Hello! I am currently going into my senior year of High School and believe I have average-above average credentials in almost all fields except GPA. However, I suffered acidic reflux and ulcers for which I had to go through extensive care and medication. Turns out the doctor prescribed a too-heavy dose and the side effects hit really badly, especially depression. I was in and out of school a lot and kept up my grades. Since then I have increased APs and rigorous classes but still somehow only have a 4.2, but I’m still in the upper quartile (maybe) of my high school, which is number one in the country.
I’m aiming for Harvard rEA
TL;DR: My GPA sucks because of the damage taken Freshman/Beginning of Soph Year
Test Scores: Perfect 36 on ACT; 11/12 on essay. SAT 2s of 800 in Math 2 and Chemistry.
Talents/Achievements: hmm, I hold a bachelors degree in indian classical dancing…working towards my masters this year (our school partnered with an indian university that comes and takes exams each year) the B.A./M.A course is 7 years total, but I have been dancing for 11.
Science Fairs Winner, Intel Participant and Honorable Mention Winner. Did some novel research at National Institutes for Health (v. competitive,) getting a paper published at Harvard as first co-author. Published in The Scientist and Scientific American also.
3rd Best in State for LD Debate. Top 30 Nationally. Coach debate for local middle school as well. Treasurer last year, Teaching Coordinator and Research Coordinator this year (I would’ve been captain but I’m working on a product based on my science fair work and that will take more time so I needed a lab elective instead.)
Participated, Mentored, and Coached Odyssey of the Mind for 5-6 years now.
^These are the Big things, I have some smaller ones, strong, but don’t feel like writing them
Essay: Working on them, people say I have excellent voice and writing style, just need to make it more personal and polish them
Recs: Both teachers asked me FIRST to write my rec, so I hope they are good. No idea on the counselor rec.
Misc: I don’t want the school for its name. I legitimately have certain requirements of which the school fits. I have a very specific major-interest and they have it, as well as the intramural sports or other clubs I am looking for.
Thanks for reading and giving me your opinion!
I don’t believe your GPA will be a major factor, though upper quartile isn’t ideal. An upward trend is good. What is your unweighted GPA? Your ACT and SAT II scores and your curricular rigor will help balance any GPA issues. You have high proficiency in a distinctive EC (which I presume is Bharatanatyam) as well as strong STEM and debate credentials, which should set you apart from other qualified applicants.
There are never any guarantees, but you are a very strong applicant. With acid reflux and ulcers already, I hope that you aren’t killing yourself trying to achieve so much.
What is your “very specific” major interest? And what are your “certain requirements”?
The average student who is accepted into harvard from our school has a GPA of 4.3 or above. The school does not supply us with an unweighted GPA or Class Rank, but I can give a rough estimate Freshman Year: 3.3 sophomore year: 3.6 Junior year: 3.85.
The Dance Style is actually Kathak, less commonly known, but still just as rigorous. Harvard is one of the few schools that features not only a Bharatnatyam dance team, but also showcases a Kathak based one in their South Asian Show Ghungroo. Other schools have one dance team which is mixed but primarily Bharatnatyam.
The ulcers were due to H. Pylori, but I do think stress may have attributed to their growth.
I am looking into Neurobiology and Behavior. The school offers a Mind Brain Behavior Track which prepares you for med school (what I would like to do), integrates other interests into the course, and provides lab research and your own senior thesis. It is very different from what I have heard at other schools and perfectly fits what I am looking for.
Also for EC not only do they have the dance style I was looking for, but also figure skating, Parliamentary Debate (I didn’t do it in high school but coached the middle school team) whereas many schools only have PF or PD teams. Additionally the mentor I worked with actually partners with a lab at Harvard. The professor does take undergrad students in his lab and I feel it would be beneficial because I already have background on the type of research as well as could learn at a higher level.
Hope this helps!
That is all very helpful. You clearly have good reasons for targeting Harvard, and a plan to take advantage of specific resources that would let you thrive there. That is all important to convey in your application. Kathak is more distinctive than Bharatanatyam. The MBBB program is a very interesting and distinctive one - I used to know a couple of the faculty associated with the program, and they are certainly first rate.
Coming from a very competitive school with lots of other qualified applicants won’t help, but I don’t see any reason why you can’t put together a very strong application. The upward trend (combined with a good reason for the freshman slump), test scores, research/publication, dance, debate and strong reasons for why Harvard would be a good fit for you all make you a solid/strong candidate. Obviously, there are no guarantees.
What’s your rank in school?
Scores/ECs are good and GPA could be better but won’t make or break. Focus on really tailoring your essays to the “Harvard fit”. This is crucial for rEA. Try to come across as someone that is genuinely interested in going to the school because of how the programs are suited for your interests (which you seem to have a decent amount of insight into), as opposed to just wanting to go because its Harvard.
Debate schools such as Harvard are pretty well informed about what each category of debate signifies for candidates. Policy debate is viewed as the most intellectually rigorous. Large consensus on these things is if you are not a legacy candidate or recruited- your chances of getting in if you fall in the “average harvard student” category is the school’s admission rate.
Given all the reasons for your interest in Harvard, why rEA instead of SCEA?
I didn’t think Harvard offered SCEA, only REA. Also lamentably I don’t know what the difference is.
Actually, Harvard only has RD or SCEA:
https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/apply/application-timeline/restrictive-early-action
Single Choice Early Action is a form of EA offered by HYP+Stanford whereby applicants agree to apply Early Admission to only 1 school (“single choice”). Unlike Early Decision, acceptance is non-binding, and you can apply to as many schools as you want RD; but unlike RD or REA, you can only apply to one school early. You can also apply early to non-U.S. schools. It is a way of getting strong applicants to focus and indicate a heightened level of interest in one particular school that they see as a particular fit for them. Last year the SCEA acceptance rate was about 16.5% (977/5919), vs. 5.3% overall (1990/37,307), and almost 50% of all admitted applicants were admitted SCEA (977/1990). The RD admission rate was 3.2% (1013/31,388).
Hmmm, could you point out where exactly it says SCEA? If that is an option I would love to do so. However, from my understanding Restrictive EA you could only apply to one private university and as many foreign or state schools. Hence I was planning on applying to Harvard REA, one in state public school rolling, and one in state public school EA as well.
It sounds like the same thing. My bad. Harvard is apparently calling it “restrictive” instead of “single choice”, as does Stanford. Princeton and Yale use the term SCEA, which is the generally used term that you will see on CC. Yes, you can apply early to a state school as well as to foreign schools.