<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>Long story short, I am a teen entrepreneur and my company's products are used by 1 in 16 US teenagers and has been featured in major publications such as the New York Times. I have an opportunity to speak at a TEDx YOUTH event and was wondering how significant of a thing that this would be in the admissions process.</p>
<p>To give some context, I will be applying to Stanford and Harvard. My sophomore & freshman UW GPAs were about 3.45... My junior year GPA was a 3.95 and my senior GPA will be a 4.0. My test scores are all above average though for those schools.</p>
<p>I'm just wanting to know about the significance of the TED talk though... not my entire admissions odds.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I think it is pretty significant.</p>
<p>Harvard and Stanford are a crapshoot irrespective of your achievements.</p>
<p>^why? Stanford doesn’t take into account freshman year grades and they love entrepreneurs. Plus, I think it’s a bit short sighted to say that when you haven’t seen any other part of my profile…</p>
<p>What texaspg is saying is that Harvard and Stanford have so many stellar applicants that no one will be able to determine your chances of admission, despite whatever amazing achievements you may have.</p>
<p>When it comes to these schools, you either have a chance - or you don’t.</p>
<p>If you are so sure, why bother asking a bunch of strangers? </p>
<p>You are seeking opinions and you got one.</p>
<p>Granted I don’t know your whole profile. However, I do know students who did manage to get into both schools and think I know their profiles reasonably well. I also know a lot who were turned down too.</p>
<p>In my view, the people who got accepted vs those who did not, there were very few differences.</p>
<p>OP, you seem to get agitated/defensive whenever someone tells you that the tippy-top schools are a crapshoot, even for you. If you only want affirmation or for people to tell you what you want to hear, then just say that.</p>
<p>Let me elaborate. Even though I think your TED talk is significant, it is not enough to alleviate your GPA.</p>
<p>Sorry for sounding agitated. There are just several “trolls” on here who will put even the most qualified applicants down. I welcome criticism; I just didn’t think it was fair to judge me based on the limited info, but I get your point</p>
<p>We have seen other parts of your profile.<br>
You posted it.</p>
<p>The rub is that the best chances for kids who are entrepreneurial successes (and there are many,) is when they are able to convey more than their drive. Your profile focuses on your achievements, per your own sense of what may impress adcoms. As you listed it, it’s clear you can thrive at H or S. What’s missing is a sense of what they’ll get back from you, during the four years there. You may want to check out some of the posts by MITChris, an adcom. It’s more than same hs clubs, same founding a distant charity. Put the TED talk on the app, if you wish.</p>
<p>You’ll find that on CC, everybody is too inexperienced to judge how impressive anything is. I’ve seen people with amazing ECs told they need to do more stuff, or join the NHS, and people with nearly nothing (but a knack for turning two clubs into 20 lines of sub-achievements) told they’re in everywhere. Here, the most important thing is your GPA/SAT, because that’s all most people here know how to compare. I wouldn’t take anything that isn’t posted by an admissions officer too seriously.</p>
<p>But, based on the admittees I know, you’ve basically got Stanford and Harvard is ~50%. Make those essays good!</p>
<p>Would it help if I explained that my GPA was so low because I was flying across the country meeting with CEOs? I was also making over $1000 a day at that point which resulted in me focusing more on my company than school. However, I have matured significantly academically since then and now realize the importance of an education (and now always put academics first).</p>
<p>NO! It will seem pretentious and irrelevant for a college app. And it won’t tip that there’s a write-up in the NYT or that you hired some guy from some other company. This is about you, the kid. And, I do have experience with college apps.</p>
<p>You want them to love you, go to bat for you? or wonder why college at all?
