Chance Me? SCEA?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>Harvard Early Action Chances?</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown): 2370 (M-800 W-800 CR-770)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Math 1, 800 Chemistry, 800 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/470
AP (place score in parentheses): APUSH (5), AP Lang (5), AP Chem (5), AP Spanish (4), AP Calc AB (5), AP Psych (5), AP Env Sci (5), AP Bio (5)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Lit, AP Physics B, AP MicroEcon, AP Gov, Golf, Math Team
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Siemens Semifinalist, Siemens Regional Finalist, Intel ISEF qualifier (didn't go to fair because of testing), AIME, First place piano in large southeastern piano competition ($500 prize), 2nd place piano in the same competition ($250), 3rd place piano in the same competition ($150) x2, State Piano Winner x4, State Violin Winner x3, 2nd place violin in big competition ($200 prize) x2, Harvard Book Award, National Merit Finalist, National AP Scholar, Mu Alpha Theta National Convention 9th Place, All-State Orchestra Assistant Concertmaster x2</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
Piano- awards stated above along with various smaller state competitions
Violin- awards also stated above along with various smaller state competitions
President and Founder of a Music Opportunity Club at my school, which teaches the less fortunate how to play piano and violin
Captain and MVP of Golf Team all four years
Captain of School's Math Team which ranked 3rd in the nation at the Mu Alpha Theta National Convention
Quarterfinalist/Semifinalist at a couple debate tournaments for public forum, but never won any :(
A few top 10s in Golf Invitationals
Relay for Life Committee at my school, which raised $293k last year for cancer</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community Service: 300+ Hours at Children's Hospital over 4 years
Summer Activities: Volunteer at Children's Hospital, 200+ Hours researching in a lab </p>

<p>State: AL
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female</p>

<p>I wrote my essay on my passion for music, and my major on the Application is music ed, if that makes any difference.
Teacher Rec from AP Chem teacher and APUSH teacher, I know my AP Chem is going to write about my research passions, not sure about the APUSH teacher </p>

<p>Also, would it be more useful to apply early to Yale (my brother graduated from Yale in '11)?</p>

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<p>I think Yale puts a lot of emphasis on music if that means anything </p>

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<p>@‌music14 - Your odds should be excellent at either school, as you are exceptionally qualified candidate. There are no guarantees, but you will be one of the strongest candidates in the applicant pool at either school.</p>

<p>I’m not convinced that your focus on music will give you a greater advantage at Yale…Harvard wants students like you too, and I suspect these students are more likely to apply to Yale, so there might be more competition from similar students there.</p>

<p>I would recommend you apply SCEA to the school you most want to attend, then apply to the other RD if you are accepted and are not sure which one you would chose.</p>

<p>FYI- threads of this nature belong in the chances forum, not the individual college forums.</p>

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<p>The fact that your Asian raises a red flag. You are judged much harsher. While you are definitely qualified, there are many other qualified applicants and it may come down to the fact that Asians are a majority at schools like Harvard. Good luck to you though. I hope you get in!</p>

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<p>@oxoxhawja3xoxo‌ Actually, I think the majority are Caucasians, though a great deal are Asian, as you pointed out. </p>

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<p>Neither Harvard nor Yale have Asian majorities. Their Asian populations are greater than their representation in the overall population. However, it’s believed that the percentage of Asians admitted in a given class is limited internally by each school, thus giving rise to the belief that it’s tougher to get into these schools as an Asian. </p>

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<p>Not to turn this thread into a discussion on race, but I really wish colleges would move away from equating race with diversity. If colleges want to promote healthy diversity within their campus, look at the student’s background NOT their race. There are many URMs who don’t identify with their culture at all, and there are just as many ORMs who have interesting cultural backgrounds that could really benefit the student population. That’s just my two cents on the issue (though it’s probably only worth a penny lol). </p>