Chance my kid?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>Male - competitive public high school
7/650 rank
GPA 4.0 unweighted</p>

<p>JR/SR Year courses:</p>

<p>AP World History
AP US History
AP Comparative Government
AP Calc A/B
AP Calc C
AP Physics A/B
AP Physics C
AP Latin
SUNY Albany Latin for college credit
AP English Comp
AP English Lit</p>

<p>Summer university course in Statistics</p>

<p>In an elite science research program that prepares students for Intel competition.</p>

<p>SAT I : 760/720 (He's being tutored now to take them again)</p>

<p>SAT II Bio - 790
SAT II Chem - 690
Will take Math I and Physics SAT II</p>

<p>Soph/Fresh courses all honors</p>

<p>Orchestra - violin</p>

<p>His passion, however, is his guitar - 9 years of private lessons, accomplished classical guitarist. Now he's a rock star.</p>

<p>ECs are lame - He plays lead guitar and manages his band - they play out 2-4 times a month. Many charity gigs. But nearly ALL of his spare time is spent on the band - recording, mixing, writing songs, rehearsing, setting up gigs. Plays violin in the orchestra. Minimal community service outside the charity concerts (some beach clean up, walk for a cause stuff);</p>

<p>Summer job teaching music at a camp last summer. Will likely have a job at a research lab this summer.</p>

<p>Wants to major in Physics and maybe look into the program with New England Conservatory and do the double major with guitar.</p>

<p>I think he has a unique story to tell - he looks like a rock star, thinks like a scientist. But I'm his mom. What do you folks think?</p>

<p>We're looking at: Harvard, Yale, Tufts, BU, Northeastern, Washington in St.L, UChicago, John Hopkins, SUNY Stony Brook (the safety);</p>

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<p>^^ hey i got into NEC...if i get into Harvard then I'll be in that double major program</p>

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<p>Good chances. Aren't alot of the AP courses bunched? AP Calc AB and Then BC. Why don't you take BC and get an AB subscore? Why not take Physics C instead of taking both B and C when colleges KNOW C is far more difficult. College might want more service. Best of luck.</p>

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<p>"Now he's a rock star." As in, a Rock Star, or as in, someone who plays in a band? If your kid's a Rock Star, then he's probably in, IMO.</p>

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<p>As in he plays in a band and has cultivated a "rock star" look....long...long...LONG hair...blue Lennon glasses...that sort of thing.</p>

<p>To the poster who asked about the "bunched" APs - He didn't have a choice with the physics A/B ...it was the only AP science he could take jr. year. Then he decided he loves physics and wanted to go on. Same with the calc. The only other AP math the school offers is Stats, but he's going to take that over the summer at the state university. Do you think it would make that much of a difference if he switched into AP Bio or AP chem?</p>

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<p>NEC - guitar - assuming you mean as a classical guitarist... lol... I dont think "bands" play at NEC, unless you count chamber groups! :-) honestly, I'd say that you shouldn't be the one worrying about what classes he takes and what ECs he does and whether or not he gets into Harvard. My mom did none of that. Whenever she sees my all-A's report cards, she tells me to get out more often. I had a great time doing a number of opportunities in high school, many of which I created for myself, and though sometimes my mom gave me some great ideas, overall, the cycle goes something like this: I find something I like --> I find something I want to do in that field etc. --> Mom helps with $$ and rides! So, really, if your son is the type that goes out and makes opportunities for himself, who is clearly highly passionate and highly intelligent, and who has pursued his interests at a high level, he might get into Harvard. Granted, I haven't gotten in, and I don't know if I will, but I got into my top choice (MIT). Generally, I'd say that it scares me a little that you're going on CC and posting chances threads for your son. In a sense, why isn't it your son who is doing that, if he's interested in knowing his "chances"? And if not, then why are you worrying?</p>

<p>So, I don't know, I'd really say, don't worry about admissions so much. As a parent, that's not your job. It's really your job to help your son do whatever it is that interests HIM the most, to make sure his essays show his unique and interesting voice, and to make sure he has the support he needs to do whatever it is his mind can fathom he wants to do. After that, it's up to him to decide what it is that his mind is fathoming, and it will be what he imagines himself doing and the level to which he pursues that which will mainly determine his college acceptance, I think. </p>

<p>And if he doesn't get accepted, so what? Btw, that's not an indicator that you did anything wrong as a parent - it's an indicator that the admissions committee doesn't think Harvard is the best place for him to thrive. And maybe it's not, maybe it is, but overall, it's not up to you to mold him to be accepted. It's up to you to help him develop into the wonderful, motivated, happy person he can become. Leave the rest up to the admissions committee, and up to your son!</p>

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<p>lalal006,</p>

<p>Wow, thanks for your critique of my parenting...and for letting me know what I should be doing. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I didn't realize that effective parenting entails nothing more than funding and transportation. I've wasted so much time when I could've just thrown a few 20-s at the kid.</p>

<p>It is so awful that I took a few minutes to look into something my son is curious about so that he could spend his time doing something else today? </p>

