Chances for Harvard

Colleges & Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Hello I'm a rising senior from Chicago, IL.</p>

<p>SAT I: 2220 (790M - 740 W - 690 R) </p>

<p>I am retaking this in October. It will be my first time retaking it.</p>

<p>SATIIs:
Chem: 780
Math IIC: 790
US History: 740</p>

<p>PSAT: 218 > 216 in illinois National Merit Semi-finalist</p>

<p>ACT: 33</p>

<p>Our school had some mandatory ACT Thing in april, but I didn't study for it and got a 33 because APs were right after that. Anyhow, I'm retaking this also in october. 33 doesn't look too good....</p>

<p>I'm ranking in the top 1% of my class. Our school got rid of rank last year because 50% of the seniors were complaining about it. >:[</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
4 years on tennis team</p>

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<p>Summer activities:
Congressional student leadership conference in DC
Stanford NAtional Forensics Institute (SNFI)
Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development (CTD)
college visits to all the ivies and top 10 schools
Traveling to europe</p>

<p>I have taken 6 APs total. 4s and 5s:
AP english composition
AP chemistry
AP physics b
AP calculus bc
AP us history
AP european history
- all As. I think I have 2 Bs total in all my classes combined</p>

<p>Senior year I am taking:
- AP physics C
- AP psychology
- AP english literature
- AP statistics
- AP biology
- honors debate 2 (i hafta cuz im captain)
- guitar (required)</p>

<p>Background:
- asian male. only kid. mid class. (does this race/income stuff matter?)</p>

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<p>So what do you think my chances are? Please let me know. Do not hesitate to be harsh or realistic in your posts. If there's anything else I should add, please let me know. Thanksin advance and good luck this year to all seniors.</p>

<p>EDIT: I forgot to add I go to a public school in chicago...not the suburbs. We have about 2000-2200 kids total and about 400 or so per grade.</p>

2

<p>by the way, I'm looking to apply to Harvard but I'm not sure if I should apply EA or not.</p>

<p>I was thinking of applying Stanford EA and if I got in, then I'd be able to relax a bit and use Stanford as my "safety" school. But I love Stanford and Harvard both ahhhh.</p>

<p>Well please offer advice on what you'd do in this situation as well as my chances.</p>

3

<p>i think you are strong academically, but i don't see anything extraordinary in your ECs.</p>

4

<p>You have a reasonable chance at the lottery. Apply EA if it is your first choice. The odds are no better applying EA to Stanford, so pick your favorite and EA to it.</p>

5

<p>Although this may sound strange at first, consider retaking Math IIC. Such an exceptionally high percentage of students receive 800s on it, even those majoring in the humanities, that a 790 is considered low.</p>

<p>As someone mentioned, the test scores and taken courses are roughly average compared to the average Harvard admit, but the extracurriculars are underwhelming. (Again, relatively speaking)</p>

<p>And yes, being an Asian male makes acceptence exponentially more difficult, although certainly not impossible.</p>

<p>I wouldn't use an EA on Harvard in your position.</p>

6

<p>Thanks everyone. I think I'm going to stick with applying EA to Stanford considering the fact that I have the application ready to go as of now.</p>

<p>I've seen profiles of Harvard alumni and they're nothing short of amazing. I guess I will apply regular decision and see if I can get in.</p>

<p>HarvardAlum98': I may consider retaking all my SAT IIs in November because I will still have time then. Should I retake all of them? Or just MATH IIC? I was thinking just Math IIC and the US History because I honestly cannot remember much from AP chemistry.</p>

7

<p>One more thing. I have a strong feeling that I will be deferred by my EA choice be it Stanford or Harvard. However, I'd like to know if there's anything I could do to give me an advantage in the regular decision pool.</p>

<p>One thing I am doing is the Siemens competition. It's a big science competition and I've always wanted to write a paper and see how it stacks up with the scientific community. Anyhow, I'm working on that, but in my mind, senior year is kind of late to really do anything new. Unless someone has tips.... :hint hint: ;)</p>

8

<p>No I'm no longer sure about my EA decision... :( I love Harvard so much, but the problem is, will they love me back? Well, I guess I'll just try to communicate to Harvard who I am and what I do and leave it to the admissions office from there.</p>

<p>Sorry for the triple posts, but this board doesn't let me edit posts after a few hours or something.</p>

9

<p>"Although this may sound strange at first, consider retaking Math IIC. Such an exceptionally high percentage of students receive 800s on it, even those majoring in the humanities, that a 790 is considered low."</p>

<p>hahahaha</p>

10

<p>Based on your stats, you are the average applicant. You will have to set yourself apart with the essays and interview. Harvard is looking for an interesting group of students who will change the world. Emphasize anything unique about yourself in the essays/interview. This will determine whether or not you get in. Also, try to demonstrate a passion in some area.</p>

11

<p>Thanks for the replies.</p>

<p>DieselBoy: What's so funny? I don't get it. :|</p>

<p>tupac: yeah thanks for the input. I'm going to polish up my essays some more. I've focused on debate and tennis as a passion.</p>

