Hi, please chance me
I’m planning on applying REA to Harvard, and if I get rejected, I will apply to other top colleges. I know my GPA is very bad, but I am an international award winning violinist. I can probably get into any music school I wanted, but I don’t plan on only majoring in music.
Not legacy for any school I’m applying to.
I’m also Indian, so I’m Asian
Stats:
I attend a top 900 ranked school in the country
3.5 UW GPA, 4 W
Top 20% of class
SAT: 1530
SAT II Math: 800
SAT II Physics: 720
5 in AP Physics 1,
Self studied 3 more AP’s with 4’s on all
Grade trends:
9th- 3.1 UW with standard/honors classes (lmao)
10th- 3.5 UW with all honors classes
11th- 3.83 UW w/ AP and honors
12th- Around 3.5 UW w/ all AP classes
EC:
I go to the top precollege music program in the country (not disclosing for confidential reasons) and drive 8hrs/week doing so
Won international awards, soloed with many orchestras
National Award in major computer science competition (not disclosing)
Started comp sci club at school
Attended tuition free comp sci programs
Received a scholarship to attend a music camp as assistant concertmaster
Presidential volunteer service award
From Harvard’s latest Common Data Set report:
Percent in top tenth of high school graduating class: 94%
Percent who had GPA of 3.75 and higher: 92.88%
Percent who had GPA between 3.50 and 3.74: 5.63%
Harvard is not currently suffering from a severe shortage of Asian violinists.
Unless you had a 1st at the Menuhin competition, the odds of overcoming significant academic stats that put you in the low single digits relative to the Harvard student population is very low.
I agree with @tdy123 - your chances at being accepted to Harvard are vanishingly small.
Those kids who were accepted with GPAs between 3.50 and 3.74 were all recruited athletes or kids whose parents are donating millions, or they have international level fame. Unless you are a national level tennis player, your parents have pledged $5 million, or your violin playing brought you international attention, you’re almost certainly going to be rejected.
Harvard isn’t a music school, and being an amazing violin player isn’t, on its own, going to earn you a place, unless you’re famous enough to bring positive attention to Harvard. If you had a GPA of 3.9 with a challenging curriculum and an SAT of 1600, your international awards may have pushed you over the line. As it is, I’m sorry, but with that GPA, you’re very unlikely to be competitive for most of the very selective colleges.
Are you an Indian living in India, or another country? If living in India, please be aware that the level of competition from the subcontinent is intense. Currently only 21 students from India are at Harvard College, this equates to about 5-6 students per year. Of those, some will likely be recruited athletes. So if you are one of the top 4-5 students in the entire subcontinent, then you might have a shot.
But there are plenty more colleges apart from Harvard who would love someone like you. The odds are low for everyone, and unfortunately much more difficult for overrepresented populations like you.
You don’t think your teachers rate you as more than a “B” - when applying to a school that is used to apps from students whose teachers are wowed by them.
Aside from the famous name, why is Harvard your 1st choice? What about it makes you think that you are a good fit for them, and they are the best fit for you?
