ea chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I recently decided to apply to Harvard EA. I just filled this all out for the EA thread, so i figure I might as well make a chance thread:) I don't have very high hopes, but any thoughts?</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): n/a; taking in october
ACT: 35 (36 R 36 E 34 M 34 S)
SAT II: 770 USH, 790 Lit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 6%
AP (place score in parenthesis): USH (5) US Gov (5) Lang (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Macro, AP Micro, AP Stats, AP English Lit, AP Euro, Honors Spanish
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): not sure what all is considered "major", but... NCTE Achievements in English Writing (Nat'l), Bryn Mawr College Book Award (school), National Spanish Honors Society, National Merit Semifinalist, National Achievement Semifinalist, National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Representative to the Board of Education-- only student on Board of Ed, Freshman Mentor, Transfer/ Foreign Exchange students mentor, Elementary school tutor, Student Council, Vegetarian Club (includes lots of activism), Volleyball freshman year</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience: Au-pair in Denmark summer before Junior year (random, I know!)</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community service: about 400 hours, both during Summers and school year. Through Appalachia Service Project (building/ repairing houses in impoverished areas of KY & TN), Camp SOAR (volunteer counselor for camp w/ kids with mental and/or physical disabilities), various projects through my church, volunteer administration assistant and a children's research center</p>

<p>Summer Activities: See above</p>

<p>Essays: Seem great to me. Common app one is done. Not sure if I'll write the optional one for Harvard</p>

<p>Teacher Recommendation: Should be amazing!
Counselor Rec: Should be pretty good.
Additional Rec: None
Interview: Not yet...</p>

<p>Other[/list][<em>]
State (if domestic applicant): Illinois[</em>] Country (if international applicant):[<em>] School Type: Large public[</em>] Ethnicity: Mixed-- White, Black, Dominican, Native American (not registered)[<em>] Gender: Female[</em>] Income Bracket: Upper-middle[*] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM</p>

2

<p>Your stats indicate that you are a competitive applicant. Being a URM helps. Beyond that, no one can say what chances you have as so much depends on subjective factors, such as your essays and teachers recommendations and how they compare to all the other competitive applicants. Best of luck to you though in the applications process.</p>

3

<p>Thanks, gibby! I know that chance threads really don’t necessarily give an accurate indication of whether or not I’ll get in. That said, I’d love to hear negative and/or positive feedback!</p>

4

<p>^^ What difference will negative and/or positive feedback make, as there’s nothing you can do about it anyway. It’s too late in the process except to: (1) keep editing and rewriting your essay and (2) make sure your teachers have a copy of MIT’s website on teacher recommendations: [Writing</a> Recommendations | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/writingrecs]Writing”>How to write good letters of recommendation | MIT Admissions)</p>

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<p>At this point I’m just curious about what others think. Thanks for the MIT guide! I haven’t seen that before.</p>

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<p>^^ At this point in the process, recommendations are ‘key’ – not sure whether you have seen these:</p>

<p><a href=“https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-started/video-transcription/whats-the-most-important-part-of-the-application[/url]”>https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-started/video-transcription/whats-the-most-important-part-of-the-application&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>“The most important part of your application — bar none, no question, any college — is your high school transcript. Probably the next most important are your teacher recommendations, particularly if you’re applying to any kind of selective college or university.”</p>

<p>William Fitzsimmons has said basically the same thing: [Guidance</a> Office: Answers From Harvard’s Dean, Part 3 - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/harvarddean-part3/]Guidance”>Guidance Office: Answers From Harvard's Dean, Part 3 - The New York Times)</p>

<p>"Recommendations from secondary school teachers and counselors are extremely important at Harvard and at many other colleges, particularly those with selective admissions processes. Faced with more academically qualified applicants than places in the freshman class, our admission officers review the two required teacher recommendations and the counselor report with great care, often commenting on them in writing on “reader sheets” in each application.</p>

<p>We often project the recommendations themselves onto large screens so that all members of the Admissions Committee can see them during the subcommittee and full committee review processes in February and March.</p>

<p>Recommendations can help us to see well beyond test scores and grades and other credentials and can illuminate such personal qualities as character and leadership as well as intellectual curiosity, creativity, and love of learning."</p>

<p>With your stats and being a URM, your application’s fate depends on your teacher recs.</p>