12

<p>I think that retaking a 790 would make you seem a little too "test oriented" and the time would be better spent polishing your essays. I really don't think a 790 is going to hurt you. I'm guessing that's why dieselboy was laughing...</p>

13

<p>I would not retake a 790 in anything.</p>

14

<p>aight thanks. Yeah what I heard was that colleges actually have a thing like 780-800, 750-779...etc.</p>

<p>I'm happy with my math and chem scores, but I'm lookint to retake the US, SAT I, and ACT. It'll be my first retakes on all of them.</p>

15

<p>I would not retake the USH or the ACT. I think they're fine.</p>

<p>On the chances, although you have the stats, its not anything out of the ordinary--I could even go so far as to say they would expect such scores and the strengths in that math/sciences from an Asian applicant.</p>

<p>With the NHS thing, it's way too common,even the president position, so it's not going to help you that much.</p>

<p>So IMO, I think Harvard would be a reach. (As for anyone, of course, making that a useless statement :p)</p>

<p>And about the:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Although this may sound strange at first, consider retaking Math IIC. Such an exceptionally high percentage of students receive 800s on it, even those majoring in the humanities, that a 790 is considered low.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I've never heard such a thing in my entire life.</p>

16

<p>Yes thank you Tami! Harvard is my reach school now. I'm hoping for the best you know. </p>

<p>You know I'm really losing my Asian pride rapidly here. It's making my life so difficult haha. I'm joking hehe...well...sorta... :(</p>

<p>Is the NHS thing common for an Asian male? I mean, how many Asian males do you see in a leadership position these days in America? Well, I guess that doesn't matter. I'm going to go with you about he USH SAT II. However, I registed for the ACT like last school year for some reason haha, but I'm going to just take it anyways because I already paid for it. It's coming up fast, but you know I'm used to running on 3 hours of sleep :P)</p>

17

<p>I think you have a decent chance. I applied EA to Harvard and was deferred and then rejected so obviously I had some shot at admission if not a strong one. I got a 1580 on the old sat, a 790 on the math IIC, an 800 on the writing sat II, and a 770 on the literature. I had crappy extracurriculars and several B's and even a C from high school. You seem much better off than me. Work on those essays and prepare for the interview. Good luck.</p>

18

<p>You need to get some more sleep than that! :p</p>

<p>Sadly, the NHS thing is that common. First off the club in itself is basically considered a given EC for most applicants, and being president of such a common EC is just something that's not unique; Key Club is another example of these "common" clubs. </p>

<p>To assure you a little more about your SATIIs, (Even though I believe they are very VERY good, you can still consider retaking, I didn't want to halt your options xD) the fact that you scored 760, or 740, does not necessarily reflect that you're "dumber" than someone who scored a 800 on the same test or "didn't know the material." A person who receives a score of 740 on their best subject, for example, (happens all the time) could have just not understood the wording of a problem, or simply misread the question ("NOTs" for example, or "EXCEPTs"). This does not mean you don't know the subject, it means your eyes just made a little mistake on that problem. Therefore many colleges, even the ivies, take your score and compare it on a scale, where 770~800's will be considered as "high" all together. Of course an 800 looks better, but remember that plenty of ~800x3 and ~2400s get rejected all the time, evidence that its not the scores that gets people in by any means.</p>

19

<p>Tami: Yes I believe I will pass on the SAT II retakes. You're very VERY convincing. :) I don't want to seem like a test monger. I'm primed for the SAT I retake, which I feel like I need. My CR score should be in the higher 700s. I also might pass on the ACT, but if I have time I'll take it.</p>

<p>I will keep everyone posted on my results and such. Thanks for all your advice so far. I'd still be fretting if it weren't for your responses.</p>

20

<p>The idea of retaking a 790 is not at all laughable. Tami's argument, although very valid for tests such as the SAT I, simply doesn't hold for the Math IIC. Getting a 790 on the Math IIC doesn't mean that a student just slipped up on one or two problems. If it did, the idea of a retake <em>would</em> be ridiculous. However, to get less than 800 on the Math IIC, one has to miss 7 questions or so. That's a generous curve, and out of 50 fairly simple math questions, 7 is no small amount. As a result, even though a 790 looks very similar to an 800, the raw scores that lead to each of them may be very different.</p>

<p>I'll be honest - I have absolutely no idea whether most colleges really know this, or whether they evaluate every score in a "range", regardless of the circumstances. Some care strongly about this: Ben Golub (very knowledgable about Caltech admissions, since he's been an applications reader for the school) continually suggests that students with high 700s on the Math IIC retake. However, Caltech's admissions process is very different from that of most schools, so this might not mean too much.</p>

<p>Sorry if I'm rambling - basically, my worry is that a veteran adcom would see 790 on the Math IIC and immediately discount your math competition honor as "worthless". That wouldn't be good.</p>

<p>That fairly minor point aside, though, I'd say that your chances are looking quite strong. Your tennis is quite impressive, you have some other good honors, and your academics are pretty solid. It's still a crazy game of chance (I know I'm echoing everyone here), but your chance is better than most.</p>