Btw, the most important thing is not your gpa/stats. If it were, they could use a computer to pick from the top down. Once your stats and rigor are “in range,” it’s all about the rest you present- and how you do that, what it shows about you as a person.</p>
<p>There are a lot of elements of surprise for a reader the applicant may not always be aware of. There are the absolutes - GPA and test scores. Then there are these:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Essays</p></li>
<li><p>Recommendations</p></li>
<li><p>Tone of the application</p></li>
<li><p>ECs</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Harvard has minimized chances of people messing up their applications by removing any mandatory essays. However, they do suggest you take as many SAT IIs you can, excel at everything etc. Stanford otoh, want to look deep into your soul based on 4-5 short essays. So there is an element of surprise there since the reader may not like what you are offering there or may love it.</p>
<p>All it takes is one or two wrong words in your recommendations for the schools not to take that chance on you. By the same token, what appeals to an older adcom at Harvard may not appeal to fresh out of college adcom at Stanford or vice versa.</p>
<p>The tone of your application - when the essays are written, the ECs are tabulated, does it say, i have accomplished so much and I am so cool or does it say I have a lot to do and this is what I plan to accomplish in college? Being humble usually helps in my opinion.</p>
<p>ECs are what people pin their hopes on. Let us assume both Stanford and Harvard get additional applicants who all claim to have started their own businesses, invented something/have a patent pending, or won several 100k prizes out there. They are admitting the prize winners, potential nobel prize winners, and some business starters. There are a lot of people out there starting registered non-profits as well as for profits (this has become a fad recently among high schoolers and it is frankly annoying to me as a parent because they lose their youth too early but I will keep it to myself). You would be surprised at how many people who are admitted to stanford or Harvard, when googled, show up in this category. Only real distinction you can show is perhaps if you attach a tax return and show you earned all that money through your business. </p>
<p>There was a girl who had a thread about having low scores, not doing exceptionally well in school, but still getting into stanford this year because she spent several years working with displaced Haitians. Her claim was you too can get in not understanding that she is the exception and not the norm.</p>
<p>But, the CA still has essays kids can screw up.
And, no kid should count on a great LoR- even if you see it and think it’s great, it’s the adcoms’ reactions that matter.</p>
<p>With all the talk about crapshoots and lotteries, I often say kids don’t realize that what hinders their chances is their own CA. Topped off by institutional needs- which is a whole lot more than diversity.</p>
<p>I have seen threads where people with <1900 SATs get into Stanford. Some of the people here on CC simply shrug off some achievements because to them, it is just a line on a piece of paper. TED talks aren’t easy to be awarded. Be proud of yourself. Ands never regret anything (college essay tip is to never try to explain a weakness).</p>
<p>However, to be honest, and I don’t say this often, but is going to college really necessary for you? Have you considered applying to Peter Thiel’s 20 under 20 program? If you do bring in $1,000 in revenue A DAY, then you do have some assets and a very good chance of gaining some capital from the program…</p>
<p>Sent from my Nexus One using CC</p>
<p>I have looked at Thiel’s 20 Under 20 program, but I think that I want to at least try out college first. Also, I don’t currently make $1k a day (scaled the company down a bit to focus more on school). However, it is still over a hundred a day and is about to go up quite a bit.</p>
<p>How would you suggest that I explain my freshman and sophomore year grades? I feel like it is something that I should address even though I get what you are saying about not regretting anything.</p>
<p>Let me be more frank:</p>
<p>You have an upwards trend in your grades, and you founded a company that generates $100-1000 in revenue a day. Do not explain why you did not get good grades. Explain how you found the company. That is your selling point. Don’t focus on your flaws, they will focus on your flaws if you do. </p>
<p>I have a better GPA than you. But I would rather be in your position anyday of the week.</p>
<p>I don’t know why you are so uptight over this freshman nonsense. You looked at the problem, and you addressed it with and upward trend in grades. They will appreciate that. </p>
<p>Sent from my Nexus One using CC</p>
<p>Okay, thanks. I’m not too worried about my freshman grades for Stanford since they don’t take them into consideration. However, I am a bit worried about my sophomore year grades and also my freshman year grades for Harvard. </p>
<p>Do you really think my upward trend + solid ACT + strong subject test scores will really be able to make up for that?</p>