Harvard Chances (Opinions please)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

International Student form Turkey

SAT: 600-770-590=1960
SAT II= Biology 690, Math 2= 740
ACT= N/A
GPA= I studied my junior year in US so (3.9)- For Turkey 86/100 (85 is an A)
Rank=N/A
Interview=N/A

One letter from cross country coach=Normal
One from Biology teacher=Normal
One from my coordinator for exchange year=Normal
Essay=Normal

Extracurriculars=

-I was an exchange student in my junior year by U.S. State Department’s scholarship. (One of 51 students from Turkey)
-I jump started first school(from 2nd grade cuz i already knew algebra and how to read-write)
-On national high school exams(we take exams to get into high schools) i was in top 1% of my country
-I started math team of my middle school in 7th grade
-I am a chess player since 3rd grade
-I am a violin player since 9th grade
-I was in my chess and math team, orchestra, track-cross country varsity teams for high school-middle school
-Clubs= Gay Straight Alliance for junior year, Environment Protection Club for 3 years
-I made a science project in my sophomore year for TUBITAK a design of some thing i forgot(it was really cool)
-I got a scholarship for NYFL Medicine but i could not attend to camp for personal reasons.
-I have been tutoring English and Math for middle school and high school student in Turkey since 9th grade to make some extra money.
-I worked in a pharmacy in neighborhood for two summers(after 9th and 10th grade)
-I volunteered 75+ hours
-I started a project with my biology teacher in Turkey to plant trees in burned areas(We did this 2 years in a row, we planted more than 500 trees)
-I speak 2 languages Turkish and English
-I also can read and write in arabic alphabet (i have no idea about language tho just the alphabet)
-I was selected as Greenpeace volunteer for my city Izmir but i left it to come here.

So i know my SAT scores are kind of low for Harvard because of English being my second language but do you think i have a chance with extracurriculars. Please tell me your true opinions, I intend to study pre-med at Harvard. If you have any extra questions please ask.

2

BTW I will apply for financial aid my family income is about 10.000 for a year. And I am white

3

Harvard is a reach for everyone, enough said.

4

You will be competing against international applicants who have extracurriculars as good as that AND test scores 200+ points higher. Your intended major does not matter.

5

Like others have said Harvard is a reach for everyone. I honestly think that your SAT score might be a problem even though English is your second language. You also called your essay “normal” and it’s really important to have an amazing essay as that could be a deciding factor. Your ECs are impressive though.

6

^ Yep. “Normal” among 32,000 applications = being one of the 96%.

7

I don’t think “normal” recommendations are much help there, either.

8

SAT is definitely a bit low, but I won’t go into detail. Your extracurriculars, unfortunately, are not as spectacular as a typical Harvard student; I’m not sure if you have received any honors for piano or chess because you did not specify. Keep in mind that Harvard is a reach for everyone, and I wish you the best of luck.

9

Other posters have been too nice, so let me try to spell it out for you: Your SAT of 1960 is probably at the same level of a Harvard recruited football player, basketball player or hockey player. If you do not play those sports competitively at a Division 1 Level, you have no chance at Harvard. By all means apply, but you have a better chance of winning the Powerball Lottery than being admitted to Harvard. As an international student, you need to start thinking beyond the big H, and look at less competitive colleges, such as: http://www.greatvaluecolleges.net/affordable/international-students/