<p>1500 words! Oh yikes. I see what you mean. Again, I’m sorry I snapped. Could you try retroactively outlining what points you’ve made in your essay, and how many words you’ve spent making each? I think that might help you cut a point or two (or, if it’s all to one larger point, a couple sub-points), or reduce the number of words if any are particularly long. You have oodles of time to fix this, though: even most fairly prepared kids don’t have full drafts until late August/September.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice! That helped cut the essay by several 100 words :)</p>
<p>& no need to apologize.</p>
<p>If it’s 1500 words it’s not finished. :)</p>
<p>hahah no, it’s not. I’m planning on asking a few friends & teachers to read it and cut it down each time…hopefully the deletions will add up! 500 words is just no where near enough room to give appropriate imagery, explain my story, what I’ve learned, etc…</p>
<p>You sound like you’re doing pretty well! 2300+ SAT, 750+ SAT II’s, and a good GPA. Being a Junior in high school starting at fall next year I can’t say that I know everything about Harvard’s admissions, but with everything you have you might want to give it a try anyways. Who knows? Maybe they’ll just take you in for some reason that we don’t really know of.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! Yes, my only hope right now is Harvard’s bizzare admission process. </p>
<p>Wow, you got accepted to attend Harvard sophomore year in HS?? Impressive!</p>
<p>Oh no LOL! I have like, NO CHANCES AT ALL WHATSOEVER of getting accepted to Harvard. I just dream of getting there someday, and that’s why I’m on this thread. Haha. </p>
<p>Again, I don’t think my chances are that high. The only things that I have are as followed: </p>
<ul>
<li>4.0 GPA both freshmen and sophomore years (there were no AP’s available at my school. yes, I know, it’s terrible.) </li>
<li>Two years of cross country, joining next year as well as senior year. </li>
<li>One year of tennis. Will join for the next two years, possibly a chance for captain my senior year. </li>
<li>Officer positions for 2 clubs next year, probably president for both by the time that I am a senior. Possibly a third one as well. </li>
<li>Four straight years of music - started in middle school, will continue to take orchestra for next two years.</li>
<li>Going to take three AP’s next year and four my senior year. Possibly two more during the next summer. </li>
<li>Didn’t take SAT’s yet, but I’m aiming for around a 2250-ish. </li>
<li>And perhaps my greatest advantage of all: I moved from China to the United States when I was 7. Parents didn’t finish High School, family has VERY low income. I will be the first generation in my family to graduate high school, and my ambition was always to strive for the best college out there. Which apparently was Harvard, haha. </li>
</ul>
<p>Sucks though, since from what I’ve been seeing I have practically NO chances of getting in.</p>
<p>Well, at least I can say that I tried, lol.</p>
<p>I think the real question is not whether you stand a chance for Harvard, but does Harvard stand a chance for you?</p>
<p>You stand a great chance! They’re recruiting more and more first-generation, low-income students each year. Keep up the good work and do amazing things junior year, and you should be set 
I didn’t even know what Harvard/CC was until this year 
or at least never even thought about applying to H… you have PLENTY of time. But hey, since you’re shooting for the moon, you’ll at least land among the stars, right? </p>
<p>And thanks for the nice comment, AvidStudent! (unless I’ve misinterpreted…)</p>
<p>Haha, you’re getting my hopes up too soon, collegeinfo. Compared to many others, I’m probably a speck of sand in a beach of applicants. Although I’m aiming to be Valedictorian by my senior year, I don’t have 20 AP’s and neither do I have awards for national competitions or anything like that. All I have is myself, starting from scratch and overcoming the odds. </p>
<p>My story’s quite long and I could talk about it all day, so I won’t post it up here (yet). But yeah. For all that I’ve done, I’m just a man with a vision and a dream to succeed. I’ve been through a lot but there is still very far to go, and even then I might not be able to get to Harvard. But I will try. As I’ve always done so. </p>
<p>Anyways, you’ll probably do great. You’ve spent your years well and it looks like your ambition and perseverance from past years might finally pay off. I surely hope that it will. You might not be the best out there (and neither will I), but you’re certainly not the worst. Just keep up the work and your future will be bright, no matter where you end up going.</p>
<p>But that’s exactly what they’re looking for! Someone with energy/ passion who has overcome a major barrier. Of course, I understand that H admission is pretty unpredictable and that it’s too early to tell in your case. To give you a better idea of why I said you’re ahead of the game: I didn’t even know what a weighted GPA was until late sophomore year, so I took the health science classes (not available in CP/ hon) and that dropped my GPA like crazy. I didn’t even know what IVY League was until late that year, too, nor had I ever heard of Valedictorian/ Saluditorian. & then I met people who have planned their schedules in 8th grade to ensure they are the valedictorian and who do everything in hopes of impressing an admission officer.
By the way, keep in mind that the reason they have regional admission officers at Harvard is so these people can go to your region and understand your background, opportunities, & school better. They’ll know if your school doesn’t offer many AP’s. They’re not looking for a long list of AP’s…just that you’ve taken the most rigorous courses offered by your school.</p>