Chances of Getting into Harvard

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I'm a Canadian high school student applying to the Ivy League. Could anyone who's been accepted to Harvard or who has experience with their admissions give me an honest estimation of my chances of getting in? Much appreciated.</p>

<p>Standardized Tests: I've written the general SAT once and received a 2290; I plan on taking it at least twice more. I recently wrote the French and Spanish SAT Subject Tests and predict between 780 and 800 on both of them. I wrote 3 AP exams last year (biology, french, and spanish) and got 5's on all of them; I'm also writing AP Physics, AP Calc, AP English, AP Chem, and AP European History this year.</p>

<p>Marks: my school doesn't rank, but I'm within the top 5 of 110 students (private school). My average will be between 94% and 99% at the time of application (estimate).</p>

<p>I speak English as a first language, learned French in school, and have taught myself as a hobby Spanish, German, Portuguese, Catalan, Latin, and Russian (still working on the last two), plan on learning others this year, and wrote an essay to that effect for my Common App - I'm also planning on submitting pieces of writing in English and French for the Harvard Supplement.</p>

<p>Awards: I've been on the honour roll for 8 years (my school starts it in grade 5) and received a merit-based scholarship from my high school. I received the award for top academic average 3 years ago (grade 9) and have received various end-of-year subject awards in French, English, history, math, etc. Two years ago, I earned the Bronze Duke of Ed. award and one year ago earned the Silver. Lastly, I won a university french competition for high school each year during the three in which I was eligible to compete, and placed adequately in a university biology contest (for high school students) and have done well in math contests for several years (often top of my grade at school).</p>

<p>Activities: I've been in Model United Nations for two years and am the head delegate for my school; I've won several awards (including first-place gavels) at conferences. My school has a Student Council from grades 9 to 11, and I was on it each year, including being the secretary in grade 11, and I'm the captain of the senior Reach for the Top team (it's a Canadian trivia contest, somewhat like Jeopardy but without the money or T.V. show).</p>

<p>Finally, at the end of my grade 9 year, I became PADI certified (scuba diving) and took a two week trip to the Cayman Islands with several classmates to attend a summer course that gave me a credit in environmental sustainability.</p>

<p>I'm not applying for any financial aid.</p>

<p>Any advice or opinions anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated - I worry that my marks/test scores aren't quite high enough and that the fact that I'm Canadian (and thus technically an international student) may count against me.</p>

2

<p>My daughter is at Harvard, so I’ll try to give you an honest assessment. </p>

<p>Based upon your SAT scores and GPA, you are a qualified applicant. Faced with more qualified applicants than they can accept, Harvard Admissions will look closely at your teacher recommendations and essays for glimpses into your “character”. That’s an old fashioned word, it means the way you develop your inner qualities: intellectual passion, maturity, social conscience, concern for community, tolerance, inclusiveness and love of learning. Admissions Directors will scrutinize and compare your teacher recommendations to all other applicants. So, the reality is that your chances depend on the declarations of your teachers and guidance counselor. They will either tip the scale in your favor, or not. The applications process is truly subjective and no one here on CC can predict what chance you have. You just have to send your application out into the universe and see what happens. Best of luck to you!</p>