<p>Hey guys! I'm a sophomore and ever since I was eight years old my dream has been to be accepted into and attend Harvard. I'm hoping for some extra insight on my chances of being accepted into such an amazing school, and any critique/comments/suggestions are greatly appreciated. :) Here is everything you may need to know about me (testing, grades, classes, extracurriculars, volunteer work, etc.). Sorry for the terribly long read. </p>
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<li>I attend a very large, public high school in the Midwest. It is nothing special, and definitely not where I would have chosen to receive an education. I'm trying to make the best of it, though.</li>
<li>I am a female. I am half korean/half white and come from a blended family. My parents both make a lot of money, but after their divorce they lost a ton so we are definitely not wealthy. I am the oldest, and have 7 younger siblings (3 are step-siblings, though and I see them rarely). Either way, there isn't any spare money lying around.</li>
<li>I have no hooks, unfortunately. My dad was accepted into Harvard when he was a kid, but couldn't attend due to financial issues.</li>
<li>I have to wait until next year until I take my SAT/ACT. My PSAT predicted me to receive a score around the 2300 area. This is without studying, so hopefully if I put some time and effort in, I can reach near perfect scores.</li>
<li>My GPA currently is a perfect 4.0 but this year I took an AP course as a sophomore, so it will be higher after grades are entered this semester. This also means my rank will be 1/500+ as I'm the only sophomore who was able to take a weighted course.</li>
<li>As far as classes go, I'm taking the most rigorous options available. I've filled up all 7 hours of my day, taking Chemistry Honors (an advanced junior course) and AP Statistics (a junior/senior course) as extras. All my core classes are advanced/accelerated as well. My current schedule will allow me to fill up my entire schedule as a junior with AP classes.</li>
<li>No honors/awards currently. If you guys have advice on what honors look nice on a college app, I'd love to hear it. I have no idea where to start looking for awards to receive.</li>
<li>Extracurriculars & Volunteer Work:
+ Horse-back riding (competitively): I've won numerous regional championships and placed top ten nationally. I ride in an arabian sport horse circuit (AHA/USEF) that requires a huge amount of time and money. I own the horse that I compete with. This is a huge passion of mine and something that I could not live without.
+ Varsity Tennis
+ Piano: I compose my own songs. 6 of them have been professionally recorded and are on a CD. Planning on copyrighting them and putting them on youtube/itunes. Hopefully by the time I will graduate I will have a larger collection to send on a CD to Harvard as a supplement. I've also played at multiple charity events and visit a nursing home once a month where I play for two hours.
+ Student Council (Class Treasurer this year and last)
+ Active in multiple other clubs (SADD, YAH, Flip-It-Forward)
+ Recently accepted into NHS, planning on running for Vice President.
+ Over the summer I volunteer at a horse camp. Last summer I volunteered a total of about 100 hours there.
+ Accepted into a research internship at the U of M that will take place over the summer.
+ 2 hours each week are spent volunteering at Church in Sunday School.
+ Volunteer at hospital (~ 1-4 hours per week)
+ In the process of founding a therapeutic horseback-riding program at my stable. This has been an EXTREMELY tiring and difficult process due to insurance and legal issues but it is finally all coming together and I am so thrilled. This is the most meaningful of all the volunteer work I do, as my brother has physical disabilities.<br>
+ No time for jobs really, though I do babysit here and there.</li>
<li>No idea on essay plans yet. Will maybe write one about my brother's disabilities and how that led me to starting a therapeutic riding program. Or about the very rocky and unstable relationship I have with my mom, and about how I went to live with my Dad when I was fifteen (and how this has affected me).</li>
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<p>If you read that I commend you (and love you). ANY kind of feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much you guys!</p>
<p>geez @gibby, give him some slack. The poor fella took the time to write all of this, OF COURSE we know no one can really tell by looking at a post if they’ll get in, but it’s just for the curiosity, for the fun of it.</p>
<p>@Scarlet0618 keep it up! for sure you have a chance!</p>
<p>But the reality is that every tippy-top student needs to apply to ALL the top colleges because your chances actually vary from institution to institution and from year to year. I’ve posted this before, but my son, who had a perfect ACT, was rejected from Harvard, but admitted to Yale and Princeton. My daughter was rejected at Yale, waitlisted at Princeton and accepted to Harvard. You would think that all top colleges are looking for the same things, but admissions does NOT work that way. That’s the reality you are missing when you say that the OP has a chance. Who’s to say she has a chance at Harvard? Everyone has a chance at Harvard, but is that saying much? Does that mean anything? No! Do they have a good chance? A better than average chance? Or, are their chances at Stanford, Princeton, or Yale better than their chances at Harvard? I’m certainly not qualified to make that prediction! I wasn’t a good prognosticator for my kids, so I sure can’t do it for anyone else. These days, top students need to apply to all the top schools, as you don’t have a chance everywhere, but no one can tell you where you have a better chance.</p>
<p>Although Harvard may be your dream school, this could be your ticket to a wonderful education at a great college that allows you to pursue your passion.</p>
<p>@gibby: good point! If you have an unusual interest, you should make sure the colleges you are applying to can support you. I have a couple unusual interests, and I am only applying to colleges that can support those interests.</p>
<p>“But the reality is that every tippy-top student needs to apply to ALL the top colleges because your chances actually vary from institution to institution and from year to year.”</p>
