Do I have a shot? I will rate back.

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Early application
Test scores</p>

<p>Advanced Placement Courses Completed and Current:
• World History 4
• Physics B 4
• Latin 4<br>
• Calculus BC 5
• Computer Science 3
• English Language and Composition 4
• European History 5
SAT Subject Test Math II 800<br>
SAT Subject Test Physics 710<br>
PSAT 216 (will probably be merit scholar)
SAT 2160 (800 math, 700 reading, 660 english) <em>contemplating a retake</em><br>
ACT 34 (36 math, 36 science, 32 english, 30 reading) </p>

<p>Salutatorian (2nd out of 500).
Senior schedule
AP English Lit
AP Human Geo
AP Psych
AP Chem
AP Statistics
AP Environmental Sci
AP US history</p>

<p>I took all APs junior year as well (see above for scores). </p>

<p>Enrichment
• Governor's School for the Sciences<br>
• SouthWest College Dual Enrollment Classes (all A's)
-Macroeconomics
-Pre-Calculus
-American National Government
-Personal Finance
-Microeconomics
-Music Theory</p>

<p>• Internship at University of Memphis (Mechanical Engineering)
• Internship at Falcon Group International (Product Engineer) </p>

<p>Honors/Awards/Recognition
• National Honor Society<br>
• Renesselaer Medal Award ($15,000 Scholarship a year)<br>
• St. Andrew's NAQT Faber Classic Tournament (Knowledge Bowl) 2nd Place<br>
• Dual Enrollment Olympian Award<br>
• Latin State Convention Film Contest 1st Place
• Science Olympiad State Competition<br>
-4th Place Robot Arm
-3rd Place Helicopters
-2nd Place Team Overall
• Distinguished Honor Roll for GPA of 3.5+<br>
• Mid-South Model UN Honorable Mention for Best delegate and Position Paper
• Science Olympiad Regional Competition<br>
- 1st Place Robot Arm
- 2nd Place Experimental Design
- 2nd Place Dynamic Planet
- 1st Place Team. Qualified for State competition.
• MIAA Track League Meets (1600m and 3200m) 1st Place
• Latin Festivus Film contest -1st Place<br>
• Science Olympiad Regional Competition 3rd Place Sumo Bots<br>
• Cross Country Regional Race- 2nd Place<br>
• Cross Country City Race- 2nd Place<br>
• MIAA Track League Meets (3200m 1st Place, 1600m 2nd Place)<br>
• National Latin Exam Gold Award Winner Latin III
• Tennessee Junior Classical League State Convention<br>
-1st Place Film Contest
-4th Place Essay Contest
-12th Place Vocabulary Contest
• President's Volunteer Service Award
• Mu Alpha Theta State Convention
-1st Place Chalktalk
-2nd Place Interschool Test
-3rd Place Overall School
• Robotics BEST competition- Best CAD design Award<br>
• Graduated Book 5 Suzuki Violin Program<br>
• Cross Country Twilight Classic Invitational Individually 32nd/315
• Cross Country MIAA City Race Team won 2nd Place-Top 15 Medalist
• Cross Country Regional Race 1st Place<br>
• Graduated with top Honors from Riverdale Chinese School
• Latin Festivus Film contest 2010- 1st Place/ Certament-2nd Place<br>
• Memphis Scholastic Chess Regional Competition- 3rd Overall
• All-West Tennessee Orchestra 1st Violin
• Concert Festival Class 5, Highest Honors<br>
• Memphis Sinfonia Orchestra
• National Latin Exam Silver Award winner Latin I
• Track MIAA League Meet 1st Place (3200m and 1600m)<br>
• Cross Country Frankhorton Invitational 7th/190- Top 15 Medalist
• Cross Country MIAA League Championship Team Won 2nd ; Medalist 6th/45<br>
• Cross Country MIAA League Meet- Team won 1st; 1st/48 (individual)<br>
• Cross Country Regional Race Team won 2rd Place<br>
• Cross Country MIAA City Championships Team Runner-Up<br>
• Cross Country Rookie of the Year Award<br>
• Memphis Runners Club- 2nd Place at Gibson 5k Race<br>
• Memphis Runners Club- 1st Place in Design a Wish 5k Race<br>
• Memphis Scholastic Chess Mid-South Grade Tournament - 3rd Overall </p>

