Chances...?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Profile:
Gender: Male from New York
Ethnicity: Hispanic (half of my cousins live in Venezuela)
GPA: 3.6
Class Rank: School does not rank unless colleges need it for scholarship considerations or something like that (that's what my guidance counselor told me lol)</p>

<p>Standardized Testing Scores:
SAT's: 1660 (590CR, 480M, 590W, 11 essay)
ACT: 27 (sent this instead of ACT)</p>

<p>Regents:
-Living Environment: 82
-Earth Science: 85
-Intergrated Algebra 2 w/ Trig: 75
-Regents ELA: 100
-Regents US History and Gov't: 99
-Regents Phy Set/Chemistry: 93</p>

<p>Classes taken Junior year with final grades:
-Chemistry Honors: 88
-Chorus: 99
-IB English HL I: 90
-IB History of the America's: 92
-IB Psychology SL: 92
-Integrated Algebra 2 w/ Trig: 85
-Health Education: 94</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
-IB English HL II
-IB History of the America's HL II
-IB Physics
-IB Living Environment
-IB Math Studies
-Anatomy and Physiology
-Team Sports</p>

<p>And the WISE Internship as well. I'm planning to intern with a Neurosurgeon (the school has been able to get Neurosurgeon's before).</p>

<p>Honors:
-Honor Roll Grades 9-10
-High Honor Roll Grades 10-11 (and hopefully by the end of first quarter)
-Health Achievement Award - Grade 11
-5 and 10 year National Awards for Piano Guild</p>

<p>EC School Activities:
-Chamber Singers grades 9 and 11
-WISE Internship (Neurosurgery) - Grade 12
-NYSSMA, All "outstanding" grades, grades 9-11
-Volunteered at the library for the whole summer of my freshman year</p>

<p>Out of School EC's:
-Pianist for 15 years
-Martial Artist, Red/Black stripe ranking - 10 years
-Hospital Volunteering at the Emergency Department - Grades 11-12
-200+ hours shadowing various doctors including a Cardiologist and an Anesthesiologist
-Piano Guild Participant - 10 years
-Pianist at the nursing home - Grade 9
-Returning pianist at winter and summer recitals for the local church - 10 years
-Youth Group at my church - 5 years</p>

<p>Letters of Recommendation:
-Guidance Counselor
-Piano teacher of 15 years
-Anesthesiologist I shadowed, also an assistant professor at a decently ranked medical school
-Chemistry Honors teacher
-AP Euro teacher</p>

<p>They're all in and ready to go. </p>

<p>Employment:
-Photographer's assistant - Summer of 2008
-Auto body repair assistant - Summer of 2009</p>

<p>I'd say I'm way below average to just around slightly below average...but I'm hoping to sell myself with the interview and my depth of EC's (I never thought I would be applying to Harvard, unlike a lot of other applicants who are manufactured by their parents in order to look good for Harvard). Thanks for whomever decides to chance me.</p>

2

<p>I would say your chance is low due to your grades and test scores.</p>

3

<p>I’m gonna say your chances are slim, but what do I know?</p>

4

<p>I figured as much. There’s no denying the standardized test scores, but what you see is a result of three cracks at each one (a total of 6 times I’ve had to take it from those tests).</p>

5

<p>Although your GPA could be okay if that were the only flaw, the SAT sadly just isn’t Harvard quality. Although your ECs are good, they first want to make sure that you can succeed academically at Harvard. There are tons of other great schools though! Look into some others! Plenty of schools are almost as good academically at a much lower cost.</p>

6

<p>Your SAT and ACT scores put you way below the standards. Depth of ECs? Try not to market everything that you do, because that spreads yourself thin. I can see your piano and volunteering, but I’m not sure how you’re trying to make your self stand out. Remember, piano is a competitive EC for top schools, where many applicants have won national competitions and played at Carnegie Hall. Did you send in a CD? Oh, and 5 rec letters seem a bit much, considering they may overlap, or some may not be as strong as others. </p>

<p>What other schools are you applying to? Make sure you have a bunch of other schools, because honestly, Harvard seems like a very high reach considering your stats here. These are just my opinions.</p>

7

<p>Your grades are low as well as your SAT and unfortunately you have no amazing extracurricular to set you apart.</p>

8

<p>I didn’t send in my SAT! I sent my ACT…even though it’s still low (I sent in my SAT II’s, those were actually good).</p>

<p>@Physicsnut1: I applied to around 14 other different schools. Harvard was kind of a “well lets see what happens” kind of deal. The most ideal school for me, at the moment, is actually in state. It’s a good school and I have a very good shot at it. :)</p>

<p>@Communist101: I guess what I meant when I said “depth of EC’s” was the EC’s that I dedicated time to for years on end, which mainly include 15 years of Piano and 10 years of Martial arts. Yes, I’m sending in a CD, but it has no affect on my admissions decision (I know this for a fact). No, I’m not sending in all of my letters of recommendation. I only have that many because I am applying to several BS/MD programs as well. Piano guild is a national competition…though I haven’t played at Carnegie Hall :(</p>

<p>Poliscience: I figured as much. x]</p>