<p>I think some students may fare better by submitting thoughtful and well crafted applications to two or three ‘reach’ schools instead of submitting cut and paste applications to ALL of the top colleges. And by thoughtful, I mean doing the leg work, communication and research necessary to truly gain an in depth understanding of the schools you are applying to and how you would fit in to those schools.</p>
<p>I experienced the same thing. Got rejected by Notre Dame EA. Grades plummeted. And I mean plummeted. Then got into Northwestern RD. Makes no sense but that’s how the process works out. A lot of variation and unpredictability.</p>
<p>arwarw, why can’t you submit thoughtful and well crafted applications to 8-10 reaches? Dead serious. My brother just did it. And they were far from cut and paste. Although, I wouldn’t call them reaches since his grades, courseload, test scores, ECs, and essays are all elite, and my high school (an elite public school in New England) sends an absurd ~20 kids a year to top 10 unis/LACs.</p>
<p>So I’d imagine they’re matches even if it sounds loco to call HYPS and the rest of the Ivies + Duke a match.</p>
<p>People submit RD applications during the Christmas break where you have 12 days of nonstop free time. If you can’t handle more than 2 or 3 well-crafted application over 12 days of no school (keep in mind, you started working on these apps and the ‘why essays’ in September) then you clearly don’t have the dedication, discipline, work ethic, or time management skills to even handle the workload at a top 10 school to begin with. And you shouldn’t be applying there in the first place.</p>
<p>Only being able to handle 2 or 3 well done apps for your reach schools over the period of 4 months is BEYOND lazy.</p>
<p>Friedokra, if applying to all the Ivy League schools plus Standford and Duke works for your brother, more power to him! I’m just saying for SOME kids the more traditional approach may work better and I don’t think it’s lazy. Building a solid list from the bottom up can entail many campus visits, attending classes, and meetings and ongoing communication with students, professors and department heads; then, effectively communicating ‘fit’ in the application. It’s really more involved than just cranking out essays over Xmas break.</p>
<p>Although I did say “every tippy-top student needs to apply to ALL the top colleges,” what I neglected to say – but I felt was understood, and I guess I was wrong – was that an applicant must narrow down their college list to include reach, target and safety schools. Obviously, you can’t apply to every top college. Both my kids applied to 11 colleges – one being their flagship state school. My son was admitted to 10 out of 11 colleges, my daughter 9 out of 11 colleges. As we needed financial aid, we were then able to compare offers from a wide range of schools, that went beyond HYP and included such schools as Dartmouth, Brown, Boston College, Georgetown, Williams, Middlebury, Pomona, and Vanderbilt. </p>
<p>And FWIW both my kids didn’t want to write a lot of essays, so any college that asked for essays written on a specific topic were thrown off their list. Ultimately, each applied to all the schools on their list with 3 essays – the Common App Personal Statement, an open ended supplemental essay which was sent to all the colleges that asked for one, and the essay about an extracurricular activity.</p>
<p>Colleges understand that students are applying to many schools and I personally think when a student effectively communicates ‘fit’ in an application, Admissions Officers take it with a grain of salt, especially at many top schools that do not take “interest” into account in an application.</p>
<p>“I personally think when a student effectively communicates ‘fit’ in an application, Admissions Officers take it with a grain of salt, especially at many top schools that do not take “interest” into account in an application.”</p>
<p>I think if you’re BS-ing them they probably know it, but if your sincere they can sense that as well.<br>
For the colleges that do ask Why?, I think the generic answers can weaken an application. Just my guess - I don’t know. Regardless, I think you owe it to yourself to find ‘fit’ rather than applying to ten plus reach schools - unless, of course, your sole objective is to just get in to a top school - then, I guess, go for it - apply away.</p>
<p>I agree, which means that a student does need to do their research; you and I don’t disagree there.</p>
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<p>This is where we are not seeing eye-to-eye. Applying to colleges is like buying a car and haggling with the salesman. The goal – at least for those who need financial aid, like my family – is to get your kids into the most prodigious school which also offers them the best price. In my kids’ case, the cost of attendance at Harvard and Yale with financial aid is cheaper than sending our kids to our state school, so it was a no-brainer, not matter what the fit. Call me cynical, but finding a good ‘fit’ is for those who can afford to pay the full sticker price. The rest of us are looking at the bottom line and are constantly making trades between brand names (that hopefully will open doors and help your kid find a great job upon graduation) vs. what you have to pay.</p>
<p>The way I see it is that certain essays are recyclable, and…well, if you spend 30 hours on essays for Harvard and Yale, you could spend a day or two over the weekend/cut back an hour of sleep a night for a month or so and apply to quite a few reaches, all with well crafted essays and research. It’s a bit more to organize and handle, but it’s possible. If you write phenomenal essays for HYPS, you might get rejected; but if you have phenomenal essays for HYPS+5 other reach schools, you have a better shot. Maybe an applicant’s a quirky, intelligent, successful oboe player, and applies to HYP, but HYP’s already accepted however many quirky, intelligent, successful oboe players as they need. The applicant has a better shot at being accepted to another top tier college who might not’ve already filled their spot for quirky, intelligent, successful oboe players. </p>
<p>Victory, alternatively, you could call various music departments and find out what resources are available for the oboists and at the same time gauge the department’s demand and interest in your talent. Maybe even foster some ongoing communication with a prof and have him or her email you a note of support to admissions. It just might be more effective than blindly sending out apps and hoping for the best. </p>
<p>Gibby, I do hear what you’re saying on the financial aid thing.</p>
<p>Scarlet, I’m so sorry - If you’re still reading, just ask me to leave.</p>