<p>Leadership
• Captain of Varsity Cross Country
Captain of Track team<br>
• Memphis Chinese Community Teen Volunteers President
• Student Council Executive Board Vice President of Logistics
• Student Council Junior Commissioner of Activities<br>
• Memphis Chinese Community Teen Volunteers Vice President<br>
• Co-President of Can-struction Team<br>
• Community Service Club Vice President<br>
• Chief Financial officer/Advertisement president of Robotics Club<br>
• Model UN Head Delegate<br>
• Bridge-builders
• Table Tennis Club Vice President </p>

<p>Volunteer Experience
• Memphis Chinese Community Teen Volunteer 2006-Present
• Community Service Club Volunteer Events 2009-Present
• MIAA Tutor for Struggling athletes 2009-Present
• Student Council Service Projects 2009-Present
• Optimist Club 2010-Present
• Starry Nights (local holiday light show) 2009-2012
• Riverdale Chinese School Volunteer Teacher 2009-2012
• Latin Club (at Soup Kitchen) 2011-2012
• MIAA Track Meet Volunteer 2010-2011
• St. Francis Hospital Volunteer 2011
• March of Dimes (Memphis Runners Club) 2011
• Cordova Branch Library Summer Teen Volunteer 2007-2011
• Agri-center India Fest 2009-2010
Clubs/Groups
• HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America) 2009-Present
• Knowledge Bowl Team 2012-Present
• Science Olympiad 2010-Present
• Latin Club 2009-Present
• Math Club 2010-Present
• Memphis Scholastic Chess/ Chess Club 2009-Present
• Memphis Suzuki Violin Program 2002-2011
Skills
• Bi-lingual- Chinese and English
• Proficient with Java Computer Language
Work Experience
• Baby-sitting 2009-Present
• Falcon Group International Front Desk and Accounting 2011-2012
• Lawn-care 2009-2011
• Cleaning pools 2009-2010</p>

<p>Recap</p>

<p>Strengths
-4 years of Varsity XC with regional and city championships
-High GPA with 16 total APs on transcript
-Various Leadership Positions
-Very active in Volunteering
-Have internships and job experience in engineering
-Other extracurricular awards (Science Olympiad, Latin State Convention, etc)
-Good recommendations from teachers and internship professors</p>

<p>Weaknesses
-Not the best test taker in the world.
-Lacking National level awards (only local and state level)
-Maybe too balanced without a clear focus (I do alot of diverse extracurriculars)</p>

<p>Thanks so much. I will rate back</p>

2

<p>Of course you have a shot! But, as so much of the college applications process depends on how an admissions directors “feels” when they read your teacher recommendations, guidance counselor’s SSR and essays, no one can say for sure what kind of chance you have. Best of luck to you!</p>

3

<p>Thanks gibby. I was wondering if you could be a bit more specific. Do you see any other big weaknesses? Furthermore, do you think my test scores are sufficient? Thanks</p>

4

<p>Well, if you want me to nit-pick, there could be weaknesses (or strengths) all over the place – and your test scores are fine.</p>

<p>Have you seen your teacher recs? Unless they look like the ones’s on MIT’s website, that could be a major weakness ([Writing</a> Recommendations | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/writingrecs]Writing”>How to write good letters of recommendation | MIT Admissions)). Your essays could be a weakness (or a strength), as they will provide clues about your character to the Admissions Committee. There are just too many variables to be able to give you a clearer picture. From what you have posted though you are a very competitive applicant. Beyond that, no one can say how you will do.</p>

5

<p>I think your info is impressive.
Your shot is higher than the majority of students applying to Harvard. I suggest, however, to not report your SAT score: you do not want a 660 to get in the way of you and Harvard. Lol.</p>

6

<p>Very impressive. However, you might want to retake the SAT and shoot for a 2300+.</p>

