Harvard 2021 SCEA

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

Hey guys! I’m hoping to apply to Harvard SCEA to enter in the fall of 2017.

ACT (36 composite)
SAT (2260 on the old one)
Subject tests Math 2 (770) Chem (780)
PSAT (1490)
GPA (4.825)
Rank (1)
AP Calc AB (5)
AP Chem (5)
AP Bio (5)
APUSH (5)
AP English Lang and Comp (5)
Senior year: AP Lit, AP US government, AP microeconomics, AP music theory, AP Calc BC, AP Stats, AP Physics, and Anatomy and Physiology

I will most likely be an AP Scholar with Distinction and a National Merit (Semi)Finalist

Dance: I have been dancing for 13 years, and I am currently a member of an audition-only professional tap company that travels around the country to perform. We meet for about three hours a week for technique and rehearsal when we don’t have a show coming up, but my drive is an hour each way so I devote more like 7-8 hours a week to it.

Robotics: I was part of an FRC robotics team for my freshman and sophomore years, earning two varsity letters during those years. I quit because of some team issues, not the time commitment, but I fear it will look like that. It was pretty insane, about 26 hours a week, but I loved it.

Employment: I have been working at a pizza place for about a year now, and I work about ten hours a week during the school year, more over the summer. I have moved up quickly, so I’ll take that as a good sign.

Church Choir/Worship Team: I have been a member of my church choir for three years, and this year I joined the worship team, where I lead over 3,000 people in singing each week. Each of these usually takes about five hours a week.

Community Service: I do lots of community service, including preparing all the toddler crafts for Sunday school at my church and teaching Sunday school almost every week. The crafts take about four hours a week, and each class is about ninety minutes. I also have recently found work at a food pantry where I translate for the Spanish-speakers that come in.

I also have been in FCA at school for three years now, and I am a student leader. I am also in NHS and Spanish NHS.

I was just wondering what you all think I could do to improve my application. Thank you all so much! Good luck to all of you, I really hope to see you in fall of 2017!!!

2

You are the type of applicant who should apply in the SCEA round, as you are an ultra competitive applicant. That’s not to say you will be admitted, rather your stats will make your application bubble to the top. That said, what Harvard looks for in a competitive applicant is good “character.” That’s an old fashioned word; it means the way you develop your inner qualities: intellectual passion, maturity, social conscience, concern for community, tolerance, inclusiveness and love of learning.

Admissions learns about your “character” by the comments made by your teachers and guidance counselor, as well comments from your interviewer and what your choose to write about in your essays and the “tone” and content of what you say.

At this juncture, there is nothing you can do to improve your application other than working on your essays over the summer. When school starts in the fall, give your completed, polished essays to your recommendation writers and ask them for their comments. This will allow your teachers to get to know you better and will help them write you a better recommendation. Several years ago I made this comment on a thread entitled “Essays, how important are they?” and I stand by every word. Best of luck to you in the applications process!

3

@gibby thank you so much for the wonderful advice! I have chosen my two teachers for recommendations already, and I have great relationships with them.

4

I am also planning on applying SCEA :slight_smile: I am so excited!!

SAT: 2290, 800 M/750 CR/740 W (second time)
ACT: 36, 36 R/36 W/36 M/35 S/24 Essay (might retake for Essay)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (weighted 4.95)
Rank: First decile (no ranking at school)
AP: Calc BC (5), Human Geography (5), Chemistry (5), Physics: Mechanics (5), Physics: E/M (5), English Lang (5), Statistics (5)
Senior Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Bio, Linear Algebra H, AP US History, AP Compsci, AP Spanish Lang, Gym

Extracurriculars:
Academic Decathlon (Captain), regional awards in Interview (1st, 3rd), Mathematics (1st) and Essay (3rd)
Math Team (President)
Columbia Science Honors Program
New Jersey Science League, 3rd place team, 15th place individual in the State (for Chemistry II)
Chemistry Olympiad, Honors for national exam performance
Key Club (President)
National Honor Society (President)
Student Government (Executive Board, Recording Secretary)
Coffeehouse (Quarterly Music Festivals) Board Member
Mock Trial Club (Founding Member)
Research, Laboratory Robotics Interest Group Research Symposium poster winner and Young Science Achievers Program grant Wwnner
Swimming (JV, Scorer), Coach’s Award
Cross Country (JV) (I also love to run half marathons)

Work Experience:
Physics Research Intern (Unpaid): Princeton University, Summer 2015
External Contractor/Course Design Advisor (Paid): Princeton University, Summer 2016
Lifeguard/Water Safety Instructor: Summers 2014, 2015, 2016

Community service:
Key Club Community Service, 175+ hours
Homeless Solutions, 40+ hours
Local Church Tutoring, 40+ hours
Science League Tutoring, 40+ hours
Mentoring Program at Elementary School, 12 hours
Middle School Tutoring, 10 hours

Summer Activities:
Precalculus acceleration course at Newark Academy, Summer 2014
Princeton Laboratory Learning Program (research internship with physics department), Summer 2015
Accepted to prestigious Governor’s School for the Sciences but already had commitment with Princeton professor (paid for course development project)

Teacher Rec #1: AP Chemistry Teacher/XC Coach
Teacher Rec #2: AP Human Geo Teacher/AcDec Coach

Additional Rec: Research Mentor

Interview: Planning on it!
Applying for Financial Aid: Yes
Intended Major: Physics/Chem
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Large (~1800) Public, unranked
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 200,000+

If anyone is willing to be an essay reader, I will be eternally grateful :slight_smile:

5

@penguinpal: What you just did is called “hijacking a thread.” You took someone else’s post and tagged your post to it asking for responses – that’s extremely rude in the CC world. What you should have done instead is to create your own post. Please do so now.

6

@gibby My apologies! I am not a frequent user of CC so I didn’t know the etiquette. Given the title I assumed it was a thread for anyone interested in applying who wanted to share their backgrounds…I wasn’t hoping for responses about my stats, I was just joining in on the excitement. I am really sorry to the original poster :frowning:

7

@penguinpal don’t worry about it! I am very excited as well, and I wish you the best! While I think it is good to keep my options open, I believe Harvard is still a reasonable goal for my future.

8

@Ashley0729 & @penguinpal ! My child is one of the Class of 2019s. Good luck to both of you !!!