Chance me for Harvard please!

[ricka8]

Hey guys I know this is a stretch, but I’m curious to see if there’s a point in applying to Harvard! So thanks for the comments!
Race- white
Dual citizenship with Italy, US citizen/resident
GPA- currently 4.3 Weighted, not weighted 3.8
ACT- 35
Class rank- probably top 10%
Italian Subject SAT- 770
APs- probably 9

Course load (just honors/AP): I’m taking almost the most rigorous courses possible

AP: World History, Psych, Lang. & Comp, Bio, US Hist, Euro, Environmental, Lit, and French
Honors: Chem, French (4 yrs), US History, Calc

Honors/Awards:
National French Exam- Silver Award: won Sophomore year 2015, one of 2 people to win it
High Honor role- all of HS
AP Scholar
National Merit Commended student, possibly Semifinalist as well
Maybe more but im just a Junior!

Sports: JV Tennis 2 years, Varsity Tennis 2 years (Captain next year), JV Golf 1 year

Leadership: started the Animal Rights club (president of it too for 2 years), got a grant of $4,000 am leading a project on Healthy Eating for it in my school district

Volunteer: my grant project also gives me hours (at least 40, Junior year), Pony Power Therapies (Soph year 25 hrs), I help kids with disabilities (Soph-Senior, 20 hrs)

Recommendation Letters: one 10/10, the others im guessing 8-9/10

Additional Info:
I’m bilingual (Italian and English) and will do a gap year to be a foreign exchange student in Italy as a 5th year of HS.
I am interested in majoring in Psych, Italian Studies, or History

THANKS SO MUCH GUYS!!

[gibby]

First off, welcome to College Confidential! As a new member to CC, and the Harvard forum, you should read a thread posted at the top of this forum. It was written for student’s like you in mind. It’s a long thread but contains useful information about Chance Threads and what Harvard values in the Admission process: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1420290-chance-threads-please-read-before-posting-one-p1.html.

Secondly, also please read this thread from an MIT Admissions Director about Chance Threads. Everything in it pertains to Harvard as well: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/939227-reminder-no-one-not-even-me-can-give-you-an-accurate-chance-at-mit-p1.html

No one on this forum, not even me, can give you a meaningful chance at MIT.

Why?

• Because the factors of admissions that can be readily apprehended in a forum post (GPA, SAT scores, etc) are in many ways the least important in our process.
• Because listing the school you go to or ECAs you are involved in does not communicate the degree to which you are a vibrant member of the community, does not communicate what your coaches or teachers or mentors will say about you, and those are the things we care about.
• Because it does not include any information about the interview, which is another critical insight into the candidacy of any prospective applicant.

If an MIT Admissions Director cannot chance applicants based off of a post like yours, how the heck is everyone else supposed to do it?

Lastly, you seem like a wonderful applicant, as are most students who will ultimately be rejected. As Harvard has more qualified applicants than they have seats in their freshman class, Admissions uses a student’s teacher recommendations, guidance counselor’s Secondary School Report (SSR), Essays and Interview Report to choose one high performing student over another. As you didn’t post that information, no one can say what kind of chance you have.The best anyone can say from your post is that you are a qualified applicant, but so are most students who are rejected.

That said, college admissions may be changing next year at top selective schools, placing less emphasis on test scores and AP classes – things that you stressed in your post.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) there will be an announcement about “Turning The Tide” from Harvard Graduate School of Education. I would play close attention to the announcement to see if Harvard Undergraduate Admissions is on board: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/20/opinion/rethinking-college-admissions.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

Top administrators from Yale, M.I.T. and the University of Michigan are scheduled to participate in a news conference at which it’s unveiled.

[ricka8]

One change: my UW GPA is 3.87, not 3.8, and I go to a very good rigorous HS

[gibby]

My answer is still the same, although you should know that in a recent survey of Harvard freshman, 54% reported having a 4.0 unweighted GPA in high school. Unless your 3.87 represents one of the best GPA’s from your high school, your overall chances would seem to be not as good as other student’s from your high school who have higher GPA’s with the same course rigor.

FWIW,: several years ago I posted my daughter’s high school transcript. She graduated from Harvard in 2014. She also went to a rigorous high school, so you might want to take a look: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1619966-ivy-standards-for-rigor-of-highschool-curriculum-p1.html

[compmom]

You have a good chance, but don’t get fixed on any one school because there is really no way to know. And don’t live your life in high school with a focus on getting in anywhere: just be yourself and you will end up with a good fit.

It certainly makes little difference whether your GPA is 3.8 or 3.87 and differences of 40 points in SAT’s don’t matter either.

Schools like Harvard are more focused on assembling an interesting class and what you can contribute to the whole.

Some of your extracurricular work sounds interesting so keep at it!

ps. there is a thread on coming changes to admissions policies, but I wouldn’t read too much into it…read the thread…it is mainly intended to lower stress levels and also honor the kid who has to work at the local store due to need

[sherpa]

I’d recommend you take a serious look at @gibby’s daughter’s HS transcript. Students such as her are what Harvard is looking for. I’ve never been quite as public with my kids’ transcripts, but here’s a quick summary of my son’s qualifications: UW 4.0 through HS, sole valedictorian of a class of 330; ACT 35; SAT IIs 800, 790, 780; 17 APs, with one 4 and the rest 5’s; and a national award for a community service project he led.

Would this have given him good chances for Harvard? We’ll never know. Fortunately, as a recruited athlete he had the luxury of choosing, and he chose Princeton. But he believes, and I agree, that without the athletic hook, HYP and S would have been possible but unlikely.

[compmom]

There are many applicants with top notch stats. I think your extracurriculars, such as working with disabled kids, Pony Power, Animal Rights and Health Eating, might set you apart, and also the initiative shown in the way you went after grants. This might depend on the depth of your involvement: are those hours listed for a week, a month, or a term? Also a recommendation letter from someone who knows about some of these activities, would help.

The year in Italy sounds great too- I imagine that is not yet set in stone since you are a junior, but would be a great experience. Do you still have family there?

Don’t pad your resume and make sure that your motivation to do things is genuine. Things will fall into place whether at Harvard or some other great school. By all means apply but don’t expect anything positive or negative.