<p>What point is it you're trying to make? Why do you presume to know anything about my family? Why did you spend so much time responding to my post if you had no intention of answering the question I posed? Why aren't you watching television right now? Or updating your Facebook page and joining the MIT 2012 group? Or pursuing one of your many and varied interests your mom is happy to fund?</p>

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<p>laloo6-That's also how my parents and I operated. I chose to do something, and they supported me.
I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with 73552's style, I just like how my family got along.
Good luck to your son.</p>

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<p>"Why aren't you watching television right now? Or updating your Facebook page and joining the MIT 2012 group?"</p>

<p>Holy crap, you know so much about adolescents! Do you stalk them or something?</p>

<p>I think lalaloo6 is merely trying to help you feel better, because she thinks you're an insecure "helicopter" parent. Don't take it too personally.</p>

<p>But, I don't see the point in burning money on SAT tutoring to lift up a 760/720. Hey, money is better spent on grinding simple math problems and passages about African Americans than on allowance and transportation, eh?</p>

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<p>i'm a harvard student now and actually work for the admissions office... the course load is great, as are the scores and grades, but i can say that out of the 27,000+ applicants that harvard had this year, at least 10,000 of them took those same ap courses and had those grades, yet not even 2,000 get admitted each year. It is not recommendations, coursework, grades, or scores that set students apart... extra curriculars, passion for something, and the personal essay are the major deciding factors. Harvard campus is thriving with amazing, vibrant students, and the admissions office strives each year to fill the classes with similar types. I would recommend that in your child's application (particularly in the resume and personal essay) let his personality shine through. In my short essay for the common app, i wrote about working at a deli in my hometown and getting yelled at by a customer when we were out of roast beef.</p>

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<p>Wow, did not expect such a response. I really apologize for offending you, that was not my intent at all! Congratulations for your sons accomplishments. I'm sure I over-reacted to your posting a chances thread; I just get scared when parents on CC sometimes seem overly worried/controlling, when the best thing they can do is let their child follow their dreams! But looking back on your post, I'm sure this is what you're doing. I am completely unqualified to assess your child's chances, though it's practically impossible to assess Anybody's chances in a pool of 27,000 kids! But it sounds like your son is doing really great things - his band EC does not sound lame at all; it sounds like he is quite committed and passionate.</p>

<p>Anyway, I didn't mean to sound negative about your parenting or about what you're doing with your son - I just think that supporting him in whatever he finds exciting will be the best way to help him get into a great school. So, for example, if he wants to switch into AP bio or chem, that would be great! But if not, that's great too! (Personally, I fell in love with stats after taking AP stats, so if you want to listen to some random CC poster who doesn't know your son's interests, I'd suggest taking stats :-) But wait, the whole point of my post is not to listen to me/random people on CC who don't know your son's interests! So... it's all up to him really :-D) </p>

<p>In fact, I was trying to convey a sort of optimistic you-can-have-faith-in-your-child, such as that found here: <a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/before/recommended_high_school_preparation/many_ways_to_define_the_best.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/before/recommended_high_school_preparation/many_ways_to_define_the_best.shtml&lt;/a>!
(This is about AP tests, but has to do with the general CC attitude on college admissions, I find. I thought these blogs were really helpful even when I was applying to other schools)</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I suppose I am no Ben Jones, and thus just ended up making you angry.</p>

<p>Well, good luck with your endeavors. I hope your son gets in, and I hope you can see where I was coming from. And my family doesn't own a television and I gave up facebook for lent. I'm glad you made assumptions about me too, but I suppose you were probably being sarcastic? Oh the difficulties of interacting over the internet.</p>

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<p>Truce, and I'm sorry I flipped as well. We're still early in the looking phase and I didn't mean to sound as though Harvard were the end-all primary goal here. It certainly isn't.</p>

<p>I actually have another question for all and sundry and I may repost it out in the larger arena. Why Harvard? And please don't say, "because it's Harvard." I'm serious. What does Harvard offer that other institutions don't. It seems to me that in many disciplines there are schools that offer more opportunities. I've also noticed that at the state school near my home, there are many professors who graduated from Harvard, and many of the PhDs who graduate from said state school end up teaching at places like Harvard, MIT, etc. So it seems a rather fluid connection between the lowest rung and the highest rung on the perceived ladder of educational quality.</p>

<p>So if some of you could chime in and tell me what led you to choose Harvard as a first or second choice, I would be most appreciative.</p>

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<p>I'm a Harvard grad and I'll be the first to tell you it's not for everyone. I had a great time there, so did my husband. My son applied got in and turned it down because he wanted to do all computers all the time - he's at Carnegie Mellon. Harvard has an outstanding student body, wonderful extracurricular activities, a residential house system, a wide variety of excellent courses of study. I think it's best for self-starter kids who will take advantage of the opportunities that are there. There is no hand-holding but great courses, great professors and great opportunities are to be found if you go looking for them.</p>

