Chances for '13 - Thanks!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Harvard, we all know, is rather selective, so for several months I've been set on Dartmouth. But recently I've become unsure.</p>

<p>So here I am, posting what I promised I never would: a Harvard chances thread. Respond please, but only if you'd like! </p>

<p>GPA: 4.0uw, 5.0w
Class rank: 1/350
Curriculum: Hardest possible, I assure you. My counselor told me so. (Full IB with 4 HL's, classes at local university.)
School type: Public IB magnet school, so somewhat competitive.
Location: Midwest
Ethnicity: 'Native American'. Cherokee, to be specific.</p>

<p>ACT: 32C, 10W (34E, 34M, 32R, 28S) [Retaking in September]
SATI: 2080, 10W (710M, 710W, 660CR) [Retaking in November]
SATII's: 760M1, 710M2 [Taking Literature in October]</p>

<p>Awards:
- IB Diploma Candidate
- National Merit Scholar
- NCTE English Candidate
- Missouri Scholar (Governor's school)
- National Honors Society</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Debate: (Grades 9,10,11,12) 24 hours a week/48 weeks -- Team captain; Tournament chair; NFL Nationals debate qualifier; While I've only won 9 tournaments, I've placed at over 25</p>

<p>Broadcast journalism: (Grades 9,10,11,12) 16 hours a week/44 weeks -- Executive (line) director of staff; Assemblies manager; Individual 3rd place at JEA/NSPA Nationals for best on-site production </p>

<p>Relay for Life: (Grades 9,10,11,12) 4 hours a week/34 weeks -- All-district committee financial administrator; Team captain</p>

<p>Student Council: (Grades 9,10,11,12) 1 hour a week/40 weeks -- Representative; Prom board</p>

<p>Swimming: (Grades 9,10) 20 hours a week/12 weeks -- MSHSAA State qualifier in 100 backstroke, 200 medley relay, and 400 free relay; 'Most Valuable Swimmer' award; 2 varsity letters</p>

<p>Golf: (Grades 9,10) 20 hours a week/12 weeks -- 2 varsity letters</p>

<p>Work experience: (Grades 11,12)-- I've worked as a bagger at Harter House, a locally owned grocery store, for roughly 20 hours a week since August of 2007. (This is why I was unable to swim and golf my Junior year, and why I will be unable to swim and golf my Senior year.)</p>

2

<p>Dartmouth wouldn't be 'undervaluing' yourself. Those stats alone will not get you a Dartmouth acceptance. The SAT is below the 25th percentile for Harvard. Ok chances I'd say. Around average which would be <10%</p>

<p>That's looking at you objectively. Since you're Native American, you'll get in. Nobody has those anywhere nowadays.</p>

3

<p>^^ Stanford is now 3% NA. ;)</p>

<p>I'd say in as well. Outstanding student + NA = probably a likely letter somewhere.</p>

4

<p>Yeah I think you're in as well because of NA.</p>

5

<p>@thedailypursuit - Are you on a tribal roll and/or at least I think it was 1/16 (correct me on this fraction) Cherokee?</p>

6

<p>mmk let's see here....</p>

<p>your GPA/Courseload/Rank are outstanding.
You have a definite ethnicity hook.
ECs are just average, except for NFL debate (w00t for Nats!! did you go to Vegas this eyar? it rocked!)</p>

<p>However, your test scores could use a little boost. like Techy said, your SAT 1 composite is far below average for Harvard. Your SAT IIs are well "meh." I would advise you to take another test besides math and lit. taking both math 1 AND math II and saying "there. that counts as 2 different tests" is really a lazy way out, and I hear adcomms don't appreciate it.</p>

<p>all that being said, if you were white, no dice.<br>
You, however, are one of the MOST coveted minorities ever. I envy you with a passion haha</p>

7

<p>Should I feel bad for thinking "national football league"?</p>

<p>That ACT score is pretty good though, and he/she could submit that instead of the SAT1 score.</p>

8

<p>Thanks for all the feedback. Very reassuring. </p>

<p>@ laststopforme - Yes. </p>

<p>@ hookem168 - Because of my academic decisions, taking subject tests in 3 different areas is not a possibility. This will be explained by my counselor. Thanks for pointing that out. :)</p>

9

<p>lol@ hookem you call his EC's "average"? </p>

<p>I admit Idk much about EC's but if all those awards/leadership positions/places and all that, upon elaboration, is just "average"...</p>

