Chance Me: Harvard Applied Math

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

General Info:

Asian Male
Middle-Upper Class Family
Californian
Intended Major - Computer Science

Statistics:

3.99 UW GPA
4.68 Weighted GPA
No Class Rank Provided by School

SAT: 1560 (800 Math + 760 Reading + Writing)
SAT Subject: Math II - 800, Chemistry - 800
ACT: 35

AP Courses:

  • AP Calculus BC(5)
  • AP Statistics(5)
  • AP Chemistry(5)
  • AP Physics C: Mechanics(5)
  • AP Biology(5)
  • AP World History(5)
  • AP US History(4)
  • AP Econ/AP Gov(5)
  • AP English Language(5)
  • AP English Literature(5)
  • AP Computer Science(5)
  • Honors Chemistry
  • Multi-Variable Calculus taken at Community College

Extracurriculars:

  • CM Level 5 - honor student for CM Level 4 and Level 5 (piano for 6 years)
  • Karate Black Belt - 1st degree and competed at local tournaments
  • Debate Team -
    -Captain of PF in 11th Grade
    -VP in 12th Grade
    -Qualified to TOC 3 years
    -Qualified to Nationals 3 years
    -Varsity Public Forum for 3.5 years
    -Varsity Extemporaneous Speaking for 3.5 years
  • Lots of awards on National Circuit tournaments
  • California Scholarship Federation - volunteered at misc. events, Secretary in 11th Grade
  • Science Bowl - went to Nationals 2 years, Secretary in 11th Grade
  • Model United Nations - part of club for 3 years, competed in B MUN, SCVMUN, etc.
  • Computer Science Club - VP in 11th Grade, won different hackathons
  • Volleyball Team - 3 years, Team Captain in 11th Grade
  • DECA
  • Qualified to ICDC for 2 years
  • competed at local conferences

Volunteering/Job Experience:

  • Sandia National Laboratories - researched Nuclear Physics for 3 months
  • UC Berkeley - researched under prof. for 3 months
  • Teen Advisory Board - part of board for 4 years, 150 hours
  • Temple - part of board for 3 years, 200 hours

Total Volunteering Hours: 300+ hours

Letters of Recommendation:

  • AP Calc BC teacher
  • Prof. at UC Berkeley

Other:

  • National AP Scholar
  • National Merit Scholar
  • Ranked Top 20 PF Team in California
  • Ranked Top 50 PF Team in California
  • Ranked Top 100 PF Team in California
2

You scored a 5 on the AP Calc BC exam, a 5 on AP Statistics and an 800 on the Math SAT II, so let’s do some math, as this will help you concretely understand your odds.

Harvard Admissions is on record as saying that 80% of applicants can do the work on their campus, and fully 40% of them are top students with exemplarily credentials.

Now, last year 42,749 students applied to Harvard. If 40% of them are tippy-top students, that means 17,100 students are the best-of-the-best from across the country and around the world – truly stellar students with top grades, test scores, recommendations and essays – just like you!

However, Harvard only has room for 1660 students in their freshman class, which means over 15,000 terrifically qualified students were rejected last year – and everyone one of those students had a chance. So, might you have a chance? Sure! But how much of a chance is anyone’s guess.

FWIW: 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. They look for wonderful scholars of “good character” – that’s an old fashioned word meaning the way you develop your inner qualities, intellectual passion, maturity, social conscience, concern for community, tolerance, inclusiveness and love of learning. And none of those qualities can be gleaned from a post like yours.

The best anyone can say is that you are a qualified applicant. That said, as an Asian applicant, you should read this article:
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2017/12/the_price_of_college_admission_for_asian_americans.html

3

I recommend finding other universities that offer Applied Math as a major and (especially) trying to find LACs that offer it or a very robust Math catalog, especially LACs in the South, Midwest, and Rockies/SW – places where there tend to be proportionally far fewer Asian-American applicants.

Make sure at least one of these schools is an admissions safety (>50% admit rate, with your stats) and that you can afford them all (run NPC).

Harvard is a reach for everyone who isn’t royally hooked, so your chances are not terribly great, even though you are a highly competitive applicant overall.