<p>As to your son, he sounds like a great kid. febssep16 is correct thought, there are thousands of similar kids out there. Your son has the stats (his SAT1 scores are fine) to make Harvard a reasonable place to apply - it really will hang on his essays and his teacher's recommendations. I don't think his ECs are necessarily that lame. My son did Science Olympiad and Academic Team at school - his only other EC was the time he spent with his computer - modding games, doing freelance work. Mind you he had grist for his essay and some extra recommendations that came out of that computer programming experience.</p>

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<p>"Why Harvard? ... What does Harvard offer that other institutions don't. It seems to me that in many disciplines there are schools that offer more opportunities."</p>

<p>When my interviewer asked me this, I blanked out.
I should have expected this question, but six of my other friends did not receive this question, so I didn't think much of it.
To be honest, Harvard offers NOTHING that other institutions of similar caliber, prestige, and resourcefulness do not. One that immediately comes to my mind, and in my opinion beats Harvard College hands down is Princeton University.</p>

<p>When I was stating my reasons, my interviewer found it amusing to disprove all of my points with "OH, BUT YOU HAVE THOSE THINGS AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS AS WELL." I didn't bother arguing with him. Instead, I shot back a similar question: "Why did you turn down other schools to attend Harvard."</p>

<p>Do you know the response he gave me?</p>

<p>"The location... the presige..."</p>

<p>Give me a break. You can find so much more at Princeton and the small liberal arts colleges.</p>

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<p>Just wanted to say that the Harvard "double degree" program is a BA/MM, with the student majoring in music at Harvard, and spending the 4th and 5th years of the program doing the master's at NEC (4th year is part NEC, part Harvard). </p>

<p>If your son wants to do a double degree at the undergraduate level, with a degree in physics at a school, and in music at NEC, then it is Tufts that has the BA/BM double degree, not Harvard.</p>

<p>How old is your son? Our daughter is a classical guitarist too. I never would have imagined her wanting to go to a conservatory (she loves humanities) but in the last two years, that is what has happened. She did apply to Harvard, after going to some "new music" concerts there and (critically) examining their music courses, but doesn't care at all if she gets in...lots of other options.</p>

<p>I think your son's "EC's" are cool and may provide a lot of direction for him. </p>

<p>The exchanges about student autonomy and parental detachment above, reflect different ages and different respective positions in the parent/kid relationship. Kids are prickly about parental involvement, and, sometimes rightly so, but parents put a lot of skill into appearing to merely "pay and drive," when they really do so much more. It is okay for parents to come on here and seek information (I'm on here, myself, so I hope it is) but it is also good for kids to make their own decisions...so everybody is right!</p>

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<p>compmom--</p>

<p>Are you really a Mom, or a kid masquerading as a Mom? Your comments about "lame ECs" are hardly generous. And you're making the kid take his SAT 2's again? Man, enough is enough!!!! This kid must be a wreck. Just let him live his life, with or without Harvard. And, if it's true you're a Mom, why do you care more about you kid's chances for admission than your kid does? Why isn't he posting? </p>

<p>College is a time to both expand your horizons and expound on established knowledge/passions. It's not a time to groom yourself to fit the picture of the perfect applicant (and I assure you, there is no such thing.) Taking tests is trivial; what ISN'T trivial is the manner in which the kid in question chooses to spend his time.</p>

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<p>I actually graduated from Harvard in 2005 and worked briefly with the admissions office. </p>

<p>Just for starters, I think he should take the Math IIc (1. he took calculus, 2. the curve is nicer) for his SAT II subject test. His rank and course load definitely tell suggest that he's very academically capable so you don't need to worry about that. And I would highly recommend not having him taking the SAT I again, unless you are very sure that he will score higher. 1480 is a very good score and I wouldn't worry too much about that.</p>

<p>I think what I've noticed from all my friends at Harvard is that they all had some sort of leadership experience. I think Harvard generally looks for leaders and whether it be in a student government position or in some other organization, it could look very good on the application.</p>

<p>The fact that your son is very passionate about music (guitar) is very good. Harvard looks for students with a lot of passion in something, whatever it may be. I would definitely highlight that in the application and maybe even send in a tape. I think that your son has a very good chance and I wish the best of luck to you!</p>

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<p>lalaloo was just sounding the "helicopter parent" alarm.</p>

<p>I would say don't worry about test scores and leadership too much. He doesn't need to fit the stereotypical harvard applicant. He's different. Play off of his passion with music. He's got service: he plays at charity events. He's got leadership if he leads his band. I would send a cd to harvard.</p>

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<p>Both Tufts and Harvard offer the joint degree:</p>

<p>[url=<a href="http://www.music.fas.harvard.edu/mmperformance.html%5DHarvard/NECjointprogram%5B/url"&gt;http://www.music.fas.harvard.edu/mmperformance.html]Harvard/NECjointprogram[/url&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/p>

<p>Although only about five students did it from Harvard last year.</p>

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<p>to kwu: you bring up an interesting point about comparing princeton to harvard. based on what i've seen princeton has so much more to offer, mainly that princeton is an undergrad-focused experience, as far as i've heard, whereas at harvard the grad school students are the main focus.</p>