10

<p>LOL those ECs are far from average.</p>

<p>i say... good job on everything you've done so far. you will go somewhere you like, for sure :)</p>

11

<p>lol yeah, you'll get in somewhere you like...</p>

<p>I even reread your EC's and they're fantastic; don't worry:

[quote]
Debate: (Grades 9,10,11,12) 24 hours a week/48 weeks -- Team captain; Tournament chair; NFL Nationals debate qualifier; While I've only won 9 tournaments, I've placed at over 25</p>

<p>Broadcast journalism: (Grades 9,10,11,12) 16 hours a week/44 weeks -- Executive (line) director of staff; Assemblies manager; Individual 3rd place at JEA/NSPA Nationals for best on-site production</p>

<p>Relay for Life: (Grades 9,10,11,12) 4 hours a week/34 weeks -- All-district committee financial administrator; Team captain</p>

<p>Student Council: (Grades 9,10,11,12) 1 hour a week/40 weeks -- Representative; Prom board
**
Swimming: (Grades 9,10) 20 hours a week/12 weeks -- MSHSAA State qualifier in 100 backstroke, 200 medley relay, and 400 free relay; 'Most Valuable Swimmer' award; 2 varsity letters**</p>

<p>Golf: (Grades 9,10) 20 hours a week/12 weeks -- 2 varsity letters</p>

<p>Work experience: (Grades 11,12)-- I've worked as a bagger at Harter House, a locally owned grocery store, for roughly 20 hours a week since August of 2007. (This is why I was unable to swim and golf my Junior year, and why I will be unable to swim and golf my Senior year.)

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I'd say these are all good (esp swimming that's pretty awesome), of course debate too...i'm not sure about student council.</p>

12

<p>How exactly do you manage to fit in upwards of 60 hours of extracurricular activity a week? I might rethink those numbers...I guess it's possible, but not (to me, at least) that believable.</p>

<p>that said, you're Native American. So you definitely have better chances than most other people.</p>

13

<p>oh well obviously you guys have a very different opinion about ECs than other CCers. I put up my stats, which are literally almost identical to the OP's (except basketball and cross country instead of swimming and golf), including 250+ community service hours and lots of work experience, and almost every single person who responeed said things like "well your stats are ok, but those ECs are just so-so." That kind of worried me haha.</p>

<p>But I'm glad to know you guys think differently :)</p>

14

<p>@ briefingsworth - Thanks for your comment. The hours I listed are averages, and are by no means what I spend every week. For example, when I have debate tournaments my hours per week can reach up to 70. But that week I would spend dramatically less time editing for broadcast journalism. Similarly, on the weeks we produce shows I can spend up to 30 hours editing, but would only spend about 10 hours on debate. I'll re-check those numbers to make sure they're sound! :)</p>

<p>@ invoyable - Your words are kind. I realize that my commitment to STUCO is minimal compared to my other activities. Should I remove this EC from my list altogether?</p>

15

<p>Uh, no, that's not what I meant...I didn't meant to underrate the STUCO; it looks like you've been involved all 4 years and held positions/did some stuff...</p>

<p>personally i wouldn't remove it. you shouldn't worry much, like seriously. But what other schools are you interested in btw? (other than darthmouth) </p>

<p>And I'm not sure about this, but I heard if you do early decision for dartmouth and get accepted you can't go to Harvard so.</p>

16

<p>70 hours a week? That's 10 hours/day.</p>

<p>There was a featured thread a while back about the number of hours/week, and I think the consensus was that 50 hours/week will start to look suspicious.</p>

17

<p>@ kyledavid80 - My point was that overnight tournaments require about 40 hours alone. Not to mention several hours of preparation throughout the week. Nonetheless, I agree. I plan to re-examine my hours to escape suspicion . Thanks for your input; I'll find that thread.</p>

18

<p>Here you go (was buried more than I thought):</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/387963-what-s-your-hours-week-total-your-ecs-job.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/387963-what-s-your-hours-week-total-your-ecs-job.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Thanks, kyledavid80. I appreciate it.</p>

20

<p>extremely high chances</p>

<p>Nationals Qualifer (impressive! LD or PF?) and ethnicity both make you a very strong candidate, and compensate for the mediocre (in this applicant pool) test scores.</p>