Chance me for Harvard, Yale SCEA?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

So before I state my stats, I 100% understand that chances are always slim for both schools and luck is definitely required. However, I just want to know which you guys would recommend me to apply for EA. Harvard is definitely my top choice, but I have a lot of family ties with Yale (brother went there and we always do community service with them and I’m doing their YYGS program) so Yale knows how much I love them.

SAT I (breakdown): 2270, 690CR, 780W, 800M
ACT (breakdown): 34, 36M 31S 34R 35W
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math 2 (790), Chemistry (700), US History (720)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/460
AP (place score in parentheses): Chemistry (4), Spanish (4), US History (4), Calc AB (5), Eng Lang (4)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP Physics 1, AP Biology, AP Gov, AP Econ, AP Lit
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Siemens Semifinalist, Intel ISEF Finalist, Bunch of big piano and violin awards, Society for In Vitro Biology Award

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
-Won a lot of statewide piano and violin competitions including All-State concertmaster in violin, youth orchestra concertmaster for violin (I founded a club at my school entitled “Music Outreach Club” in which I’m currently sitting as president)
-golf (Captain and Assistant Coach)
-finalist and semifinalist awards in debate (Class Representative)
-lots of math team awards
-lots of science awards (research was presented to the International Cancer Congress as well as the 5th World Congress on Cancer Therapy)
-Multicultural Club (Secretary)

Job/Work Experience: N/A

Volunteer/Community Service:
-Relay for Life (Committee Chair- raised over 200k for cancer)
-My Music Outreach Club takes weekly visits to an underprivileged school downtown where I teach both piano and violin and sold my personal piano recordings to raise money for
-Hospital Volunteer (400+ Hours)
-Habitat for Humanity
-Math Tutor

Summer Activities: Governor’s School, Yale Young Global Scholars, Research Internship ($1000) along with numerous science camps over the years, volunteering

Essays: Common App is about music and the impact it has had on my life, it’s still in the process of editing

Teacher Recommendations: One teacher is stressing how even though I have a lot on my plate, I still remain one of the most relaxed and cheerful students she’s ever had, the other teacher knows my family very well and we share a musical interest so I’m sure both will be good.

Counselor Rec: Probably 7/10, he doesn’t really know any of us that well
Additional Rec: piano teacher, who is a silver medalist in the Van Cliburn Competition (incredibly difficult international piano competition)

Interview: I personally know the Harvard and Yale interviewers in my area, the Yale interviewer basically watched me grow up and I do volunteer service with him every year

Applying for Financial Aid? No
Projected Concentration: Biology and Music for Harvard, Biomedical Engineering and Music for Yale
State (if domestic applicant): AL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 250,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): my brother graduated from Yale in 2011, family is very close in the Yale alumni community, Harvard and Yale both accept generally 1-2 people from my school each year

For extra info, I’m definitely trying to stress how much music means to me and how much I want to spread its impact through my club.

2

SAT I is fine, UW GPA is good though so many 4s on AP exams is kinda ehhh (kinda makes me doubt the course rigor at your school, but that won’t be a deal breaker). ECs look good. The only thing I would do (if you can), is try to bring up one of your SAT II scores. 790 on Math 2 is fine, but a 700 on Chemistry and a 720 on US History for your second SAT II score is really really lacking compared to the rest of your app. If you can retake one of both of those and bring that score up to a 760, it would be an improvement.

Otherwise, just focus on your essays and senior year, I think you have a very solid application already for HY(PSM if you want to consider them) and I’m sure you’ll end up one of your top choices (though maybe not necessarily Harvard or Yale just due to the unpredictability of college applications).

3

Harvard and Yale take a bunch of students very much like you each year. They also reject some. Your extracurriculars are very good–but again, they won’t look all that different from many other applications. You will get into a number of highly selective colleges–but you may be rejected by some, too. Don’t narrow your list too much, and don’t get too fixated on any one school. If I were in your shoes, I think I’d use my SCEA for Yale, since your brother went recently and that might help you.