This discussion was created from comments split from: Harvard Class of 2021 SCEA Applicants Discussion.
Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 34
SAT II (place score in parentheses): World History (800), US History (800), Math Level 2 (800), English Lit (780)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 5.8/6.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Does not rank
AP (place score in parentheses): AP Human Geography (5), APES (5), AP Chem (4), AP World History (5), AP French (5)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: BC Calculus, AP Euro, AP Physics C, AP French, Black Studies, Work Study (internship)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Ivy League Model United Nations (Best Delegate), Vex Robotics World Championship (5th place drive), AP Scholar, National Merit Finalist
Subjective:
Extracurriculars: (place leadership in parentheses): Varsity Basketball, Varsity Soccer, Robotics Team (Captain), Coding Club (Vice-Captain), Acapella (Co-President)
Job/Work Experience: NAACP, Deutsche Bank
Volunteer/Community Service: Teaching music to students in neglected communities
Summer Activities: applying for a few internships
Teacher Recommendations: 10/10
Counselor Rec: I get along very well with my counselors;hopefully, it will be good.
Other
Applied for Financial Aid? I will, most definitely
Projected Concentration: IR and Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Private, Boarding
Ethnicity: Black
Gender: M
Income Bracket: $45K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First-Gen, African-American
Reflection
Strengths: Alot
Weaknesses: I attend a top prep school with many competitive Harvard applicants this year.
Welcome to College Confidential. You seem like a wonderful applicant, as are most students who will ultimately be rejected. As Harvard receives more qualified applications than they have seats in their freshman class, 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. As none of those qualities can be gleaned from a post like yours, the best that can be said is that your stats place within Harvard’s range, so your stats will not disqualify you from being admitted.
As a new member to College Confidential you may have missed this famous post on the MIT forum. Everything in it applies to YHS et al: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/939227-reminder-no-one-not-even-me-can-give-you-an-accurate-chance-at-mit-p1.html
Best of luck to you!