harvard applicants club

<p>common people !
who are going to apply HVC this year, sign here and post your stats , so everyone could share ideas toghether.</p>

<p>Here's a sloppy cut-and-paste from the Yale forum. I don't really want to post stats, especially since I'm pretty true to what they are in real life, but as eating food mentioned in the Yale forum, it's nice to have benchmarks both for this year and for future nervous nellies. </p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<pre><code>* SAT I (breakdown): 800 CR, 800 Math, 790 Writing
* SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 World History, 780 Physics
* Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 on the 90=A scale that Yale will (I believe) use, a 3.95 on my school's 94=A. Jr. year definitely my best year.
* Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/592
* AP (place score in parenthesis): 4 5's (in rigorous, core subject APs) and a 4 (sophomore dalliance, haha)
* Senior Year Course Load: Post-BC Calc math (an amalgam of things that makes more sense on a transcript), AP Physics C, AP Art History, AP English Literature, AP US History, AP Studio Art
* Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Yeah I missed out on the registrations for those babies
</code></pre>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<pre><code>* Extracurriculars:
Lacrosse: Have played club all my life. Three-year varsity, two-year starter, won county and state titles. At one point high school team ranked #2 in CT, consistently in top 10. My club team was ranked in the top 100 nationally this spring, and I captained that team.
Art: I'm not going to try to describe my work, but I take classes and do submissions to school publications, and have won a few semi-prestigious regional awards. It's something that doesn't reflect on me as well on my application as it should; hopefully my essay on it can liven it up.
I've been involved in a lot of tutoring, both volunteer and private. Sophomore year I was just involved in a school program, junior/senior year added tutoring of those members of the lacrosse team lacking in intelligence. (~2-3 hrs/wk)
Science olympiad, not a huge commitment, but will be captain Sr. year. I've also won a couple fairly prestigious county awards. Yes, I am really in science olympiad and love to paint.
Three-year columnist for school paper. Not really eligible for any awards unfortunately, but a lot of hours were put in.
For fun, I am a music/film buff. I had a three-week internship at a bilingual magazine in Mexico that concentrates on film and books, and also have done a little radio work.
* Job/Work Experience: Decent amount of tutoring (3 or so hours 11-12 grades).
* Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer tutoring (~2 hrs/week)
* Summer Activities: Nothing that'll blow anyone away.
* Essays: I like them; who knows what that means.
* Teacher Recommendation: I'm gambling with a supplementary rec from an academic teacher, but overall they are all incredibly strong.
* Counselor Rec: Amazing.
* Additional Rec: It'll be great, it might **** H off though.
* Interview:
</code></pre>

<p>Other</p>

<pre><code>* State (if domestic applicant): CT
* Country (if international applicant):
* School Type: Public
* Ethnicity: White
* Gender: ?
* Income Bracket: High I guess
* Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): non-athlete, non-legacy white kid from new england/mid-atlantic area. not much in the hooks department.
</code></pre>

<p>Reflection</p>

<pre><code>* Strengths: Standardized tests, recommendations, # of hours of involvement in genuine EC activities.
* Weaknesses: Lack of distinction in an appealing EC (my top EC is lacrosse, and I'm not playing in college), race/geographic, slightly lower GPA than some other applicants from my school (there are some grade-whore status folks).
* Hard to Know: Transcript (I'm sure that almost anybody that's competitive will be A-laden), # of APs (is 10 by graduation high or just around average), class rank (typical situation in an above-average public school that's having an insane year. 7 is not really a fair indicator in a traditional context of my school).
* Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think it is deferred at worst, and recently I've felt confident that I can come across as really personable and genuine in my essays/recs. Hopefully that, involvement, and SATs will be enough
</code></pre>

<p>General Comments: Good Luck!!</p>

<ul>
<li>reads above post * ...... <em>realizes that most Harvard applicants have those kinds of stats</em> ....... <em>dies</em>
lolz</li>
</ul>

