<p>Hi guys! I would usually never make this chance thread, but I honestly have no idea whether I should even get my hopes up or not. I'm a junior, Any hope?</p>
<p>ACT: (will take in a couple of months) practice tests have been telling me 34/35
PSAT: 208</p>
<p>SAT II:
Math II (June)
Physics (June)</p>
<p>Course Load: (toughest available to any junior in my school)
Honors Physics
Honors Precalc/Calc BC
Honors English
AP US History
AP Spanish
AP Chemistry
AP Macro (selfstudy due to scheduling conflicts)</p>
<p>Current GPA: currently 4.0 UW, weighted is released at the end of the year</p>
<p>Awards:
High Honor Rolls
Principal's List
Scholar Athlete
3rd place in regional science research competition
Will enter many more science competitions this coming spring</p>
<p>ECs:
Science Research (since 9th grade)
School Newspaper (since 9th grade) (currently a writer/section editor) will be editor in chief next year (HUGE time commitment)
Key Club Member
Amnesty International
May work on starting FBLA in school (?)</p>
<p>Volunteer Work
- Helped start a entirely self-run candy store in local religious center to help with fundraising since 7th grade (100s of hours)
- Local hospital volunteer since 9th grade
-Various walks/fundraising events with school's community service club</p>
<p>Work-experience (never actually worked for money)
-Science research summer intern for very large research institute in NYC (unpaid internship)</p>
<p>Summer experiences
-Visiting relatives and doing service work in Pakistan
-Conducting research project
-Next summer: hopefully LEAD summer business institute at UPenn (if I get in) and another science research project</p>
<p>So...any chance? Please tell me what you think and what I should me doing further to help me.</p>
<p>Without scores/AP results no one can really tell you anything. </p>
<p>Not much in EC’s stand out, but they look interesting… Depends how good (published?) the research is/was/will be - that would be good and stand out.</p>
<p>Lets assume your ACT comes in at 34 or higher, and that your AP and SAT II scores are also high. Assume that you also maintain the 4.0 unweighted, higher weighted. We know youll be editing the paper. </p>
<p>That means that almost every college in America would love to get you, and a number would toss merit aid in your direction. But Harvard gets a bunch of similarly qualified applicants. So the question will be what makes you distinctive, special, in a rarefied group. </p>
<p>For example, do the candy store and the work in Pakistan reflect an unusual passion for social service and ability to make good things happen? Does your work as a journalist reflect your passion and talent for writing? Is your research work producing something really impressive that attests to your passion for a career in medicine or scientific research? Any publication yet? Maybe all of the above, attesting that you are an extraordinary renaissance person? You have to decide how to frame your achievements, goals and passions.</p>
<p>A good application needs an honest, credible narrative that gets an admission officers attention and conveys what makes you so special that you rise above 93% or so of Harvard applicants most very bright and talented who wont make it over the bar. </p>
<p>The main thing is, don’t do things just to get into Harvard.</p>
<p>Honestly, students on campus do not seem to be that rarefied a group. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about being special, just be yourself, and work hard at things that you like to be involved in.</p>
<p>When I read your info, I thought the visit to Pakistan to see relatives was the most interesting thing about you so far. Just my quick impression.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, the main problem I feel with me is that I can’t bring myself to do something JUST to get into a school. I see so many kids with such long resumes that it’s honestly unsettling to think that a normal, smart kid who does 3 or 4 things she really just enjoys won’t have a chance against these superchildren.
As you can see from my list, nothing is too fancy and there really isn’t much, but I dedicate myself 100% to the couple things I am doing in addition to doing my absolute best in school. And of course Harvard isn’t everything, but I just don’t know how to make admissions at these big schools realize that.</p>
<p>I didn’t even think of applying to a top university until the end of my senior year… At school I played a lot of sport, music and various cultural things. Everything I did I wanted to do. The important thing with top colleges is to show passion and of course be good at what you do. You certainly do not need to plan out your resume 4 years in advance (as I also see some kids doing). Be yourself, do what you want, do well at that and see where you end up.</p>
<p>From what I can see, with good test scores (34+ ACT, near to 800 SAT II’s and a load of 5’s) you look a good applicant, and fairly interesting person - just remember which one of those is more important and you will be fine! :)</p>