<p>Again, that was business school, not undergrad, and that was almost 40 years ago. I hope that you’re kidding.</p>
<p>Yes, i’m just poking fun (clearly). Skillings is in prison now. rofl</p>
<p>Haha ok I apologize if I am a bit confrontational right now, didn’t get any sleep and just had a 9 hour flight LOL.
Just remember that applications are really random and that like I said before, some schools might not view your ECs as importantly as you view them, so scores are important as a foundation to safeties etc.
Good luck</p>
<p>As someone who’s constantly surrounded by ivy leaguers, specifically Harvard, I can tell you that this “X Factor” is indeed extremely important. I’ve had many admissions people tell me that the interview will make or break you.
I was told by a Brown admissions person that at Brown, your interview counts to your probability of getting in by something around 75-80%. I’ve heard many stories about great students who got in under the GPA (sometimes drastically), simply because of their history and personality. Sam is right, and I know this for a fact because I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth. I live in Cambridge, I have a parent who’s both an alumnus from Mount Holyoke, a former grad student from Harvard, and a member of a fellowship in Harvard. I’ve had many talks with the professors and even classmates of her’s who work for other Ivies.</p>
<p>@cowz- nice excuses bro. that aint gonna fly at harvard.</p>
<p>?? Excuses lol? What do you mean?</p>
<p>“didn’t get any sleep and just had a 9 hour flight”
No prof. at any ivy league would give a crap if you told them that. Couldn’t finish your paper? F. Failure. Ivies are serious pressure. You could have flown around the world in two days, but if you showed up tired and without enough work finished they wouldn’t care.
Excuses are excuses, they’re meaningless in this kind of college world.</p>
<p>I was giving an apology and reasoning for my unfriendliness… I really don’t see how that qualifies as providing an “excuse…”
I’m fairly sure you are misinterpreting the context of what I was saying, and what you just said about talking to an ivy league professor and has very little to do with what I was saying.
I was apologizing, not handing in classwork late.</p>
<p>OP said: “Sure, but I’m also a lot damn smarter than many of those applicants . . . I’m going to be releasing a new web application that might change the whole gaming industry . . . Sorry to sound like such a prick, but it’s only true.”</p>
<p>hahahahahahahaha</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ll be right at home wherever you go.</p>
<p>I know this may not be helpful, but you may want to consider Berkley if you like Stanford.</p>
<p>berkeley is on my list for sure. one of my top picks in fact. but i’m out of state ¶ so its tougher :)</p>
<p>I think the one thing you forget is that although you do in fact have the X factor (which obviously boosts you for acceptance into any college), the college still needs to hold standards, especially with it’s GPA and SAT/ACT scores. Colleges search for people with BOTH and X factor AND amazing GPA and SAT/ACT scores. Although the number of kids who have these credentials is rare, that’s exactly why these schools are so competitive. They search for students who they know will go on in life to uphold the standards of their university in the future while also scouring for students who can uphold the standardized scores for the university at the moment.</p>
<p>I’m neither bashing you nor insulting your chances. Just stating the facts. You obviously understand that you have a great shot at these universities, and I would have to agree. True passion towards something is rare to come by and many times can be the “pushing factor” that’s allows for an applicant to be accepted. Just understand that although you may find standardized test scores to be a inaccurate example of the aptitude of an applicant (I would even agree with you on this), colleges still hold these tests in very high regards.</p>
<p>@cowz
Sorry, I wasnt being serious on that last comment. It was just a little inside joke- mom and I have that still running since her year of grad school was ridiculous with the amount of work and lack of leeway.</p>
<p>Your right, upholding/representing a University is important. I’m not saying that I am going to completely give up on my GPa/SAT, in fact, I plan on raising it, but in my own opinion, it really isn’t the DETERMINING factor (to a certain degree), and not to boost myself up or anything, but my GPA/SAT won’t kill me, it just needs to be improved.</p>
<p>With E.D. coming up, GPA can’t really change since my school only reports based on semester. So my SAT is the only factor that will improve. my SAT II scores can’t change for E.D. (since theres only one testing date I believe?) so I’m going to just focus on my next SAT test and continually developing my businesses.</p>
<p>Should I E.D. Harvard University?</p>
<p>I agree. Although it’s interesting: it seems that no one thing is a “determining factor” for college admission. Everyone always says “ohh, you can overcome a bad GPA, with good ECs” or “You can overcome bad volunteer work with great SAT scores.” I think it’s just because these caliber of colleges expect the full package, yet don’t expect each section of the admission to be perfect. They’re looking for a non-consummate consummate student…if that makes sense?</p>
<p>But yeah, I think you should apply E.D. for Harvard. There’s certainly no harm in it, and in fact, there may be some benefit from doing so by showing your passion for Harvard.</p>
<p>I think OP is a ■■■■■!!!</p>
<p>Numbers are just way too low for Harvard, Stanford, Cal and other “upper tier” schools. Doesn’t matter that your brother went to Harvard, doesn’t matter that you have good ECs. The numbers just aren’t there.</p>
<p>Cornell might be a good fit if you are desperate for an Ivy. UPenn and USC could be your reaches, but I wouldn’t count on admittance.</p>
<p>Michigan might be a good fit, and they have a great business program. Ditto for UVA, Carnegie Mellon, and UT Austin. Look at those instead of wasting your time on Stanford and Harvard!</p>
<p>At the moment I would have to say your chances of admission to any top schools are very low. If you can increase your SAT scores to ~2200+ you will have a much better shot (assuming the financial/statistical data for your businesses demonstrates you actually have a substantial commitment) but I would doubt it at the moment.</p>
<p>Why? The distinction between grades and test scores. In your case you are correct - grades could be overlooked in favor of your ECs simply because much of high school is useless, repetitive work that you don’t have time for. Test scores however cannot - the SAT I is, for all intents and purposes, an intelligence test. A large body of literature has confirmed that you cannot study for it (at least the math & CR sections) in any meaningful way, so it is used as a filter for candidates to see whether or not they could handle the work if they had the time. Since the test requires no more prep then a good night’s sleep the day before and perhaps a practice test to familiarize oneself with the format, a low score would confirm their suspicions that you couldn’t do the work. That is what your profile looks like right now - relatively low test scores AND grades suggest that academically you just can’t cut it, no matter how your other talents may fall.</p>
<p>Retake the SAT and then repost this thread.</p>
<p>Interesting point of view.
However, honestly, I think no matter what, study or not, within 4 months, my reading comprehension skills will naturally improve (with reading over the summer and casual article browsing). I didn’t study for that SAT taking and i plan on studying for the reading section solely. I think I can get atleast a 650-700 in reading the next time I take it. But we’ll see I suppose.</p>
<p>Definitely apply ED to Harvard. You have the X-Factor…how could they not take you? Plus, considering they have an REA process in place, you’ll be their only ED applicant…so again, how could they not take you?</p>
<p>A 650-700 still won’t cut it at those schools! If you were going for math, maybe…but not business. You’d need a 700 MINIMALLY.</p>