Chance me please :)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Hey everyone,</p>

<p>If u guys could take some time to look at my stats and chance me that would be great:</p>

<p>Standardized Testing:
SAT: 760CR 780M 800(10)W
SAT subject tests: Math 2-800 Bio M- ~760-800 Chem- ~760-800 (the last two are based on practice tests i've done)</p>

<p>Grades:
IB diploma student: IB HL Mathematics -- 7
IB HL Chemistry -- 7
IB HL Biology -- 7
IB HL Economics -- 7
IB SL English -- 7
IB SL French B (intermediate lvl) -- 7
* all grades are on a 1-7 scale and based on final grades in 11...so i actually haven't taken any IB tests yet, these are predictions</p>

<p>TOK/Extended essay component of IB diploma: probably 2-3 or atleast thats what my teachers told me to expect...
So my aggregate IB score is around 44/45 (predicted)...if im lucky though i think my teachers may predict me a perfect 45 <em>fingers crossed</em></p>

<p>Rank: I dunno if my skl ranks (most probably not cuz we're a small pvt school)
But if it does, 1/132. if not top 1%, which is stupid, because it implies the same rank...</p>

<p>Grades in 9/10:
I did the IGCSEs, which are an international version of the british GCSEs, got 8 A+, and 2 As</p>

<p>ECs:
- Creative writing/Journalism: EIC and founder of school newspaper, President of journalism society, have written articles for nationally distributed newspaper. 4yrs
- MUN: Attended 5 MUN conferences, was chairperson of security council at two, Best delegate awardee, President (2yrs), coordinator of my school's own MUN conferences. 3 years
- Drama: Two years. Had roles in two annual school productions. I really just took this as an ec cuz i liked it, but does it detract from my "focus" (if i have any), or add too whole roundedness?
- Yoga: 5 years of practice</p>

<p>Community service:
- Helped out at blind school and a local hospital during the summer of sophmore year; this year spent the summer and some weekends teaching under privelged children english at an orphanage. Part of the original group of students who started the above initiative.</p>

<p>Awards/honors:
-National merit (i think i might just get finalist, cuz my friend got it last year she got 229, but i got a lil higher 234 if i remember correctly...any input on whether or not i could get finalist standing?)
-Principal's award (given to student who has contributed most to school life/ achievement in the year)
-won departemental Achievement awards in Biology, Chemistry, Economics and English throughout high school..9-11 (given to highest scorer in a particular subject)
-One of fifteen participants chosen in the country to participate in leadership/peace conference held annually.
-4th place in City wide poetry competition
-4th place in Annual interschool science quiz
umm...yeah thats about it...i dont really have many national/international awards...is that a big disadvantage?</p>

<p>Work experience:
Summer internship at Biotech firm, where i've bin doing supervised independent research on monoclonal antibody therapy in treating head and neck cancers...Im thinking about entering STS but it depends whether i finish before the deadline...lol...</p>

<p>Summer experiences:
Not much, just the internship above this year, and Stanford EPGY summer skl last year...</p>

<p>Recommendations:
-Im getting them from two teachers who absolutely adore me so i suppose they should be good...plus one of the teachers is an excellent writer, so i hope she'll avoid generics and give em something really telling and original
-Im getting a consellors rec from my principal, he seems to like but the only thing is he normallyh shys away from execcessive praise...but even so i know he'll write me something gud...maybe not amazing but good...
-Im on the fence about getting an additional rec from my summer employer/research supervisor...i dunno how much extra it will add and i heard that the admissions board gets irritated if u submit redundant extra recs..?</p>

<p>Essays:
-writing is one of my strengths so they should be good....im submitting an additional essay on living abroad as well</p>

<p>Special circumstances:
- Im an american citizen living in India, so that explains all the international tests n stuff. </p>

<p>Umm yeah thats about it...please tell me if there's anyuthing u think i've left out...</p>

<p>Some questions:
-Is it true that if u apply for financial aid it puts u in a more competitive application pool, cuz i thought harvard and all the other top schools were "need blind"?
-Are additional recs really worth it?
-Does my application, from what u can make of it from above show any focus? I didnt think it did....is it really neccessary to have a focus, cuz im still not very sure wat i want to major in...probably Biochemistry/biology or something science related though...</p>

2

<p>I think your chances are above average, but at the same time, average is 11% :), your SAT scores don't distinguish you but they would be in the top 50% of applicants, your extracurriculars are interesting, I think you have a shot...</p>

<p>If you are an American citizen, financial aid does not matter, so it really IS need blind, you won't be in a more competitive pool. Extra recs are only worth it if they are from a VERY good source, don't just throw one in. At this point, you can't worry about focus, and honestly, I don't think the subject in which you plan to major makes a difference, biochem is good I suppose.</p>

3

<p>To be honest, if you're really that worried about focus, I'd note that all you ECs seem to be humanities based (except for research). If you're trying to play writing as a strength of yours, I wouldn't report your 4th place poetry award. Actually, I wouldn't put down the 4th place in the quiz thing either.</p>

<p>Before I write anything else, are you going to be a junior next year?</p>

4

<p>Paco thanks for ur advice. My rec would most probably be from a scientist at the place i interned, he's not famous or anything but i know he'll write really nice stuff about me that my teachers wouldnt be abel to convey as effectively. Shud i still go for it?</p>

<p>umm ducktape...nope im gonna be a senior in august...thanks for the input :) I was thinking of leavin out the 4th place thingies as well cuz well they sorta unimportant...lol...anymore advice on places where i can improve??</p>

5

<p>I think you have just as good of a chance as anyone, btw nice predicted IB's!</p>

6

<p>A few things.</p>

<p>1. What is this nation-wide leadership thing you're talking about? Name it, because the adcom will probably have heard of it if it's as prestigious as your wording makes it appear to be, even though you're in a different country. Also, if it's nation wide, is it for anyone living in India or are there limitations? Those type of things need to be clarified.</p>

<p>2. All your standardized testing is great. I have nothing to say there but to congratulate you. Is your transcript going to show the predicted scores? If so, GREAT. If not, then I'd try to find a way for your teachers/principal to include them.</p>

<p>3. I actually would lean more towards submitting an abstract than an additional recommendation for your research thing. That way, it shows the depth of your work. I mean, if you don't get any good results from it, then submit the extra recommendation. I'd go for the abstract, though.</p>

<p>4. Honestly, on the academic end you're close to perfect- however, your ECs are very all over the place. So if I was looking at your application, I would see 2 ECs at which you're obviously very good (by the way, name the newspaper on your app- if it's really nationally distributed, the adcom can look it up), and then Drama, which you're really just a participant in, and Yoga, which you apparently do on the side and makes me question whether that really qualifies as an EC or just as an interest (heck, in that case I could put "Rubik's Cube- 3 hours a week, 52 weeks a year" on my app). I guess I'd have to see a break down of your hours-per-week. Granted, there's not much you can do now, but what you can do is really, really emphasize your better two.</p>

<p>5. Stanford EPGY screams I HAVE MONEY. Just an observation.</p>

<p>6. What are the hours on your community service? And if I were an adcom, I'd want to know the details on this program you helped start and why you chose those other things to volunteer with, and why you've done 3 different programs and not stuck with one.</p>

<p>I guess my main piece of advice to you would be to write down every aspect of your application on a note card and decide how you'd like to present yourself. Then, classify your notecards by what aspect of you as a person they support- that will help give your application coherence and help the adcom to say "Hey, we need a Biochemistry Newspaper Editor who grew up in India. Let's accept this person."</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

7

<p>anyone else??</p>