<p>Hey guys okay my sister is applying to colleges next year and was curious about her chances at her top choice school, Harvard (and not bc of the name either, she fell in love with the campus when she visited). She is applying for engineering as well as she loves math and science.
GPa: straight A+ in all classes except for ap English (A), sophomore english (A), freshman english (A) and world history (A). Took most rigorous courses
ACT: 35 (35, 35, 34, 34, 10)
Honor council prez
Nhs prez and secretary (11)
Spanish club (4 years) secretary (12) and treasurer (11)
Volleyball club for 5 years and captain senior year for school- state finalist 3 consecutive years; MVP of district (10, 11), all state (10, 11) and all-tournaments through volleyball career.
Rensselaer medal award
Harvard book award
1st in biology in region
1st in calculus in region and 1st in state
Freshman year: 3rd in region for piano and 2nd in state; sophomore year: 1st in region and 2nd in state; junior year: 4th in region
Multiple awards in school (math awards, Spanish awards, and science awards)
Gold award for national Spanish exam freshman through junior year- sophomore year: 4th in nation; junior year 5th in state
Works for Nursing home
Works in doctors office (15-20 hours per week during summer)
National geographic community service trip (60 hours)
She is also publishing a big research paper on Albert kamus's "the stranger"</p>
<p>If I think of anything else I will update you guys. Obviously you cannot be sure of anything in the college process as many qualified individuals from my class this year were rejected from schools that were classified as safeties. But any advice for the future and any words of wisdom are appreciated. Thanks for all of your input!</p>
<p>Harvard: Reach</p>
<p>What are her safeties?</p>
<p>Also national merit semifinalist in her state
800 in math 2 and taking Spanish and chem sat subject tests in the fall</p>
<p>Rpi, lsu, UT Dallas, Tulane university</p>
<p>And thanks!</p>
<p>She should have around 10% chance (vs 7.2% acceptance rate). According to the admission stat, she may also have a 14% chance at MIT (vs overall 8.9% acceptance rate). Since she is Nation Merit semifinalist, did she take SAT yet?</p>
<p>is she by any chance of hispanic heritage?</p>
<p>nope, middle eastern. why?
bump please</p>
<p>I know it’s hard to chance this type of stuff but bump please</p>
<p>I think she has pretty good chances. I mean, if I was an admin I would accept her. The only thing that I just wanted to point out is that a lot of people work at a doctors office so its not as unique. I do a lot of tutoring which is not unique but I tutor underprivileged children (mostly of African background–I am African too-- but I do tutoring because I feel like I can help kids improve in school and I want to give back to the African community in my city. I really value education and I wanted to help kids who cant afford tutors because of their family situation–they are all immigrant families). But I think she has great chances.</p>
<p>Thank you for the help and input. What you said made sense. Hopefully it goes well for her! Anyone else…?</p>
<p>Define “first in region”… first as in qualified for bio olympiad? The bottom half of that resume is essentially irrelevant besides topic for an essay but the first half is pretty solid. It looks like it’s going to come down to if the women’s volleyball coach decides they want another player or not.</p>
<p>And file as African. If you’re Middle Eastern and not like Turkish, you can usually get away with it and it’ll significantly improve your chances. (African Women in Engineering!)</p>
<p>Hey billcsho, where did u get those numbers from?</p>
<p>And ur sister has a great chance to get in. Ive noticed that schools. Like harvard and stanford etc. Everyone on this site puts them as reach. Thats cuz these schools are super unpredictable. But these are the kinds of kids harvard wants.</p>
<p>muhammad9211: Check out MIT admission stat:
[Admissions</a> Statistics | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/stats]Admissions”>Admissions statistics | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>I think she has a pretty good chance 
but really, it’s so hard to predict… Good luck to your sister!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the input!
@LILBDABASEDGOD the biology and calculus competition works like this: the best student from any school in a particular subject goes to compete against the best students in that same subject from other schools. If they place first or second in the region (the area in the state), then they go on to state. This competition is called Literary Rally.</p>
<p>Harvard’s always a crapshoot, but your sister looks like their typical student. If she writes great essays, she’ll get in</p>
<p>Again. Since she is an expected National Merit Semifinalist (not official yet), has she taken SAT yet? She would need that score for finalist status.</p>
<p>I agree, File it as African American. I filed myself as African since I’m middle eastern too. It helps, especially with Harvard. I know two people with similar stats: one male white, one African female. The girl got in, the boy didn’t. Good luck!</p>
<p>Waanabeadoc, exactly where are u from? Im middle eastern too but i dont think id go into african american. The asian pool is just too competitive :(</p>