Chances: Russian girl

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

Hello everyone :slight_smile:
Harvard has always been my dream school, however I know that I am neither a genius, nor a brilliant athlete/musician. What are my chances?

Right now I am entering my junior year at one of the best private boarding prep schools in New England. Last year I was a new sophomore.

Tests:

  1. PSAT (I haven’t taken the SAT yet) - 98% (as a 10th grader). I got a perfect score on the language sections but I lost some points on math.
  2. SAT Chemistry (subject test) - 780 ( I am taking advanced chemistry my junior year and I am planning to improve the score)
  3. SAT German (subject test) - 800
  4. SAT Literature (subject test) - 780 (again: I am planning to improve this one)
  5. SAT World History (subject test) - 800
  6. TOEFL - 118
    I haven’t taken the SAT subject test for Math 2 yet but I’ve got ~800 on all of the practice tests so far.

Classes:
Our school doesn’t have AP classes but we have those that are equivalent to AP-s.
My junior year I will be taking:

  1. Advanced Chemistry ( =AP)
  2. Calc 1H (=AP)
  3. German 3 H
  4. Humanities 5 (= history + literature)
  5. Economics
  6. Advanced Acting
  7. Latin 1
    I’ve already taken Biology, Chemistry (1 year) and Physics.

Grades:
High Honors in all of the classes = (A +)

EC-s:

  1. President of the Russian Society (lol)
  2. President of the Mock Trial Team
  3. Model UN participant (I am going to Dartmouth championship this year)
  4. Debate team participant
  5. International Society Vice President
  6. Social Justice representative

Arts:

  1. Long-term career in theater. I participate in 2/3 school plays as a lead actor.
  2. 8 year background in dancing. The bad thing is: due to my injury I quit dancing 2 years ago.

Sports:

  1. JV volleyball team head (our team is very successful: we lost only 1 game out of 24 last season). According to my coach I will be varsity my senior year.
  2. I used to be a swimmer, but our school does not have a swim team. Best time (50 meters, freestyle): 26 seconds.

Potential hooks:

  1. I am Russian (English is my second language)
  2. I am really good at essays (according to my hum teacher)
  3. I don’t need financial aid (is this of any importance?)

Thank you for your time :slight_smile: I hope to get some responses.

2

Oh and one more thing:
This summer I am doing an internship at a Russian law firm (I am confident I will get good recommendations). No, I am not just printing things and serving coffee. :slight_smile:

Next summer I will be doing (I’ve already got in) an internship at a successful law firm in Florida.

3

Also,
I have several comminity service awards.

4

Without an actual SAT score, it’s too early to ask for chances, as you don’t even know if your scores will place you within Harvard’s range. That said, your SAT Subject Test scores indicate you’re on the right track and might find this thread from an MIT Admissions Director interesting. Everything in it applies to Harvard chances as well. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/939227-reminder-no-one-not-even-me-can-give-you-an-accurate-chance-at-mit-p1.html

5

@gibby
Thank you! I appreciate your attention.

I am slightly less concerned about getting a good SAT score than about being not “Harvard material” due to the absence of a successful athletic background on my future application. Do you think that that and the noticable narrowness of my EC-s can play a huge role?

6

I’m not sure where you got the idea that every admit to Harvard is athletic or has participated in athletics – that’s simply NOT true. My guess would be 50% to 60% or more of Harvard admits did NOT play a sport in high school – and most admits will NOT play a club-sport or recreational sport during their 4 years at the college. You need to do a bit more research on what Harvard is looking for. Please read this thread at the top of the Harvard forum, including this post: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1420290-chance-threads-please-read-before-posting-one-p1.html

This post goes into more detail about what all selective colleges are looking for from a student’s extracurricular activities: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marjorie-hansen-shaevitz/extra-curricular-activities-college-admission_b_3040217.html

7

No. While many applicants have an athletic background, many more (I’d say most), do not.

None of these are hooks. Hooks are underrepresented minority, athletic recruit, legacy/development kid.

Every applicant from a non-English speaking country speaks at least 2 languages
3) I don’t need financial aid (is this of any importance?)

[/quote]

No.

Anyway, you’re in the ballpark, but so are the vast majority of the Harvard applicants. Good luck.

8

About not needing financial aid…
Harvard is a need blind school meaning that they do not take into consideration how much money your family can put into college during admissions. However, I’ve been told by CCers in the past that while it is illegal (I believe), need blind colleges can find out if you plan to apply for financial aid which would indicate whether or not you’d be paying in full for college. However, I doubt that Harvard cares at all about this fact. It has the largest endowment of any American University, and the institution practically has money to give away for financial aid.

9

You could be top in your class. Ace the SAT. Pass 12-15 AP exams. Take 5-10 college courses at night and in the summers. Start a charity. Be president of your school. Win state and national awards. Have a sibling or parent who attended Harvard.

And still be rejected. Chances are most kids won’t get in. 95 out of 100 don’t. What are your other target schools?

10

@ClarinetDad16 all of the ivy-s, Berkeley, Duke. Top universities.

11

Whenever kids say “dream school,” it suggests a dreamy approach, not rationality. Then you have some misunderstanding about needing to be a star athlete or the narrowness of your ECs. Do what Gibby suggests and learn what Harvard itself has to say about what they want to see in candidates. And if you’re at a top boarding school, work with your GC to understand how the hs assesses your chances, what schools the GC suggests.

Your ECs are not narrow, but they’re more typical of kids who want to study humanities. What do you do outside the high school box, (besides the law firms,) for the larger community, what challenges and responsibilities have you taken on there? (Not "awards,"but what the real work involves.) And, most of your current targets will ask for a short Why Us sort of answer- can you describe why you see a match, in ways they will appreciate?

All that is, so to say, the homework kids need to do. You have time to do this and to tweak in the right ways.

Adding. How did you get the law firm work? If you were given this opportunity based on family connections, sometimes it’s good to ensure you have other experiences, as well.

12

@lookingforward Thank you! I will do so!
As for the “outside of the box”: I am a co-founder of the local charity organization. Every week (in the summer, when I am at home) I spend at least one day reading to the kids in the orphanage. I am also spending 2 hours every day teaching my small sisters English (I do skype lessons when I am in the US). Right now I am working as a PR manager of my father’s restaurant. Next summer I will be also an accountant intern in the local firm.
I don’t know if any of this counts as a benefit to my application…

13

As you attend one of the best private boarding prep schools in New England, you should avail yourself to its counselor staff for whom many families pay princely fees to guide and advise students such as yourself.

14

It sounds like you may be put in the international student pool. That may make it more difficult for you

15

This will make it more difficult for you. For colleges like Harvard, the international admit rate is roughly half the overall rate.