strength. Thanks again.</p>

9

<p>anthonyxy21, thank you so much for your reply! I see where you’re coming from regarding the ACT score, I did take it recently, so I’m hoping to improve. One student from my school applied last year to harvard- she was our valedictorian, never received anything below an A, took the most APs offered, and scored all 5s except for one 4. She had a 36 on the ACT and was denied. I thought maybe her weakness lied in her ECs (her essays were great) but I’m not sure. I don’t know where else they could be! You mentioned you thought I was strong everywhere except my ACT score-- but I do have a B+ in one AP science course…will this hurt me terribly? Michigan’s a great school to study at, I would apply there even if I lived in California!! Hahaha, but yes I am IS. I’m guessing those public high schools were either International Academy, or if not, the West Bloomfield district, Rochester Hills area, or Ann Arbor schools? By the way, my public high school RARELY sends students to elite private colleges- every few years, someone gets accepted to a school like Northwestern. But will this aspect help me or hurt me? That is, will a school like U Chicagao or Penn doubt the academic standards in place at a public school that does not usually send students off to elite schools? Thank you so much for your response- if only I could improve my ACT!!!</p>

10

<p>Great transcript. One problem I detect is that with all this good stuff it’s hard to tell what you have a strong passion for, as much of what you wrote seems to be all over the place. But you do seem to me like a hard-working and intelligent person from what I’ve read here. And I’m sure alot of admissions officers will see the same thing. </p>

<p>Bottom Line: Good chance at Harvard. Not gonna say great because a “great” chance doesn’t exist. At this caliber it’s almost all up to luck of the draw.</p>

11

<p>RedSn0w, thank you so much for your reply- I appreciate your insight! I see where you are coming from with the “all over the place” concept from my list of activities. My passions are both in humanities and sciences (I am leaning toward pre med, but would like to major in the humanities). I realize this is difficult to see from my list of activities. How can I better make these passions visible through the presentation of my extracurriculars? Your response has a varied sentence structure, and your voice sounds like one of my teachers! =) Thank you for your insight, I appreciate it.</p>

12

<p>@thedreamerofoz, you guessed the school, you probably could have from my location, it’s Pioneer. It will probably hurt you because as much as the admissions people say take advantage of all the opportunities presented to you and that should be enough, well it’s not enough. Admissions is after all a competition and you have to out compete the other applicants. The relative weakness of your school will probably hurt you but if you have strong grades at the State university, especially if it’s Michigan, that might be able to offset the weakness of your high school. You basically have three things working against you, your gender, ethnicity and school. Can everything else be enough to overcome those? There have been plenty of statistical studies showing how much higher Asian averages are at these elite schools and studies showing how schools sometimes quietly accept males with lower averages than females to keep a relative gender balance. So you really need to be perfect everywhere to get into Harvard because the margin for error is just microscopic.</p>

13

<p>anthonyxy21, thanks for your insight! I didn’t even consider those factors before. Hahaha you’re definitely right on about the “perfect everywhere” reality…thanks again, if you need any insight on something, please don’t hesitate to ask.</p>

14

<p>Your ECs are quite good. But very science focussed and you said you are English major. I think you have to tie in science+english together. Or just apply undecided? I think you have a fairly decent chance as long as your essay comes out strong. You have a lot of accomplishments but I was left wondering - who ARE you?</p>

15

<p>My money is on you going to Harvard, when I just saw your EC’s I was like *** on all the things you’ve founded. I see the only set back that your Asian, but your a female which puts you back up again.</p>

16

<p>fall2016parent, thank you so much for your reply, I greatly appreciate your feedback. Others have also told me that the essay in my case will carry a lot of weight. For the harvard app, I was thinking of combining humanities with science by declaring a “history of science” concentration, though to my understanding, this is extremely competitive. Otherwise, I was going to have my intended major as English and a second possible major as biology. I have a question for you: I do not want these activities to hurt me; I want them to paint a solid picture of me. How can I prevent the “who are you” sentiment from admissions officers? Do you recommend presenting these activities in a certain way (i.e. english separate from science, science separate from social science, etc.)? Thank you again for your insight, I appreciate it. Best of luck to your student in their college process.</p>

17

<p>machinima, thank you for your insight!! You mentioned the ECs I listed but not the ACT score, which others have brought up. Do you think this may significantly impact my chances? I am aiming for at least a 33 (I pursued the ACT just last Saturday), but am honestly unsure how that will pan out. Do you think I should still apply to harvard considering this ACT score? Thanks again for your feedback. If you need any insight for something, feel free to let me know.</p>

18

<p>dang i’d say you have a good shot of going to Harvard… I was thinking of applying and then I saw ur grades and ECs and I was like oh god tht’s who i have to compete with next year? all I can say is you’re very qualified. I can’t say you’ll get in, but you’ve got a good chance, probably better than 95% of the other applicants, but then again, its all luck at the Big 3. You’re a shoo-in for Uchicago and Umich, and uve got an amazing chance at UPenn.</p>

<p>Wanna chance me? haha</p>

19

<p>Kwarky, thank you so much for your response, I appreciate your insight on this matter. What are you talking about? Nonsense- if you are fortunate to have the time and resources to do so, apply to all schools you are seriously interested in. Trust me, this list of so-called ECs does not stack up to the thousands of applicants who have launched internationally recognized nonprofit organizations and are nationally ranked in music, math, arts, etc. Hence my post on CC!! Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it. Of course I’ll chance you!</p>