Chance URM for [Physics/CS] Harvard RE and Other Early Schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographics

Gender: Male

Race/Ethnicity: African-American

Residence: MD

Income Bracket: 200k

Type of School: IB, public magnet

Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): URM

Intended Major(s): Physics for private schools, cs for restricted (public) schools (including GTech)

Academics

GPA (UW/W): 3.9/4.8

Rank (or percentile): N/A

of AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 14

Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calc/Differential Equations, IB History HL, IB Econ SL, Jazz band, AP Lit, AP Physics C, AP CSP

Standardized Testing

List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.

SAT I: 1490 (690RW, 800M)

AP/IB: AP Calc BC (5), AP Lang (4), AP CSA (4), AP World (4), AP Physics 1 (4) AP Physics C: Mech (5)

Extracurriculars/Activities

Stanford Jazz Institute. Studied improvisation, theory, ear training, rhythmic training, and jazz history. Mentored by jazz combos throughout. (10, 11, 12) (63 hours for 1 week)

Community outreach club: Organize tutoring at local middle & high schools: HW help, SAT prep, etc. Set up bimonthly meetings. Take minutes. Arrange guest career lectures. (9, 10, 11, 12) (5 hours for 25 weeks)

SCiOly Weekly team prep for regional & state competitions. Built device to measure conductivity of NaCl solution. Regional winners 12/2021 & 4th statewide. (10, 11, 12) (6 hours for 12 weeks)

Saxophone section leader (12th). Alto sax. Perform at football games and more. Practiced on Thursdays. Member of pit orchestra. participated in plays. (9, 10 , 11, 12) (5 hours for 17 weeks)

Created podcast. Used French storytelling and English phrases to give African Francophone children familiarity with American culture and language. Published on international blog page (9, 10) (7 hours for 15 weeks)

Working independently for someone; Creating videos that synchronize a Portuguese podcast (covering the modern-day effects of slavery in Brazil) to a translated English transcript. Podcast was featured on popular news sites.(12) (5 hours for 8 weeks)

Implementing natural language processing to create a program for people in Africa that will read written news stories aloud using text-to-speech. (11, 12) (10 hours for 8 weeks)

Fed the homeless during winter. Cleaned up trash in parks across county. 110+ service hours. Currently applying for Congressional Bronze Medal Award. (9, 10, 11, 12) (4 hours for 35 weeks)

Attend weekly speakers on various physics & engineering topics. Propose and take part in competitions like F=MA Exam. (10, 11, 12) (2 hours for 25 weeks)

Trained daily from Monday to Friday. Competed locally against other schools. Flawless record during 2021 season. (9, 10) (10 hours for 6 weeks)

Awards/Honors

List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

2022 F=MA Exam School Winner (12/25) - School & National

4th Place at 2022 Maryland Science Olympiad - State

All-County Jazz Band Letter - State

American Computer Science League Finalist - National

Science Olympiad Regional Winners - School

Letters of Recommendation

Calc BC (7/10)
AP World (8/10)

Jazz Director (7-8/10) (known each other for four years)

Essays

8/10

Additional Info:
I’m likely to be a finalist for the UMD math competition (State competition)

Both my parents graduated from Harvard graduate school, but I’m not considered legacy since they only consider graduates from Harvard College

There’s an IB diploma program at my school, but I’m not in it.

Schools: Harvard, GTech, UMD, USC, UMich, UMass Amherst, Purdue, UIUC

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I think you’re a strong candidate at all these schools, but I’m guessing you know already that Harvard isn’t a sure thing for anyone.

Keep in mind that UMich and GT don’t give much aid (or merit $$) to OOS students so you should be prepared to pay full price. You’ve mentioned your family’s income bracket but not budget. The latter is what’s important.

I also think you have a strong chance of getting the Banneker Key (full ride) scholarship at UMD.

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You’re about as strong a candidate as can be for Harvard without being a legacy, recruited athlete, kid of faculty, or kid of a potential mega-donor (or somebody who is world famous).

Of course, that still makes it a reach, but a solid reach.

Why Harvard, though? For CS, all of the others on your list are better, and for Physics, you may want to look at U Chicago instead.

Of the others, I would say that UMass is a match for CS, safety for physics, Purdue is a reach for CS, as are GTech, UMD, Michigan, and UIUC. UIUC, Purdue, and UMD are safeties for you for physics as well.

USC is a reach, but I do not think that admissions to CS is any lower than admissions to physics.

Why not U Washington for CS?

In any case, you do need a safety which you will be happy to attend, even though I’m pretty sure that you will be accepted to UMass.

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You’re incredible but I got stuck at recruited athlete. By who ?

You’re off the charts without but at whatever school wants you, it’s the ticket !!

I think you get them all !! I hope so. If not you then who ??

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I chose Harvard because I liked the liberal arts education it had, and it’s the college I know the most about because of my parents. I want to explore a variety of interests when I go to college.

If you’re referring to U Washington at Seattle, then it’s because of the really low OOS acceptance rate… From what I’ve heard, it’s like 2.6%.

I forgot to include it here, but I’m applying to Rutgers University; that’s my safety school.

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Still confused. Rutgers is your safety but you’re a recruited athlete. What am I missing ?

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Oh I’m not a recurited athlete. I just used it as an example of a hook.

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How are you both First Gen (hooks) and have parents that graduated from Harvard (grad school)?

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I don’t think the OP identified as first generation.

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Am I misreading his hooks?

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???

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Oh I see, he lists hooks, and THEN his hook…apologies

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As I read it the hooks within the parenthesis are typical examples of hooks and the one listed outside the parenthesis (URM) is what the OP actually has.

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long day… :joy:

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So we’ve already had somebody mistakenly think that the OP is an athlete, and now a first-gen. Now we need now is somebody to think that the OP is legacy, developmental, or the kid of faculty.

Who is volunteering?

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Of those parenthetical options, he is an URM. This is how they list examples of hooks on Reddit. The actual selection is after the colon.

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