<p>Hey guys, so I was recently deferred from Harvard (my number one)! It's disappointing, but I'm not discouraged quite yet. Here is most of what went into my Common App. It's been suggested to me that I send a "Deferral Letter" to Harvard in effort to appeal myself to them a bit more (keeping them updated with new volunteering, which I've done a lot of recently, and other things). I also plan on retaking the SAT in January to hopefully raise that Writing score. I think that if I can get it to at least the mid 700s, I can make it a bit more difficult to pass me up (but maybe not, who knows). This means I can't retake my ML2 which sucks, but it'll have to do.</p>
<p>I'm going to get my mentor for BSU to fill out an optional letter of recommendation which may help. NTHS has grown exponentially this year after its founding last year, and the robotics team is so large that we may be able to build three prototypes this year. I will probably have added another several dozen hours of volunteering since I sent in my early application by the time I send the letter too. I'm also adding my research paper (listed under summer activities) as a supplemental submission.</p>
<p>I heard from Harvard alum posting on CC that Harvard is generally good about answering counselor calls to see what a student may have been lacking for them to have been deferred, so I asked my counselor to call on Friday and I'll hear back from her on Monday (she's been very supportive throughout this process). Are there any outstanding weaknesses in my application that anyone can see? I don't ask this rhetorically; I've evaluated it myself and spotted some weak points which I hope to mend as best I can before RD, but it doesn't hurt to get outside feedback! Thanks.</p>
<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2230 (780 CR, 770 M, 680 W, 8 Essay)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Bio M (780), Lit (720), ML2 (690)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.77 (4.57/5.0 weighted)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 22/380
AP (place score in parentheses): Gov & Pol (5), English Lang & Comp (5), Biology (4), Calc AB (4), WHAP (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stat, AP Environmental Science, AP Calc BC, AP English Lit & Comp, AP Chemistry, AP Spanish Lang and Culture, and a tech class for the requirement.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, Carson Scholarship Semifinalist, National Achievement Scholarship Semifinalist (Finalist determination pending), generic state "scholar athlete" awards, several club/school awards.</p>
<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Robotics Team (Strategy Captain and Webmaster), BSU (Vice President), Track & Field (Varsity Sprinter, County Championships), School Newspaper (Arts & Entertainment Section Editor), Policy Debate (Varsity 1AC/2NC), National Technical Honor Society (Leadership Board and Co-Founder).
Job/Work Experience: Working at nearby grocery store, tutoring.
Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteering at local shelter (Head Start, Big Brothers Big Sisters, canned food drives, etc.), participant in Best Buddies High Schools program, Project Linus, field day volunteering at local elementary schools, Black History Month assemblies, peer tutoring, ecological volunteering around the area (led efforts to help pick up trash, rake leaves; that sort of thing), JHUAPL Girl Power volunteering, founded robotics team at local middle school, manual conservation work.
Summer Activities: Volunteering at local nature center, working at grocery store. Also continued a year-long research project on the monetary restrictions on the American space program in which I was mentored and assisted by the host of a podcast show and a member of the NASA Advisory Council.
Essays: Discussed topics that meant a lot to me; I thought they were good.
Teacher Recommendations: Not sure how either of them were, honestly (didn't read). Both teachers like me a lot and were more than happy to write them, so hopefully they weren't problematic at the least, and very helpful at best.
Counselor Rec: Didn't read, but I'm presuming they're about as good as they'll get. She knows me fairly well because of national/regional/state/school awards, and because of other applications for programs like MITES that have gone through her.
Additional Rec: N/A; definitely need to send one in the upcoming months. I know just the person.
Interview: Lasted for about an hour. Conversation seemed to flow well and my interviewer was very nice.</p>
<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes.
Projected Concentration: Bioengineering.
State (if domestic applicant): Maryland.
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public, mid-sized.
Ethnicity: Black or African American (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFY2kJ96jNY">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFY2kJ96jNY</a>).
Gender: Male.
Income Bracket: N/A, but solidly middle class.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first to pursue STEM in my family.</p>