7

<p>“I am announcing that I am incapable of determining my own chances of success but I am simultaneously offering to determine yours in return.”</p>

8

<p>Thanks everyone for your advice and encouragement.
Dwight- I do not mean to be rude but if you do not have anything productive to say, please do not say it at all. I understand that none of us (well at least not me) are college recruitment officers so a hard percentage is definitely impossible, but an objective review from peers can be very useful in understanding one’s strengths and weaknesses without bias and in how to improve those weaknesses. Thanks</p>

9

<p>I like you Asiankid123… That post was a “burn” (as some people would call it). Jajajaja!</p>

10

<p>

</p>

<p>The point that everyone’s been driving at, whether or not you take them kindly, is that your admission chances depend on many things beyond mere stats or your list of activities, beyond your control, beyond what you tell us in your post. </p>

<p>Your background. Your life story. Your personal qualities. How you appeal or not appeal to the adcom, how aggressively your regional rep advocates for you versus other students that he may want to promote more, how receptive the committee is the day your application is discussed and what kinds of files they read before yours came up…</p>

<p>Adcoms don’t line up all the students based on their scores and impressiveness of their awards then pick the top 1600ish from that list. They read your personal statement, get to know your “story”, look at whether or not your talents lie in something that the school needs, and how the attributes you offer compare to those of other applicants in the pool. Exactly as you said, we as anonymous posters on this board know none of these things, nor are these things always appropriate to disclose online to where they can be read by admission officers or your present/future classmates. </p>

<p>So in the end, your weakness is that you may not be the person with the combination of interests and life experiences that the adcom decides the school needs at the time your app comes up, something you can do nothing to address, no matter how many chance posts you make. </p>

<p>You may not appreciate DwightEisenhower’s advice now, but should you ever come back in five years (and you won’t because people tend not to come back to help out others with questions when they themselves can no longer benefit), you’ll feel the same.</p>

11

<p>I agree that there are certain intangibles that are important to an application. I guess the best way to apply to a college is just to have self-confidence and write truthfully from the heart. Truth is I have just been under a lot of pressure from relatives to get into a top college (I’m sure many people understand) and frankly, I guess I just wanted to compare myself with peers to see where I stood. Thank you very much for your input, and forgive me if I sounded rude (as I said in my last post, my focus was not to “burn” or attack DwightEisenhower).</p>

<p>Sorry again to DwightEisenhower.</p>

12

<p>No, I’m sorry – I was being needlessly rude.</p>

<p>My point, put much more eloquently by Calico, was that chances threads for Harvard are of marginal usefulness even when the advice is given by people extremely knowledgeable about the admissions process. There’s no way to predict your chances. All you can get from us is “you (are/are not) wasting your time applying.” This is because almost everyone who gets rejected from Harvard is qualified. If Harvard kicked out everyone they accepted, they could build a class of “rejects” just as qualified as the original.</p>

<p>So, the “chance me and I’ll chance you back” scheme is really more likely to perpetuate bad advice than provide any meaningful help to you or anyone else.</p>

13

<p>Haven’t I already posted here? :confused: Maybe I just starting writing it and never ended up hitting “Post Quick Reply.” Huh.</p>

<p>Anyway, your shot looks great.</p>

<p>I disagree with DwightEisenhower’s reply. I’d agree that the top 25% of applicants, maybe (this estimate is extremely crude), are pretty much interchangeable in terms of qualifications, but you’d be surprised how many people apply to Harvard just to give it a shot even when they have, say, a 3.3, a 27, and a few clubs. Obviously, this isn’t 75% of applicants, but it’s probably higher than at any other Ivy simply because of Harvard’s big name. Since there’s still a large pool of applicants who don’t end up making it because they simply do not have amazing credentials, you can likely improve your chances through hard work. I DO agree with DwightEisenhower, though, in that chance threads are unlikely to tell you much that you don’t already know. Their purpose, I think, is more arguable for less competitive schools where chances can be more clearly approximated, where it is actually possible to not be a “reach” candidate, and where many applicants don’t really know what they’re missing. I don’t think this is you, though, so the value of you posting a chance thread seems questionable to me.</p>