<p>I'm not as objectively qualified as miles, but I plan on submitting a kick-butt essay, rocking the interview, and crossing my fingers perpetually. I may not turn out to be Harvard material, but I'm proud of myself anyway :)</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<ul>
<li>SAT I (breakdown): <em>sigh</em> 710 Math, 750 CR, 760 Writing (retaking in Nov....too bad writing never counts haha)</li>
<li>SAT II: 800 Literature, 750 Math II (retaking in Dec. with one more subject test)</li>
<li>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): If, according to Harvard, a 94=A (as it does at my school, as well, miles) then I've got a 3.982 currently lol (made one 93 my frosh year)</li>
<li>Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/34 (it's competitive, though. Small, but full of smart kids!)</li>
<li>APs (place score in parenthesis): My school has its own curriculum (much like Exeter and other schools are shying away from cookie-cutter APs) but I self-studied and got a 5 on English Lit last year. I'll probably go for Calc AB and U.S. History this spring :)</li>
<li>Senior Year Course Load: Calculus AB, Advanced Physics, American Literature, American History, Spanish IV, Rhetoric II (once again, no APs offered, but all of my courses are technically on the school's "fast" or "honors" track)</li>
<li>Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NM Semifinalist, 15th in the nation in a Speech and Debate event called Original Oratory (unbelievably competitive on the national level....flew out to Las Vegas for the tournament)</li>
</ul>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Extracurriculars:
-Forensics/Speech and Debate: (see above...I basically have a bazillion first place trophies from regional tournaments and my nice, big, nationals one)
-Theatre: lead roles all 4 years
-Mock Trial: Attorney
-Varsity Basketball: starting point guard
-Varsity Cross Country: made the team as a freshman
-Newspaper Staff</p></li>
<li><p>Job/Work Experience: Restaurant worker for all 4 years of high school (first 2 at a fast food chain, just for the sake of having cash flow at 14/15....next 2 as a host at a sit-down restaurant)</p></li>
<li><p>Volunteer/Community service:
-volunteer counselor at a summer camp for underprivileged kids (2 summers, 3 weeks apiece, about 15 hrs/wk)
-volunteer afterschool tutoring for underprivileged kids in the same neighborhood ^</p></li>
<li><p>Summer Activities: same as miles....nothing too relevant...just work, community service, etc....</p></li>
<li><p>Essays: I've had a few people read my CommonApp one, and reviews range from the typical "OMG! It is SOOO good!" (which I usually disregard, lol) to "It's very witty and well-written, but still needs some revision"......so yeah.</p></li>
<li><p>Teacher Recommendation: History teacher who went to Harvard undergrad: calls me the Bob Ross of historical analysis (lol, as in "you paint very attractive arguments with your words") and the man who taught me Chemistry, Precal, and Advanced Physics (smartest man I have ever met, and he constantly tells me that I remind him of himself at this age...begs me to become an engineer, but that's NOT going to happen lol).</p></li>
<li><p>Counselor Rec: Loves me. Thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread.</p></li>
<li><p>Additional Rec: I guess I'll be using it for one of those listed above, since I have two ^...unless I go with my Debate coach.</p></li>
<li><p>Interview: Should be awesome...I'm a textbook extrovert who loves to talk, so i should be fine haha</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Other</p>

<ul>
<li>State (if domestic applicant): TX</li>
<li>Country (if international applicant):</li>
<li>School Type: Classical Private</li>
<li>Ethnicity: White</li>
<li>Gender: M</li>
<li>Income Bracket: Upper-Mid</li>
<li>Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): White. Male. Non-athlete. <em>sigh</em></li>
</ul>

<p>Reflection</p>

<ul>
<li>Strengths: Transcript (especially compared to everyone else in my class...I'm the only one with straight As all four years), ECs (not a huge list, but intensive, time-consuming involvement in each, and many of them intertwine (e.g. Debate and Mock Trial), Essay, Recs</li>
<li>Weaknesses: Scores! (taking the ACT in a couple of weeks and retaking the SAT I the week after!), zero hook.</li>
<li>Hard to Know: how H will look at my lack of APs...(but since they're not offered. I guess they can't kill me for it, especially since I'm self-studying)</li>
<li>Why you think you <em>will be</em> accepted/waitlisted/rejected: If I make it, I will cry, scream, and make exaggerated fist-pumping gestures for an extended period of time. If I get waitlisted, I'll be content...If I get rejected, I might cry a bit, but then I'll remember that it's Harvard, and I can go tons of other places :)</li>
</ul>

<p>Objective:</p>

<pre><code>* SAT I (breakdown): (took october)
* SAT II: Literature (750), Biology-M (740), World History (760)
* Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
* Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
* AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (5), Environmental Science (4), Government (5), Human Geo (self-study 5), Psychology (self-study 5), English Language (5), World History (5), Calculus AB (5)
* Senior Year Course Load: Differential Equations, AP Calc BC/Multivariable, AP Lit, AP Music Theory, Band, Musical Theatre, Research
* Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semi-Finalist, National AP Scholar
</code></pre>

<p>Subjective:
*Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): County Wide Student Government (secretary), FBLA (state officer), Junior State of America (Founder/President - winner of national chapter of the month); Young Democrats Club (Founder/President); Piano (lessons/chamber music at the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute); Band (top ensemble, flute); Drama (lots of plays/musicals, good roles); Baltimore Cappies Critics Teams (write reviews on high school plays); Ecology Club; Dancing!</p>

<p>*Job/Work Experience: Year long internship at a satellite company in the Federal Communications Commission regulatory department; Founder/President of my own tutoring service; office assisstant at my dad's company</p>

<p>*Volunteer/Community service: Student member of county environmental sustainability board; secretary for a student run organization that gives presentations to parents on how to more effectively communicate with their kids; Appointed to the board of education 2009-2010 Calendar revision committee; Member of newly formed Maryland Youth Advisary Commission; Organized 2 year long project to get kids more involved in community service and the different leadership opportunities in my county; Students for Barack Obama (volunteer!)</p>

<p>*Summer Activities: Presitigious music camp focused on piano performance (2008), Summer@Brown - Philosophy Course (2007)</p>

<p>*Essays: I think they're goody!
*Teacher Recommendations: One from my JSA advisor/Govt teacher; another from my biology teacher
*Counselor Rec: He told me that it's the best he's ever written. We're really close actually</p>

<pre><code>* Other
* State (if domestic applicant): Maryland
* School Type: Competitive Public
* Ethnicity: Black
* Gender: Male
* Income Bracket: Middle Class
* Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM
</code></pre>

<p>Strengths: Minority Status + really good test scores for a black male, good writer, leadership, but also different because I'm really strong in the arts (which is my passion)
Weaknesses: My class rank is so bad. Even though I've taken the most APs in my grade, I'm ranked 29/330. Yeah it's top 10%, but it's still like icky.... . Also my SAT has the potential to be bad. I have yet to take it, but I hope I do well (I got a 222 on the PSAT).</p>

<p>"* Additional Rec: It'll be great, it might **** H off though. " -what? why?</p>

<p>buuump!!!!!</p>