<p>funny how you guys say you’re all a BIT over average</p>
<p>and then say </p>
<p>«2240 SAT, ECs with PASSION and LEADERSHIP»</p>
<p>god you guys are annoying</p>
<p>My D has good standardized test scores, but crap GPA/rank due to a horrid semester when she changed schools (long story). She’s back to a 3.9 now (4.9 weighted) in senior year…but her overall GPA will never recover. She does have the rest of the application, but THE most important part is lacking. And we know there is NO POSSIBLE WAY any Ivy (etc.) will go that far down in the rank for her. But… like all of you … it’s better than not having applied and always wondering. I think one student each of the past 2 years from my Ds school got into Harvard. One was an over 5.0 valedictorian and the other was in the top handful of kids. But…since HYP has money for middle income families…she applied anyway. In a recent Harvard function, we were told “those of you who get accepted…simply drew the lucky card”. Now, we know that’s not COMPLETELY true. But it was nice, nonetheless.</p>
<p>2200 SAT, great ECs + leadership…asian international applicant :S</p>
<p>ALL of you cc-ers are above average! 
Just food for thought.</p>
<p>My son has similar stats as the OP. He was accepted EA at U of Chicago - I think his chance are slim of getting into Harvard (even though he does has the advantage of being a double legacy), but they are zero if he doesn’t apply.</p>
<p>I have similar stats. 2200 SAT. Some good EC’s. 4.1 GPA. but hopefully my essays are good enough?</p>
<p>impetuous you are bitter right?2240 is a bit above average ( maybe even lower than average?) for the average accepted harvard applicant and I would think everyone who applied would have some sort of passion or leadership?</p>
<p>“I would think everyone who applied would have some sort of passion or leadership?”</p>
<p>From my experience as an interviewer, most students whom I interviewed had some kind of leadership, though often it was contrived leadership created by the student’s founding a club for resume dressing. “Pie Club” was an example. The purpose? They ate pies once a week!</p>
<p>Passion – interviewing a student who clearly was passionate about a subject or EC was very rare. Most students seemed to do things because they were assigned (papers for school) or because they or their parents thought the clubs/service would be attractive to Harvard. It was rare to find students who appeared to be learning about a subject or participating in an activity because the student was deeply interested in the subject.</p>
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<p>Well at least it’s delicious? Should could have been in Lima Bean Club.</p>
<p>I was unaware that passion was so rare.</p>
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<p>Northstarmom I know you have a lot of experience interviewing students. I have done many activities that may seem like were forced upon me by my school or parents but were truly done because I honestly enjoyed the experience, teamwork, friendships built, leadership training etc. did it just seem like the students were not truly interested in the their “passion”, because I don’t think anyone would be stupid enough to tell you they did things just for their college app.</p>
<p>One can tell whether a student had passion by how they describe their EC, service, course, etc. during an interview.</p>
<p>Passion stands out even when shy students are interviewed. For instance, my younger S is shy, but has been passionate about some courses, ECs, service, etc. When he talks about these during interviews or with adult friends, he blossoms. I’ve seen him do this, and I’ve heard this about him from people who’ve interviewed him for scholarships and similar things.</p>
<p>When people talk about things that they aren’t passionate about, the best way that I can describe it is that the content is hollow and empty. A spark is missing. </p>
<p>Passion can’t be faked in person. Perhaps someone can fake passion in an essay by getting someone else to write it, but it can’t be faked in person.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, too, that when it comes to Harvard the interviewers are alums (All except for David Evans in the admissions staff are alums), and alums know personally what it is like to be passionate about things. Consequently, they can recognize passion and they can recognize the fakers.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, there also actually are applicants who’ll say that they did activities to try to look good to Harvard or to meet school requirements (such as community service hours) or only because their parents made them. You’d be amazed at what people will say and do in interviews. Something that might be common sense to you and to others on CC isn’t common sense to all people who apply.</p>
<p>how important is the interview? Can an interview “get you in”? I don’t think I have much of a chance, but I think I can nail the interview because I can talk about playing travel baseball and a couple of my ECs/work experiences (baseball umpire and ice hockey referee in Canada) for hours without getting bored lol.</p>
<p>Interviews can revive the living, but can’t wake the dead.</p>
<p>there’s that harvard humor again!! </p>
<p>Some of my friends are top notch actors who can fake passion so easily, seriously hate it!</p>
<p>As an actor myself…know that “faking” is lying…not acting.</p>
<p>"
Some of my friends are top notch actors who can fake passion so easily, seriously hate it! "</p>
<p>Passion is in the details, not in sounding enthusiastic.</p>
<p>Hey there, a very much average applicant here from India. </p>
<p>Guess that last bit and the fact that I need full aid means that I’m practically below average…</p>
<p>Harvard is need blind for both American citizens and international students. How much aid you need will not influence their decision to admit or reject you.</p>
<p>[Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission]Need-blind”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Edited: multiple posting of the above post. My browser was having trouble. Moderators - please delete this post. Thank-you :)</p>
<p>yes relax because u can’t do anything after u submitted. Then wait for the fail truck to hit u real hard. :)</p>