Chances for Harvard? Strengths? Weaknesses?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Applying to Harvard. I've seen a lot of incredibly qualified students get rejected (in roughly increasing magnitude of disbelief - 2400 students, Siemens finalists, IMO medalists), so I really don't know how my chances are. Visited the Boston/Cambridge area up in September, stayed with a couple friends, had a great time. Rather interested in this college.</p>

<p>This post is going to be pretty long. Here goes:</p>

<p>I have a 4.56 weighted GPA, 3.89 unweighted. This puts me around the top 10% in my class of 420. Two B's - one in Honors Biology as a freshman, and one in Chinese 4 Honors as a junior.</p>

<p>Most my classes have been honors/APs. On the AP exams, I've gotten:</p>

<p>'06: AP Calculus BC - 5
'08: AP Statistics (self-studied) - 5
'08: AP Computer Science A - 5
'08: AP Calculus AB - 5
'09: AP Biology - 5
'09: AP Language and Composition - 5
'09: AP Computer Science AB (self-studied) - 3 (ouch, lol)
'09: AP United States History - 5 </p>

<p>...so 7 5's and one 3.</p>

<p>I have a 2400 SAT score - first try (March '09). National Merit Semifinalist, with a 231. I took three SAT IIs in June '09 and got:</p>

<p>Math 2: 800
Biology: 780
US History: 750</p>

<p>Extracurricular-wise, I mainly do math. I also do jazz band though (guitar - been playing for about three years now) and piano (twelve years). For piano, I got my Trinity Grade 8 certificate in 9th grade.</p>

<p>I've also been doing MUN for four years, and I've picked up three awards at conferences.</p>

<p>I'm the president of the school's Math Honor Society and the vice-president of its Math Club. For my school district's Chinese performance program, I'm my school's Chinese Program Coordinator; for the Korean performance program, I'm a co-director.</p>

<p>I also do a little bit of writing stuff - I've had several entries accepted into the regional literary magazine.</p>

<p>For math, I'm currently taking Princeton University courses. (The high school I attend is within fifteen minutes of Princeton.) In my freshman year, I took Multivariable Calculus at my high school. Sophomore year, I did the EPGY independent study program - took Linear Algebra and Differential Equations and got off-the-transcript B's - but I'm still reporting them to show that I did work sophomore year. Junior year, I took a Princeton University course (MAT214 - Number Theory) and got an A.</p>

<p>I've done quite a bit of competition math. Not sure how much the following means to most people, but:</p>

<p>Won National MathCounts in 8th grade. Don't know if this carries any weight, seeing as it's pre-high school.</p>

<p>Since freshman year, I've qualified for the USAMO. Freshman year I managed to make it to MOSP. Haven't qualified since. In 9th grade, I got a perfect score on the AMC10; in 11th grade, I was the NJ state winner for the AMC12 with a 144. Got a 9 on the AIME freshman year; 10 as a sophomore; 11 last year.</p>

<p>At HMMT - hopefully this means something to the Harvard adcoms! - I got 2nd place on the General test in 10th grade. Got 1st place individual in Division B as a junior.</p>

<p>At PUMaC, which I think is approximately as legit, I got 1st place individual in Division B this year.</p>

<p>I've volunteered a bit - two summers for Special Olympics New Jersey, several weeks at the mayor's office, a bit at the local Korean school, and a little bit at the library.</p>

<p>No legacy at Harvard. I'm a third-generation Korean-American. I speak English fluently. I've taken Chinese for six years, and I speak Korean embarrassingly but, well, intelligibly.</p>

<p>I think that covers everything important. I'm feeling a little nervous about the GPA and the lack of well-roundedness (no sports outside of intramural, outside-of-school Kung Fu). So what do you guys think my chances at Harvard are?</p>

2

<p>I understand that 2400s are admitted at about a 40% rate.</p>

3

<p>That’s good to know.</p>

<p>Would you have any rough estimate based more on what I posted above? Above 40? Under 40?</p>

<p>I’m wondering largely because I’m currently planning on applying to Harvard, Princeton, and MIT, and I’m not sure whether I should apply to more colleges. At the moment, I really like all three of those colleges, and I’d have trouble ordering them preferentially - but if there’s a decent chance that I’d get rejected from all three, I’d definitely apply to more colleges. (That’s the main reason I posted this, lol.)</p>

4

<p>You have as good a chance as anyone in the general applicant pool. Good luck.</p>

5

<p>I agree with post #4. Also, apply to more than HPM. No one is considered a lock for any of these three and it is not uncommon for very good students to not get in to any of these. Be sure to apply to some safety schools (i.e. your state university), but be willing to choose schools that you will actually attend. Although many high-scoring applicants would be devastated by having to attend their state universities (I personally would be disappointed) or any university that appears “under” them, please realize that this happens.</p>

6

<p>Your post reminds me of myself- Linear Algebra and Diffeqs in freshman year, Classical Geometry (at H) and Number Theory in sophomore year, Functional Analysis (at H) and Real Analysis now… The EPGY grading has a high curve, doesn’t it? I have one B and one A in the courses I’ve taken there. And we’re both multi-lingual Asians too. :P</p>

<p>On that note, it would be advisable to apply to safety schools, since the three schools you’ve listed are crapshoots. Cornell has a respectable mathematics program, and I’m sure many other schools do as well.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the advice. If my MIT EA comes back deferred, I’ll probably send out apps to at least two of UPenn, Columbia, Cornell.</p>

<p>Good luck to everyone else!</p>