Chance me?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Objective:</p>

<ul>
<li>SAT I: 2290 (superscore)</li>
<li>ACT: 36</li>
<li>SAT II: 800 US history 780 Math II 780 Bio M 800 Chem</li>
<li>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88 ish (had a C in Am. Lit. Honors and a few B's here and there but my focus is science for which I received straight A's and my context familial issues and factors come into play here)</li>
<li>Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): dunno</li>
<li>AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (5) US History (4) Calc BC (3) Calc AB (4)</li>
<li>IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A</li>
<li>Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP English 5, AP Spanish 5, AP Gov/Econ, AP Statistics, TA'ing for AP Bio teacher</li>
<li>Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, NMSF (projected), possibly Intel/Siemens, Letter of Commendation from Mayor, President's Volunteer Service Award (Gold), my research is likely to be published, developing a vaccine for curing a bacterial disease </li>
</ul>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<ul>
<li>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Lead tutor of the school's Student Center for Success, Chairman of the volunteer organization of the largest Korean school outside of Korea, Varsity Badminton 3 years, Varsity Speech&Debate (founding member), Student Government (senate), NHS/CSF (not that these count for anything), Medical Research at UCSF</li>
<li>Job/Work Experience: None</li>
<li>Volunteer/Community service: Research volunteer at UCSF (1 year), Korean School volunteer (4 years), Kaiser Permanente volunteer (4 years)</li>
<li>Summer Activities: Research/volunteering/organizing things for K. school</li>
<li>Essays: Shows my passion well and explains the hardships I went through in a positive manner and explains what I learned. I'm a capable writer, I suppose.</li>
</ul>

<p>Other</p>

<ul>
<li>State (if domestic applicant): CA</li>
<li>Country (if international applicant): US</li>
<li>School Type: Public</li>
<li>Ethnicity: Asian</li>
<li>Gender: M</li>
<li>Income Bracket: Mid-High (but soon to be low)</li>
<li>Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation college in US, went through some family stuff (parents separated/grandfather diagnosed with terminal cancer/close relative diagnosed with terminal illness), I also helped my failing brother pass through 7th grade by spending a whole lot of time with him.</li>
</ul>

2

<p>

</p>

<p>Yeah, possibly.
Come back when you have all the stats.</p>

<ul>
<li>SAT I: 2290 (superscore)</li>
<li>ACT: 36</li>
</ul>

<p>Don’t send SAT</p>

3

<p>Yeah. My work is pretty much set to be published my mentor and I are just deciding on which journal to send it to. Except for Intel/Siemens everything is done. I am still working on the vaccine but I am also working on two different projects at the same time, all related of course. Thanks!</p>

<p>also…

  • Recommendations: One from AP Bio teacher (I’m expecting good), One from Lit. teacher (i’m expecting more than good because he knows what I went through and that I was able to overcome whatever problems I had), my mentor at the research lab (she really loves me and thinks I will do well anywhere), a postdoc at the lab (we had some very college-interview like talks and she really believes I can get into good schools. She’s also graduated from Harvard College and then Stanford Grad. School), Counselor (to explain my domestic situations) NOT SURE IF I SHOULD SEND IN 5 THOUGH</p>

<p>and all of my service hours match up to about 900 hours</p>

4

<p>I was also thinking about sending 5 recs.
They(CC people) said 3 should be sufficient.</p>

5

<p>BUMP (10 Char)</p>

6

<p>BUMP 10 char</p>

7

<p>I think you have a very good chance. Higher than most =). Keep up the good work!</p>

8

<p>BUMP 10 char</p>

9

<p>Look, if you want to be chanced, post your thread in the chance forum.</p>

10

<p>You’re looking good, my friend. However, as you may already know, Harvard is VERY VERY VERY competitive, so you can never really count on getting admitted, even with a perfect ACT score. You still have a great chance though. That C you got in Am Lit. (were you a junior when you took it), however, will probably hurt you a little bit, but it won’t by any means kill you.</p>

11

<p>^Thanks!</p>

<p>I’m wondering if explaining my situation would even help at all…(I’m also writing an essay to show not how much of a hard time I had but to show what I learned and what I gained from overcoming the ordeal.)</p>

12

<p>I doubt anyone can accurately chance you for a school like Harvard. Anything anyone says here is inadmissible.</p>

13

<p>hahahaha yeah
what do you think though?</p>

14

<p>You already know based on statistics that your chances are pretty good (which is still a toss-up for Harvard).</p>

<p>I do want to offer some advice, and you may already know it (I’m not trying to be heartless, haughty, or unempathetic in any form, but I feel that it’s truthful):</p>

<p>Admission officers are people reading glimpses of other peoples’ lives for extensive hours over many days. You have to think about how EVERY aspect of your application will be perceived on paper. That being said, I want to make sure you DO NOT use your domestic problems as an excuse or sap story. I am in no way belittling any issues you’ve had, but you have to make sure that HOW you translate your story doesn’t make the reader simply feel sorry for you, or think you’re opting out based on circumstance. Quite honestly, no one wants to hear a sad story. Don’t make them feel depressed. When I was at UChicago, I asked an adcom about general advice on application-making. The only thing he said in response was, “don’t make me feel sorry for you”.</p>

<p>I’m not advising you to not have a letter or essay talking about what you’ve been through, but if you do, place emphasis on how you’ve matured because of it. Make it inspiring, make them smile. Revealing strength where it’s rare to exist is a whole let better than wallowing in misfortune.</p>

<p>Just be careful on the story’s angle. Everyone has issues. When my friend and I applied, he wrote a short note about how familial issues created possible ‘shortcomings’ in his application (trust me, there weren’t many). He wasn’t admitted, though his scores were better than mine and had more volunteering than me, etc. Quite honestly, I feel that the reader was taken aback by the note, and felt like he was immaturely feigning perfection. </p>

<p>You may have already thought about this, but I can’t help to think that life’s problems are overtly inflated by applicants constantly, as what may have happened to my friend. Again, you may have had fairly significant issues, but explain how you’ve become the ‘you’ that you are now because of them.</p>

15

<p>Most definitely. I completely agree with you =)</p>

<p>I’m not trying to get pity but I’m going to show them what I gained and learned from this ordeal.</p>

<p>it’s just so that I can explain why my grades fell junior year which so many people kill my chances…(it’d be better than letting the adcoms imagine what happened eh)</p>

<p>Thanks again for the advice! =)</p>

16

<p>^^ Just be honest and your sincerity will come across. Don’t make your life look like a charity case, but I have confidence that you will not express your problems in that way.</p>

17

<p>But I still have a decent chance?</p>

18

<p>You have a chance. Luckily for you, the drop is in your academics and not standardized testing. Your ACT score is great, which shows Harvard and any other school that you have the smarts, but some outside factors got in the way of you excelling in those particular classes.</p>

19

<p>Thanks. 10 char</p>

20

<p>If your main purpose of writing about your hard times and what you gained is to explain junior year grades, then you are probably wasting a writing opportunity. Your grades, if lower due to circumstances, can be addressed by your GC’s recommendation and can probably be better addressed by him/her. By his/her doing this, there should be no chance of it looking like you looking for pity, or other negative connotations. This then also frees you up to write a more unique essay. Colleges must receive tons of “how I persevered” essays and the odds of that type of essay standing out are slim.</p>